Bill Khan
Sports Scene
The 2011 Carman-Ainsworth football team was a one-man show.
When All-Stater Shane Barron was on, the Cavaliers thrived. When teams contained him, things didn’t go so well for Carman-Ainsworth.
Barron was a dual-threat quarterback, played defensive back, and returned kicks and punts. He never came off the field. The Cavaliers couldn’t afford to have him on the sidelines, that’s how much he meant to a team that went 6-3 before losing in the first round of the playoffs.
With Barron’s four-year career now history, there was some speculation that Carman-Ainsworth might be in for a down season in 2012. However, the other storyline in 2011 was how one of the youngest varsity teams in the Flint area grew throughout the season.
Those youngsters were ready to shine in 2012, taking Carman-Ainsworth to heights it hasn’t experienced in nine years. The Cavaliers’ seven victories in their first eight games gave them more regular-season victories since the star-studded 2003 team finished 7-2 before going 2-1 in the playoffs.
“Shane is definitely hard to replace,” coach Nathaniel Williams said. “What happened was a number of kids really took over the roles he played. It’s just spread out between a number of kids. A lot of them are capable of doing some of the things he did. Our depth and the number of kids who are explosive has really helped our team.”
Last year’s team got contributions from one freshman and nine sophomores. Seven of the sophomores were starters. Williams played them, not only for their potential down the road, but because they had the type of work ethic he’s been trying to instill in an underachieving program ever since becoming the head coach in 2008.
“We’ve been just trying to change the mindset of our program,” Williams said. “It just happens to be a group of young guys who are willing to put in the work and do the little things to help the team. It’s paid off, of course, as they got better and older. We really just want the right types of kids who do the little things so big things happen for us.”
Carman-Ainsworth sent a message on opening night by beating Grand Blanc, 27-12. The Bobcats had been to the third round of the state Division 1 playoffs the year before and returned an All-State quarterback in Bart Williams. They were considered the No. 1 team in the Flint area entering the season. The Bobcats had three straight victories over the Cavaliers.
“That was huge for us,” Williams said. “That was one of our goals. One thing I haven’t accomplished since I’ve been at Carman is beat Grand Blanc. To finally get them was a confidence boost that we’re going in the right direction, we’re doing things to put ourselves in a position to compete against the best teams in the state of Michigan.”
The Cavaliers got off to a 6-0 start before losing 32-7 to Powers Catholic in a highly anticipated battle of unbeatens on October 5.
“We didn’t play well that night,” Williams said. “We had a lot of turnovers. Against a good team like that, you can’t help them and have those types of mistakes and turnovers. They will capitalize on them.”
The 32 points the Cavaliers allowed in that game were more than they allowed in their other seven games combined (27) heading into the regular-season finale against Davison. The Cavaliers shut out four of their first eight opponents and held two others to one touchdown. The four shutouts broke the school record of three set by the 1986 and 2003 teams.
“It’s a group of kids who are really sacrificing their bodies, play for the team, and are playing very fast,” Williams said. “We’re not as big as Carman-Ainsworth has been in the past.”
In trying to take Carman-Ainsworth to new heights, Williams has held up the 1999 and 2003 teams as targets for his current players. The 1999 team won a school-record 10 games, while the 2003 squad is the only one to win two postseason games.
“A few years ago, we had a team I felt was a state championship-caliber team if we would’ve done the little things right,” Williams said. “Probably that team was the closest to the caliber of this team. This team is doing a lot of the little things right. That’s what’s allowing them to have success. It’s hard to compare yet. If we make a run in the playoffs, it would solidify this as the best team I’ve had at Carman.”