Energetic coach, talented players inject success into Lyman football

Lyman High has had talented football players in the past. It has also had talented football coaches. For whatever the reason, winning has been a foreign concept at the Longwood school.

The Greyhounds went through a down period with limited success for an entire decade. From 2011-21 they could not produce a winning season. Ten straight years of nothing better than a pair of 5-5 seasons. No playoffs. Nothing.

That last losing season was when Jermel Jones stepped in . Since then, the Greyhounds have been on the rise, and key rising senior receivers Ronald Mike, Sev Croom II, Tommy Murray and Amari Jackson and rising junior quarterback Breylon Sanchez are looking to make some louder noise this season. They showed a glimpse of things by finishing runner-up in last weekend’s FHS7v7 Tournament.

Jones came in and instilled a new attitude with his players. He preaches a cohesiveness. Lyman struggled through a 2-8 season in 2021 while Jones was getting his players to adapt to his ways and changes. It didn’t take long. In the past two seasons, Lyman has gone 7-3 and 6-4.

Now the Greyhounds want more.

“We’re very excited,” Jones said. “Just to be able to see the chemistry growing and developing over the offseason … it’s something that makes a coach excited about the spring season and then obviously the fall season.”

It won’t be easy, with Seminole, Lake Mary, Oviedo and Lake Brantley also battling in the Seminole County Athletic Association. But the Lyman players say they are not intimidated by the success of other schools. It’s their turn and they are not shy about it.

They know other teams overlook Lyman on the schedule.

“Yes, I think there is,” Mike said of the tendency of other teams to look past Lyman. “We can’t do anything but prove them wrong.”

Croom is driven to show his determination on the field.

“I talked to a lot of coaches this spring and a lot of them have told me they’re going to come down here to see me,” said Croom, a 5-foot-10, 160-pound athlete who could be a dynamic slot receiver at the next level because of his routes and shiftiness.

“I should have more attention. I can play both sides of the ball. I can lock down your best receiver and I can score on the best defenders.”

Mike (6-3, 160) is a bit more reserved, but he is dynamic as well with his route running and hands. Mike broke his collarbone in Week 3 last season, so he’s hungry entering his senior year.

“It benefits us a lot,” Mike said of having Croom in the same receiving corps. “I feel like with us on the field at the same time, you have so many options.”

Sanchez is healthy at quarterback after missing games a year ago and suffering broken ribs in Week 3. The offense also will be aided by rising sophomore running back Knud “KJ” Davis.

Croom and Mike give Sanchez quite a dynamic duo, and the quarterback is getting more adept at reading the field and finding his open options.

“With Ronald Mike, if he’s getting double-teamed, then I’m going to make a play,” Croom said. “And if I’m getting double-teamed, he’s going to make a play. … Somebody is always open.”

With Sanchez back, the receivers are excited.

“Breylon is going to make a huge difference,” Mike said. “He’s a mobile quarterback. He’s got an arm. We do all of this practicing so he knows when we’re going to run our routes, how we’re going to run them. So I feel like it’s going to make a really big difference.”

And if Mike and Croom are covered there is always the reliable passing-catching soft hands of Murray (6-2, 190).

“He catches everything,” Jones said of Murray.

Sanchez loves having this arsenal of receivers.

“I’ve got two really reliable dudes and I know if I put the ball out in the right spot, they are going to come down with it,” he said. “I feel like I’ve got the best weapons in the district right now. I’m very confident in their ability to do stuff.

“We’re just out there doing our thing.”

Jones is hoping their thing amounts to wins, and a district title. That will be difficult with Edgewater standing in the way in Class 5A, District 2.

“We just need to put everybody in the right positions so we can accomplish everything we need to accomplish,” Jones said. “I say to the guys, ‘Sometimes you got to learn how to turn the bottle over and get everything out.’ As coaches, we’re learning how to get the most our of our kids.”

Chris Hays can be reached via email at chays@orlandosenitnel.com .