By Devin McCullough
The UNCP football team came into the 2024 season with high expectations based on the (7-3) record previously in Head Coach Mark Hall’s first season. He categorized the start of this past season as a nightmare, losing their first four games, three of them by a total of one possession.
“Anything bad that could’ve happened, happened from an injury perspective. Fortunately for us, I think our guys hung in there, and kind of put it together the last six weeks of the season,” Hall said.
Star quarterback Colin Johnson suffered a broken foot in the first few plays of the first game against Wingate in a tough 17-12 loss. Johnson still finished the game hobbling on one leg and continued to play through his injury during the entire season.
Even with the Braves finishing just over .500 with a (6-5) record for the year, it was a record breaking year, specifically on offense for guys like Collin Johnson who posted a second best in the nation 36 passing touchdowns which was a school record. Josiah Hayes also set a school record, recording 17 receiving touchdowns.
In terms of the nightmare start, the switch completely flipped entirely the last 7 games, and the Braves looked like the team that was expected to debut in 2024. They won six of their last seven games, and in the final four games, the offense averaged over 50 points while the defense only allowed 15 points per game.
“Something we talk internally about is handling adversity, football being a tough sport, we had enough guys in our locker room that were just going to stay the course, and truthfully we made some adjustments to some guys that didn’t respond to the adversity well,” Hall said.
Coach Hall also referenced last season with the struggle of winning on the road. The Braves only lost one home game, which was the opener versus Wingate.
“When our staff was at Chowan, we were dominant away from Garrison Stadium, I think that’s what good teams do.When I came to UNCP historically they have not been good on the road and that didn’t sit well with our coaching staff.”
The Braves football program is the only UNCP athletics team that plays in the Mountain East Conference since the 2020-2021 season. The Braves played five games in West Virginia this past season, essentially doing the most traveling out of the entire conference. The Braves averaged six hours per road trip for those games in West Virginia with the longest being eight hours to face the Wheeling Cardinals. Coach Hall pointed to those difficulties that other Virginia teams shared in traveling to Pembroke this past season as well.
The Braves will have some key senior departures on both sides of the ball. Quarterback Colin Johnson, wide receiver Jo Hayes, defensive end Jamae Blank, and Tight end Jaden Smith are just a few to scratch the surface in terms of departures. Coach Hall had major praise for all of these guys, especially Blank who was originally with Coach Hall and his staff at Chowan.
Coach Hall has high expectations for players on both sides of the ball to step up their performances for the upcoming season. Hall welcomes these departures that have seemingly provided opportunities for younger players to shine.
“Que Kennedy has the potential to be a superstar, he’s just got a natural ability, being fast and hard to cover, we really expect Que to step up,” Hall said.
Hall also mentioned Kennedy’s intelligence, saying that Kennedy was able to pick up the Braves scheme immediately as a true freshman last season, and said it had a lot to do with increased role throughout the season.
“It meant a lot just being able to show the coaches they could trust me and that I was ready for the job no matter if I was a freshman,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy had a strong season finishing second on the team in receiving yards with 522, and 4 receiving touchdowns.
Defensively James Johnson, a freshman defensive back also received Coach Hall’s praise.
“He’s having a phenomenal spring. We can really see him taking the next step, and we had high hopes when we signed him,” Hall said.
The quarterback position is also something that Coach Hall is looking at this off-season. Colin Johnson will be leaving after a record breaking season, which means more opportunity in the quarterback room for the Braves.
“I really wish I had him for four years. Colin’s that prototypical of what you want your quarterback to be on and off the field, 4.0 student, leader, and he makes plays on the field,”Hall said.
Hall even said he believed Johnson could have been in the running for Division II Harlon Hill Award, the equivalent to the Heisman Trophy winner, especially playing through his broken foot, hampering his running ability, a pivotal part in Johnson’s game.
Tre Robinson and Marcus Martin will compete for the starting quarterback job for the Braves this offseason. Robinson was featured in week two at Fayetteville State, in which Robinson threw 2 touchdowns in Johnson’s absence while dealing with a foot injury. Coach Hall runs the offense, so it’s personal for him.
“It’s exciting, It brings a new energy to me, because it’s a different type of coaching when you have a veteran. It’s almost like starting from ground zero again, and I take a lot of pride in making sure our QB is productive,” Hall said.
Coach Hall has a big emphasis on establishing leadership and toughness early on.
“I don’t care to say that leadership and toughness is something we lacked. We were not a tough football team in 24, and were in the process of getting there”.
Coach Hall is already fired up for the upcoming season. The UNCP annual spring game is around the corner on Friday, April 4th. It’ll be the first opportunity to get a look at some guys that will be getting more opportunities for the approaching season.
STATISTICS
#9 QB Collin Johnson
Passing Yards: 2991
Total Touchdowns: 38
INT: 17
Rushing Yards: 230
#6 DE Jamae Blank
Total Tackles:53
INT: 2
Sacks:6 sacks (led team)
TFL:9
#22 WR Jo Hayes
Receptions: 54
Receiving Yards:1025
Total TDs: 18
#10 DB D’Marcus Harrington
Tackles: 41
INT: 2
PBU: 5