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Work ethic, impact, attitudes lift Tiger seniors to special status
Monday, August 12, 2024
Caruthersville High School senior Jermonte Alexander lifts weights during a football combine at Dexter High School earlier this summer. Alexander was recently named as one of the Tigers' four captains for the 2024 season.
Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com
Democracy is the topic du jour throughout this country, but it isn’t within the Caruthersville High School football program.
The Tigers recently announced four seniors to serve as captains this fall, and third-year coach Dom Guglielmo said the selection process was in the hands of the Tiger players, not him or his coaching staff.
“It’s their team,” Guglielmo said of the process.
Caruthersville will gather today for the first official practice of the 2024 season with new players reporting at 3:30 p.m. and returnees an hour later.
Guglielmo reviewed several of his team’s off-season achievements, all attained with significant leadership coming from seniors Jermonte Alexander, Kenyon Bogan, Ryan Guest, and Oscar Dominguez, who were selected as team captains by their teammates.
“The coaches come up with the gameplan, the offense and defense, and all that stuff,” Guglielmo said. “But what it really boils down to is the heart and soul of the team, and the football team is the kids.
“No one is coming out to watch me jump up and down on the sidelines.”
There were similarities shared by the four honorees, according to Guglielmo, with Alexander bringing positivity to the locker room and field daily, as well as talent on both sides of the ball.
“Not only is Jermonte a special football player, offensively and defensively,” Guglielmo said. “When he is out there, he doesn’t care about getting the football. He is the first person to get excited for somebody else.”
Alexander was an All-SEMO Conference Central Division First Team selection as a junior at wide receiver and will also start at defensive back for the Tigers this fall.
“I don’t think that I have ever seen him take a play off in practice,” Guglielmo said. “He is that type of kid. He elevates the team with his pure athleticism and the fact that he never has a bad attitude.”
Dominguez has a similar impact at both offensive line and linebacker, according to Guglielmo.
“You can tell a stark difference on our defense when Oscar is on the sidelines,” Guglielmo explained. “The intensity that he plays with, and the physicality that he plays with, it brings up the level of our defensive play.”
Bogan “is an undersized football player,” Guglielmo said of his offensive and defensive lineman.
“But he plays big,” Guglielmo said of Bogan. “He works his tail off on the football field.”
The Caruthersville football staff tabulates the number of hours that each player studies film, and no one within the offensive line group put in more time preparing in that regard than Bogan, according to his coach.
“Kenyon cares about his teammates,” Guglielmo said. “Anytime that his teammates need something, he is there for them.”
There is no more scrutinized position on the field than quarterback, and Guglielmo said Guest has elevated his stature within the program with his work ethic and maturity in his approach to his final season.
Guglielmo said that Guest has worked tirelessly on his craft, in the film room, and has become a voice to listen to by the coaches.
“He gave me a 10-minute lecture on changing our cadence,” Guglielmo said. “He took over the quarterback role by storm this year.”
The Tigers have just 18 days remaining before opening the regular season at home against St. Pius X (Festus) on August 30 at 7 p.m.
“I’m tired,” Guglielmo said of what he termed “football season eve” on Sunday, “but I know that I’m not going to be able to sleep. “I have a week’s worth of practice plans done. I’ve got 15 hours of film on St. Pius to watch.
“I’m ready to go.”