The 2023 season for Grant High School football was thrown for a bit of a loop.
Starting quarterback Cameron Reed unfortunately got injured early in the season, forcing then-junior Braden Baker into the starting lineup.
Not only that, but plenty of youngsters were starting on defense for the Generals as they learned how to run the system of head coach Alex Melson, the team’s former defensive coordinator before taking over as head coach in 2022.
Baker and that young defense are all back though, meaning 2024 could be an exciting year for Melson and his squad.
“What I’m really excited about is this senior class, this is the first class I had when I took over as head coach,” Melson said. “Year three is kind of a big test for us to kind of see where we’re truly at after a couple years of building up the program and getting things going the way we want to.”
Another big help in terms of continuity will be the Generals’ return to the Grant Bowl after the field was closed last school year due to the turf being ruled unsafe because of its age.
New turf has been laid down now though, allowing the Generals to have consistent practices on campus each day and less travel to former Marshall High School. Two Grant home games will still be played at Marshall however.
Sticking with continuity, the Generals’ offense will have plenty of experienced pieces back and ready to put points on the board in 2024.
Baker returns after helping Grant fight for fourth in the PIL and a home game in the Columbia Cup. Grant lost to North Salem 27-0 to end its season at 5-5 overall.
Not only that, but he has a pair of all-league running backs to help him with first-teamer senior Camari Owens and second-teamer Marcus Rouse.
Add in second-teamer seniors Jalen Black at wide receiver and Jaylin Hill at tackle and the offense seems to be in good shape for Grant.
“The last couple of years we’ve had to insert a quarterback who’s starting for the first time their senior year, so this year we got a guy who got at least six games under his belt last year,” Melson said. “He’s excited to get back out here after kind of seeing what varsity football is all about … Really kind of making the offense a little bit better suited for his skill set.”
Defense is Melson’s baby though, and it’s where this Generals squad will be hanging its early on this season.
The defensive backfield will be nearly identical, including all-leaguers in senior Gianni Torregano (second team) and junior Asa Lundberg (second team).
The linebacking crew will have senior Thomas Browning (first team) leading the way alongside sophomore Deckard Hale, the latter of which being named all-league honorable mention as a freshman in 2023.
The line will have more bodies to replace, but Melson is excited for Hill to flex his strength more. The senior has already made a name for himself on the basketball court as a student at De La Salle North Catholic, and Melson is starting to see Hill put it together on the gridiron.
“(Hill) has only been playing for a couple years,” Melson said. “He finally feels like he’s understanding the game, understanding what people are trying to do to him, what he’s trying to do to people. So he’s really excited to try and dominate this year.”
Needless to say, the defense is stacked with talent in 2024 and is looking to help get Grant back atop the PIL standings.
“Our linebacker corps is pretty much the same, we graduated one senior. Our DBs are the same, we didn’t graduate anybody,” Melson said. “That’s really the group we’re going to be looking to early in the season to kind of put the team on their back and be that consistent group.”
Grant will need it early with a couple tough tests in the first four weeks of the season. The season kicks off at 7 p.m. Sept. 6 at Oregon City, a playoff squad from a year ago, followed by the home opener at 7 p.m. Sept. 13 against Hood River Valley.
The Generals have one more nonleague game due to Cleveland playing an independent schedule this year, and they got paired with Jesuit. The Crusaders will be at the Grant Bowl at 3:45 p.m. Sept. 27.
As for the PIL slate, Grant will play Lincoln, Jefferson, McDaniel and Franklin on the road. The Generals’ two home league games will be against Ida B. Wells and Roosevelt, both at Marshall.
The PIL feels wide open this year, but Melson is confident his squad can succeed if they commit to the daily grind.
“Football is a grind, it can be hard, there was a lot of different obstacles we had to navigate as a team last year,” Melson said. “This year coming back, just be consistent with your effort, be consistent with your focus. Because when we’re consistent and we’re focused, there’s really not a lot of teams that can matchup with us.”
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