Red Bank's senior defensive end Tra Stamper is looking to follow his brother, Courtney, into the college football ranks by using the 2015 season as a springboard.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Late in the 2014 high school football season, Red Bank coach Chad Grabowski said opposing teams were “running away” from Lions defensive end Tra Stamper.
The problem with that scheme utilized against the Lions’ defense simply steered runners in the opposite direction where Courtney Stamper was operating at the other end spot.
It didn’t, however, diminish the annoyance as Tra Stamper, Courtney’s younger brother, watched plays repeatedly going in the opposite direction.
“It was frustrating because I wasn’t getting a lot of action,” Tra said.
Courtney Stamper, a 6-foot-4-inch, 255-pounder, is now at East Central Community College in Decatur, Miss., and his sibling is preparing for a senior season that could pave the way to extending his gridiron career at the college level – he already has an offer from Tennessee-Martin.
Grabowski is working on ways to lessen the opportunities foes have of evading arguably the Lions’ best defensive player this year.
One, Grabowski said in July that he planned to use Stamper more extensively as a fullback this season, but has now decided utilizing the 6-foot-2 ½-inch, 274-pounder less on offense would be a better use of his skills.
Two, during the course of a game the opposing teams may see Stamper at several different defensive positions on any given play, providing more chances to make his presence known.
Three, Lions coaches are trying to solidify the end slot opposite Stamper, due to the graduation of his brother.
On curtailing Stamper’s two-way contribution, Grabowski said, “Basically, we’ve decided to leave him on defense to give him a chance to be really dominant over there. We’re going to get him away from playing so many plays and not get him hurt. He’s ways too good and we can’t afford to lose him on defense.”
As for “hiding” Stamper by putting him at different positions, the coach said, “People are going to run away from (Tra), that’s just the way it is. But we’re going to make sure to get him in the right situation to make plays so he’s not in the middle of nowhere.
“We have to do some switching with Tra by putting him in different places, moving him around, doing some stunts with him, do things that make him an impact player.”
Grabowski admitted having Stampers on each end of the defensive line made it more difficult to “run away” from either player. With Courtney in Mississippi, the Lions have to find a player – or players – to fill those shoes and lend balance to Red Bank’s up-front defense.
“This year, with Tra on one side, teams can game plan against us a little bit,” Grabowski said. “We’re trying to shore up the other end so we have two strong sides on defense.”
Even with the opposition choosing to side-step Stamper, who has 4.8-second speed in the 40-yard dash and was an All-District 6-AA pick last season, the big lineman still recorded 57 tackles and 10 sacks as a junior.
So, with the Lions’ season opener at Soddy-Daisy on Aug. 21 fast approaching, Stamper will be trying to make his dream of playing college football a reality with a nice going away present. And, at the same time, taking the Lions to greater heights in 2015.
“We want a better record this year and go deeper into the playoffs,” said Stamper, who helped the Lions to a 7-5 mark in 2014, a season that came to a close with a 30-7 second-round playoff loss to McMinn Central. “And I want better stats than I had my junior year.”
And his coach believes both of those goals are attainable because of Stamper’s dedication to the team’s success.
Grabowski said Stamper’s improvement since last year is “night and day” and credits his hard work, “knowing how to play and doing all the things that helped him tremendously.”
The second-year Red Bank coach explained what makes Stamper the player he has become.
“He’s got a great motor, he’s self-motivated and does what he’s supposed to do,” Grabowski said. “You don’t see many guys who are 6-2 ½, weighs 274 pounds and can run and do the things he can do.”
However, Grabowski is quick to point out that there are 10 other players on the field with Stamper.
In the Lions’ first six games a year ago, the defense was punished for 176 points, a per-game average of 29.3 points. In the five games leading up to the McMinn Central contest, Red Bank gave up only 42 points – 8.4 points per game – while the Lions were scoring 140 points.
“Our defense is not geared toward Tra,” Grabowski said, “but he’s going to make plays because that’s the kind of player he is. It’s eleven guys working together, being a unit and that will help Tra become an even better player.
“Teams may try to run away from Tra, but our other players will compensate for that.”
And Stamper has the perfect antidote for runners going to the opposite side of the field away from him.
“I’m faster and stronger than a lot of other people,” he said.
(Monday: Cleveland coach Scott Cummings)
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)