Preseason Blitz – Byrd entering 2025 season with unfinished business

SHREVEPORT, LA. (KTAL/KMSS) — Tradition and excellence, that’s what Byrd football is built on. After a deep playoff run last year, head coach Stacy Ballew and the Yellow Jackets come into the season with some unfinished business.

“Just ready to ball, just ready to be under the lights,” senior safety Ja’Cari Williams said.

The 2025 Byrd football team is hungry for success.

“I think this group of kids is dedicated. So far, we are three practices you know quote on quote practices in the fall and we’ve had three good ones. So I like the group of kids we have and we’re excited about the season.” Ballew said.

Ballew’s crew lost nine starters on offense including quarterback Harrison Ayers. The Jackets will now turn to junior quarterback Jackson Davis.

“He’s a great kid, he knows our offense. He was the backup quarterback last year, he played a little bit and he did a good job. We’re gonna lean on him a lot and we think he can handle it and we think he can handle our offense,” Ballew stated.

With lots of inexperience, it’s going to be crucial for Byrd to play clean football.

“We want to execute and we want to execute at a high level, we want to do it consistently. If you can do that, you have a pretty good chance of winning the game and being successful. We want to do that on offense, defense and special teams,” he said.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Jackets return five starters with two of them being defensive lineman Ian Gray and safety Ja’Cari Williams. Both players are taking more of a leadership role.  

“We took the roles of like, he could manage the d-lineman make sure the d-line do what they got to do. I got the secondary, linebackers and it’s really just like, we got y’all as long as y’all got us,” Williams said.

“This year we’re counting on him (Ja’Cari) to make all of our defensive calls, get us lined up right. The kids look up to him and it’s not because he talks a lot, it’s because of his actions, he’s a very hard worker, a very humble kid and we’re excited about our defense,” Ballew said.

It also helps having a stud in kicker Asher Murray.

Byrd opens the season at home against St. Amant on September 5.