Whenever a head coach enters their second season at the helm, the word ‘progress’ is fresh on their mind. That was the case for Johnnie Akins with Ithaca High School football. After going 2-7 last time out, the Little Red showed plenty of growth this fall.
Ithaca finished with a 5-4 record in the regular season. It was the first time since 2023 that the Little Red had a winning regular season mark, when they went 7-2 as an independent league team. As a Class AA team, 2010 was the last time they finished over .500, also at 5-4.
The Little Red got off to a flying start by winning their first three games, the last of which was an unforgettable 31-30 comeback win over Homer where James Daugherity nailed a game-winning 38-yard field goal as time expired. But they ran into some mid-season adversity with four straight losses, all against state-ranked opponents. The Little Red closed out the regular season with back-to-back victories, something Akins was incredibly proud to see unfold.
“I feel like we handled it well,” Akins said. “We responded well. Sometimes, morale was down a little bit. But to pick it back up the last two games, we found our footing, we went out there and earned those wins.”
The Little Red built up some solid momentum heading into its Section IV Class AA semifinal matchup at Corning on November 7. While their season came to an end with a 44-13 defeat, Ithaca displayed a tremendous amount of improvement throughout the course of the year.
“Our kids understand how to play a full 48 minutes of football,” Akins said. “Those 48 minutes don’t always go your way, but what I got to tell them week in and week out, ‘Focus on the six seconds within the play. Do your job. Focus on winning that play.’ And then as you win those plays, you win the quarter. You stack it all together. I tell them all the time, ‘We want to eliminate the scoreboard. Don’t worry about what the scoreboard says. Worry about what our assignment is and executing it well.’”
Week after week, the Little Red faced not only tough competition but also teams that were much larger in numbers than them. With around 24 players on their roster for most of the season, that meant virtually everyone played both sides of the ball. Akins knows that while the quantity they had this year was small, the quality was as strong as ever.
“These kids don’t come off the field, and a lot of times they don’t want to come off the field, too,” Akins said. “We’ve been playing with a lot of heart and a willpower not to be denied. That’s what I really respect. No matter the result of the game, I always tell them people are going to respect the fact that we put up an effort and an attitude that we go out there and control our controllables. That’s the only thing that we can do.”
Their four senior captains—Leo Fiorello, Eddie Peck, AJ Ventura, and Shy’von Williams—were instrumental in helping the Little Red put together a successful season. Peck starred on both sides as their leading rusher and tackler. As for Ventura, he was the heart and soul of the line as their only returning starter, and he took his younger linemen under his wings.
“If I could categorize AJ, he could be like a major,” Akins said. “He’s very good at teaching young kids. He’s helping the young guys on the line understand blocking schemes because we made some shifts there as well. AJ has been a really great leader and a person to help us understand, ‘If you don’t know your job, ask AJ.’”
Williams started off the season as the starting quarterback, but the Little Red turned to Fiorello under center for the second half of the year and found Williams was better utilized as a wide receiver. Williams took his new role in stride as Fiorello found his stride leading the offense.
“The ability to control the huddle and then to control the offense [has grown], having that patience and really being a point guard back there as well, being a really good facilitator,” Akins said. “His presence and command back there has made our offensive efficient. Shy’von has really embraced it, too. It wasn’t so much of a difficulty moving him around. Shy’von is a talented young man. He’s very versatile. Having Shy’von move around has made our team better.”
As the Little Red says goodbye to six seniors—also including Naasir Hakim-El Cardona and Jordan Gelinas-Owens—they’ll look to continue building the program and make winning seasons a habit.
“Losing those games or winning those games, to me it gives me the opportunity to coach,” Akins said. “It gives me an opportunity to teach. Teaching and coaching is in me. I’m a PE teacher, so the classroom is my platform. While I’m delivering information trying to engage young learners and I go out to the football field, it’s the same piece. No matter the result of the game, I still got a job to develop kids.”
