Football is fresh in the air throughout Ithaca. As Cornell University and Ithaca College saw their teams return to the gridiron for camp earlier this month, Ithaca High School did the same on August 17. The Little Red is hard at work with its sights set on an improved campaign.
The Little Red’s 2025 campaign was filled with ups and downs, culminating in a 2-7 record. It was a year of transition with defensive coordinator Johnnie Akins taking over as head coach. That naturally meant a shift in identity, something that Akins hopes a youthful team can cultivate throughout the preseason.
“Those guys that were here last year that graduated had a foundation,” Akins said. “They laid a certain foundation and upheld the standard. The guys that are coming back are raising the standard and laying their own foundation and finding their own identity of who we are right now. We’re still a young team right now, and [we’re] coming out here finding identity in practice and having that transition over to game day.”
Akins learned a lot from his maiden voyage as head coach, including the importance of having a strong team around him in terms of assistants. Along with Greg Cooper, 2013 graduate Jaedon Henderson and 2018 graduate Daquan Griffin, the Little Red sees another one of its alumni join the fray in Danny Parker. The 2024 graduate is part of quite the local contingent helping out their former program.
“He’s that person that brings the energy,” Akins said. “Sometimes he’s that person that can reach our younger kids a little bit more. People have known what he has done, but having him around really shows that we have people of the community that are willing to give back. Danny comes from a certain caliber and a certain product. It’s also a reinforcement of, ‘What is Ithaca about? What is Ithaca football?’ I believe his presence serves our program well.”
The work that the Little Red has put in dates back to the offseason and the countless hours spent in the weight room. Now with the helmet and pads back on, the focus remains the same: attention to detail.
“The small things of the game matter most,” Akins said. “The phases of the game are controlled from our attitude, our effort, and our energy. We can’t be inconsistent with how we show up with our effort, attitude, energy. We gotta be consistent on how we hit those fundamental parts of the game because being fundamentally sound and understanding your assignment will get us the results that we want.”
The Little Red graduated 13 players from last year’s team, including starting quarterback Jack Barton. As he continues his football and lacrosse careers at Utica University, seniors Shy’von Williams and Leo Fiorello are poised to commandeer the offense. Whoever is under center, they’ll have plenty of talented skill position players at their disposal with senior running back Eddie Peck, senior wideout Naasir Hakim-El Cardona and junior receiver Jasmir Robbins.
But the offensive line will see the most drastic change with the majority of their starters either graduating or transferring. That leaves plenty of room for players old and new to step up.
“[They’re] young but eager to learn and eager to show up and handle the road there,” Akins said. “Those guys are like a motor to a car. I could have all those fancy weapons on the outside or somebody back there to throw the ball, but if our job up front is not well taken care of, those things outside don’t matter. Some of the most important people on our team are the guys in the trenches.”
Over on defense, Peck will lead the linebacker core while Hakim-El Cardona will be one of their top cornerbacks. But junior lineman Gavin Cornell has caught the eyes of Akins throughout the preseason.
“That young man is just a workhorse,” Akins said. “I like to call him a silent assassin. He just handles his business, does the little things right. He’s a really nice kid off the field. [But you] turn his helmet on, he’s a different type of person. He’s one of those kids… who comes into the fold and who shows up and is willing to just serve us in a valuable way.”
Since Ithaca has only two other teams in their division and in Class AA—Corning and Elmira—the Little Red will once again mostly face smaller schools this year. But they’re well-aware that they’ll be in for a challenge every single week.
“I feel like everybody matters,” Akins said. “We respect any and everybody around here. Whoever’s in front of us, they matter for the week… I’m always looking forward to a battle, and I know each and every team is going to give us a battle, and it’s just lining the ball up on a Friday night and handling business.”
The Little Red opens up the season on September 4 at Spencer-Van Etten/Candor. Its home opener is September 18 against Homer. That game represents a full-circle moment for Akins as Homer head coach Greg Roskos recruited Akins to play at SUNY Cortland.
