KamRan Anderson is ready to be the next man up.
As Stanhope Elmore begins its season at home Friday against Marbury at Foshee-Henderson Stadium, Anderson looks to become the next Stanhope defensive end to find his way to the college level.
In the past five seasons, Stanhope Elmore has sent five defensive linemen to play in college — T.J. Jackson, William Whitlow, Caleb Foster, JaQuize Buycks and Donnie Arnold.
Anderson is not going to be left off that list.
“That’s just the standard we have at Stanhope Elmore,” Anderson said. “We have a standard and it’s what we have to meet as linemen. I’m just the next one up. I still am in talks with them and we still communicate. They help me with my moves and critique me.”
Churning out stellar defensive linemen is something that Stanhope Elmore puts a lot of pride into. Jackson was the first of the latest group to go to college, signing with Troy before moving to West Virginia. Whitlow signed with Memphis then Foster signed with Butler Community College.
Buycks, who was committed to Liberty, is currently at Northwest Mississippi Community College. Last year’s Elmore County Player of the Year Donnie Arnold is entering his first year at South Alabama.
Now Anderson, at 6-foot-2 and 245 pounds, is getting that same chance.
He is currently being recruited by Georgia Tech, Mississippi State, South Alabama, Kennesaw State, Southern Miss, Louisiana Monroe, Alabama State, Georgia State and West Georgia.
“We take pride in being really good in the trenches,” Stanhope coach Hunter Adams said. “We put our heart and soul into those groups and we’ve got the guys to be really good with KamRan, Gabe Lewis and Dezmond Barnes. I think we can really depend on those guys to take us to the postseason.”
Last season, Anderson recorded 71 tackles to go along with 9 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks and 8 quarterback hurries. He’s spent his final high school offseason training to get better and working on moves to get into the backfield more this season.
When Stanhope Elmore hits the field Friday night against Marbury, Anderson plans to show just what he can do when rushing the passer.
“I’m faster than everybody,” Anderson said. “I have a lot of confidence and I have a lot of moves that work on people. I can go back inside and I’m flexible so I can move back inside. If someone can stop all that, I can just bullrush them. … I want to break records. I want to get my team to the region championship and try to get to the state championship.”
