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FOOTBALL SOUTHERN PENNYRILE PIGSKIN PREVIEW SPECIAL SECTION Friday, Aug. 19, 2016 Kentucky New Era
Transcript

FOOTB

ALL SOUTHERN PENNYRILE

PIGSKIN PREVIEW SPECIAL SECTIONFriday, Aug. 19, 2016

Kentucky New Era

Page 2

Are you ready for some football? (Because we are.)BY CHRIS JUNG

NEW ERA SPORTS EDITOR

Somebody flip the switch to fire up theFriday night lights — high school footballis back.One of the most-anticipated weekends

of the year is upon us, as we welcome theboys of fall back to the gridiron.Still standing as one of the purest forms

of sport that exists, the high school foot-ball season creates so much excitementbecause of the atmosphere it creates.From the scent of the porkchops and

burgers on the grill drifting downwind tothe sound of the band warming up andplaying the National Anthem, to the socialelement that organically grows around thefield, these games are like no other.From a southern Pennyrile standpoint,

there is plenty to be excited about in 2016.Right in our backyard, Christian

County and Hopkinsville have some ofthe state’s best athletes on their respectiverosters. The Braggin’ Rights rivalry gameon Sept. 17 could end up as one of the bestto be played in some time.In Cadiz, Trigg County High School is

working to get back into the playoffs afterthe Wildcats’ first state tournament hia-tus in 16 years.Les Broady is ringing in a new era of

football in Elkton, as the Todd CountyCentral Middle School principal hastaken the reigns of the Rebels.Finally, at Fort Campbell, the Falcons

must replace a pair of standout playmak-ers at the quarterback and wide receiverpositions, but are confident that second-year coach Josh McKillip — with his firstfull offseason under his belt — will haveFCHS back on track.

Be sure to follow the Kentucky NewEra’s complete coverage of the highschool football season all year long.Sign up for KNE text alerts by visiting

www.kentuckynewera.com/textalerts.You can customize it to receive finalscores of your favorite teams.Finally, I’ll also have you covered with

in-game updates, news and more on Twit-ter @ChrisJungKNE. It’s certain to be another thrilling sea-

son of action. All that’s missing is you. Besure to get out and support these and alllocal student-athletes and coaches.

COVER PHOTOS BY MEREDITH WILLSE | KENTUCKY NEW ERA

(Clockwise from bottom) Hopkinsville’s RJ Wilson, Christian County’s James Ray, Keyron Catlett and Ross Whipple and Hoptown’s Don Parker, Jalen Johnson, CJ Henagan and Jaxon Janes — the cover boys of this year’s Ken-tucky New Era Southern Pennyrile Pigskin Preview — are all expected to have monster seasons for their respective teams. Get coverage of all their games and more all season long inside the pages of the New Era.

BY BRADY TRAPNELL NEW ERA INTERN

Last summer, JoshMcKillip was stuck in bedrecovering from back sur-gery for six weeks, unableto work with his new teamand delegating coachingduties to his assistants. Now, he is getting ready

for a new season with thefull ability to get his teamprepared. With only 25 players last

season, McKillip had tokeep things simple. Nowthis year’s Fort CampbellHigh School Falcons havemore depth and skill witha larger roster, despite mil-itary downsizing.“For us, it has made

competition in practice somuch better. Having just afirst group last year wehad a ‘1’ and a ‘3’ but nowwe have a ‘1A’ and ‘1B’,”said McKillip on his largersquad of around 42 to 45players. “It is makingeverybody better andmakes things a whole lotsmoother.” The Falcons finished last

season with a 2-9 recordafter losing in the firstround of the playoffs butMcKillip said his team islooking to get better. “We are trying to im-

prove. Nobody is satisfiedwith a 2-9 season,” saidMcKillip. “We want tomake sure that games arecompetitive . . . right nowwe are trying to be realis-tic with where we are at.” The quarterback and of-

fensive line positions willbe issues for the Falcons,according to McKillip. Three students are work-

ing hard for the startingspot at quarterback in-cluding converted seniorwide receiver, Bailey Con-ley who will be a contribu-tor for the team thisseason. Junior AbdelHoward and SophomoreTyler Twiss are also bat-tling it out and no one hasemerged as of yet, McKil-lip said. Some key players for the

Falcons will be DrequanMurphy, a returning jun-ior and explosive runningback and safety, along withDenoris Buchanon, a jun-ior running back whobrings physicality to thefield. Despite gaining players

during the offseason, FortCampbell lost an impor-tant piece to their puzzleon defense in February. Overall, the Falcons are

just trying to compete.“We are going to have our

challenges. We are trying toput a football team to-gether,” said McKillip. “Weare trying to be better thana 2-9 squad. Last year wasmore about, unfortu-nately, character develop-ment and making sure wewere unified and playingthe best we could togetheras a team. Now we are try-ing to take that next stepinto competing.” The Falcons open their

season at 7 p.m. todayagainst host Mayfield.

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Falcons, Josh McKillip ready to bounce back in 2016

FORT CAMPBELLCoach: Josh McKillip (2nd season)Last year: 2-9; Lost to Elizabethtown 53-

14 in first round of Class 3A state playoffs

Key players returning:Drequan Murphy,Bailey ConleySignificant players lost: Palema

Roberts, Ja’uan Joiner, Kesan Carter

Breakthrough player candidate: RB De-noris BuchanonGame to circle on your calendar: Sept.

23 vs. Trigg County High School.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FORT CAMPBELL HIGH SCHOOL

Led by second-year coach Josh McKillip, the Fort Campbell High School football team looks to improve upon a 2-9 campaign from 2015. The Falconslost key offensive playmakers Palema Roberts and Ja’uan Joiner, but return several experienced skill positions that should help against another dif-ficult schedule. FCHS opens its season tonight at Mayfield — the defending Class 2A state champion in Kentucky.

(270) 265-2436205 Airport Rd. • Elkton, KYwww.todd.kyschools.us

GOOD LUCKon a

SUCCESSFULSEASON!

TeachingCaringServing

BY CHRIS JUNGNEW ERA SPORTS EDITOR

It’s been 17 years since Les Broady lastpaced a sideline as a high school footballcoach, but the longtime school administra-tor is ready to start giving back to the gamethat steered his career down a fruitful path. Broady, who was named the new Todd

County Central High School coach in lateJune, grew up in and played at Glasgow. Hewas a member of the Kentucky state run-ner-up team in 1982 and graduated in 1986with a chance to play for Frank Beamer atMurray State University. After suffering a career-ending knee in-

jury, however, Broady returned to Glas-gow and was welcomed onto the Scotties’coaching staff, serving as an assistant forthree seasons.His coaching journey would later include

a stop at McLean County under coachRoyce Hood for one year. Broady thenhelped start the football program at Muh-lenberg North in 1992. Four years later,Broady took a defensive coordinator job atMuhlenberg South, where he also took overas the school’s baseball coach.But in 1999, Broady walked away from

coaching to follow the tradition of his line-age by becoming an administrator in theschool system.“It’s been a family thing for years, but I

wasn’t going into education,” saidBroady, whose dad was a principal for 28years and grandfather a director of per-sonnel in Barren County. “But footballjust continued to guide me in that direc-tion, and provided a great opportunity forme, and I’m thankful.”“Football was a big part of my life,” he

continued. “If it wasn’t for football, totell you the truth, I don’t know that Iwould be in education today. And at thistime in my life, I’d like to begin givingsomething back.”Broady takes over for a Rebels program

that went 12-51 and made two playoff ap-pearances during the past six years underBryan Jones.

Les Broady, who took over as the ToddCounty Middle School principal in 2015, isthe husband of Marnie Broady, who re-cently replaced Elizabeth Fitch as the ToddCentral athletic director.Les was a member of the hiring com-

mittee for the vacant football coachingjob, but said the group could not naildown a candidate.“The individuals that we brought in,

that we thought would be good for thejob, weren’t interested in the job,”Broady said. “We just wanted somethingspecial for Todd County, and it’s been along summer trying to find the right per-son for this position.”Todd Central, which went 3-8 last year,

lost 1,000-yard rusher and quarterbackNaytrimis Harris, as well as steadykicker/punter Noah Bicksler to gradua-tion. But Broady — who says he’s beenwatching plenty of 2015 game film of theRebels — sees plenty to be excited about.“They’ve got some special skills athletes

that are coming back,” Broady said. “Butthey lost a large part of their line last year.”While the forthcoming challenges will be

mighty, according to Broady, he expects hisgroup to hit the ground running and face alltribulations head-on, as Todd County Centralworks to once again become viable in Class 2A.“The personal motivation (to get back

into coaching) is to provide kids with some-thing that will be special,” Broady said.“We want to get the program back in the di-rection that it was in at one time.”

Despite late start, Todd Central ready to charge ahead

MARNIE BROADY | PHOTO SUBMITTED

The Todd County Central football team will be led in 2016 by Les Broady, who took over for Bryan Jones in June.

TODD COUNTY 2016 ROSTERNAME CLASSEdwin Artis Sr.Malcolm Bell Sr.Jerry Britt So.Jamison Brown Sr.Joseph Brown So.George Camacho-Reyes Sr.Clayton Choate Sr.Zavius Coleman So.Cody Dailey Jr.Eric Dailey Sr.Timothy Deason Jr.Trey Dickerson Sr.Dalton Ellis So.Jeremy Foster Fr.Nick Gibson Jr.JaTwan Graham Fr.Colton Griffith Sr.Kyle Harris Sr.Casey Hatcher Sr.Travay Henry Sr.

Austin Jackson Jr.Hunter Johnson Fr.Devon Jones So.Johnathan Knight Sr.Chase Lancaster So.TreShawn Majors So.Jayden Marshall Fr.Cody McIntyre So.Jaquavion Mimms So.MaQureim Mimms Jr.Jonathan Parker Sr.Bryce Penick Sr.JaVaughn Peterson So.Tyrese Pratt Fr.Cody Przewoznk Jr.Eric Przewoznik Sr.Brendan Pulley Sr.Josh Smith Sr.Justin Vick So.Brent Waggoner So.Justin Waldrop Fr.Asa Young So.

TODD COUNTY CENTRALCoach: Les Broady (1st season)Last year: 3-8; Lost to Mayfield 41-7 in

first round of Class 2A state playoffsKey players returning:Bryce Penick,

Travay Henry, Trey DickersonSignificant players lost: Naytrimis Harris,

Noah Bicksler, Jo JohnsonBreakthrough player candidate: RB

Malcolm BellGame to circle on your calendar: Oct. 28

vs. Logan County

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www.kentuckynewera.com | SATURDAY COMICS | Friday, Aug. 19, 2016 B5

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©2016 by King Features Syndicate Inc.

Sudoku Puzzle

BY CHRIS JUNGNEW ERA SPORTS EDITOR

In China, it’s the Year of the Monkey. In Rio, it’s theyear of Michael Phelps and Simone Biles.For the Christian County High School football

team, it’s a year of opportunity.With the departure of junior running back/wide

receiver Ziyon Kenner, who transferred to BowlingGreen over the summer, a domino effect was createdthroughout the Colonels’ depth chart. As a result,10th-year coach Steve Lovelace is using the next sev-eral weeks to hold a massive tryout to see who landsthe starring roles in a plethora of positions.“I wish him the best and hope he does well — ex-

cept for the two games we hopefully play againstthem. But with (Kenner) transferring, it opened upsome spots and gave a chance to some kids whomaybe didn’t think they had a chance. Now they do,”Lovelace said.Lovelace isn’t complaining about his situation.

Quite the opposite. He’s embraced this opportunityto find out what some of his guys, of all ages andsizes, are made of.“We’ve got (internal) competition again,” Lovelace

said. “We’ve got at least two kids competing for everyjob and it makes practice a little more competitive.And the more people who can compete and partici-pate in practice, the better off you are.”The concept of fluid casting calls has also seemed

to create a sense of camaraderie at County. “Our kids haven’t complained and they’re all sup-

portive of each other,” he said. “(This past week) inpractice, while we were running routes, my seniorkids are helping my sophomore kids out after theymess up. Those are things you want. Even whenthey’re going against each other, they kept challeng-ing each other to make themselves better.”It’s been six years since CCHS last appeared in a

KHSAA state championship game. Since then, theCols have been knocked out of the playoffs in the sec-

ond round to end every season. With key players like Western Kentucky University

commits Keyron Catlett and Kenneth “Coco” Majoras seniors, and junior quarterback Kolbe Langhi be-ginning his third year as the full-time starter, how-ever, Lovelace said this is a team he and his fellowcoaches have been waiting to watch for several years,and that opportunities are aplenty.“This is a group that is athletic in a lot of ways and

that we’ve been targeting for a long time at ChristianCounty, and our goal is getting back to the statechampionship,” Lovelace said. “But in football, itstill goes as far as the guys up front. I wish we hadsome more seniors (on the line), but that’s just partof it. But this is a class we’ve been looking at. We justhave to have a lot of luck and have some other kidscome through with you.”Catlett, a 5-foot-10, 177-pound wide receiver, has be-

come one of the brightest prospects in the state. Heset new school records for receiving yards and re-ceptions in 2015 and is on pace to finish as a top-15all-time WR in Kentucky.With Catlett likely drawing attention and double

coverage in 2016, Lovelace is confident those aroundCatlett will reap the benefits.“People are of course going to line up and try to

stop him, but you’ve got kids like James Ray and Ken-neth Major — who people sometimes forget what hecan do on offense — and Cory Trice, who is cominginto his own for us. Ja’Quon Long had a good sum-mer. People don’t know about Shamar Foster, whocan play receiver,” Lovelace listed. “There are a lotof weapons that we can use, but for our kids it’sabout staying humble and not getting upset whenyour number’s not called. We’ve got to take advan-tage of the best situations.”Slinging the ball again for Christian County will be

6-foot-6, 214-pound QB Langhi. The now-veteransouthpaw attended a slew of camps over the summerand has worked religiously to improve his game, es-pecially his footwork.

Lovelance believes that if Langhi can be more con-sistent, have an understanding of the personnel onthe field during all scenarios and continue to im-prove, the sky is the limit.“He has worked and has big goals, and that’s all you

can hope for a kid,” Lovelace said. “But for Kolbe, hehas to realize he can’t do it by himself. He’s probablythrown more balls (between games and camps) thananyone his age because he’s been working to makehimself better. Now, as a quarterback, he has to makeeveryone around him better.”Lovelace’s aforementioned position tryout will be

thorough. The longtime coach says he plans to give12 defensive linemen, 11 offensive linemen, nine line-backers, nine receivers, seven defensive backs andfour running backs a chance to earn spots.“I think sometimes people misunderstand. Every-

one looks at who starts a game. For me, and for us, Ilook at the kids who can finish the game. Those arethe kids you want on the field if you’re up three ordown three in the final minutes,” Lovelace said. “Youhave to have those kids you can count on.”“I think in the next three to four weeks, we’ll weed

it out after we go in and really look at the film,” hecontinued. “I like to say it’s like putting the perfectpuzzle together. We’ve got all these pieces and youhave to start somewhere.”

It’s a year of opportunity for Christian County

CHRISTIAN COUNTY 2016 ROSTER1 Cory Trice Jr. WR/DB2 Keyron Catlett Sr. WR/DB3 Ja’Quon Long Jr. TE/LB4 Kenneth Major Sr. WR/DB5 James Ray Sr. WR/DB6 Kendarius Major Jr. WR/OLB8 Kolbe Langhi Jr. QB/DE9 Shamar Foster Jr. TE/LB10 Tyler West So. WR/DB11 Ellis Dunn So. WR/DB12 Tyquez Douglas Fr. QB/DB13 Zadae Jones-Wilson So. WR/DB15 Jadonavin McNeil So. RB/DB16 Corey Stubbs Jr. RB/DB17 Brenan Spears Fr. QB/DB20 Ja’Cerri Johnson Jr. RB/OLB21 Cordarien Trice Jr. WR/DB22 Trevian Wimbush Jr. WR/OLB23 Trejon Wilson So. RB/DB

24 Diion Leavell Jr. RB/OLB25 Artravious Gaither Jr. RB/OLB26 Antonio Abren So. RB/LB27 Trequan Taylor Sr. RB/OLB28 Kenyon Drayton So. WR/DB29 Cameron Jordan Fr. RB/OLB31 Carl Hobson So. RB/LB32 Traicoryon West So. RB/LB33 Quayvon Williams Jr. RB/LB34 Tyrique Douglas Jr. RB/LB35 Devin Lenick Sr. WR/OLB36 Dustin Montgomery Jr. TE/DL38 Corey Hansley Sr. RB/LB39 Kavonte Williams Sr. DL40 Jaylen McGee So. FB/DL41 Robert Falvey Fr. RB/DB42 Kyrian Wisdom Sr. OL/DL47 Timmie Dunham Fr. WR/DB48 Niko Bussell Fr. RB/LB51 Ty Meacham Fr. OL/DL52 Jude Langhi So. OL/DL

53 Davion Radford Jr. OL/DL55 Zach Langhi Fr. OL/DL56 Peyton Leneave Jr. OL/DL57 Adrian Ybarra So. OL/DL58 Michael Klawes So. TE/DE59 Thomas Carter So. OL/DL60 Jayden Hedlund Jr. OL/DL61 Troy Colley Jr. OL/DL62 Treshawn Carner Sr. OL/DL63 Dylan Greenfield Fr. OL/DL64 Timothy Sowerby Fr. OL/DL65 Markus Green So. OL/DL66 Emion Jackson Jr. OL/DL67 Michael Elkins So. OL/DL68 Chris Wilfong Sr. OL/DL70 Ross Whipple Sr. OL/DL71 Kavontre Carner Sr. OL/DL72 Lorenzo Wilson Sr. OL/DL73 John Schmitt Fr. OL/DL74 Zach Hale Jr. OL/DL75 Cambrin Hayes Fr. OL/DL

76 Seth Riley So. OL/DL77 John-Michael Sealey Jr. OL/DL78 Jerome Smith So. OL/DL79 Monterrious Caldwell So. OL/DL80 Neal Aldridge Fr. WR/DB81 Dequavious Leavell So. WR/DB82 Simeon Powell Jr. WR/DB83 Michael Croney Jr. WR/DB84 Nate McGregor So. WR/DB85 Frederick Reeves Fr. WR/DB86 Daniel Blakeley So. WR/DB87 Jaquan Patterson Fr. WR/DB88 Tyshawn Banks Jr. WR/DB90 Jamarquavian James So. OL/DL93 Kjawuan Major Sr. OL/DL94 Raven Knight Sr. OL/DL95 Ormarion Taylor Fr. OL/DL96 Steven Smiley Fr. OL/DL98 Colby Johnson Fr. OL/DL99 Jorge Parris Sr. RB/DL

Christian CountyCoach: Steve Lovelace (10th season)Last year: 8-4; Lost to Bowling Green 41-21 in second round

of Class 5A state playoffsKey players returning: WR Keyron Catlett, QB Kolbe

Langhi, DB Kenneth Major, OL Ross WhippleSignificant players lost:Ziyon Kenner, Donovan Keith,

Dixon Craft, Wyatt LanghiBreakthrough player candidate: WR James RayGame to circle on your calendar: Aug. 26 at Bowling Green

Page 7

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After winning its first district championship in a decade and completing a 10-win season for the first time in 13 years, the Hopkinsville High School football team is lookingto repeat and for even more in 2016. Led by sixth-year coach Marc Clark and junior quarterback Jalen Johnson, the Tigers open their season Saturday against Graves County.

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Tigers seek respect, defense of district titleBY CHRIS JUNG

NEW ERA SPORTS EDITOR

Despite the tragedy suffered by theHopkinsville High School football teamin 2015, it was a pivotally-positive sea-son for a program back on the rise.The Tigers orchestrated their first

year of double-digit wins in over adecade, captured the school’s first dis-trict championship since 2005 andwatched a sophomore quarterbackemerge into one of the top scoringthreats in Western Kentucky.Hoptown was even a touchdown in

overtime away from defeating Franklin-Simpson and advancing to host eventualClass 4A state champion South Warrenin the regional final at the Stadium ofChampions.As the 2016 season gets underway,

you’d never know much of that, how-ever, as Hopkinsville deals with a boutof uncertainty from its critics. Accusa-tions of soft scheduling and over-hypinghave only served as another round ofmotivating factors for HHS, whichseems ready to once again prove itsdoubters wrong.“Those polls and rankings and all that

stuff, that deals with perception. Andthat’s not really something we dealwith. We deal with reality,” said Hop-town coach Marc Clark, who is begin-ning his sixth season on the sideline.“Our reality is we have a good footballteam. We’re going to have to work for it

and we’re just going to control Hoptownand try to be the best version of our-selves by winning the day. That’s whatour main focus is.“If we do that, all those polls will take

care of themselves.”Returning for Clark are a stable of

weapons that are fast on both sides ofthe ball. Skills and athletic ability aside,Clark believes a player-driven team ismuch more successful than a coach-dri-ven squad, so he’s looking for his lead-ers to respond to that call.“That last class was so critical in kind

of turning the page (for this program),and every year we’ve just gotten a goodcrop of kids who have come in. And thatmakes expectations just raise anotherlevel higher,” Clark said. “For us, ourbig emphasis has been leading withinthe team. “We want these kids to run the show

— not necessarily play-calling duties —but we want them to run their lockerroom and conditioning, and make somedecisions within the program,” he con-tinued. “Once you develop that kind ofleadership, that’s when we’re going tobe able to take the next step.”Leading that charge is junior QB

Jalen Johnson. After being thrust intothe starting role toward the end of hisfreshman season, Johnson responded asa sophomore with 31 passing touch-downs, leaving him 40 away from theschool record. “We have our four designated cap-

tains, but for all intents and purposesthe offense has to run through Jalen,”Clark said. “Now, we’ve got a seasonedoffensive line and some other weapons,but we have said that the offense has togo through No. 10.”For Johnson to separate himself in

2016, however, Clark believes it’s allabout his progression as an extensionof the coaching staff on the field andhaving 100 percent mental control.“We sit down and talk about the “first

10 script” (first 10 plays of a game) andthat’s kind of the luxury that I have as acoordinator,” Clark said. “We’ve startedto put more on his plate mentally. He’sgot every tool you could want in a quar-terback. He’s got a big, strong arm, he’sathletic, he’s got a good pocket presence— now we’re starting to develop thatmental process where he can start to seethe look we want offensively, and he’sstarting to take hold of and pride inthat.”Along for the ride with Johnson are a

number of gifted skill players who willhave immediate impact. That group in-cludes CJ Henagan, Shorty Cager, JaKe-vis Bryant, Antonio Lander, JatorionDillard, Josiah Patton and GavinMarschand.“Coach (Matt) Day and I kind of

laugh about it, but we would hate to begame-planning for ourselves,” Clarksaid. “I’m not trying to say that in anarrogant way. But when we have five toseven eligibles and guys who under-

stand the brand of football we’re try-ing to put out on the field, it’s a fungame to play and we believe we aretough to defend.”On defense, senior captains Don

Parker and Jaxon Janes continue to setthe tone. That duo combined for nearly250 tackles last season.“Both those guys are tremendous tal-

ents and coach Day has said this couldbe one of the better defensive groupshe’s had,” Clark said. “Don’s so long andathletic, and can go play on the back endand so tough that we can roll him up inthe box at outside linebacker. His clos-ing speed to the ball is just phenomenal.“As for Jaxon, he’s a kid that, for two

years in a row, received 95 percent of thevotes for captain. That just doesn’t hap-pen when you’re a junior and a senior,”Clark said. “His understanding ofeverything we do is a testament toeverything he does in the offseason —how much he prepares and how muchhe cares about the program.”

HOPKINSVILLE 2016 ROSTER1 Josiah Patton Sr. WR/DB2 Andrew King Jr. TE/LB3 CJ Henagan Sr. WR/DB4 JaKevis Bryant Jr. RB/LB5 Steven Cager Jr. WR/DB6 Demetris Bivins Sr. WR/DB7 Dee Quarles Sr. WR/DB8 Jarquevion Kendrick Sr. RB/LB9 Antonio Lander Sr. WR/DB10 Jalen Johnson Jr. QB/DB11 Don Parker Sr. WR/DB12 Jatorion Dillard So. RB/DB14 Gavin Marschand Jr. WR/DB16 Matt Berghammer Jr. RB/DB17 Javier Bland Fr. QB/DB20 Charles Bussell Jr. WR/DB21 Micah Brewer Jr. WR/DB

23 Jordan Hopson So. RB/LB26 Christian Quarles Jr. WR/DB27 Tavion Sanders Jr. WR/LB29 Jevon Leavell Fr. RB/DB30 Taylor Harton Jr. K/P31 Conner Lackey Fr. WR/LB34 Hayden Lackey Fr. WR/LB38 Kyren Palmer So. WR/DB39 Cameron Bussell Jr. WR/DB40 Kevonni Young Fr. WR/LB43 Tyler Thomas So. TE/LB44 Jaxon Janes Sr. LB/TE45 De’Sandre Green Jr. TE/LB50 Nick Owens Sr. OL/DL51 Connor Bohannon Jr. OL/DL52 Ka’Tyvin Anthony Sr. OL/DL53 Keane Mumford Fr. OL/DL54 Deion Lane Sr. OL/DL55 RJ Wilson Sr. OL/DL

56 Quinton Collins Jr. OL/DL58 Christian Cruz So. OL/DL59 Jacob Wilkins So. OL/DL60 Quentin Carleton So. OL/DL61 Keysean Palmer So. OL/DL65 Wil Hawkins Jr. OL/DL66 Seth Henderson Fr. OL/DL67 Erick Grubbs Fr. OL/DL69 Mauritzio Ramirez Jr. OL/DL70 Josh Mallory So. OL/DL72 Blake Schutt So. OL/DL78 Ethan Sisk Sr. OL/DL79 Raheim Harris Fr. OL/DL80 Taysean Moss Jr. WR/DB82 Jaime Cooper-Roman So. TE/LB85 Mason Marschand Fr. K/P86 Morgan Demps Jr. K/P88 Cody Kaletta So. OL/DL

HOPKINSVILLECoach: Marc Clark (6th season)Last year: 10-2; Lost to Franklin-Simpson

28-21 in OT in second round of Class 4A stateplayoffsKey players returning:QB Jalen Johnson,

WR CJ Henagan, LB Jaxon Janes, DB DonParkerSignificant players lost: Ben Bealle,

Rakeem Chambers, Vincent Brown, Tyler GrahamBreakthrough player candidate: RB/LB

JaKevis BryantGame to circle on your calendar: Sept.

17 vs. vs. Christian County

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TRIGG COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM

TRIGG COUNTYCoach: Coby Lewis (6th season)Last year: 2-8; Missed playoffs for the first

time since 1999Key players returning:Taco Wilson, D’A-

vian Phillips, Luke CarneyhanSignificant players lost: WR Reggie Rad-

ford, RB Jamar Humphries, Breakthrough player candidate: FB/LB

Caleb BurdenGame to circle on your calendar: Sept. 30

vs. Paducah Tilghman

TRIGG COUNTY 2016 ROSTER1 Tayshaun Barker Fr. FB/DB2 Tyreke Wilson Sr. QB/S3 Kyron Grubbs So. WR/DB4 Zac McIntosh Jr. WR/SS5 JaKobe Bridges Fr. RB/S7 Trevor Lewis Fr. QB/LB10 Josh Visingardi Fr. QB/S11 Hayden Daniel Sr. K12 Daniel Reddick So. WR/S13 Jordan Shemwell Jr. WR/DB14 Jacob Kent Fr. WR/LB15 Caleb Burden So. FB/LB16 Cor’Quantron Cunningham Sr. WR/DB17 Gabriel Hardie Jr. WR/LB18 Luke Carneyhan Sr. RB/WR/S19 Zeb DeHart Sr. K20 Jarod Ballengee Jr. RB/LB21 CJ Ahart Fr. WR/DB22 Riley Stallons So. WR/S23 KiRome Bingham Jr. WR/DB24 Cade Bleidt Fr. FB/LB25 Cannan Burden Sr. WR/DB26 Isaiah Alexander Jr. WR/DB28 Keegan Slone Fr. WR/DB31 Ja’Marion Grubbs Jr. FB/LB32 Nate Dothsuk Jr. WR/DB33 Jude Hunter Fr. RB/LB34 Dustin Johnson Fr. FB/LB39 Andrew Sholar Sr. WR/LB40 Ahmad Alexander Jr. FB/NG42 Ikem Lawason Jr. N/A43 Tyson Bush Jr. FB/LB44 Alex Curling Fr. WR/S50 Gaige Haines Jr. OL/DL51 Matthew Carneyhan Jr. OL/DL52 Austin Mitchell So. OL/LB53 Isaiah Grubbs So. OL/DL54 Jordan DeSpain Sr. OL/DL55 Darrin Brown Jr. OL/DL56 Nason Shaw Fr. OL/DL57 Sheldon Fuller Fr. OL/DL58 Chris Oldham Jr. OL/DL60 Wesley Mudd Fr. N/A62 Johnathan Rosinworth Sr. OL/DL64 Kyler Bohn Sr. OL/LB65 Anthony Mercado So. OL/DL66 Larry Tyler Noel So. OL/DL67 Brandon Wilson Sr. OL/DL68 CorDevin Baggett Fr. OL/DL69 Norman Tyler Fr. OL/DL70 Gage Mathis So. OL/DL71 D’Avian Phillips Sr. OL/DL72 Ty Saez Fr. OL/DL74 Kip Darnell Jr. OL/DL75 Freddie McFarland III Sr. OL/DL77 Drew Pulley Sr. OL/DL79 Elijah Freeman Fr. OL/DL80 Matthew Hendricks Sr. WR/DB81 Robbie Manzanares Fr. WR/LB82 Markeyse Wilson Jr. WR/DB85 CJ Mitchell So. WR/DB86 Clay Groves Fr. OL/DL

BY CHRIS JUNGNEW ERA SPORTS EDITOR

In the year 1519, when CaptainHernán Cortés reached Spain dur-ing an historical conquest, he in-structed his men to burn the ships.His symbolic request carried a pro-found message that there would beno retreating. Cortés believed there were only

two options on this new land: findsuccess or die.Nearly 500 years later, though not

nearly as literal, Coby Lewis and theTrigg County High School footballteam are adopting the “burn theships” mentality following anabysmal 2-8 campaign in 2015, whichincluded the Wildcats missing theplayoffs for the first time in 16 years.“When Cortes burned the ships,

everybody had some doubts, butthere was no looking back,” Triggsixth-year coach Coby Lewis ex-plained. “We’re going to burn theships. We’ve got to put (2015) behindus and move forward.”In order for the ‘Cats to recover,

they’ll be looking to their leaders — apair of 6-foot-2 seniors in quarter-back Tyreke “Taco” Wilson and 292-pound lineman D’Avian Phillips.

Wilson, who will start his thirdand final season as the TCHS QB,was hampered by nagging injurieslast season, but still finished his jun-ior year 102-of-181 for 1,232 yards and14 touchdowns. He also ran 103 timesfor 227 yards and three more TDs.For his swansong, Wilson will be

tasked with implementing a new of-fense at Trigg County. Lewis has in-stalled the Tony Franklin System inCadiz and Wilson spent the summer,including a trip to three differentcamps, working to find its rhythm.“It’s mostly pass routes with some

swings to the outside, but not a lot ofrunning,” Wilson said. “I’ve pickedup on it pretty good. The timing of ithas been challenging so far, but that’sabout it.” Lewis agreed that Wilson has

adapted well.“Taco’s done a good job, but at the

same time we’ve had to re-teach himeverything because the system is sodifferent,” he said. “We’re behind onit right now and everything we’redoing with it is very base and veryvanilla right now. There is a lot moreto it that we’ll do eventually, but wehave to learn the foundation.”For Phillips, the summer brought

a plethora of attention and several

Wildcats burn their boats

college football offers, including arecent outreach from Murray StateUniversity. He’ll be a key piece toprotecting Wilson and allowing timefor plays to develop.“He was overweight and out of

shape when he came in here lastyear— he’ll tell you that — but he’slost 20 pounds since we let out ofschool last year and has worked to gethimself into top shape,” Lewis saidof his top lineman.At the conclusion of the 2015 sea-

son, Lewis admitted he wished theWildcats had figured out more waysto get versatile weapon Luke Carney-han involved. He finished with 500total yards and four TDs despite lim-ited touches in 2015.“We still don’t know what to do

with Luke,” Lewis admitted. “Westill want to play him at receiver be-cause he’s our best receiver, but wealso want to play him at runningback because he’s our best runningback. We’re going to keep workinghim in both spots. He’s a senior andknows what’s going on, and we’rejust going to do whatever we can toget him the ball.”As a whole, Trigg County faces an

identical slate of games that pro-duced just two wins (Caverna andTodd County Central) last season.Lewis believes this team has a chanceto flip some of those outcomes, but isremaining cautiously optimistic.“Our schedule is tough, our dis-

trict is really, really tough, so we’reup against that. But we’ve got agreat group of seniors who have re-ally worked hard, our juniors haveworked hard and we’ve added a lotof talent through our freshmanclass,” Lewis said. “Things are look-ing up but at the same time, we’vegot a long way to go.”

REACH CHRIS JUNG at 270-887-3261 or [email protected].

Hopkinsville TigersTIME DATE OPPONENT5:30 Aug. 20 Graves County (Jerry Claiborne Bowl)7 Aug. 26 West Creek (TN)5:30 Sept. 2 Fort Campbell (David Sadler Bowl)*7 Sept. 9 Murray7 Sept. 16 Christian County

Sept. 23 BYE7 Sept. 30 Madisonville-North Hopkins7 Oct. 6 Logan County7:30 Oct. 14 Calloway County7 Oct. 21 Hopkins County Central7 Oct. 28 Marshall County

* at Trigg County

Christian County ColonelsTIME DATE OPPONENT8 Aug. 20 Caldwell County (Jerry Claiborne Bowl)7 Aug. 26 Bowling Green7 Sept. 2 Henderson County7 Sept. 9 Fort Campbell7 Sept. 16 Hopkinsville7 Sept. 23 Marshall County7 Sept. 30 Owensboro7 Oct. 7 Apollo7 Oct. 14 Graves County

Oct. 21 BYE7 Oct. 28 John Hardin

Fort Campbell FalconsTIME DATE OPPONENT7 Aug. 19 Mayfield7 Aug. 26 Russellville5:30 Sept. 2 Hopkinsville (David Sadler Bowl)*7 Sept. 9 Christian County8 Sept. 16 Fort Knox7 Sept. 23 Trigg County

Sept. 30 BYE7 Oct. 7 Union County7 Oct. 14 Caldwell County7 Oct. 21 Paducah Tilghman7 Oct. 28 Madisonville North-Hopkins

*at Trigg County

Trigg County WildcatsTIME DATE OPPONENT7 Aug. 19 Crittenden County7 Aug. 26 Breckinridge County7 Sept. 2 Hart County7 Sept. 9 Trigg County7 Sept. 16 Russellville7 Sept. 23 Hancock County

Sept. 30 BYE7 Oct. 7 McLean County7 Oct. 14 Owensboro Catholic7 Oct. 21 Butler County7 Oct. 28 Logan County

Todd County Central RebelsTIME DATE OPPONENT7 Aug. 19 Crittenden County7 Aug. 26 Breckinridge County7 Sept. 2 Hart County7 Sept. 9 Trigg County7 Sept. 16 Russellville7 Sept. 23 Hancock County

Sept. 30 BYE7 Oct. 7 McLean County7 Oct. 14 Owensboro Catholic7 Oct. 21 Butler County7 Oct. 28 Logan County

KEY: HOME GAME ALL TIMES CST P.M.

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