Outlook- After two straight one-win seasons, head coach Joseph Peake finally had a multiple win year for the Thomas Nelson Generals as they took advantage of a team full of experienced players. This season, the problem will be replacing those graduated players on both sides of the ball.
Offense- The Generals scored 177-points in eleven games, which was up from 104 in 2020. Peake had Chase Gridley as his quarterback to run the offense and with both him and Braden Smith gone, the only other player that had any experience under center was junior Jacob Thornberry, but he transferred to Bethlehem. Smith was also the team’s leading receiver with 45-catches and Blake Greenwell is right behind him with 15. The running game was paced by Smith (631-yards 6-TDs). Both he and Luke McMahon are gone and with Gridley the third leading rusher also graduated. The Offensive Line lost Aiden Gossom and Steve Newton, but Andrew Blanton and Tanner Pugh return along with Elijah Patterson and AJ Grishman.
Defense- The Generals gave up only 300-points compared to 330 last season and there will be plenty of different changes on this side of the ball as well. The Defensive Line will return Ethan Barnes and Peyton Harmon along with AJ Grisham and Elijah Patterson, while the Linebackers will be brand new. The secondary also lost Ethan Crider (who tore his ACL) to a team which lost leading interceptors Gridley, Smith and DeWitt.
Summation- It was a long hard climb to show progress and with a younger team again, if the Generals improve on their win total will decide on whether the team can adjust with so many different faces on both sides of the ball again.
