2022 Record- 9-3
Head Coach- Chad Griffin
2022 Season- Last season, the Raiders had one of their best seasons in recent memory as Griffin put together a young and talented team along with Hart County’ first playoff win in many seasons. The question being, can they do it again? The Raiders graduated only a few starters and return plenty of skill players for another deep run in 2023.
Offense- There was plenty of reasons for Griffin to smile and the offense was one big reason as the Raiders scored 430-points and averaged over 20-points in 11-games including playoffs. Hart County will have senior Keaton Walters under center again after throwing for 1,211-yards and nine TDs. The running game pounded out 4,242-yards and leading the way is Joshua Dan Crump with 1,200-yards and 10-TDs. The senior will have Clark Rexroat and Jordan Bradley (918-yds 7-TDs and 604-yds 9-TDs) to lead the attack. In all, Hart County had 15-different guys credited with rushing stats and that shouldn’t change in 2023. Senior Jaxson Shoulders led all receivers in catches with 19 for 434-yds and 5-TDs and was followed by Kohnner Trent with 17-catches for 361-yds and a score. The Offensive Line will still have seniors Kaden Trent, Jareh Gedda ansd Logan Grider along with junior ToneVion Crockett.
Kicking- Dawson Harl handled the kicking chores going 22-32 on PATs and didn’t have any field goals.
Defense- The defense was a force allowing just 233-points in 12-games and should be effective again. The Defensive Line will lose Alex Ford, but return seniors Kaden Trent and JD Crump. The Linebackers will be led by the team’s leading tackler senior Jaxson Shoulders (156) and seniors AD Milby and Hayden Crosister. The secondary led the team with 16-interceptions and Kohnner Trent had 5 of them. Junior Konner Walters will be back as will senior Clark Rexroat.
Summation- It’s never easy turning any program around, but Griffin was able to do it and with a young team several seasons ago. Now with a veteran team, the Raiders should continue to improve and should have a great year.
Schedule- The Raiders season starts on August 18th against Spencer County (10-2) and then two straight home games against LaRue County (4-7) and then Green County (7-4), before going out on the road against Elizabethtown (8-4). Then back home against Butler County (8-3) before going on the road against Caverna (3-7). Adair County (3-7) will be their next home trip and then on the road against Glasgow (6-5) and then home for the final two regular season games against Franklin Simpson (7-4) and then Campbellsville (7-4). In all, the Raiders will play seven games against opponents with winning records. Should be a good schedule to test an experienced team.
