2023 Record: 4-7
Head Coach: Doug Preston
2023: After taking over the Bulldog football program after the 2019 season, Doug Preston looked to continue the series of successful football at John Hardin going 12-9 after two seasons including the pandemic year, but 2022 was very clearly the season to forget for Preston as the team was too young and green going 2-9 scoring just 138-points in eleven games while allowing 430 on defense. However, the Bulldogs began to learn from their growing pains as they showed some improvement (4-7) in 2023 doubling their offensive output. This season, the team should make even more improvement returning nine major contributors on offense and eight of defense.
Offense: John Hardin scored 264-points last season and one of the main reasons was the success of the running game which produced with four major runners and will return Cavalli Pittman (882-yds 8-TDS), Emari Simon (777-yds 4-TDS) and Layden Anderson (437-yds 1-TD). Austin Richardson will be back under center as he threw for 1001=yds and 11-tds and only 3-interceptions. Richardson’s targets were MJ Hayes (6-catches 206yds 4-TDS), Cavalli Pittman (11-catches for 200-yds 1-TD) and TJ Williams (4-catches 106-yds 1-TD) and all will be back. The Offensive Line, which showed great improvement will still feature Center Damien Lyons, Landon McCullum and Baine Meinkhiem, so Preston will look for replacements to compliment the line.
Kicking Game: Ashton Russell went 26 of 29 on PATs and 4-5 on Field Goals and will be back also as the punter as well.
Defense: The Defense also showed improvement as they allowed just 239-points compared to 430 in 2022 and will return the bulk of that group. The Defensive line will return TJ Williams, Eligah Luna (who had 10-QB sacks) and Landon McCullum. The Linebackers will still have Cavalli Pittman, DJ Hightower and Cameron Moore (51-tackles 1st on the team) and the defensive backs which had 9-interceptions return Emori Simon and MJ Hayes.
Summation: With a schedule of Green County, Hancock County, Bardstown and DeSales coming up, Preston seems to have the team ready for a successful season. After the nightmare of 2022, many may have had their doubts, but Preston stayed the course and with a little luck a winning record could be in the books for the Bulldogs this season.
