Outlook- Coach Bryan Jones will enter the 2022 football season with several returnees in skill positions and plenty of question marks. After going 5-3 during 2020, the Cougars dropped a little last season with a 4-7 record and improvement will depend on how quickly jones is able to find replacements starting with quarterback.
Offense- Grayson County scored 259-points in eleven games and tallied 1,211-yards through the air. Kaylor Decker was the trigger man in the air game and was pretty effective as a runner as well picking up 406-yards and scoring five times. Senior Hunter Felty could be the next man up. Last season he was 22of32 for 357-yards and 5-TDs. The running game was paced by Chandler Mccardy, who picked up 526-yards. With his graduation and Decker gone, it could be senior Mike Woods and Feltry who pick up the load. The leading receiver was Hunter Tomes and with his departure, the next best pass catcher was Wood (23-catches for 303-yards) and junior Jeren VanMeter (17-for 196-yards). The Offensive Line will lose Ben Rogers, center Ethan Hall, but will return seniors Tanner Finley, Nick Nuttel and Waylon Bruce.
Kicking- Jackson Kane converted 16-of-21 PATs and was 1-for 2 in field goals and should return for his senior season.
Defense- The defense allowed 263-poinst in eleven games and could be better despite some graduations. The Defensive Line lost Ethan Hall and Ben Rogers, but Tanner Finley and Will Scott and Jones will look for replacements. The Linebackers will return Hunter Feltry and their will be new faces there as well. The secondary will feature Keaton Hodges and Jeren VanMeter. The secondary intercepted 10=passes and recovered 6-fumbles.
Summation- Since taking over the coaching job, Jones has discovered the same thing that long time Ed Smart did which is building and rebuilding are always difficult and time consuming. It hasn’t been easy and 2020 may have slowed things down. However, if the transition period goes smoothly, the win total could rise as well.
