Written by Jim Mashek
The only certainty is that the KHSAA football season remains in a state of flux.
And that coaches in South Central Kentucky are prepared to roll with
the punches. More than 20 KHSAA schools were represented by their head
football coach and at least two players on Saturday morning at the
Paul Gray Media Day at the Holiday Inn Bowling Green.
And those teams have been working with limited contact to their teams
over the last few months, with only groups of 10 players or less as
the Commonwealth tries to come to grips with the COVID-19 public
health crisis.
On Thursday, the KHSAA board will announce its plans moving forward,
but with college conferences like the Big Ten and the Pac 12
cancelling their football seasons in 2020, and the SEC and ACC making
major alterations to their schedules — sometimes, it seems, on the
run — governing bodies for high school sports across the United
States will have to make tough decisions on whether football should be
played in 2020, and what adjustments might be necessary to do so.
Click here to view Paul Gray Football Media Day Video Interviews.
BOWLING GREEN HIGH SCHOOL (9-4 in 2019)
Bowling Green coach Mark Spader said the Purples are preparing as
though their scheduled opener on September 11 against Pleasure Ridge
Park will take place.
Spader said the BGHS coaching and training staff have taken the
necessary precautions to resume football practice and get the team
ready to play
“We’re really biting at the bit, looking to get some real football
in,” Spader said. “The message I have is if we have a season, we HAVE
to be ready to go.”
Spader said the Purples are scheduled to open practice on August 24,
“It’s like (KHSAA commissioner) Julian Tackett says, 2020 will be like
no other,” Spader said.
MONROE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL (5-6 in 2019)
The big news in Tompkinsville is that John Petett has returned to his
job as the Falcons’ head coach, and he wants to deal with the unknowns
so his players can prepare for playing football.
“It’s a process, getting through this,” Petett said. “You wouldn’t do
this is you didn’t want to be out here. Your players have to buy in to
what you’re doing.
“I want to take the pressure off the kids, and let them go out there
and have some fun. This senior class is one of the better ones we’ve
seen at Monroe County in some time.”
LOGAN COUNTY COUGARS (8-3 in 2019)
Logan County coach Todd Adler said he’s hopeful his players will be
signed in for on-site learning and that the Cougars will have to make
some adjustments in his fifth season at the helm.
“Most of our guys are playing varsity football for the first time,”
Adler said. “We want to teach them things they can’t learn in a
hallway — accountability, responsibility, teamwork, the grind.
“At the end of the day I think we can be a good team.”
EDMONSON COUNTY WILDCATS (6-7 in 2019)
Edmonson County coach Nathan Smith lamented coaching football with the
current limitations on safety.
“It’s really hard to learn an 11-man game with 10-man groups,” Smith
said. “We’re going to have to be able to put it together in about two
weeks after we open the season.”
Smith pointed out that the Wildcats return several key players,
including quarterback John Smith, as well as most of their offensive
line.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever looked forward to a season like this,” Smith said.
BARREN COUNTY TROJANS (7-6 in 2019)
Barren County coach Jackson Arnett believes his team is equipped to
handle the uncertainty posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, based on his
senior class’ track record.
“We have a group of seniors who have been through a LOT,” Arnett said,
“including their freshman year, when we didn’t have any home games.
All on the road. They’re battle tested, they’re ready to go.
The Trojans have just nine players in their senior class, but they’re
looking forward to the start of practice, whether it’s August 24, as
scheduled, or later in the school year.
“I can’t wait to see these kids again,” Arnett said. “We’re moving forward.”
METCALFE COUNTY HORNETS (1-9 in 2019)
Metcalfe County coach L.J. Harbison knows the Hornets have only one
place to go, which is up, after last year’s 1-9 season.
“We lost five games by a total of 26 points,” Harbison said. “We’re
here for the kids. I feel like we need to play, to give people some
sense of normalcy in their lives.”
Harbison said two Metcalfe County parents approached him about their
sons, telling him they would not play football under the possibility
of spreading the COVID-19 virus.
WARREN CENTRAL DRAGONS (0-10 in 2019)
Warren Central coach Cary Fowler said he’ll only have two or three
players in his senior class, but he believes the Dragons have several
younger players who could emerge as legitimate college football
prospects.
Warren Central went 0-10 last season.
“It comes down to building a foundation that you have,” Fowler said.
“I know we’ve got a good football team. Our mission is to make a deep
run in the playoffs.
“We’ve got an opportunity to do something great. We don’t even worry
about last year.”
GREENWOOD HIGH SCHOOL GATORS (6-6 in 2019)
Veteran Greenwood coach William Howard is the superstitious type, and
he vows not to shave his Grizzly Adams type beard “until we start
playin’.”
The Gators opened the 2019 season with four consecutive victories but
limped out of the Class 5A playoffs with a 33-11 loss at South Warren.
That left Greenwood at 6-6 for the season, an improvement from the
previous two seasons but just a starting point in Howard’s estimation.
“(The guidelines for practice) seems to me like it changes every day,”
Howard said. “Nobody has an answer, right now, about tomorrow. As far
as playing, the rewards outweigh the risks, in my estimation.
“There’s an inherent risk in competing in athletics, and we all know that.”
GLASGOW HIGH SCHOOL SCOTTIES (10-2 in 2019)
Glasgow opened its 2019 season with five consecutive victories and had
Class 5A power South Warren on the ropes in a home game. The Trojans,
however, pulled out a 21-20 victory, and Glasgow went on to go 10-2
for the season.
The Scotties rolled past Adair County in the first round of the
playoffs before falling to Taylor County 20-14.
Glasgow coach Jeff Garmon pointed out the Scotties have won at least
10 games in each of the last three seasons.
“Right now, we’re looking to play eight games,” Garmon said. “We think
we’ve got a really good team. It’s important to me, that our program
move forward. We’re one of the smaller schools in Class 3A, so it’s a
heckuva challenge.”
WARREN EAST RAIDERS (4-7 in 2019)
Warren East coach Jeff Griffith said his team has a small senior class
and that the Raiders must improve defensively.
Griffith said he’s hopeful the ruling from the KHSAA board on Thursday
“will just be a formality” and that the Raiders can begin camp as
expected.
“Offensively, we have to have more consistency,” Griffith said. “We’re
going to be young, but I like the talent of our younger guys. We’ve
just got to get some experience.
“We’ve got to shore some things up, defensively, and the biggest thing
is to get better in the kicking game.”
ALLEN COUNTY-SCOTTSVILLE PATRIOTS (5-7 in 2019)
ACS-coach Bradley Hood was impressed with the way his team came back
from a 1-6 start to reach the second round of the KHSAA Class 4A
playoffs.
“We know that nothing’s given,” Hood said. “It’s not fun with no
7-on-7 tournaments and our offensive linemen unable to work with our
defensive linemen.
“This group, you’re not going to find anyone who outworks them.”
Hood said he can’t see himself doing anything but being a football coach.
“I will coach football, probably, I will coach football until I die,”
Hood said. “These kids deserve to play.”
CLINTON COUNTY BULLDOGS (7-4 in 2019)
Clinton County coach Rocky Tallent admits the Bulldogs will be young
in 2019, and the interruptions presented by the COVID-19 pandemic
present a new set of obstacles.
“We’ve got a lot of talent, but it’s unproven,” Tallent said. “I don’t
think anybody knows what they’re really going to have until halfway
through the season. I’m going to be honest with my players, and you
have to be positive, and look at what’s in the best interests of the
kids.”
FRANKLIN-SIMPSON WILDCATS (7-6 in 2019)
The tradition rich Franklin-Simpson squad opened the season with four
consecutive losses before hitting stride to finish 7-5 with a regional
semifinal appearance in the KHSAA Class 4A playoffs.
The Wildcats lost that game, falling to Madisonville 45-31.
“I’m looking forward to coaching football,” Franklin-Simpson coach
Max Chaney said. “I’ve been coaching weightlifting and conditioning
for a while.”
Chaney anticipates the WIldcats having a thin senior class with 12
players. He said Franklin-Simpson will remain a football team that
emphasizes its running game.
“We’re always going to try to run the football,” he said.
SOUTH WARREN SPARTANS (10-2 in 2019)
South Warren turned in another strong season in 2019, with both of its
two losses coming at the hands of crosstown rival Bowling Green High
School.
The Purples defeated South Warren 20-13 in the second round of the
KHSAA Class 5A playoffs.
South Warren coach Brandon Smith said the Spartans have had to adapt to
the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic largely on the run.
“You’re overwhelmed at first, with the new protocol, but after awhile,
you really get used to it,” Smith said. “It feels like we’ve been
doing this all summer, waiting for them to make decisions going
forward.”
Click here to view Paul Gray Football Media Day Video Interviews.
