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Band of brothers

Strong senior class has Christian Countycoach Steve Lovelace thinking state title

AUG. 16, 2012

CHRISTIAN COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL

ROSTER2012 Christian County Colonels

No. Player Pos. Class1 Juan Jones DB/RB 122 Terrell Wimberly DB/RB 113 Kory Polley DB/WR 124 Sam Kington LB/FB 125 Anthony Williams DB/WR 116 Korey Mosley LB/RB 128 Isaiah Pollard LB/RB 119 Jarvis Irby DB/WR 1210 Ryan Knight DB/QB 1211 Anthony Dyson DB/WR 1212 Jefferson Alexander DB/WR 1213 Tyler Reneer DB/WR 1214 DeQuavian Walton DB/WR 1015 Dixon Craft DE/QB 917 Seth Stevenson DB/TE 1018 A.J. Carr DE/TE 1219 Deondre Outlaw LB/FB 1120 Shawn Hutson LB/FB 921 Froilam Agulto DB/WR 922 T.J. Bell DB/WR 1123 Devon Wharton DB/WR 1024 Jordan Crawford LB/RB 925 Shaquan Nicholas DB/WR 1126 Deonte Wright LB/RB 928 Justin Newby LB/RB 929 Derrick Burgess DB/WR 1232 Kenneth Sells DB/WR 1033 Denzel Woodfolk DB/RB 1034 Deonte Coleman DE/TE 935 D.J. Langhi LB/RB 1036 George Haskin DB/RB 1037 David Henderson DB/WR 938 Vernon Porter DB/RB 1039 Bryan Childers LB/RB 940 Marcus Cook LB/RB 1141 Wyatt Langhi LB/WR 942 Terrance Sowerby DL/OL 1044 David Smith LB/RB 1245 Keevie Matlock LB/RB 1147 Devon Hayes LB/TE 1248 Tristan Cansler LB/TE 950 Michael Thomas DL/OL 1151 Dylan Barnett DL/OL 1152 Tevin Toler LB/OL 1053 Dylan George DL/OL 955 Tyler Waldrop DL/OL 1156 John Powell DL/OL 1157 Jacob Satterfield DL/OL 1258 Michael Carr DL/OL 959 Aaron Watson DL/OL 1160 Lashawn Evans DL/OL 1161 Tate Baker DL/OL 1162 Devan Farmer DL/OL 1263 Junior Frederick DL/OL 964 Tayshaun Cayce DL/OL 1065 Ethan Edwards DL/OL 1167 Josh Harbold DL/OL 1068 Michael Billiter DL/OL 1270 Jacob Chesher DL/OL 1172 Chris Baker DL/OL 1074 Jakari Jones DL/OL 976 Daron McGregory DL/OL 1277 Jovante Mahone DL/OL 978 Jon-Tyler Moore DL/OL 1079 Nile Shemwell DL/OL 1180 Jonathan Shanklin DE/TE 1281 Patrick Bradley DB/WR 1182 Dendrick Holmes DB/WR 1083 Keyvon Sells DB/WR 985 Thurmond Robinson DE/WR 986 Keyshaun Hollowell DB/WR 987 DeQuavias Weaver DB/WR 1088 Adam Tucker DE/TE 989 Kobe Perry DE/TE 990 Marshall Billiter DE/RB 991 Stevie Mason DL/OL 1193 Triveon Hampton DE/TE 1094 James White TE/DE 1295 Monty Mason DL/OL 1096 Camryn Samples DL/OL 1098 Taylor Cunningham K/P 1199 Joseph Freeland DE/TE 11

BY JOE WILSONNEW ERA SPORTS EDITOR

The Christian County Colonels arehoping a strong group of seniors and afriendly schedule will be enough tocarry them back to the Class 5-A statechampionship for the third time in fiveseasons.

Colonels’ coach Steve Lovelace said hehas seniors on this year’s team, whichplays nine of its 10 regular-season gamesinside the Christian County limits.

“It’s going to come down to leader-ship for us this year,” said Lovelace,who is beginning his sixth season asthe Colonels’ head coach. “It just de-pends on which seniors want to stepup. If we don’t have seniors, we need ajunior to step up.”

Christian County won the Class 5-A,District 1 title last season but fell 40-14to Warren Central in the second roundof the playoffs. The Dragons physicallydominated the Colonels on both sidesof the ball and Lovelace said that won’t

happen this season.“We’ve been working hard during the

offseason and we are much closer thansome of our other teams,” he said.“They hang out together and they dostuff together as a group. That usuallyis a positive thing.”

Offensively, theColonels return seniorquarterback RyanKnight, who split timeas the signal-caller lastseason. He threw for1,181 yards and ninetouchdowns while onlytossing four intercep-tions.

“Ryan took a lot ofheat last year but he is a

two-year starter and he has a lot of ex-perience,” Lovelace said. “I thoughtCoach (John) Faulk did a great job withhim last year. He shared time withLucus (Crawley). The biggest thing hedid was not winning games for us buthe didn’t lose games for us.”

In the backfield, senior Korey Mosleyhas emerged as the top tailback. Mosleyrushed for team-leading 598 yards andsix touchdowns last season. SeniorDavid Smith and junior Marcus Cookalso should see plenty of playing time.

“If Korey was 2 inches taller and rana 4.4 everybody in the country wouldwant him,” Lovelace said. “He has greatbalance, great vision and he can catchthe ball. David (Smith) we moved backfrom defense and he is a great blockerand we are expecting big things out ofMarcus. But they all know if they don’tblock, they don’t carry the ball.”

Juan Jones and Sam Kington alsocould see time in the Colonels’ back-field. Jones ran for 518 yards and ninescores a year ago.

A veteran group of receivers also isreturning for the Colonels. SeniorsJarvis Irby and Jonathan Shanklincombined for 43 receptions and 827yards. Lovelace said seniors Jeff

NE WERA FILE PHOTO

Senior quarterback Ryan

Knight 10,shown in a gamelast year against

MadisonvilleNorth Hopkins,

has been a parttime starter for

the Colonels forthe past two sea

sons. He willguide the

Colonels’ offensein 2012 and

hopes to carrythem to their

third Class 5Astate champi

onship game inthe last five

years. ChristianCounty opens

the 2012 seasonFriday night athome againstMadisonville.

Senior leadership, favorable schedulecould be difference for 2012 Colonels

Lovelace

SEE CCHS, PAGE 8

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FORT CAMPBELL HIGH SCHOOL

ROSTER2012 Fort Campbell Falcons

No. Player Pos. Class1 David Sahms PK 122 Zach Syester TE/LB 113 Nygel Bradley WR/DB 114 Zarius Grant WR/DB 125 Isaiah Washington TE/LB 116 Jaylen Williams QB/DB 107 Triston Luke RB/DB 108 Marquez Rolinger WR/DB 119 Javante Taylor WR/DB 1110 Aaron Otto RB/DB 1111 Keenan Conner TE/LB 1012 Zach Lee TE/LB 1113 Austin Nelson TE/LB 1115 Will Bolen WR/DB 1016 Kenny Gourdine WR/DB 1020 Khalil Maynard WR/DB 1221 Donovan Keith QB/DB 922 Anthony Warner WR/DB 923 Christian Berry RB/DB 1026 Dallas Wooldridge WR/DB 928 Jonathan Jethroe RB/DB 1032 Tracey Covington WR/DB 1234 Jacob Ellison PK 1035 Shyquan Carter WR/DB 12

No. Player Pos. Class41 Andrew Chesser WR/DB 1046 AJ Ogburn OL/DL 1148 Gyasi Alexander WR/LB 1150 Justin McGehigan OL/DL 952 Drayton Simmons OL/LB 1253 Brian Bentley OL/DL 1154 Michael Sawyer OL/LB 1255 Christian Noble OL/LB 1156 Anthony Tarry OL/LB 1157 Cameron Clopton OL/DL 1258 Dustin Armendariz OL/DL 1260 Justin Jones OL/DL 1264 Earnest Simmons OL/LB 1065 Noah Benson OL/DL 1066 Jake Jorstad OL/DL 1069 Cameron Mattox OL/DL 1072 Austin Wade OL/DL 1074 Matthew Oliphant OL/DL 1075 Mark Mada OL/DL 1076 Ezra Tupuola OL/DL 978 Logan Jones OL/DL 1079 Coty Hix OL/DL 1284 Austin Allen WR/DB 1186 Chris Geschwill WR/DB 9

BY TRENT SINGERNEW ERA ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

The Fort Campbell Falcons footballprogram has been arguably the mostconsistently competitive program inthe southern Pennyrile region in re-cent years and is coming off a 2011 sea-son that ended in the semifinals of theKentucky High School Athletic Associ-ation Class 3-A playoffs with a 36-8 lossto Louisville Central, who eventuallywent on to win the state championship.

The Falcons finished with a 9-5record, stumbling out of the gates witha 3-4 record through their first sevengames before responding with a six-game winning streak that showed theteam’s true colors.

Shawn Berner is entering his 11thseason as head coach of the Falcons.Over those 11 years, Berner has a 103-27overall record.

Berner assumed his position as head

coach in 2002 when the program wasClass 1-A and has never had a losingseason.

He also won three straight Class 2-Astate championships with the Falconsin 2007, 2008 and 2009. The 2007 teamwas the school’s first year at the Class2-A level.

Last season was the school’s firsttime at the Class 3-A level. Bernertalked about how well his team per-formed last year, despite the oddsagainst them.

“We had a big senior class in whichthey all graduated,” he said. “I felt likewe kind of hit our stride there aboutmidway through the season. We fin-ished really strong and carried somemomentum over into the weight roomthis season.”

With many of last year’s stars gradu-ated from the ranks of Falcons football,

Young Falcons expect big things in 2012

SEE FCHS, PAGE 9

TRIGG COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL

ROSTER2012 Trigg County Wildcats

No. Player Pos. Class1 Quentin Bird WR/DB 112 Kyle Rivera WR/DE 123 Dee Murphy WR/DB 124 Taylor Mitchuson RB/DB 125 Reggie Radford RB/DB 97 Luke McKenzie QB/S 1110 Austin Durham WR/OLB 1211 Skylar Pool QB/OLB 1012 David Wease TE/S 1213 Jayven Jones RB/OLB 1114 Maurice Powell RB/OLB 1115 Tyler Allen WR/OLB 916 Jermiah Kline RB/DB 917 Isaiah Johnson RB/OLB 1018 Braxton Oakley QB/OLB 919 Dalton Hendricks QB/S 920 Jamar Humphries FB/MLB 921 Cardale Bacon WR/DB 1122 Mikey White RB/DE 1123 Chris Acree RB/S 1224 Trace Kuberski WR/DB 1226 Rayquan Stubbelfield RB/DB 1128 David Morgan WR/DB 1031 Hunter Heady RB/DB 1032 Brandon Wilson WR/S 1033 Dillon Wade RB/DB 1034 Daniel Ingram RB/OLB 1139 Ryan Gallogly WR/DB 1140 Elliott Boyd RB/OLB 942 Phillip Jones WR/DE 944 Quan Kirby FB/MLB 1045 Mason Shelton WR/S 950 Darien Davis OL/DL 1251 Aaron Stevens OL/DL 1153 Warren Jones OL/DE 1154 Chris Jackson OL/DL 1055 Mason Hyde OL/DE 1256 Dylan Parker OL/OLB 957 Hunter Allen OL/DL 1058 Cody Huntsman OL/DL 1059 Micheal Wilson OL/DL 1060 Reagan Hyde K 962 Dallas McCloud OL/DL 1063 Ryan McCloud OL/DL 1264 John McGee OL/DL 1265 Tyler Spano OL/DL 966 Axel Sloseberg OL/DL 969 Tanner Bush OL/DL 1270 Nick Allen OL/DL 1271 Michael Thomas OL/DL 1172 Austin Johnson OL/DL 973 Robert Buckingham OL/DL 1274 Graham Lawrence OL/DL 1075 Jacob Mason OL/DE 1177 Jaquarius Watkins OL/DL 979 Joseph DeSpain OL/DL 980 Ryan Ellis WR/DB 1081 Austin Pugh WR/DB 1182 Hunter Fowler WR/DB 1185 Zach Forss WR/DB 1186 Tristen Jordan WR/DB 1089 Micah Gordon WR/DB 9

BY JOE WILSONNEW ERA SPORTS EDITOR

CADIZ, Ky. — A year ago, the TriggCounty High School football team wastrying to overcome a late coachingchange, facing a new district withheavyweights Paducah Tilghman andFort Campbell and doing so with arookie coach and a youthful roster.

Coby Lewis, a long-time Trigg assis-tant coach, took over the Wildcats onlya few weeks before the regular seasonstarted after Shannon Burcham re-signed to take the school’s principal po-sition. He guided the team to a 4-0 startand a spot in the Class 3-A playoffs.Trigg finished 7-4 and was knocked offby Monroe County in the first round ofthe postseason.

Fast-forward a year later and Lewisand his staff have had a year to preparefor this season and have plenty of fire-power to battle Paducah and FortCampbell.

“In my mind this is the toughest dis-

trict in the state at the 3-A level,” Lewissaid at the team’s media day lastmonth. “It doesn’t get much tougher.Webster will be better too. The goodnews is we get Fort Campbell here forthe first time in about five years and

Paducah at home,maybe for the first timeever. That should helpus.”

The Wildcats willbuild their offensearound quarterbackLuke McKenzie, whothrew for 1,061 yardsand seven touchdownsa year ago. McKenziewent to a camp and

worked with former Tennessee Titansquarterback Kerry Collins and has im-proved his all-around game, Lewissaid.

“He also worked with David Cutcliffeand he has started placing the ball in-stead of just throwing the ball,” Lewissaid. “He’s also a better leader. He’s

been working with the receivers ontheir own time after practice.”

Behind McKenzie, Jayven Jones ,Skylar Pool, Chris Acree and MikeyWhite make up a stable of capable run-ning backs.

Former Tennessee Titans runningback Eddie George worked with mostof the group during the summer.

Jones is a powerful back who is thetop returning rusher for Trigg. Herushed for 137 yards on 23 carries.

Like McKenzie, Jones has taken on abigger leadership role after reading abook entitled, “Maxwell’s Leadership101.”

Lewis said Jones has taken the run-ning backs and they run hills followingpractice trying to improve on their con-ditioning.

In front of the talented group will bean offensive line who returns most ofthe starters from 2011. Aaron Stevensleads the group, although he suffered a

NE W ERA FILE PHOTO

In this photo, tak

en last year,

David Wease 12

sheds a Todd

County Central

defender as the

Wildcats went on

to defeat the

Rebels 130.

Wease enters

2012 as a senior

for Trigg and is

coming off a sea

son in which he

had 14 recep

tions for 139

yards and three

touchdowns.

Wease also con

tributed 26 extra

points last year,

finishing the sea

son with a team

secondbest 44

points all year.

Experienced Wildcats return thisseason to play in competitive district

Lewis

SEE TRIGG, PAGE 11

Best Wishes This Season

(270) 265-2436205 Airport Rd. • Elkton, KYwww.todd.kyschools.us

GOOD LUCKon a

SUCCESSFULSEASON!

TeachingCaringServing

TODD COUNTY CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

ROSTER2012 Todd County Central Rebels

No. Player Pos. Class

2 Cody Slade WR/DB 9

3 Noah Bicksler DB/K 9

4 James Bishop WR/DB 10

5 Bryce Shanklin QB 11

7 Colby Bicksler K 12

8 Andre Morrow WR/DB 10

9 Naytrimus Harris QB/DB 9

10 Cody Garcia QB/LB 10

11 Jalyn Henry WR/DE 12

14 Joseph Johnson WR/DE 9

15 Andrew Lira WR/DB 9

20 William Fox WR/K 12

22 Terrance Johnson RB/DB 11

23 Dylan Nichols RB/DB 10

24 Erwin Graves RB/LB 12

28 Brett Bostic WR/DB 11

30 Joey Sumpter TE/DB 12

32 Bronson Massey RB/LB 12

34 Kent Sweeney WR/LB 9

35 Zach Coots RB/LB 10

No. Player Pos. Class

40 Travis Goodin TE/LB 11

42 Dustin Naylor TE/LB 12

50 Loren Lindner OL/DL 12

52 Connor Cole OL/LB 9

53 William Settle OL/DL 11

54 Jacob Petrie OL/LB 12

56 Brian Willis OL/DL 9

58 Javon Byars OL/DL 10

59 Shane Arms OL/DL 12

62 Mark Brooks OL/DL 10

63 Josh Maziarz OL/DL 12

64 Matthew Silvia OL/DL 10

68 Brandon Risley OL/DL 12

70 Alan Friedman OL/DL 9

72 DJ Spradlin OL/DL 11

77 Richard Briggs OL/DL 9

80 Damon Henderson WR/DB 11

81 Deontray Johnson WR/DB 12

85 Ryan Briggs WR/DB 9

88 Chris Stokes WR/LB 11


ELKTON, Ky. — In Elkton, girls’ bas-ketball has been the premiere sport atTodd County Central, while footballhas hardly seen winning ways for al-most two decades.

The Rebels enter the upcoming foot-ball season in hopes of improving fromlast year and putting together one of thebest football seasons in school history.

Third-year head coach Bryan Jonesreturns to lead the Rebels in 2012.Jones proved in 2010 that the Rebelscould be a competitive team after lead-ing the Rebels to a 4-7 mark in his firstseason.

Jones admits he has learned a lotsince being named head coach two sea-sons ago.

“I’ve learned that what you put in iswhat you get out, but I’ve also learnedthat nothing can replace experience,”

he said. “Last year, we were a very in-experienced team at the varsity level,and it showed in games that were close.The teams we faced that were moresenior-heavy than us ended up beatingus late in the game because we justlacked experience.”

Last year, the Rebels took a step backas they finished with a 1-9 record, de-feating only winless McLean County58-20 in September.

Jones believes last year’s lack of suc-cess has triggered a tremendous effortfrom his team this offseason.

“This group of kids experienced verylittle success, and I think it sprung usinto a great offseason,” he said. “Theyfelt what it was like to be 1-9, and theydon’t want to feel that again, so they’veput in a lot of hard work.”

The Rebels will benefit greatly fromthe return of 13 seniors, including

Rebels benefit from return of 13 seniors

SEE TODD, PAGE 11

CALDWELL COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL

ROSTER2012 Caldwell County Tigers

No. Player Pos. Class2 Elijah Sindelar QB/DB 103 Jacob Burke H/FS 104 Trevor Davis F/LB 96 Brodrich Cook F/C 117 Jaquavion Wimbleduff Z/S 128 Denzel Aldrich QB/DB 99 Joey Davis Y/CB 1210 Tez Sivils H/DB 1211 Bryce Lockhart Y/LB 912 Landon Burns QB/LB 1114 Evan Stewart X/CB 915 Austin Palmer X/SS 1117 Chris Gilkey Z/CB 1118 Tyler Coleman Y/CB 920 Alan Getz F/LB 1121 Jaylen Boyd F/FS 1022 Caleb Marshall H/CB 1123 Jordan Young X/S 1124 Christian Puckett Z/LB 925 DeMetreus Cain H/S 928 Josh Young QB/CB 930 Preston Thomas H/LB 1032 Drake VanHooser Y/DL 1033 Bryce McKinney H/LB 934 Chadler Blackburn H/LB 1135 Colin Brasher F/LB 1139 Michael Watkins X/CB 1141 Matt Sholar Z/CB 1043 Jordan Spicer Z/LB 944 Brandon Jones X/LB 948 Gerardo Alonzo Z/LB 1050 Justin Beller C/LB 1151 Jaden Fitzpatrick G/DT 1052 Chas Scott T/DE 1053 Brady Witherspoon T/DT 1054 Cole Webster G/DE 1255 Sean Conger G/DE 1058 Kyler Kendall C/DT 1161 Ty Butts T/DT 1262 Noah Kennedy G/DT 1163 Blaine Hickman G/DT 1164 Chase Harper G/LB 1066 Kaleb Dyer C/DE 1067 Whitt Gilland G/DT 1068 Dominic Hephner G/DT 1169 Zach Beeman T/DT 970 Landon Morgan T/DE 1071 Jonathan Oliver G/DTL 972 Jacob Ray T/DE 1173 Tyler Beavers G/DT 1174 Joey Thurmond T/DT 975 Wood Brown C/DE 976 Jordan Felker G/DT 977 Austin McGowan T/DT 1179 Josh Whitworth T/DT 980 Charlie Traylor X/CB 1181 Taylor Mitchell Y/SS 1182 Wade Martin X/CB 1083 Cameron Brandon X/CB 1285 Dylan Riley Z/SS 1088 Landon Mitchell X/DE 9

BY TODD GRIFFINPRINCETON TIMES-LEADER SPORTS EDITOR

PRINCETON, Ky. — Caldwell Countyhas all the makings of a potent offensiveattack in 2012. The Tigers may need tolean on that offense, at least early in theseason, as they bring along a largelyyoung and inexperienced defense.

However, that presents a bit of a co-nundrum for Caldwell head coachDavid Barnes, who normally expectshis spread offense to run at two speeds— fast and faster.

“Offensively, we want to play fast. Wewant to score every time we get the foot-ball,” said Barnes. “But we’re not thetype of team to have a 15- or 17-play driveto eat the clock. So we might have to dosome things, like take a little more timebetween plays, to help out the defense.But we play better when we play faster.”

If the Tiger offense can put points onthe scoreboard, especially early in games,that will take a lot of the pressure off thedefense as it looks to find its footing.

Caldwell’s personnel appears to bewell suited to running the TonyFranklin System offense. The Tigershave a big, strong-armed quarterback,a quick and shifty running back, a deep

stable of big, athletic receivers and themakings of a solid offensive line.

Caldwell’s offense begins with quar-terback Elijah Sindelar (6-foot-4, 190pounds, sophomore).

“He put up pretty good numbers as afreshman,” said Barnes. “He had agood year, but he has to keep progress-ing. People are going to try to confusehim and confuse us this season. Buthe’s very coachable.”

Sindelar burst onto the scene with a552-yard passing effortin the Tigers’ 80-62 winat Calloway County lastseason. He would go onto set the Caldwell sin-gle-season passingrecord (2,693 yards) andwas named a FreshmanAll-American by Max-Preps.com.

Sindelar’s favorite tar-get last season was Tez

Sivils (6-foot, 160, senior), who caught 55passes for 1,009 yards and 10 TDs.

Other receivers include JordanYoung (6-1, 176, junior), Cameron Bran-don (6-2, 151, senior), Joey Davis (6-3,175, senior), Austin Palmer (5-11, 165,junior), Jacob Burke (5-7, 170, sopho-

more) and freshman Dee Cain (6-1, 188),who figures to see extensive action onboth sides of the ball.

On the defensive side of the football,Caldwell is largely untested outside ofa couple of positions. Caldwell’s de-fense hasn’t progressed as far as the of-fense as the Tigers eye the new season.

“I knew the offense would be aheadof the defense,” said Barnes. “We lostthree linebackers that played for thethree years and we lost two good line-men. That’s five guys with a lot of ex-perience that aren’t there anymore.”

Senior Cole Webster (5-10, 257) isCaldwell’s best defender. He’ll start atdefensive end, but will move around onthe defensive line.

The linebackers include ColinBrasher (5-8, 205, junior) and ChandlerBlackburn (5-9, 169, junior), who eachsaw playing time a year ago.

Most preseason prognosticationshave Caldwell and Murray picked asthe top two teams in the Class 2-A, Dis-trict 1 this season.

Caldwell has had trouble solvingMurray the last few years, but willneed to do so this season in order toclimb the district hill.

TIMESLEADER PHOTO

Caldwell CountyHigh Schoolsophomore

quarterback Elijah Sindelar,

shown in a gamelast season

against Mayfield,had a record

breaking seasonas a freshman.

He threw for2,693 yards lastseason to set a

school singleseason passing

record. Sindelar,who was named

Freshman AllAmerican by Max

Preps, and theTigers are hoping

to challenge forthe Class 2A,

District 1 footballchampionship in

2012.

Offense won’t be a problem for Tigers

Barnes

GOOD LUCK!

200 Glass Avenue • (270) 887-7000www.christian.kyschools.us

It’s About Every Student Every Day

Christian County Public Schools

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HOPKINSVILLE HIGH SCHOOLHopkinsville looks to shake off winless 2011 season

NEW ERA FILE PHOTO

Hopkinsville second-year coach Marc Adam Clark (center) and the Tigers are hoping to use the leadership ofnine seniors to improve on last year’s 0-10 season.


Last year’s Hopkinsville Tigers foot-ball season was one to forget as theteam finished at the bottom of theClass 5-A standings with a 0-10 mark.

In fact, the Tigers last victory datesback to Oct. 22, 2010, on the roadagainst Marshall County.

Regardless, the dismal season of thepast is behind Hopkinsville as the teamlooks to turn things around in 2012.

The team will likely focus on findinga solution on the defensive side of theball, where it allowed an average of 55points per game a year ago.

Second-year head coach Marc AdamClark returns this year to lead theClass 5-A, District 1 Tigers. Despite lastyear’s growing pains, Clark believes histeam laid the groundwork for an opti-mistic future for Hoptown.

“We laid the foundation of what ourprogram is,” he said. “We’ve got some

kids now who have committed to theprogram.”

Clark believes his team has bene-fited from a great effort given duringoffseason workouts.

“We really hit the ground running,and they did a phenomenal job in theoffseason getting ready for this sea-son,” he said. “Never again are wegoing to be 0-10. Never again are wegoing to be beat the way we were lastyear. The kids are really excited. We’rejust ready to get this season rolling.”

The Tigers will benefit from the re-turn of nine seniors, including MarkailBennett, Robert Bell, Garrett Fann,David Alonzo, Chris Wharton, KodyArmstrong, Travis Cunningham, KeirWade and Donovan Bussell.

The two permanent team captainsare Fann and junior linebacker KhalilBaker. Clark believes they provide agood glimpse of what he expects from

SEE HOPTOWN, PAGE 8

his players.“Those two kids exemplify what we want from Hopkinsville Tiger football,”

he said. “They play hard, fastand physical. They come inevery day and win the daywhether it’s in the weightroom or out on the practicefield.”

Fann has taken over as adefensive back and startingquarterback for Hopkinsvilleafter playing tight end andlinebacker a year ago. How-ever, Fann suffered a signifi-cant arm injury in ascrimmage game againstOwensboro and could misssignificant time under center.

Behind Fann, sophomoreCliff Thomas and freshmanTyler Graham are the next op-tions on the team’s roster atquarterback.

Bussell and Wade shouldhelp provide some senior ex-perience in the trenches.

Clark talked about what ittakes for the Tigers to trulyget back to their winningways.

“When you’re changing aculture, changing an environ-ment, there’s going to be sometime where it all sinks in andeverybody understandswhat’s going on within theprogram and understandstheir expectations,” he said.“We feel like we’re on theright track to where we needto be.”

According to Clark, 40 kidsshowed up to 90 percent of off-season workouts, meaningthose players were able to at-tend more than 110 sessions.

Clark is optimistic his teamwill be able to find reward forthe hard work it has put for-ward this offseason.

“I hope that they learn ifyou work hard in the offsea-son, you do get rewarded,”Clark said. “Who knows whatthat reward is? Hopefully it’sthat they’ll be better men.”

The Tigers open their sea-son on Friday against Lan-caster Christian Academy inSmyrna, Tenn. They then takeon Lone Oak on Aug. 25 in theJerry Claiborne Bowl at theStadium of Champions.

They play host to Christian County on Sept. 21 and Fort Campbell on Oct. 26.

REACH TRENT SINGER at 270-887-3261 or [email protected].

Alexander, Anthony Dyson and TylerReener also will see plenty of action. Sen-ior Devin Hayes, who played defense in2011, has been moved to the tight end spot.

On the offensive line, three returningstarters including Devon Farmer, TateBaker and Ethan Edwards give theColonels a solid nucleus to build around.Dylan Barnett, Jacob Chester, TayshaunCayce and Aaron Watson also should bein the mix.

“We would like to get to where we have10 linemen so if anybody slacks off or ifanybody gets hurt, we can just fill in andgo,” Lovelace said. “We want to buildthat competition.”

On the defensive side of the ball,Lovelace said he is happy with his de-fensive line, which includes MichaelThomas, Tevin Toler, Tyler Waldrop,Lashawn Evans, Jacob Satterfield andTerrance Sowerby.

“We want to make sure we have firstsand seconds so we’re trying to find six orseven kids there,” Lovelace said. “We havea lot who can play nose guard or tackle sowe can move people around a lot.”

At linebacker, Kington, a senior, isjoined by sophomore D.J. Langhi and Al-abama transfer Deondre Outlaw at theinside spot.

A.J. Carr and Joseph Freedland are ex-pected to start on the outside. Keevi Mat-lock and James White also are expectedto play outside for the Colonels.

“I’m not very happy with our line-backers,” Lovelace said. “I’m really de-manding of what I want them to do andI think it’s going to take some time.Most of these guys weren’t linebackerslast year.”

In the secondary, three-year starterJones returns at safety along with juniorTerrell Wimberly. Senior Kory Polleyjoins Hopkinsville junior transfer An-thony Williams, junior T.J. Bell and soph-omore Devon Wharton at cornerback.

“We have a couple of sophomores therewho we like too so there are a lot of peo-ple we can put in there,” Lovelace said.

Freshman Dixon Craft and juniorTyler Cunningham will handle the punt-ing and kicking duties, respectively.

Although the Colonels are favored bymany to win the district again, Lovelacepoints to Graves County as the team tobeat. However, he said this team could bespecial.

“We have talked about adversity andhow we have traditionally been our ownhill,” Lovelace said. “We asked them arethey going to fold up tents or are theygoing to man up when bad things hap-pen in games this year. We told themthey have to fix it themselves. That’swhat great teams do.”

Christian County opens the 2012 sea-son Friday at home against Madis-onville-North Hopkins.

REACH JOE WILSON at 270-887-3260 or [email protected].

HOPTOWN: Tigers look to improve

NE WERA FILE PHOTO

Christian County senior running back Korey Mosley is the top returning rusher from last year for theColonels. He rushed for nearly 600 yards as a junior.

CCHS: Colonels chasing 5-A title

No. Player Pos. Class1 Sam Stevens P/K 114 Devontae Coleman OLB/WR 115 Markhail Bennett DL/FB 126 Ameer Love OLB/RB 107 Robert Bell DB/WR 128 Dee Killebrew DB/RB 119 Isaiah Pollard LB/RB 119 Cliff Thomas LB/QB 1011 Darrel Oates DB/RB 1113 Tyle rGraham DB/QB 914 Garrett Fann DB/QB 1215 Ben Bealle DB/RB 917 DeMarius Henry DB/WR 1119 Christian Wiliams DB/WR 1120 Corey Nibert OLB/FB 1121 Zach Atkins OLB/FB 1022 Khalil Baker OLB/FB 1124 David Alonzo DB/WR 1225 Quay Coleman DB/RB 1130 Trace Altman OLB/RB 932 Vincent Brown DB/WR 933 Cody White DB/WR 934 Tyshaun Anthony OLB/RB 935 Chris Wharton LB/TE 1239 Trayvon Miller DB/RB 940 Blane Ross DB/RB 1143 Bryan Chadoin LB/TE 1144 Jadier Rivera DB/WR 945 Rakeem Chambers OLB/TE 946 Josh Johnson LB/TE 1047 Isaiah Lawson OLB/TE 950 Kody Armstrong DL/OL 1251 Michael Bruce LB/OL 952 Jonathan Thomas DE/OL 1054 Marcus Wade LB/OL 1055 Jacob Ezell DL/OL 1156 Elijah Rohwer LB/OL 1058 Travis Cunningham LB/OL 1260 Derek Lincoln DL/OL 1061 Adam Welch DL/OL 1062 Justin Wilkins DL/OL 963 Keir Wade DL/OL 1264 CJ Hopson DL/OL 1165 Donovan Bussell DL/OL 1266 Nathaniel Blount DL/OL 967 Cody Hodges DL/OL 1068 Bailey Carroll DE/OL 1070 Eugene Butler DL/OL 1071 Dazjuan Owen DL/OL 1072 Chad Cessna DL/OL 1073 Kishaun Wilson DL/OL 974 Alex Gee DL/OL 976 Holden Sanders DL/OL 977 Wyatt Thomas DL/OL 978 Sean Whitson DL/OL 1079 Jeffery Watkins DL/OL 1082 Jay Reid DB/WR 1084 Chris Parker DB/WR 986 Houston Ray P/K 988 Torrance Gilbert DB/WR 9

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Berner talked about this year’s team as awhole.

“This year we’re very young and sopho-more-heavy with a small senior class,” hesaid.

Returning seniors for the Falcons in-clude David Sahms, Zarius Grant, May-nard Khalil, Tracey Covington, ShyquanCarter, Drayton Simmons, MichaelSawyer, Cameron Clopton, Dustin Ar-mendariz, Justin Jones and Coty Hix.

Berner talked about some of his expec-tations for this year’s team in order to up-hold the tradition of Fort Campbell’ssuccessful program.

“(Jaylen Williams) is going to have tostep up and play well,” he said. “We’regoing to have to have a lot of play fromour secondary and linebackers. We’rehoping our offensive and defensive lineswill be solid.”

The Falcons lost star player Aaron Hills,who took the vast majority of last year’ssnaps as quarterback and contributed 829yards on the ground for the Falcons.

Williams, a sophomore at Fort Camp-bell, replaces Hills at quarterback. Hefared well last season as a freshman, ap-

pearing in nine games for the Falconswhile completing 69 percent of his passesfor 701 yards, five touchdowns and six in-terceptions.

The return of linemen Simmons,Sawyer, Clopton, Armendariz and Jonesgives the Falcons great depth in thetrenches. The team is also most deep inthe secondary and wide receiver posi-tions.

With an abundance of younger playersthroughout the roster, Berner under-stands what might limit Fort Campbellfrom earning another state title butknows they can defeat the odds.

“We’re young. We’re inexperienced,” hesaid. “We’ve got some learning to do, butthese kids work hard and are committedto what they’re doing. They had a greatoffseason.”

The Falcons open the regular seasonFriday night at Clarksville (Tenn.) HighSchool.

Fort Campbell also will battle PaducahTilghman and Trigg County for the Class3-A, District 1 title this season.

REACH TRENT SINGER at 270-887-3261or [email protected].

FROM PAGE 3

FCHS: Falcons have high expectations

NEW ERA FILE PHOTO

Fort Campbell’s Shawn Berner enters his 11th season as head coach of the Falcons with hopes of winning a fourthstate championship at the school. The Falcons will compete at the Class 3-A level for the second season.

SCHEDULESCALDWELL COUNTY

Date Opponent TimeAug. 17 CALLOWAY CO. 7:30 p.m.Aug. 24 Union Co. # 7 p.m.Aug. 31 OHIO CO. 7 p.m.Sept. 7 TRIGG CO. 7:30 p.m.Sept. 14 at Franklin-Simpson 7 p.m.Sept. 21 at Ballard Memorial* 7 p.m.Sept. 28 REIDLAND* 7:30 p.m.Oct. 5 OpenOct. 12 at Murray* 7 p.m.Oct. 19 CRITTENDEN CO.* 7 p.m.Oct. 26 at Mayfield 7 p.m.

# Kentucky National Guard Warrior Bowl at Crittenden County.*Class 2-A, District 1 game

FORT CAMPBELLDate Opponent TimeAug. 17 at Clarksville 7 p.m.Aug. 24 RUSSELLVILLE 7 p.m.Aug. 31 WARREN CENTRAL 7 p.m.Sept. 7 at Fort Knox# 7 p.m.Sept. 14 CHRISTIAN CO. 7 p.m.Sept. 21 at Trigg Co.* 7:30 p.m.Sept. 28 PADUCAH TILGHMAN* 7:30 p.m.Oct. 5 OpenOct. 12 at Webster Co.* 7:30 p.m.Oct. 19 HEATH* 7:30 p.m.Oct. 26 at Hopkinsville 7 p.m.

# Army Bowl at Fort Knox*Class 3-A, District 1 game

TODD COUNTY CENTRALDate Opponent TimeAug. 17 at Glasgow 5 p.m.Aug. 24 at Trigg Co. 7:30 p.m.Aug. 31 at Logan Co. 7 p.m.Sept. 7 OpenSept. 14 RUSSELLVILLE 7 p.m.Sept. 21 MCLEAN CO.* 7 p.m.Sept. 28 at Owenboro Cath.* 7 p.m.Oct. 5 BUTLER CO.* 7 p.m.Oct. 12 at Hancock Co.* 7 p.m.Oct. 19 at Union Co.* 7 p.m.Oct. 26 SOUTH WARREN 7 p.m.

*Class 2-A, District 2 game

CHRISTIAN COUNTYDate Opponent TimeAug. 17 MADISONVILLE-N.H. 7 p.m.Aug. 25 CLARKSVILLE # 8 p.m.Aug. 31 HENDERSON CO. 7 p.m.Sept. 7 LONE OAK 7 p.m.Sept. 14 at Fort Campbell 7 p.m.Sept. 21 at Hopkinsville* 7 p.m.Sept. 28 OHIO CO.* 7 p.m.Oct. 5 APOLLO* 7 p.m.Oct. 12 GRAVES CO.* 7 p.m.Oct. 19 OpenOct. 26 at Pulaski 8 p.m.

# Toyota of Hopkinsville Jerry Claiborne Bowlat the Stadium of Champions.


HOPKINSVILLEDate Opponent TimeAug. 17 at Lancaster Christian 7 p.m.Aug. 25 LONE OAK # 5:30 p.m.Aug. 31 Greenwood^ 5:30 p.m.Sept. 7 at Madisonville-N.H. 7 p.m.Sept. 14 ALLEN CO.-SCOTT. 7 p.m.Sept. 21 CHRISTIAN CO.* 7 p.m.Sept. 28 at Apollo* 7 p.m.Oct. 5 OpenOct. 12 at Ohio Co.* 7 p.m.Oct. 19 GRAVES CO.* 7 p.m.Oct. 26 FORT CAMPBELL 7 p.m.

# Toyota of Hopkinsville Jerry Claiborne Bowlat the Stadium of Champions.^Toyota of Hopkinsville David Sadler Bowl inCadiz.*Class 5-A, District 1 game

TRIGG COUNTYDate Opponent TimeAug. 17 at Russellville 7 p.m.Aug. 24 TODD CO. CENTRAL 7:30 p.m.Aug. 31 CRITTENDEN CO.# 8 p.m.Sept. 7 at Caldwell Co. 7:30 p.m.Sept. 14 OpenSept. 21 FORT CAMPBELL* 7:30 p.m.Sept. 28 at Webster Co.* 7:30 p.m.Oct. 5 PADUCAH TILGHMAN 7:30 p.m.Oct. 12 at Heath* 7:30 p.m.Oct. 20 at North Bullitt 6 p.m.Oct. 26 CALLOWAY CO. 7:30 p.m.

# Toyota of Hopkinsville David Sadler Bowl in Cadiz.


Shane Arms, Colby Bick-sler, William Fox, ErwinGraves, Jalyn Henry, De-ontray Johnson, LorenLindner, Bronson Massey,Josh Maziarz, DustinNaylor, Jacob Petrie,Brandon Risley and JoeySumpter.

The Rebels will experi-ence some growing painswith several key lossesfrom a year ago, however,Jones believes there areplayers ready to provethemselves by steppingup and filling those holes.

“Michael Rager is goingto be tough to replace atreceiver, but we thinkwe’ve found a very, verygood receiver in DeontrayJohnson,” he said.

Johnson didn’t play forTodd County Central lastseason. Jones says he wassomeone they saw “walk-ing in the halls and con-vinced him to come out.”

“He has great size andgreat speed. He’s just nat-ural,” Jones said.

The Rebels will need tosee more from this year’ssquad to replace centerColby Chester and line-backers BrandonTinocunniffe and JTWillis. Sack leader KevinTaunton has also gradu-ated from Todd County

Central, so his productionwill be missed as well.

15 of this year’s 22starters enter the upcom-ing season with what Jonescalls “significant playingexperience.” Last season,the Rebels entered the sea-son with two players thathad varsity experience.

“It’s a big change for us,and with that, comes highexpectations,” Jones said.

Todd County will likelyrely on the play of juniorquarterback BryceShanklin to man downthe game’s most impor-tant position. BehindShanklin, sophomoreCody Garcia and fresh-

man Naytrimus Harriswill be waiting.

“I could see this brew-ing into the perfect stormof this being the team thatchanges Todd County for-ever,” Jones said. “That’sa lot of weight to carry,and I haven’t put that onthem. But I think that’swhat this team can be.”

The Rebels open their sea-son on the road Saturdayagainst Glasgow. They hosttheir first game on Sept. 14against Russellville.

REACH TRENT SINGER at 270-887-3261or [email protected].

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stress fracture in his foot and he couldbe out for the early part of the season.

In addition, junior Jacob Mason par-ticipated in the prestigious Football Uni-versity’s “Top Gun” Camp, which ishosted by the United States Army.

“I feel really good about our offensiveline,” Lewis said. “There is a lot of ex-perience there and usually if your of-fensive line plays well, you havesuccess.”

Defensively, the Wildcats are led by astrong group of aggressive linebackersincluding Pool, Jones and Durham.

Lewis said he had six or seven playerswho will rotate on the defensive line.

In the secondary, Acree, Dee Murphy,Trace Kuburski and Brandon Wilson

hold down the spots.“I feel like the defense played really

well last year for us at times and we re-turn a lot,” Lewis said. “If the secondarycomes together I feel pretty good aboutour defense.”

Lewis said he thinks this year’s teamcan be competitive despite losing somekey personnel from last season.

“Team wise I think we have a tremen-dous team as far as work ethic,” he said.“We are thinner at spots than last year,but I feel good about what we have at thesame time.”

Trigg opens the 2012 season Fridaynight at Russellville.

REACH JOE WILSON at 270-887-3260or [email protected].

TRIGG: Wildcats will benefitfrom strong senior classFROM PAGE 4

NEW ERA FILE PHOTO

Junior quarterback Luke McKenzie returns to lead the Trigg County Wildcats this season. McKenzie threwfor 1,061 yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions last season.

TODD: Rebels seek historicseason for football programFROM PAGE 5

NEW ERA FILE PHOTO

Todd County Central senior running back Bronson Massey missedmuch of the season because of an injury, but ran for nearly 600 yards.

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