If Boyle County is to win a third straight championship, coach Larry French said his team is going to have to do better than it has shown in the preseason.
“Everything has been going slow. We’ll take a step forward then take two steps back. But they’re starting to come around a little bit and starting to improve some,” French said. “We need to improve daily, and if we do I think we’ve got a chance to be pretty good.”
With the opener against 20-time champion Highlands looming on Friday, French admits his team may be feeling the pressure to get better in a hurry.
“Any time you’re playing a nationally-ranked team, you’re going to feel a little pressure to get ready, and sometimes you lose your fundamentals in the process of it,” he said. “We’re just trying to refocus as a staff, and go back to fundamentals. We’ve got to play well in order to win that first game.”
French said his team has been battling nagging injuries, including tight end Blake Mason who has a thumb injury. But French expects Mason, who had 25 catches and seven touchdowns last year, to be ready for the opener.
Who may be gone for a while is running back-linebacker Jesse Mattingly. He suffered a torn meniscus in his knee lifting weights.
“And he was our long snapper, too, so he will be missed,” French said. “We’re not sure when he will be back.”
The only coaching change for Boyle is the loss of Stephen French, who is now teaching at John Hardin and coaching at Central Hardin with new coach Mark Perry.
Here’s a look at what’s going on at other area schools as teams prepare to open the season this week:
Prep Football: Area teams counting the days until new season begins
Danville
Coach Sam Harp said his young team has a good preseason going into Friday’s opener with Lincoln County in the PBK Bank Death Valley Bowl.
“I’ve been very encouraged about the group of kids we’ve got. They’re young. We don’t have one senior lineman that’s going to be playing, and we’ve only got about four or five seniors that are going to contribute. The rest are underclassmen,” Harp said. “What we lack in experience, we can overcome with enthusiasm and athleticism.”
Danville has four transfers. Three transfers are from Garrard County, including potential starters J.K. Howard and Jadarious Brown. The others are freshmen whom Harp said would not make an impact on this year’s varsity squad.
Luckily for the Admirals, Harp said there have been no serious injuries that will keep anyone out of Friday’s opener.
“Pretty much just bumps and bruises. We’ve had a couple of younger kids sustain concussions, but we’re taking extra precautions with those kids and they will gradually be put back in,” the Danville coach said.
In the Admirals’ only coaching move, former Danville star Jeremy Vaught has joined Harp’s staff as a linebackers and tight ends coach.
Mercer County
First-year coach Paul Rains said he has been pleased with his team’s preseason, but he said there was just not enough of it.
“Practice is going well, players are improving,” he said. “Time is our biggest enemy at Mercer right now.”
Rains has revamped the coaching staff, with only Mark Dunn and Joe Bill Fister remaining from last season.
Dennis Ledford, a former head coach at Franklin County, is the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator, and Kenan McWhorter, a former Berea head coach, is the receivers coach. Blair Pittman is the defensive line coach, former Mercer standout Casey Taylor is coaching the quarterbacks and James Frisby coaches running backs.
Dunn, a former Harrodsburg and Eastern Kentucky star, is coaching the secondary, and Fister is the freshman and junior varsity coach.
Three players are likely out for the Aug. 27 opener against Collins in Boyle County’s bowl. Brody Votaw Sallee and Austin Schooler suffered shoulder injuries and Lane Peavler has a broken collar bone. Two players have joined the team as transfers — Lewis Mason is a sophomore from Indiana, and Tyler Hatton is a sophomore from Montgomery County.
Garrard County
