Prep Football

The George Rogers Clark football team had its annual preseason picture and press day Thursday at Cardinal Stadium. Jeff Childre of Visual Sports was busy snapping photos of the session and lined the players up for the team picture. The Cards open the season on Aug. 19 against Corbin at Cardinal Stadium.

The annual chance for fans to meet the Boyle County football team will be 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Boyle County Fairgrounds. The Meet the Rebels will feature a diner, live auction and games. Tickets are $6 (includes dinner) and are available from any Boyle County football player or coach. Tickets will also be available at the door. Go to boylecountyrebelsfootball.com or facebook/boylecountyrebelsfootball for more information.

HARRODSBURG — Mercer County took a 21-point lead over Pulaski County after the first quarter Friday, but the Maroons took over from there and downed the Titans 47-24 on senior night. Donovan Ellis has touchdown runs of 82 and 65 yards and Alex Guay scored from a yard out on the opening drive as the Titans (3-7, 1-3 Class AAAAA, District 7) rolled up 235 yards and led 21-0 lead after the first quarter. But from there, it was all Pulaski, as the No. 5 Maroons (8-1, 4-0)

The George Rogers Clark football team will remain in Class 6A, District 8 under a proposed realignment plan. Clark will be joined by Madison Central, Lafayette and Tates Creek. Lafayette will replace Henry Clay in the realignment. The KHSAA Board of Control will review the proposed alignment and address feedback from the member schools at its next regular meeting, scheduled for Oct. 18-19 at the KHSAA office in Lexington. If adopted, the draft alignment will begin with the 2011 football season and run through 2014, with an opportunity for adjustment due to enrollment bounds after the 2012 season.

Casey County snapped its two-game losing streak Friday, holding visiting Taylor County to 100 yards in a 28-0 victory. Will Hatter ran for 208 yards and a score, Alex Bolin ran for 110 yards and Corey Roy scored twice for the Rebels (5-3, 1-2 Class AAA, District 5), who had 474 yards on the ground and 483 overall. “We were effective running the football tonight and did a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. It was good to get our first district win. We felt like this was a crucial game because we needed to get back on track and play like we did earlier in the season,” Casey coach Andy Stephens said.

LEXINGTON - George Rogers Clark lost the lead and never recovered in its first road game Friday night. Bryan Station scored three touchdowns in the second quarter that erased a 12-0 deficit and lifted the Defenders to a 40-19 victory over the Cardinals. The loss was the first for Clark, which opened the season with wins over Corbin and Montgomery County at Cardinal Stadium. The Cards (2-1) rallied to win both games, but couldn't produce a comeback this time against the Defenders, who improved to 3-1. The game was delayed 30 minutes with 3:26 remaining when Clark senior Tyler Creteau went down with an injury, following his onside kick attempt.

George Rogers Clark coach Steven Collins was pleased with his second spring session as coach of the Cardinals, and he noticed a difference in his team's focus and intensity level since spring drills began on April 9. “We've learned how to take advantage of every repetition,” he said. “We have to get the young kids along the same lines - this is where we're going and this is where we would like to be.” The Cardinals went 1-10 last season and defeated Rowan County in their home finale.

George Rogers Clark football coach Steven Collins and the Cardinals are on the same page. A year ago, Collins and the Cardinals were getting used to each other and forming a bond. This time around, the team's emphasis during spring workouts has been strictly football, sprinkled with becoming more familiar with each other. “It takes a year for that transition to (kick) in,” Collins said earlier this week. “The kids understand what we're about and what we expect of them as a program.

LANCASTER - Two players who have had a huge impact on the Garrard County football program - Billy Abney and Garrett Caudill - both made their college choices Thursday. Abney signed with Pikeville University and Caudill with Union College during a ceremony at the high school. “Billy Abney certainly has been a key figure in our program for the last four years. After winning the starting quarterback job in a tough battle his freshman year, he never missed a game in his four-year career which is remarkable for a quarterback especially,” said Garrard coach Mark Scenter.

George Rogers Clark High School senior Bobby Powell signed a national letter-of-intent to play football at Kentucky Christian University recently. Joining Powell on front row were: Mom, Josie Crawford, dad, John Powell, Bobby and Steve Crosby. Back row: Kentucky Christian assistant football coach Presley Marshall and George Rogers Clark High School football coach Steven Collins.

LIBERTY - Alex Bolin and Tyler Padgett grew up playing football together and wanted to continue that in college. And that's just what the Casey County seniors have done, both signing with University of the Cumberlands on Tuesday. “It worked out perfectly, we still get to play football with each and go to college together,” said Padgett, a 6-1, 325 pounder who was recruited as a lineman. “Me and Alex have been friends since elementary school and we figured it was cool the same college was offering us, so we took it.” “We kind of told coaches that's what we wanted to do,” said Bolin, a 6-0, 195 pound running back.

Jeremy Vaught said he has learned a lot from new Danville coach Clay Clevenger over the years. Vaught, a Danville alum and assistant football coach, went to the University of the Cumberlands because of Clevenger. “He was the mian one whop recruited me down there,” said Vaught, who played receiver at Cumberlands. “I probably attribute him being the main reason I went down there.” Clevenger, also a Danville graduate, was an assistant coach at Cumberlands during Vaught's playing days there.

It is the kind of job that might have turned Clay Clevenger's head toward any school in Kentucky. And it is home. In other words, it is the ideal job for Clevenger, a 1996 Danville graduate who was introduced today as the new football coach at his alma mater. “Not a lot of people have the opportunity to go home, but when home is a program that's in the top five in all-time wins in the state, won 10 state championships, one of the top five programs in the state of Kentucky, that just adds icing to it,” Clevenger said.

He was an all-state lineman on state championship teams at Danville, an all-American offensive lineman at Carson-Newman and has been a successful high school head coach at Henderson County. Yet there was more than that about Clay Clevenger that convinced Danville school Superintendent  Carmen Coleman he was the right person to be the new Danville High School football coach. “I didn't actually get to meet and talk with him until Saturday, but I was very impressed immediately with the things he said about the work ethic he expects from his players,” Coleman said this morning when confirming Clevenger had been hired after giving him a chance to break the news to his players at Henderson.

George Rogers Clark senior Robert Cornelius signed a letter-of-intent with Campbellsville Tuesday at the school. Joining Cornelius are: Front row from left: brothers J.C. and Quinn, mother Sheneese Cornelius and grandfather Wilbert Thomas. Back row are as follows: Clark assistant principal Paul Columbia, Clark assistant football coaches Bob Howard, Elton Parish and Dustin Howard, Clark football coach Steven Collins and Clark County athletics director Ryan Noland.