KSR's Southwire Football Media Day takeaways and storylines (Part One)

It’s almost football time in the Bluegrass, not only for the Kentucky Wildcats, but also for the 222 high school football teams around the state as well.

ESPN’s Owensboro radio affiliate, 102.7 The Game, held a Football Media Day to put a spotlight on teams in the greater Owensboro area. KSR was on site for the festivities, so here are our takeaways and storylines from each team’s time behind the microphone.

Note: Butler County, Ohio County and Daviess County were not in attendance at the event despite being scheduled for an appearance. Indiana high schools Tell City, South Spencer and Perry Central were also in attendance, but we’re here to talk about teams from around the Bluegrass, so they aren’t included in this.

Meade County, Henderson County, Apollo, Owensboro and Owensboro Catholic will be featured in Part Two next week.

McLean County

The McLean County Cougars are coming off an 8-3 season despite making the jump to 3A from 2A in a new district. Normally, teams would struggle making such a transition, but as you’ll see with a lot of these teams, time in the weight room is just as important as time on the practice field.

Cougars Head Coach Zach Wagner revealed that the program just invested heavy in new equipment to help instill their culture of making hard work routine.

“We actually just bought one thousand, two thousand dollars worth of chin-up bars. We’re making them do 50 chin-ups a day,” he noted.

Additionally, one of the biggest adjustments Wagner will have to make heading into this fall is that he’ll have a new quarterback in Ayden Rice — one that plays differently than Brodie Cline did behind center last season. However, that isn’t to say that Rice is a downgrade by any means.

“Brodie threw the ball well,” Wagner explained. “Ayden has a bit more arm on him, we noticed that. He threw his ball very crisp with seven on seven. One other thing, Brodie ran the ball very well for us, but Ayden played full back and wing back and blocked. His toughness will be a big-time match for us.”

Rice isn’t the only skill position player that could see a big jump this season either. Senior running back and defensive back Kamden Walters also told the media on Monday that he has gained upwards of 20 pounds this offseason.

Then, on the offensive and defensive line, Wagner will be getting senior Reece Stevens back from an ACL and meniscus tear he suffered last spring. On a team that may be lacking in experience, Stevens’ worth is invaluable. Stevens talked about what it was like being sidelined for his junior season.

“It had its challenges. Luckily, I was able to show up to every home game that I could, and I did show up to some of the practices.”

The Cougars hosted a home playoff game for the first time since the 2019 season, and they’ll be looking to recreate that same success starting in a few short weeks.

Muhlenberg County

Historically, football and Muhlenberg County just haven’t been a great combination. Being a 5A program, the Mustangs have to go up against some of the bigger and best teams around. However, this offseason has been promising in regards to Muhlenberg County potentially making the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

“That’s ultimately the goal, to make it back [to the playoffs],” Head Coach Josh Staples said. “Things have been going pretty well. We had a great off season. But yeah, that’s one of our immediate goals.”

It’ll be difficult considering the roster turnover (like losing all of your top five rushers, specifically), but the administration at Muhlenberg County has made a massive investment in the athletic facilities there.

“Our administration is is doing any and everything to help us out,” Staples mentioned. “It’s fun getting out there on Friday nights. We tell [the players], you’re so fortunate to be here, to have the facilities that you have.”

The backfield is certainly a big question mark for the Mustangs, but senior Trevor Joiner transferred in from Butler County to help out with that. Last season, Joiner tallied 119 yards and two touchdowns on 53 touches.

Muhlenberg County opens up their season against Caverna in a home game on August 23rd. Last season, the Mustangs came out on top 22-6 in their matchup, so this game will be a chance for Staples to get things started on a good note in 2024.

Breckinridge County

Breckinridge County has slowly been and the up since going 0-10 back in 2022. Last season, the Tigers went 3-8, which isn’t great, but it is a significant improvement from the year prior. This offseason, things are continuing to trend in a positive direction for Brent Hottell’s program.

“[The offseason] has started out really, really well,” Hottell explained. “We have made steps to get back to where we need to be. Two years ago, we had a bunch of kids get thrown out there. I think going into that season, we had three kids that had played varsity football.”

One of the things that Hottell is going to do moving forward is move senior wide receiver Lance Poole to quarterback. Last season, Poole threw led the team in receiving yards with 465 and receiving touchdowns with eight.

“We’re actually going to move Lance to quarterback,” Hottell noted. “He’s one of the most dynamic athletes I’ve ever coached.”

He added, “Last year, through eight games, he was leading 4A in the state of Kentucky in touchdown receptions without really knowing what he’s doing.”

Moving Poole to quarterback will open up the offense, and the Tigers can start to even mimic what some of the surrounding teams do.

“We’re going to run more double wing stuff, kind of like with McLean County — with the traditional tight end.”

The Tigers will look to get this season going with a win against Fort Knox at home. Considering Fort Knox won one game last year, this should be a game that Breckinridge County can take.

Hancock County

Hancock County is coming off of a bit of a down year (based on their expectations, at least) after going 6-5 and losing in the first round of the playoffs to Franklin-Simpson.

The adjustment to 3A hasn’t been the smoothest of transition for Bobby Eubanks and the Hornets, but they believe that senior quarterback Dylan Morris can bring them back up.

“We’re really looking at what Dylan can do, his strengths,” Eubanks said. “Guys like Cooper [Jones] and Hayden [Shearn] catching the ball and just trying to spread the ball around. We’ve got a lot of guys who can run the ball, catch the ball; so they’re willing to be a little bit more explosive offensively.”

Eubanks also noted that Luke Pritchard, Jackson Morris, Carson Clark are all weapons that Hancock County can use in the run game as well. As Eubanks put it, “we could put 10 kids there at that position and they would all do well there”.

Something that has been especially helpful for Hancock County to continue to grow their football program is the investment in the athletic facilities there.

“[The community] just kind of took that project on and did that for our kids, for our program. That was huge for us. We’ve been able to get on that field every day since November.”

Eubanks continued, “Just having that alone made a huge difference for us this off season, to be able to get out on [the field]. You know where your spacing is. You know where your lines are. We’re no longer guessing where five, seven yards is. We know exactly where that’s at. Our breaks and timing and things like that are a whole lot better than what they may have been.”

Hancock County open up their season against the John Hardin Bulldogs on the road. The Hornets came away with a 6-0 win in their meeting last season.

Edmonson County

After a 2-8 season last year, Edmonson County decided that it was time to find a new name to put at the helm of the football program, so they turned to Justin Vessels. Vessels has made stops at Warren Central, Greenwood, Glasgow, and most recently Barren County.

Vessels is not only an alumnus of Edmonson County, but he also coached the Wildcats from 2004-2015 under former head coach and current Athletic Director Kyle Pierce as an offensive coordinator. In 2011, Edmonson County went 11-1, losing in the second round of the playoffs.

That team averaged 43.9 points per game, which was good for ninth best in the state that year.

So, what’s Vessel’s first order of business to get Edmonson County back to that peak? Investing in the weight room and instilling a culture of hard work. “We started this right after Christmas break,” Vessels noted.

Of course, one of the main things that Vessels and Edmonson County want to do in year one is to get back the tobacco stick by taking down Grayson County.

The Cougars have won every game in that matchup since 2017, so expect Vessels to try to right the wrong there in his first season as head coach.

Grayson County

Speaking of Grayson County, they’re the next team up on our list.

Last season, Grayson County went 10-2 in what was their best season under Head Coach Bryan Jones, who has been at the helm there since 2019. While some may look at that season as a flash in the pan, Jones looks to make that the standard in Leitchfield.

“We got a lot of work to do to maintain that level of play,” Jones said. “That’s kind of been our focus point. We don’t want to be one and done with that kind of season. We want that to be the standard.”

Of course, the Cougars are losing some talent in the trenches, but it helps that running back Kadin Hanshaw will be back for his sophomore season.

Last year, he ran for 1,369 yards, and his 23 touchdowns on the ground were tied for eighth in the state last year.

Another player who could be a standout for the Cougars is senior wide receiver Greyson Chaffins. As a junior, he caught 25 passes for 364 yards and three touchdown, all good enough for second on the team. However, he’s looking to triple those numbers in 2024.

“I set a goal for myself before the season starts that I’ll have 1,000 yards receiving this year and around 10 or so touchdowns. So, I’m ready for a big year.”

Additionally, sophomore wideout Jett Hawkins is a guy that was pointed out as a potential stock-riser this season. In 2023, he caught one pass which turned into a 28 yard touchdown. By appearing in six games a freshman, Hawkins has some valuable varsity experience under his belt heading into what could be another big year for Grayson County.