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THE NEWS-ENTERPRISE FOOTBALL 2012 THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2012 17
CENTRAL HARDIN
BRUINS
Synchronized Squad
After a 6-5 season in Mark Perry’s first year,the Bruins are on the same page for year two
JILL PICKETT/The News-Enterprise
Central Hardin seniors Cody Walters, Clarence Lewis and Ryan Woodrum hope to get the Bruins back on track.
By JOHN GROTH
The News-Enterprise
Second-year Central Hardin
coach Mark Perry
still isn’t used to all these
new faces.
The Bruins have so many
first-time starters that when the
team started working on their
pre-game warm-up drills, he noticed
they ran into a bit of a conundrum
at a couple positions.
“We go to the spot and we’ve
got several guys that have no
idea where to go. One group in
particular, cornerbacks, did not
have a person that did it last year.
No one warmed up in that group
Friday night,” Perry said. “At
quarterback, we’ve got the same
thing. We’ve got a kid that
played on the freshman team last
year and a kid that played linebacker
last year. It shows you
how youthful and inexperienced
we are. That doesn’t necessarily
mean talent gap, it just means
you’re very youthful.”
Indeed they are.
More than half of the Bruins’
offensive linemen will be firstyear
starters, as will their quarterback
and fullback. None of their
defensive line has started on
Friday night and half of their secondary
and linebacking corps
will be in that same situation.
Coming off the school’s best
season in 2010, Central Hardin
finished 6-5 last year, losing
three of its final four games – including
a 35-6 defeat to Louisville
DuPont Manual in the first
round of the Class 6-A playoffs.
The Bruins lost all their running
backs, graduating starting
quarterback Kevin Humphrey
both starting running backs
Douglas Pillow and Tyran Hopson,
leading wide receiver Jared
Cromartie, along with their entire
defensive line – including
Uni-versity of Kentucky freshman
Patrick Graffree.
That’s a lot to replace.
But Perry hopes they can do
so and avoid their first losing season
since 2008. Besides that,
Central Hardin, which is in a
two-team district with Meade
County and faces the Green
Wave at home this season, has a
shot to win its first district championship
since 1997.
As for who will lead the
Bruins behind center, it’s a battle
between sophomore Koree Krupinski
and junior Trey Jaco. Krupinski
started on the freshman
team last season and played
some junior varsity, while Jaco is
the son of former Fort Knox
coach Tom Jaco and played linebacker
last season. Neither player
has thrown a varsity pass.
Perry likes Krupinski’s experience,
but is a fan of Jaco’s aggressive
mentality.
Krupinski acknowledged it’s a
battle.
“We can both throw. I think
I’m a little better than he is. He’s
bigger and he can run better
than me. I’m a little faster and
(more) agile than him,” he said.
“But we’re both decent.”
Sophomore Christian Sylvester
moves up from the freshman
squad to take over at running
back, while senior Cody Walters
could play there as well. Walters
will fill in at fullback for at least
the first four games while sophomore
Mason Bryan recovers
from torn meniscus in his right
knee.
Sylvester is more of an outside
runner and speed back, while
Walters uses his power. Sylvester
said he benefitted from attending
the Morehead State University
team camp with the Bruins and a
University of Kentucky camp by
himself.
“Now I can’t outrun everybody
and am just better at running the
ball,” Sylvester said. “(I have to)
run harder, carry the ball better.”
They will have senior wide receivers
T.J. Gordon and Trevor
Brown, who both started last
year. Gordon has already noticed
one change.
“They want us to do a lot
more blocking, a lot more cracking
on bigger guys, a lot bigger
and stronger than we are,” he
said. “Just got to be a lot more
physical, a lot more better when
it comes to execution.”
Defensively, the Bruins could
get picked on in the secondary
where they have a host of new
members, who are a bit short on
experience and height.
At 6-foot-2 and 140 pounds,
Gordon should anchor the secondary
and will be joined by junior
Noah Douglas (5-8, 155) and sophomores
Tyler Long (5-8, 140) and
Tyler Lindsey (5-8, 140). Brown,
junior Ryan Jones, sophomore
Tristan Bird and Bryan – when he
returns – could see action there,
too.
The defensive line is just as
big a concern – with four new
players, including junior Josh
Krupinski and sophomore Trent
Baker as defensive ends and juniors
Matt Daugherty and
Cameron Hernandez as tackles.
They do have experienced
linebackers with senior Ryan
Woodrum, Walters and Jaco,
along with junior Taylor
Johnson. Woodrum said he’s put
on 20 pounds of muscle since
wrestling season, which has
moved him from outside to inside
linebacker.
“I’m a lot more physical,
(makes it a) lot easier to tackle.
Linebacker-wise we’re more experience.
The D-line, we’ll be a little
small but we’re strong,” he said.
“We’re young at our defensive
backs, corners and safeties. But
we’re physical. We’ve been in the
weight room a lot. We’ll be fine.”
Without a dominant stopper
up front, Perry said they’ll have
to defend more as a team.
“They’ve got to run to the
football. They’ve got to play
great team defense for us to be
successful,” he said. “There’s not
a crazy linebacker out there
that’s going to get you 25 tackles
a game and cover a lot of ground
and be an individual type of performance.
It’s going to have to
be a team performance.”
John Groth can be reached
at (270) 505-1754 or
jgroth@thenewsenterprise.com.
The last time the U.S. won a medal in synchronized swimming was 2004 when the Americans won two bronze medals.
By JOHN GROTH
The News-Enterprise
Weightlifting has
changed Corey
Dobbs’ confidence.
Since second-year coach
Mark Perry instituted a new
“Bigger, Faster, Stronger”
program at Central Hardin,
the Bruins’ senior center
has become a power-lifting
fiend.
Two years ago, the 6-
foot-1, 285-pound Dobbs
was squatting 405 pounds.
That’s OK for his size but
nothing compared to what
he’s at now.
After committing himself
to the program, he set
a personal-best 515 pounds
this past spring. By the end
of the season, he could potentially
make it to two
times his body weight.
“I just got in a zone and
just focused a lot on my
weight training, power-lifting.
I don’t really know
how to explain. Once I got
in a zone, weights got easier
and easier,” said Dobbs,
who, after spraining the
meniscus in his right knee
this past spring, worked his
upper body more and set a
personal-best 260 pounds
in the bench press. “I feel
the more I lift, the easier it
is for me to go out there
and push people around.”
That’s the attitude an offensive
lineman needs – especially
one who’s making
a shift from guard to center.
Now that he’s the one
having to snap the football
and block opponents in
one fell swoop, Dobbs
needs to have that kind of
confidence.
One of two returning
offensive line starters,
Dobbs admits the change
in positions has been difficult.
But coaches and
teammates say he’s handled
it well.
After blocking up front
for the now-graduated
Kevin Humphrey, Dobbs
has added snapping to his
repertoire.
Perry asked him to
move to the middle of the
line this summer. He
played the position six
years ago in little league
football, but it’s a bigger
change at the high-school
level.
“It’s just trying to focus
on getting the snaps perfect
to the quarterback,
cause without me we can’t
Heavy Lifting
Corey Dobbs looks to anchor young offensive line as he shifts from guard to center
NEAL CARDIN/The News-Enterprise
Central Hardin senior Corey Dobbs is shifting from tackle to center this season.
really run a play,” Dobbs
said.
Perry wanted a veteran
up front, someone he can
rely on with a new quarterback
– either sophomore
Koree Krupinski or junior
Trey Jaco – behind center.
So he went with Dobbs.
“He’s your returning
starter on offense. He’s also a
highly intelligent kid with a
high ACT score, good communication
skills. That’s
what you want at center. You
want a guy that can communicate
fronts, communicates
with the other offensive linemen
of what we’re trying to
do each and every play,”
Perry said. “When he turns it
on, he’s a pretty good little
football player – big football
player probably, that is. I
think Corey’s expectations
for himself have gone up
and I think you’ll see that on
the field.”
Krupinski thinks Dobbs
has adjusted well. They
worked together some on
the junior varsity team last
season and are used to
each other’s tendencies.
“I think his blocking is
one of his best. He gives
good effort. It’s just the little
things,” Krupinski said.
“(The key is) to keep your
mind off everything until
you get the snap down. I
think he does a good job of
that. He holds the ball
well, gets it to where it
needs to be.”
John Groth can be reached
at (270) 505-1754 or
jgroth@thenewsenterprise.com.
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