eTearsheet - Kentucky Press Association

More documents

Recommendations

Info

4 THE NEWS-ENTERPRISE FOOTBALL 2012 THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2012 FORT KNOX EAGLES The 2012 Fort Knox Eagles ORGANIZING COMMITTEE TRAINING SITE: Fort Knox. POPULATION (2011-12 school year): 346 (Grades 9-12). TEAM COLORS: Green, gold and white. HOME FIELD: McAdams Field (capacity 3,000). 2011 GAMES: 2-8. LAST MEDAL ROUND: 2010 (lost to Monroe County, 35-17 in second round of Class 2-A playoffs). LAST MEDAL WIN: Defeated Glasgow, 30-28 in first round of Class 2-A playoffs in 2010. TEAM FORT KNOX HEAD COACH: Shawn Thompson (second season at Fort Knox, 2-8). ASSISTANT COACHES: Wes Arnold, Keith Dodley, John Aluza and Sam Wilson. ATHLETES: 39 (Grades 9-12). TOP STATISTICAL RETURNEES Rushing: Brandon Franklin (66 att., 247 yards, 1 TD). Passing: Brandon Franklin (85-for- 184 for 1,685 yards and 18 TDs). Receiving: Rashaan Allen (3 catches, 29 yards, 0 TDs). MEDAL HOPES ■ Fort Knox senior quarterback Brandon Franklin should excel after a year of experience in Shawn Thompson’s offense. He could be an Area Offensive Player of the Year candidate. ■ The Eagles look to make the playoffs after finishing fifth in district. ■ Fort Knox will be thin up front with only 14 offensive linemen on the roster. FORT KNOX EAGLES MEDAL CHASE 2012 SCHEDULE Aug. 17 at Elizabethtown Aug. 24 HART COUNTY Aug. 31 at Butler County Sept. 7 FORT CAMPBELL Sept. 21 at Louisville DeSales Sept. 28 at Bardstown Oct. 5 WASHINGTON COUNTY Oct. 12 at Louisville Shawnee Oct. 19 CHRISTIAN ACADEMY OF LOUISVILLE Oct. 26 CAMPBELLSVILLE Home games in all caps BOLD indicates Class 2-A, District 4 game 2011 RESULTS Def. Elizabethtown, 41-21 Lost to Hart County, 26-18 Lost to Butler County, 42-34 Lost to Fort Campbell, 68-26 Lost to Louisville DeSales, 35-28 Lost to Bardstown, 49-12 Lost to Washington County, 55-20 Def. Louisville Shawnee, 40-16 Lost to Christian Academy of Louisville, 38-8 Lost to Campbellsville, 25-24 PAST GAMES 2011: 2-8 2010: 4-8 2009: 3-8 2008: 0-11 2007: 0-11 GOLD MEDALS 2006: 0-10 2005: 1-9 2004: 4-6 2003: 5-6 2002: 8-4 Three: 1990 (2-A), 1988 (2-A) and 1983 (2-A). 2012 ROSTER No. Name Position Height Weight Class 2 Kelvin Pickens RB/LB 5-7 135 Sophomore 3 Derek Miranda WR/FS 6-2 170 N/A 4 Deidrick Anderson QB/WR/DB 6-3 170 Freshman 5 Rashaan Allen TE/K/DB 6-4 215 Senior 7 Brandon Franklin QB/DB 6-1 180 Senior 8 Dustin True WR/CB 5-7 145 N/A 9 Ishmael Price RB/CB 5-9 155 Sophomore 11 Antonio Copeland RB/WR/CB 5-10 165 Junior 12 Brandon Whitaker TE/LB 5-10 185 Junior 15 Kier Roberson WR/DE 6-3 185 Freshman 16 Jonathan Dray WR/K/CB 6-0 165 Junior 17 Cody Lewis WR/K/CB 5-10 155 Sophomore 19 William Maynard WR/CB 5-10 150 Freshman 20 Vano Valdez WR/CB 5-6 115 Freshman 21 Brandon Gullick WR/LB/SS 5-9 140 Senior 22 Cameron Pelligrino RB/OLB 5-7 155 Freshman 23 Matt Albus WR/FS 6-0 150 Freshman 25 Tier Blanco WR/CB 5-6 140 Freshman 26 Jordan Diamond RB/CB 5-8 150 Sophomore 43 Jeremy Nix WR/CB 5-7 155 Freshman 50 Andrew Stanley OL/DE/LB 5-10 170 Senior 51 Jonathan Seward OL/DE 6-2 215 Freshman 52 Chancey Boone OL/NG 5-6 170 Freshman 54 Troy Kiphuth OL/DE 6-1 185 Junior 55 Aaron Stark OL/DT 5-10 255 Senior 56 Moses Bell OL/DE/LB 6-1 200 Junior 59 Malik Casby OL/DT 5-10 210 Freshman 61 Adam Kiphuth RB/OLB 6-1 225 Junior 63 Robert Bell OL/DE 6-0 185 N/A 64 Natashia Huggins OL/DT 5-8 248 N/A 71 Michael Dugan OL/DT 6-0 210 N/A 72 Noah Trotter OL/DT 5-7 170 N/A 74 Perry McCrae OL/DT 5-6 165 N/A 75 Curtis Cooks OL/DT 5-9 210 N/A 77 Kelvin Henderson OL/DT 6-0 190 N/A 80 Tylor Mitchell WR/DE/LB 6-2 180 N/A 85 Nick Hambelton WR/FS 6-4 170 N/A —- Demyja Holmes N/A 5-6 165 Senior —- Anna Litwin N/A 5-5 145 N/A PROJECTED STARTERS OFFENSE QB: Brandon Franklin 6-1, 180, Sr. — Franklin is a three-year starter who’s looking to have a breakout year. RB: Ishmael Price, 5-9, 155, So. — Price is fast and very smart. WR: Rashaan Allen, 6-4, 225, Sr. — Allen is a big receiver who will be the leader of the receiving corps. WR: Tylor Mitchell 6-2, 180, So. — Mitchell runs good routes. WR: Deidrick Anderson, 6-3, 170 — Good receiver who can catch and run. TE: Brandon Whitaker, 5-10, 185, Jr. — Whitaker is a good and consistent receiver. LT: Andrew Stanley, 5-9, 170, Sr. — Stanley may be on the small side for a lineman, but he’s a veteran who should have a good year. LG: Moses Bell, 6-1, 200, Jr. — Bell is another crafty veteran. C: Aaron Stark, 5-9, 255, Sr. — Stark is the anchor of the offensive line. RG: Troy Kiphuth, 6-0, 225, Jr. — Like his brother Adam, will be counted on to protect Franklin. RT: Adam Kiphuth, 6-1, 185, Jr. — Kiphuth is a newcomer who will be counted on to protect Franklin in the pocket. K: Cody Lewis, 5-10, 155, So. — A two-sport athlete (soccer, football), Lewis is a pretty good kicker. DEFENSE DE: Brandon Whitaker, 5-10, 185, Jr. — Because of his smaller size, Whitaker will rely on his speed and technique. DT: Robert Bell, 6-0, 185, Fr. — Bell is a newcomer with tons of potential. DT: Aaron Stark, 5-9, 255, Sr. — The anchor of team’s newly implemented 4-3 defense. DE: Rashaan Allen, 6-4, 225, Sr. — Another lineman who will rely on his speed and technique. OLB: Andrew Stanley, 5-10, 170, Sr. — Stanley is a leader in every sense of the word. MLB: Tylor Mitchell, 6-2, 180, So. — Mitchell is a very versatile player who could also see time on the defensive line. ILB: Adam Kiphuth, 6-1, 185, Jr. — Kiphuth is very steady and consistent. CB: Antonio Copeland, 5-10, 165, Jr. — He’s a veteran who’s looking to build on the breakout season he had last year. CB: Deidrick Anderson, 6-3, 170, Fr. — Anderson is a lanky freshman who can make plays. S: Brandon Franklin, 6-1, 180, Sr. — Franklin is a very good cover safety who rarely gets burned. S: Tier Blanco, 5-7, 140, Fr. — A newcomer who is a hard worker. P: Brandon Franklin, 6-1, 180, Sr. — With senior Johnny Slater not returning to the team, Franklin is Fort Knox’s best option at punter.
THE NEWS-ENTERPRISE FOOTBALL 2012 THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2012 5 FORT KNOX EAGLES Racing for Success Eagles are more disciplined and determined after disappointing 2-8 season By JOSH CLAYWELL The News-Enterprise Shawn Thompson envisioned great things in his first season after taking over the Fort Knox football team. He wanted to lead the Eagles back to the success they had in the 1980s and 90s. Growing up in Campbellsville and later playing for Campbellsville High School, Thompson knew first-hand just how good those teams were. That’s why he was so excited to take the job when Brandon Combs resigned after three seasons. Thompson believed he could get Fort Knox back to being one of the top teams in not just the area, but the state as well. Only his first year didn’t quite go as he had planned. As injuries to key players mounted, so did the losses. Fort Knox went 2-8, losing six straight after winning its first game, and missed the Class 2-A playoffs. “I came out of last season not very happy, to be honest,” Thompson said. “If we went 2-8 and that was the absolute best we could do, I would have been happy. But it wasn’t. We left a lot of things unfinished last year and let a lot of things go out of our control. Hopefully we’re going to be the kind of team that controls our own destiny and not make silly mistakes that cost us. Hopefully we can get it turned around and get it going this year.” The Eagles think they can and will be racing for success this season. They’ve been more disciplined and determined than last season, and they’re eager to put last season behind them. “You don’t look at the past; you just look to the future,” said senior lineman Aaron Stark. “The past is the past and you can’t do anything about it, so you just look ahead and go from there.” Thompson said attitudes have also improved over last season. No longer are players thinking of themselves first. Senior quarterback Brandon Franklin noticed a difference in the team’s first practice. “I told everybody I’m not going to sit here and watch people lollygag in practices this season,” he said. “We’re going to work hard every time we’re out there. We don’t have as much talent as we did, but everyone NEAL CARDIN/The News-Enterprise Fort Knox seniors Rashaan Allen and Aaron Stark are two of the team’s leaders. is disciplined. Everyone has been working hard.” That’s a change from last season, when it seemed Fort Knox relied more on making a big play than hard work. When the Eagles needed a big play in a critical situation, they could count on players like Josh Kleber, Dominic Dingle or Akio Tonge to come through. This year, however, Thompson said they don’t have the ability to wait for someone to come up with a huge play. “We just don’t have that big-play ability we had last year,” he said. “We didn’t make plays because we executed; a lot of the time, we made plays just because we were faster than our opponents. But this year we’re executing better and getting the right reads and doing all the right things whereas last year we lived on the big plays.” Something else that hindered Fort Knox was conditioning. If the Eagles were facing a team with more numbers – like Fort Campbell and district rivals Bardstown and Christian Academy of Louisville, for instance – they wore down quickly. That was one thing the coaches knew needed to be addressed this season. Thompson feels his team is in better shape than last season, and that should help. “One of the big things we worked on was our conditioning,” Thompson said. “There were several times we would jump on people, and then we’d just run out of gas. We’ve addressed that as much as we can. We’ve gotten a lot stronger and fundamentally we’re a lot better.” The Eagles return only six total starters in Franklin and fellow seniors Rashaan Allen, Aaron Stark and Andrew Stanley and juniors Antonio Copeland and Moses Bell. But Thompson believes they have more quality depth at each position. Unlike last season when Franklin, Kleber and Stark were injured, Fort Knox has players ready to step in this season. Franklin and Kleber were hampered by leg injuries, while Stark played through a nagging ankle injury that kept getting worse. Stark had surgery in the offseason and said he’s back at 100 percent. Franklin is glad to have him back on the offensive line. “I feel safer and I trust Stark,” he said. “I missed him last year. He brings a lot of fire. He protects me. I don’t have to second-guess him. I’m going to be able to stay in the pocket longer.” Thompson said there’s no way to downplay how much Stark means to the team. “He played hurt last year and a lot of people didn’t know that,” Thompson said. “He looks a lot different than he did last year. It’s been great having him back. He makes the calls for us on the offensive line and he knows where everybody’s supposed to be on defense.” With Stark leading the way, the Eagles should have a better year defensively. They gave up 37.5 points per game last season, but Thompson hopes a switch back to a 4-3 defense will help. Fort Knox ran a 3-4 last season. “I think we’ll be better on defense,” Thompson said. “We’re young still, and that kind of concerns me. We may be starting two sophomores at linebacker. We’re still working on getting people in the right spots, but they understand they’ve got to work hard. And we’ve got more quality depth this season. We’ll have some people pushing others.” Offensively, the Eagles are still running a hybrid version of the spread offense – which is tooled to better utilize Franklin’s talents. “We’re not going to change much,” Thompson said. “We’ve added a couple of wrinkles, but overall what we’re doing is not going to change. I think the offense plays to our strengths.” With better attitudes and work ethics, the Eagles believe they are destined for big things this season. Even with the disappointment of last season still lingering, Thompson does too. All the Eagles have to do, he said, is keep doing what they’ve done this preseason. “I had to look at everything we did last year and had to figure out some things,” Thompson said. “We lost a couple of kids from last year that would have helped us out. But I like where our attitudes are and I like where we’re at right now. “The team is better off this season. It’s a different team,” he added. “They know what the goal is, and they know we’re capable of it. We don’t have the athletes we had last year, but I think we’ll be better this season.” Josh Claywell can be reached at (270) 505-1752 or jclaywell@thenewsenterprise.com. The United States’ 400-meter relay team of Carmelita Jeter, Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix and Bianca Knight won gold in record time. Throwing Events Brandon Franklin primed for breakout year after changes in the offseason By JOSH CLAYWELL The News-Enterprise Shawn Thompson admits he’s noticed some big changes in senior quarterback Brandon Franklin. Sporting an improved attitude and having become more of a leader, the secondyear Fort Knox coach said Franklin has grown up quite a bit since last season. “I’ve seen a lot of changes in him,” Thompson said. “I think he’s starting to understand it’s his last year of highschool football. I don’t want to say it’s his make-it-orbreak-it year, but it’s now or never.” Franklin realizes this is his last chance to do something at Fort Knox. He’s not going to be able to rely on his older brother Josh Kleber, or other players like the graduated duo of Akio Tonge and Dominic Dingle. This year, it’s up to him. “I think I’ve grown tremendously,” Franklin said. “My whole mentality has changed this year. I’m a senior now and people look up to me. And my training technique has gotten better. It’s my last chance in high school; I’ve got to go out with a bang.” Some of Franklin’s teammates have noticed the changes as well. Senior lineman Aaron Stark said Franklin has done a better job of putting the team first instead of himself. NEAL CARDIN/The News-Enterprise Fort Knox senior Brandon Franklin passed for 1,685 yards and 18 touchdowns last season. “His leadership and dedication is a lot better this year,” Stark said. “He’s disciplined and he knows what to do. He just does everything 110 percent.” Senior receiver Rashaan Allen, who becomes Franklin’s top target this season, agreed. “He’s grown a lot,” Allen said. “He’s been stepping up as a leader – on and off the field. He’s a lot better as a player and a person.” Thompson started noticing the changes in Franklin when he started watching film of himself. That helped Franklin see what needed to be improved instead of just being told by coaches what he needed to work on. “When you get in the season, you can’t correct that problem,” Thompson said. “You just need experience and time and you don’t have enough time to do that during the season. But I think when he sat down and watched film of himself and saw what he was doing, I think he understood what we’re trying to do on offense. “I don’t know if he’ll put up the big passing numbers he had last season, but I think he’ll have a better year in the offense,” he added. “He’s probably going to run the ball a little more. He doesn’t have the big-play receivers he had last season, but he understands it’s not about throwing the ball 50 yards every play.” Franklin has improved so much, Thompson is letting him make some play calls at the line of scrimmage. If Franklin sees something in the defense, Thompson has enough trust in him to switch to something else. “He understands what he’s looking at defensively and he’s got complete command of the passing game. He understands our running game better,” Thompson said. “I don’t know if he’s gotten that much better talent-wise, but his understanding of what we’re trying to do is a lot better.” Thompson also said Franklin has improved at recognizing different options in Fort Knox’s hybrid version of the spread offense. He understands that if a play breaks down, he has other options to work with. That’s something Franklin struggled with last season, Thompson said, but has done a much better job at this season. “The offense is catered to his talents, and we’ve tweaked some things to where he can show off what he can do,” Thompson said. “Brandon is a smart kid and he can read stuff and he can see what’s going on. The one thing about this offense is there are always options. Even though we’re a quickpassing team or whatever you want to call it, there’s always an option to do something else. Brandon has gotten to the point where he understands what those are. Last year, if I called a play and the team lined up to where they had it defended pretty well, we couldn’t do anything else. “Now he understands we can do other things and how to get us into situations where we can be successful.” Josh Claywell can be reached at (270) 505-1752 or jclaywell@thenewsenterprise.com. The #1 Sporting Goods Store in the Heartland Footwear School Apparel & Merchandise 2628 Ring Road Elizabethtown, KY 42701 270-765-6247 Embroidery & Screen Printing Custom Uniforms & Chenille 10% Military Discount Trophies & Awards Team Sports Equipment Officials & Referees Apparel & Equipment • Tennis & Racquetball Stringing & Regripping • Baseball & Softball Glove Relacing SERVING THE HEARTLAND SINCE 1968 www.dukes-sportinggoods.com
Page 2 and 3: 2 IN THE MIDDLE 10 — KEEPERS OF T
Page 6 and 7: 6 THE NEWS-ENTERPRISE FOOTBALL 2012

eTearsheet - Kentucky Press Association

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?