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THE NEWS-ENTERPRISE FOOTBALL 2012 THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2012 9
LARUE COUNTY
HAWKS
Team
Pursuit
Hawks might lack star power,
but they could be a better team
By NATHANIEL BRYAN
The News-Enterprise
Josh Jaggers is ready to begin
his dream job. After
serving four seasons as an
assistant, the 30-year-old
was selected to replace outgoing
veteran coach Rodney Armes as
coach of the LaRue County
Hawks.
While Jaggers, the team’s former
defensive coordinator, inherits
a program low in numbers and
devoid of much returning offensive
production, he doesn’t look at
his cup of a season as half-empty.
“This is the job I’ve always
wanted in my hometown,” Jaggers
said. “I don’t know if I can sum up
my excitement in two or three sentences,
but this is something I’ve
waited my whole life for.”
He didn’t wait long to scrap the
Delaware Wing-T for a modified
hybrid spread. Jaggers likened the
Hawks’ new offense to that of what
the Florida Gators were running
when they had Tim Tebow.
The change could lessen the
blow of just four full-time starters
coming back offensively in senior
tackle Nathan Bell, senior
guard/tackle Terrel Paysen, senior
guard Cole Hughes and senior
split end/tight end Austin Hinton.
The Hawks graduated a pair of
productive running backs in halfback
Cody Thompson (180 carries
for 1,703 yards and 15 touchdowns)
and fullback Drew
Newberry (174, 868, 12).
Replacing graduate Slade
Owens at quarterback is 5-foot-8
senior Gabe Shirley, a back-up
running back last year.
“I’ve got to look through the
gaps,” Shirley said of passing as a
shorter quarterback. “I think it’s a
plus in a way because with big
linemen, you can hide behind
them. But it has its down moments
with passing. Rolling out is OK,
but if I’m dropping back, I have to
look between each linemen because
I really can’t see over them.
But it’s not too bad.”
Jaggers doesn’t see Shirley’s
size as an issue.
“Gabe’s gritty, he can make
plays with his feet and he throws a
good ball,” Jaggers said. “He’s
proved to be exactly what we were
looking for in terms of what we
were wanting to do offensively this
year.”
Shirley is joined in the backfield
by senior halfback Caleb Canter,
senior fullback Matt Hornback
and junior halfback Austin
McDowell. All three stand between
5-8 and 6-0 and weigh between
140-180 pounds.
“They’re not scared of anybody.
There’s no prima donna
mentality with any of them,”
Photo illustration by JILL PICKETT/The News-Enterprise
LaRue County seniors Cole Hughes and Matthew Hornback hope to lead the Hawks in the right direction this year.
Jaggers said. “We really have a
backfield by committee. You could
see a different lineup every week.
We may end up starting one set of
three of them and finishing the
game with another set of three of
them. They’re all halfback/fullbacks.
Matt Hornback is the
biggest of the bunch, but the rest
are all clones of each other.”
Canter, who was also considered
at quarterback, said he is
ready for an increased role.
“Last year, with Cody and
Drew, they were great guys and
great running backs. But this year,
it’s completely different,” Canter
said. “Last year, going into every
game, I was thinking my main job
was to block. I had to block for
them so they could do good and if
I got the ball, then it was my time
to show what I can do. Now, I’m
thinking, ‘Well, it’s my time all the
time. I have to put the team on my
back and carry it.’ But I still have
to remember to block for other
guys.”
Canter said the offense is a lot
more diverse than last season.
“I think there’s a lot more variety
and a lot more thinking involved,”
he said. “It’s definitely a
lot different than what we’re used
to in LaRue County with our
straight-forward Wing-T.”
Should it take the offense a
while to get on track, the Hawks
could rely early on their base 3-4
“50” defense, which allowed 348.4
yards and 25.4 points per game
last year. The entire secondary
(Canter at safety, Shirley at cornerback,
junior Dawton Lawson at
safety and McDowell at corner) is
back, as are senior linemen Bell,
Paysen and B.J. Carman, junior
lineman Michael Franklin and
seniors Matt Hornback and
Hughes at linebacker.
“Defense wins championships
and with our defense, most of us
are veterans, so we understand it
more,” Canter said. “I think we
can do some great things on defense.”
The Hawks graduated a pair of
second-team All-Area linebackers
in Newberry and Thompson as
well an All-Area honorable mention
in Taylor Albert, who led the
team in total tackles (57) and interceptions
(two).
Two freshmen, Marquis Franklin
and Demarcus McCray, could
be among the choices to fill those
roles.
“I think our strengths are in the
secondary and on the defensive
line,” Jaggers said. “But I think
we’ll be just as weak, in terms of inexperience,
at the linebacker position.”
While Jaggers feels he has capable
pieces, what he’s unsure of is
just how many he has. There are
40 players on the varsity roster,
which includes 14 freshmen.
There are seven two-way starters,
eight if junior kicker/punter Curtis
Milby is included.
“We don’t have an overabundance
of guys who we can not afford
to play,” Jaggers said.
Outside of powerhouse Louisville
Central, a district foe which
has won the Class 3-A state title
four times in five years, the Hawks
don’t feel overmatched by any opponent.
At the same time, they’re
not sure they’re going to be able to
just walk over anybody, either.
“We definitely need to be on
our ‘A’ game,” Shirley said. “We
can compete with everybody, but
everybody can compete with us.
So if we’re not on our ‘A’ game, we
can easily slip away a win.”
Nathaniel Bryan can be reached
at (270) 505-1758 or
nbryan@thenewsenterprise.com.
Kristin Armstrong of the United States won the women’s time trial in London. It was America’s only gold in cycling in 2012.
Wrestling For Respect
Caleb Canter will get his chance as he becomes the team’s go-to running back this season
By NATHANIEL BRYAN
The News-Enterprise
With his football
team installing
a new offense,
LaRue County senior Caleb
Canter missed some
valuable practice time in
the summer.
No worries, thought firstyear
coach and former assistant
Josh Jaggers, because the
brainiac will probably figure it
out on his own.
Canter wasn’t at practice
because he was focusing on
chemistry and physical science
as a part of the prestigious
Governor’s Scholars
Program at Bellarmine University.
While academics
were certainly a big part of his
life, football didn’t stray too
far.
“I made sure I lifted five
times a week,” said Canter, a
halfback and free safety. “A
couple of weeks I only got
four in. And there were quite
a few football players at my
campus, so we were still
throwing and running routes
at least two or three days a
week. I actually worked out as
much or more so than I
would have if I was still here.
… I wasn’t out of the loop.
Not at all.”
With the graduation of fullback
Drew Newberry, tailback
Cody Thompson and
quarterback Slade Owens,
Canter entered this season
knowing he could be playing
one of those three positions.
Canter said it helped knowing
Jaggers was trying to install
the Hawks’ new modified hybrid
spread offense – a
change from their Delaware
Wing-T – in spring practice after
Canter’s wrestling season
was over.
“It wasn’t too bad, because
I had a little bit of a heads-up
of what I was coming back
to,” Canter said. “They added
NEAL CARDIN/The News-Enterprise
LaRue County senior Caleb Canter will start on both sides of
the ball this season.
a couple of things I didn’t
know about and there’s still a
couple of things that I don’t
know completely, but I think
I know everything about it
(the offense) about as good as
anyone else on the team.”
Senior Gabe Shirley plays
alongside Canter on both
sides of the ball as a quarterback
and right cornerback.
Shirley said Canter is like a
younger coach on the field.
Thus Canter’s ability o make
up for that missed practice
time in a hurry.
“Of the most football
knowledge on the team, he’s
probably got more than anybody,”
Shirley said. “He can
put people in position because
he understands the
game.”
Because he’s a wrestler,
Canter’s not apt to put on a
ton of weight or muscle quickly
for football. It would make
it harder cut to move into his
ideal wrestling weight class.
So while Canter could be
bigger and stronger, Jaggers
said that “what if” isn’t worth
considering.
“He’s just a worker and
he’s a wrestler, and kids who
are wrestlers check their egos
at the door,” Jaggers said.
“They realize what hard work
means. He’s gotta be a great
leader for us this year and he
already has been. He’s a great
leader and he’s accepted any
role that we’ve put on him.
He really is the definition of a
kid who’s team first.”
Being a wrestler helps
with the ability to deal with
contact. Newberry, another
wrestler, wasn’t afraid to bowl
over defenders while running
the ball and was willing to go
airborne to take down a ball
carrier on defense.
Canter’s of the same mold.
“He’s not scared one bit.
He’s the one who, every
day when we do a drill, is
asking, ‘Is this full contact?
Are we taking people to the
ground?’” Jaggers said. “He
wants to go full-tilt all the
time. And you just don’t see
too many 5-10, 155-pound
guys with that type of mentality.
He’s a bear. He will
absolutely rock your world
if he catches you.”
Jaggers loves Canter’s ability
to use his wrestling instincts
to take down offensive
players. Having that keen
brain at free safety also helps
because Jaggers allows Canter
to read and react to formations
as soon as offenses break
the huddle.
“He’s our air-traffic controller
and he gets everybody
going to where they’re supposed
to be,” Jaggers said.
“He’s great at formation
recognition. A lot of times
with our secondary in practice,
I’ll throw different sets at
them. Now we’re not doing a
lot defensively at that point,
but I want them to know what
we (the offense) are in and
with him, it’s boom, boom,
boom. He already knows
what we’re in and he’s already
getting people where
they need to be. He’s our
quarterback of the secondary.”
Next year, Canter hopes to
parlay his academic success
and wrestling aptitude into a
college scholarship. He said
West Virginia University
comes to mind, since it offers
the science program he wants
and has made wrestling for
the Mountaineers an option.
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But that’s in the future.
For now, Canter is ready
to use his brains and brawn to
try to help the Hawks to success
in his final season.
“Going into my senior
year, it’s tough and heartbreaking
to think, ‘Wow, this
is the last time we’ll go
through this,’” he said. “But at
the same time, it gives you a
little more motivation because
every other year, I’ve
thought ‘Well, I have next
year or the next year.’ This
year, you can’t say that. So
you have to put everything
out there.”
Nathaniel Bryan can be reached
at (270) 505-1758 or
nbryan@thenewsenterprise.com.
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