WORD'S OUT: Rockets are pretty good
When you start talking to 15th-year head coach Al Starnes about the hype surrounding this year's team, he's quick to change the subject to his club's lack of depth.
Ask him about being just two victories from 100 wins as the skipper at Crittenden County and you get a look that would kill an average linebacker.
Like most high school football coaches, Starnes would prefer to brag on his team after it has accomplished something. You won't get him to smile about his personal achievements either. At least not until he's kicked back in December and ready to reflect on a career that's unparalleled in local football history.
Oh, and don't mention the fact that the Rockets are ranked among the top teams in Class A and picked second in the region. He doesn't like to talk about that either.
"That's all for the media," Starnes said about the rankings and the fact that this could be one of the best teams Crittenden has fielded since the 1985 state championship 20 years ago this season.
"We can't worry about rankings because you can throw all of that crap out when game time comes. Emotions, intensity and excitement... that's what makes the difference when the lights come on," the coach said.
Just days ahead of the Rockets' season opener against arch-rival Caldwell County, Starnes was lamenting the loss of his starting punter, Daniel Farmer, to an ATV injury-accident. With 14 seniors, eight returning offensive starters and six on defense, most would say Starnes has adopted a typical pre-season posture, guarded about saying anything that might indicate how good he thinks his team can be this fall.
The truth is, the word's out.
Much of the talk about Class A football in western Kentucky centers on the Rockets and three or four of their best players. T.K. Guess, Blake Gardner, Austin Berry and Dustin Lanham are each getting some attention from collegiate scouts. The Internet chat lines are full of the smack that makes a coach nervous. "Crittenden is loaded." "Nobody will stop the Rockets." Those are just a couple of the tag lines one might run across in a football fantasy chatroom.
While there's lots of chatter among fans, mum's the word at Camp Rocket.
"I'm still worried about our conditioning," Starnes said. "We're getting better, but there are a lot of question marks."
Offensively, it is no secret that Crittenden will spread the field and throw the football. Senior quarterback Austin Berry has already shattered every school passing record in just one full season, and his assault will continue. Berry is the all-time leading passer (2,258 yds.), his 2,017 yards last year is a single-season best, and he holds the record for most touchdown passes in a season (29 last year) and most passing yards in one game (304 last year against Hancock County).
A big-time gunner like that certainly needs a faithful sidekick and that's where senior T.K. Guess comes in. Picked by most prep gurus as the best Class A player in western Kentucky, Guess is the Rockets' all-time leading receiver with 1,021 yards, of which he collected 900 last year ­ a single-season record. He's a playmaker and everyone around western Kentucky football knows to watch him.
Coach Starnes doesn't have to look to hard to find some running buddies for Guess. With the return of sure-handed tight end Jacob Courtney and emergence of Cory Hamby, Kirk Stone and Barrett Sherer at wide receiver, the Rocket quarterback will have plenty of quality targets. In fact, the receiving corps is bubbling over with bodies. On a team lacking in depth in most areas, the Rockets post almost a dozen receivers on the depth chart.
With a passing game like that who needs to run the ball, right?
Wrong. Every high school coach will tell you he wants establish the run first.
That shouldn't be too hard to do with running backs Blake Gardner and Josh Franklin. The two combined for more than 1,000 yards last year. Gardner has been unstoppable in pre-season. He's a double threat to run or catch a swing pass in the flat where he's has proven terribly tough to take down one-on-one in the open.
Franklin is a bull-dog, up-the-middle-portal type runner and also has goods hands for catching Berry's passes.
On the offensive frontline, Crittenden is bigger than ever and fairly mobile, too. A.J. Thompson, Richard Threlkeld, Dustin Lanham, Trent Jennings, Tyler Watson, Jacob Courtney and Alex Wood are as solid as any frontline in recent memory. Five of the seven are 225 or better.
Defensively, the Rockets are firm, but questions still loom from last season when Crittenden gave up 20 points per game and more than 300 yards in each of its three losses. While the Rocket offense averaged 33 points a year ago, the defense was a bit porous at times.
Coach Starnes says that the return of Vince Clark as defensive coordinator and going back to a defense designed to stop the run will be big pluses. Still there's reason for concern in the defensive backfield. During the Rockets' second pre-season scrimmage, Hopkins Central stretched the secondary for 228 yards in less than three quarters. Cornerback and linebacker are pretty strong across the starting line, but depth is a big problem there.
In looking at the personnel on the defensive front, Watson is the centerpiece at nose guard. Starnes expects a much more aggressive frontal attack with Dustin Lanham and Jacob Courtney on the left and A.J. Thompson and George Congenie holding down the right side. Backing up the line at middle linebacker is Blake Gardner. Gardner and Lanham were among the team's top tacklers last year. Shawn Farmer and Kirk Stone hold down the strong and weak-side linebacker slots. Josh Franklin can step in at linebacker or defensive end.
At the corners are Cory Hamby and newcomer to the team Barrett Sherer. T.K. Guess will handle centerfield chores at safety.