Louisa, Ky. — Brand new offense for Lawrence Co. as they open the season at Rowan Co. on Friday night in Morehead.
2023 Lawrence Co. Football
All Photos taken by Wayne Chaffin
Lawrence Co. went 9-3 last season and lost 28-7 to Greenup Co. in the second round of the 3A playoffs. The Dawgs did get one monkey off their back after defeating Belfry for the first time since 2002 with a 35-21 victory at home.
The Bulldogs went 4-0 and captured the 3A District 8 championship as well including the aforementioned win over Belfry and beat East Carter 28-14 in the first round of the playoffs.
2023 Bulldog Seniors
Front L to R Will McDavid, Jake Derifield, Cody Crum, Abner Collinsworth, Dalton Runyons
Back L to R Gage Cox, Dakota Daniels, Logan Ratliff, Luis Chicko, Talan Pollack, Blake Prater, Ethan Prater, Jackson Burguss, Shane Maddox
The Dawgs have run the belly offense for as long as I can remember but this season under new Offensive Coordinator Tom Frazier they will open it up and run a spread offense that will feature throwing the football and should fit the style of the players on the team.
Lawrence Co. returns a host of talent to this year’s team including Senior starting QB Talan Pollock who has battled an illness so far in camp, If Pollack can’t go it would be Sophomore Luke Fetherolf taking the snaps, they also return Cody Crum and Will McDavid in the backfield who have been standouts during camp so far and will both carry the rock.
2023 Bulldog Juniors
Front L to R Aden Handley, Charlie Fletcher, Caden Thompson, Brandon Morris, Rain Warden
Back L to R Josh Stepp, Josh Spillman, Peyton Lowe, Eli Fletcher, Colin Howard, Keaden Ellis, Derek Rakes
The Dawgs have a bunch of talent on the outside catching the football including Logan Ratliff, Jake Derifield, highly touted freshman Carlo Chicko, Eli Fletcher, Braxton Davis, Keaden Ellis, Dalton Runyons, and Abner Collinsworth at tight end.
LC lost four interior linemen from last season with the only returning starter Blake Prater anchoring the line along with Luis Chicko who moved down from tight end.
2023 Bulldog Sophomores
L to R Brayden Queen, Aden Patton, Braxton Davis, Brady Nelson, Luke Fetherolf, Connor York, Steven Hall
Sophomore Brayden Queen will handle extra points and field goals this season after standout kicker Logan Southers graduated.
Junior Eli Fletcher will be the punter this upcoming season.
Linebackers Cody Crum, Will McDavid, Luis Chicko and Abner Collinsworth will spearhead the defense.
2023 Bulldog Freshman
Front L to R Maddox Dancer, Wyatt Hutton, Alex Leflesh, Colbie Prince, Ethan Preece, Andrew Ratcliffe, Cameron Vanhoose, Hunter Ferguson
Back L to R Caden Slone, Kaden Johnson, Carlo Chicko, Tanner Lee, Cameron Castle, Dominick Kitts, Caven Williams, Ty Brooks, Hayden Blagg
Blake Prater, Peyton Lowe, Ty Brooks, Gage Cox and Ethan Preece among others will play on the defensive line.
In the Defensive backfield it will be Dalton Runyons, Keaden Ellis, Braxton Davis, Eli Fletcher, Caven Williams and Jake Derifield who will all see action.
LC Coaching and Support Staff
(No order) Alan Short ,Tom Frazier, Zach Botkins, Hunter Crum, Mark Muncie, Cory Humphery, Mike Woods, Wes Booth, William Prince, BJ Nelson , Scott Randall , Mike Runyons
The Dawgs will open the season in Morehead versus Rowan Co. this Friday before hosting Shelby Valley in the home opener in the Lawrence Co. Farm Bureau Bowl on August 25th.
Lawrence Co. Head Coach Alan Short
COACH’S COMMENTS
“… Very proud of what we were able to accomplish last year and the kids that were on that team. For me it was all about them. Unfortunately 2022 is over but we are looking forward to 2023 to developing the group that we have now.”
“… The turf field means everything, signifies a lot, but the number one thing is the commitment from our board of education to our athletics. It’s not just for our football program. It belongs to our school system and all of our student-athletes. For our board to vote 5-0 and make this a reality is unbelievable and our kids will use it, they will take care of it as well. We are very thankful.”
“… Number one thing that I have seen from our kids so far in preseason camp and the two scrimmages is effort. Our kids are playing really really hard and for me as a high school football coach, effort is half the battle. We are very fortunate that our kids play hard. Execution wise we have some stuff to clean up and we will keep working hard in practice as we get into game week. But the thing that stands out to me is effort.”
“… No doubt that the spread offense will be different from what people is used to seeing around here. At the end of last season I did a lot of soul searching to see how I could make our team better and for to get to play in late November and based on our returning players and the talent of our incoming players I felt that this was the perfect time to make this change. Again we are not perfect at it, we have been doing it about a month and it’s a work in progress and we are continuing to get better at it each and every day. Hopefully the way we look in November won’t be the way we look in August. We want to get 2% better each day and trust the process. I’m very excited to sling the ball around to some of the talented guys we have in our program.”
“… Obviously Dr. Tom Frazier is a professional, so to speak, in everything that he does. Not going to say that it’s been completely seamless because when we are near the goal line I want to run that football in there. But when you hire someone to do a job you have to let them do it. I’m still involved as much as he wants me to be. He will be the first to tell you that he doesn’t want to do this all by himself, he has humility and humbleness about him. It has been a transition for me on a personal level but it was the right decision and the best way to move Lawrence Co. football forward.”
“… Very excited about our staffs on both sides of the football. We have added Mark Muncie to coach our offensive line and Mike Woods to coach our wide receivers, I think it’s a standup group that knows a lot about football. We got Zach Botkins coaching our secondary and his third or fourth year as the defensive coordinator, Hunter Crum coaching our defensive line and Cory Humphrey coaching our linebackers. We have a great staff that cares about our kids and has their best interest at heart.”
“… Look at the success Belfry has had for the last few decades, they are the standard for high school football in the state of Kentucky. It’s great to have that competition in your own District year in and year out. Every team in the new district can play and are very well coached and will be a challenge week end and week out for us and we are looking forward to the opportunity. We are going to have to be ready to play every single Friday night.”
“… It’s great to be able to play on turf and for the next two years nineteen out of our twenty regular season games will be on turf with the only exception being at Powell Co. this season. But to me the real value of having turf is the practice time. Unfortunately we had a tornado touch down in Lawrence Co. and after the last crack of thunder we were outside practicing football. No shoes got muddy and nobody slid all over the place trying to stand up. We had football practice. Like I said the real value is being able to practice on it. Don’t get me wrong playing games on it are great but Monday to Thursday is the real value as a coach. Again very grateful and thankful that our board of education approved this for our students.”
“… To be honest with you I haven’t thought about the home opener just yet. We have been focusing on ourselves and Rowan Co. Coach Ford does a great job with the Vikings and they made tremendous strides from their first scrimmage to the second scrimmage and it will be a challenge for us in Morehead Friday night. We are looking forward to a great week of preparation and getting better everyday.”
See schedule and roster here
