Amare Black from Union County among the last Braves standing… @UCBraves @55CoachJohns @KrisHughes04 @amargeGcampbell @minguabeefjerky @1776Bank @PrepSpin @KyHighFootball @kyhighs @HLpreps @MaxPreps

Amare Black is back as a rising Jr. in '23 and that may prove to be plenty for the Braves

’25 DE ranked among Kentucky’s best in two key defensive categories in ’22

Here is a guy on whom we don’t have a height and weight. We would put him in the 6’1,” 235-240-pound range but would be guessing. We can tell you he is explosive coming off the Braves’ defensive edge. The Braves have lost about every thing else, but they still have him and that may prove to be enough.

Fletcher W. Long, KPGFootball‘s Chief of the Scouting Division

To fully appreciate the amount of production the Braves will lose to graduation from off its ’22, 12-1, Regional Runner-up ball club, one may be forced to truly boggle one’s mind. We will attempt to lay it out for you.

The leading passer is gone (Cannon Sheffer).

Also gone are two of its leading rushers (Kristopher Hughes, Kanye Pollard). Three of its leading receivers will have graduated by the ’23 opener (Kristopher Hughes, Izaiah Manuel, Kanye Pollard).

Leading scorers Kristopher Hughes, Kanye Pollard, Cannon Sheffer will have departed via the graduation stage. The PK will have, likewise, graduated (Collin Nalley).

Several of the top forced/recovered fumbles guys will have left (Elijah Baird, Kanye Pollard, Cannon Sheffer). The defense’s top tackler will also be gone (Cannon Sheffer) as well as the guy who led the team in TFL’s and QB-sacks (Elijah Baird).

As for the defensive backend, consider the following: three of its top INT producers will have graduated  (Brock Cullen, Cannon Sheffer, and Kanye Pollard) and that is only half of the tale. Sheffer had 143-IRNY’s (Interception Return Net Yards) and a pick-six to to lead the team and Pollard had a 100-yard, pick-six.

 …somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout; but there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out.

“Casey at the Bat,” by Ernest Thayer, 1888

Tell me that isn’t a mouthful. Is there any hope? Will there be any joy in Mudville to borrow a line from the poem, Casey at the Bat (1888, Ernest Thayer)?

Don’t forlorn too vociferously, there’s still Amare Black. If ’22 is any indication, a year in which he studded completely out though only a sophomore, then Black coming back is quite a lot around which to build.

In ’22, Black was among the leaders in tackles (86). Black was among the leaders in TFL’s with six (6). Black was among the leaders in QB-sacks with four (4). Matter of fact, Amare Black ranked 31st, in all of 3A across Kentucky, in QB-sacks and 50th in tackles.

So what does this portend for the Braves in ’23. Will they have enough in the coffers to fight off a realigned Hopkins County Central (down from 4A), an up and coming, ever improving Webster County, and a Trigg County team which boasts some of the most recruited talent in Kentucky and the deepest stable of receivers one may ever see at the 3A level?

We don’t know. We would have to think Union will battle Trigg, ultimately, for supremacy; but, in the end, that is why the games get played.

We can tell you the Braves are very happy to still have some elite young talent on hand like Amare Black. We can also confidently predict it will take every Brave the tribe can muster to keep Union County High from plunging headlong into that district’s version of “Little Big Horn.”

This is Coach HB Lyon, reporting for KPGFootball, and we’re JUST CALLING IT LIKE WE SEE IT!

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About Fletcher Long 1446 Articles
Two-time winner of Kentucky Press Association awards for excellence in writing and reporting news stories while Managing Editor of the Jackson (KY) Times-Voice

2 Comments

  1. Keep an eye out for Koleby Schroeder at Union County also! He’s not quite Cannon Sheffer yet but he’s only a sophomore! Played safety and other positions last season and freshman year but was a quarterback the 5 previous years.

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