Go back to this past Fall and let’s stroll down memory lane together. Second game, coming off a 39-7 win over Madison Southern, the Commodores get hammered 62-14 by Frederick Douglass. Then the Commodores lose to George Rogers Clark, get hammered 40-0 by North Hardin, before surviving Bryan Station (33-27). The 6A school then loses to Lexington Catholic at Catholic 54-50 to find itself 2-4 heading into district play and the home stretch.
What would you have thought of the Commodores chances at that point? Did anyone see them peeling off 7-straight before bowing out of the Semis, 48-14, to Louisville Male and finishing with a 9-5 worksheet? No we wouldn’t have predicted it either.
How did they do it? Well they had a QB who has signed with Cornell in the Ivy League who passed for 4,685-yards and 47-passing TDs who also lead them in rushing yards from scrimmage. His name is Luke Duby, his picture is to the left of this paragraph.
They had two stud receivers. One of them, Miles Thomas caught 77 balls for 1,797 yards receiving and 23-TDs. The other, Elliot Bryant, caught 59-passes himself for 856-yards receiving and 10-TDs.
They had a senior on defense named Marcus Bosley. He had 96-tackles, 23-TFLs, and 10.5 QB-sacks. Isaiah McFarland contributed 78-tackles, 24-TFLs, and 12 QB-sacks while forcing 2-fumbles. Problem is…all of that production is set to graduate.
How does Tates Creek, or really any program, replace that amount of production without a significant drop-off in performance? Well, it isn’t possible if we are being perfectly honest.
Tates Creek still has one arrow in the quiver. It sounds funny saying this about a defense which surrendered nearly 26.5 points a night and allowed four teams to score 40 or better, but the remaining star has primarily been a defensive stalwart. In 2020, he may inherit the reigns to the offense on top of his duties at LBer.
That guy is Class of 2021’s JT Acosta. Acosta is a 6-0, 160-pounder who backed up Luke Duby in 2019 but was a star in his own right at linebacker. Acosta, whose highlights are linked here, had 71-tackles in 2019. He also had 12.5 TFLs, 4 QB-sacks, and collected 7 interceptions, two of which were against Simon Kenton to claim a Regional title in route to an All-Lexington first-Team selection at year’s end.
Acosta played some QB too in 2019 but sparingly. We’re afraid 52-yards passing and 13-yards rushing comprised his entire offensive contribution to a team which scored over 33-points a game playing in Kentucky’s largest classification.
Now there are a lot of sites which cover Kentucky High School football which are sunshine-pumpers. If that is what you are looking for, we suggest you leave this one and join one of those. We tell it like we see it around here.
That being said, if you’re asking me whether Tates Creek will resemble the 6A semi-finalist which lost to Male a year ago or more like the 2018-version which finished 5-6 and bowed out of the playoff’s first round, 13-10, to Madison Central you aren’t going to like our answer. Truthfully, we think with the production lost, particularly on offense and in the passing game, 5-wins would be an achievement for Coach Jonathan Smith and his staff.
After having said that, any chance the team has of competing at the 2019 level rests squarely on the shoulders of JT Acosta’s ability to pull off a Luke Duby impression. He also has to find some receivers to mimic both Thomas and Bryant.
No denying Acosta can play the game. Who knows? Maybe he can raise his offensive play to the level we have seen him perform on defense. If he does, well, all bets are off on this particular, pre-season prediction.
This is Coach HB Lyon, reporting for KPGFootball, and we’re JUST CALLING IT LIKE WE SEE IT!
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