’25 safety and his teammates gearing up for an improved season
De’André Watkins is a guy who will be much counted on by the new regime at Christian County which has been brought in to return the Colonels to its previous glory in expectation of the coming consolidation. When Christian County and Hopkinsville join forces, there are many around the western end of Kentucky who belive the roster will be stacked with enviable talent and athleticism. Count us among the throng. Watkins has a chance to be special. He played in all 11-games as a sophomore and looks likely to see the starting lineup this fall, his junior year. He has a nose for the ball and a penchant for making game-changing plays.
HB Lyon, Scouting Director, KPGFootball
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Raise your hand if you have followed Kentucky high school football long enough to remember when you DIDN’T want to see the Christian County Colonels on the schedule. It hasn’t been that long ago.
A team which established a tradition of containing rosters with some of western-Kentucky’s finest athletes looks to us, as camp opens FOR REAL, to have some of those same type guys once more. You know the types. The Coco Majors-types, the Keith Tandy-types, the Cory Trice-types, the Tony McCombs-types, the Jerry Reese-types, we could go on and on, but won’t. You get the picture.
De’André Watkins is A GUY. Is he THE GUY? Time will be the judge and judgement day is right around the corner.
Football people know what is meant when describing someone in the above way. Watkins hasn’t produced ENOUGH, on the field, yet…but his time may be coming, as soon as this Fall, if you believe the new head man.
[Watkins] has upper-level athleticism and a nose for the football…
Ethan Atchley, HFC, Christian County High
“We expect Watkins to be the guy to whom we look for dynamic/game changing plays. He has upper-level athleticism and a nose for the football. This is a young, inexperienced team, we will have to look somewhere for big plays. Looking at Watkins for performance looks to be as good a place (right now) as any.” Ethan Atchley, Head Football Coach, Christian County High.
Watkins had an eventful, if not somewhat meager, ’23 season from a production standpoint. He played in all 11-games (2-9) and registered 17-tackles, 1-TFL, with 1-INT returned 21-yards.
That aside, Watkins was among the leaders on the defense in passes broken up and had a scoop and score which must have been blown dead. That is the only reason to account for why it didn’t make the end of the year stat-sheet but did make the highlights.
Watkins is listed as a DB/ATH and stands 5’11” tall. Watkins weighs 170-pounds and projects to get some special teams looks in the return game entering the ’24 campaign.
Christian County will surprise some folks this coming season…
Friday Night Fletch
We haven’t told you about his most “recruitable” statistic. Watkins is a 4.0 student at CCHS, making his clearance for play through either the NAIA or NCAA clearing houses a mere formality.
Christian County will surprise some people this coming season. You will see a much more disciplined brand of football run by better conditioned and stronger athletes than the team fans remember from the last few years.
At the risk of sounding overly nostalgic, were FDR hanging around Colonel camp, we are sure he might be humming a familiar tune and one he commonly used as his campaign song when he was running for President. “Happy Days Are Here Again.”
That is our perspective anyway. Then again, what do we know?
This is Friday Night Fletch, reporting for KPGFootball, reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!
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