At KPGFootball we remember the day rather distinctly. We were sitting around the office at the magazine pontificating on how easy it was going to be for Belfry to win the Class 3A Football State Championship in 2019 with both Boyle County and Central out of it’s way and E-Town coming off a season where it wasn’t up to snuff.
Then the news hit. Three players from off the Belfry roster had transferred, or were in the process of transferring, to Mingo Central in West Virginia.
Well now wait a minute, we thought. You mean that road travels both directions?
The guy who called in to tell us was a Belfry fan. He was mad as Hell at that coach at Mingo Central. We told our Belfry fan that was a stance, perhaps, too hypocritical for any Belfry fan to take.
Madonna sang something pretty similar to this in a movie once. Don’t Cry for [Belfry]… The truth is [the talent] never [really] left you!
As of today, and assuming things stay as they presently are, Belfry has 9 starters back on defense with a MLB who didn’t start all season but did start 3 games and played in every one, so you might call that 10 starters returning. There is a DL transfer from Tug Valley who will be taking a huge step up in the level of play he has seen but who dominated the level of play from whence he came.
Coleman is back at QB after starting 4 games a year ago. A star QB from Tug Valley joined with his DL counterpart and transferred in to take the same steep step-up in competition. The OL is another story.
Four linemen will have to be replaced. However, the center of the offensive line, Ethan “Big E” Woolford, is a key component to have returning. He may be the best center in Kentucky in any class and clearly the best in his graduating class (2020). KPGFootball has been informed the 4 fill-ins are all still in the 6-1 to 6-2 range and all weigh between 250-260. Overall, not as big as last year, but not exactly small either.
Grayson Cook, committed to play FBS football for the Air Force Academy, will play TE in addition to his return at LB and Brad Lowe will be the other TE and both of them are 6-4 or taller. There will be plenty of speed abound too.
Brett Coleman (QB) has been timed at 4.67-seconds in the 40-yard dash. Peyton Hensley has registered a 4.60, Ben Bentley a 4.54, and Isaac Dixon, one of 2021’s fastest players across Kentucky, has been laser timed at 4.48 at UK’s camp this summer. All of these skill players will have big, bruising Joe Chaffin leading them into the hole from his FB alignment.
The kicking game, both place kicking and punting, is solidly manned with Grayson Cook, a returning All-Stater. The return game is deadly with Ben Bentley and Isaac Dixon.
There are two newcomers both bearing surnames which are anything but new to the Belfry program. You may remember the guard named “Rash” who played for Belfry last season (Dagen) and now has moved on to college ball. Well, he has two twin brothers, both of whom are 2022’s. Twins Brayden and Brendon Rash figure to play both DB and RB as they enter their sophomore seasons and some Rashes in the lineup has always worked out pretty well for the Pirates.
If you are looking for wildcards, Johnathan Stepp is back for another go. He is 5-10 and weighs 210 pounds. He can play MLB, DL, FB, and TE and runs the 40 in sub 4.8 seconds. We aren’t sure where he will be aligned but we are sure he’s too good to watch the games from the sideline. Stepp is a former Kentucky Future Star who formerly played NG for Team Kentucky.
So as Mark Twain once similarly remarked upon reading his own obituary in the newspaper, it would seem rumors of Belfry’s imminent demise may have been largely exaggerated. So, Kentucky High School football, Don’t Cry for Belfry…
This is Coach HB Lyon, reporting for KPGFootball, and we’re JUST CALLING IT LIKE WE SEE IT!
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