Henry Morgan from Henry Clay showing tremendous promise for a program ready for improvement @HCHSDevilsFB, @coachhawkins1, @HCBluedevilsMBB, @bigassfans, @minguabeefjerky, @KyHighFootball

‘27 TE/DE ready for the ‘next step’ in his progression

Henry Morgan at Henry Clay quietly had a tremendous sophomore campaign for a Blue Devils program which has seen better days. The Devils took home the 4A crown in 1981, when there weren’t but four classes, under Jake Bell’s tutelage and then played for the title in 1995, coming up short to Mike Glaser’s St. Xavier squad. Phil Hawkins has been brought in to reverse the fortunes of a team which was 1-10 in 2024. Hawkins won’t find the cupboard barren as Henry Clay has a right impressive group of sophomores several of which got valuable PT in ’24, in addition to Morgan.

HB Lyon, Scouting Director, “KPGFootball”

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Lexington, KY: Henry Morgan is a ’27 DE who also gets run at TE. He is also on the basketball team and, at Lexington’s Henry Clay High, the basketball team is “no joke.” We submitted this article for publication a week earlier than it ended up running; but, at the time it was written, the Blue Devils were 16-5 on the hardwood and motoring toward a very good season.

Morgan plays basketball and has played in 13 of the Blue Devils’ 21 varsity games. Morgan has scored six (6) points, shot 60% from the floor, and grabbed 16 errant caroms from off the backboard.

Morgan plays football, make no mistake about that fact. In ’24, as only a sophomore playing 6A football in the 7th district, Morgan caught a pass at TE gaining 10-yards, but did most of his “impressive work” at DE. At DE, Morgan registered 34-tackles, 2-TFLs, half a sack, a FF, and a FR.

Henry Clay struggled in ’24. The team finished 1-10, with a victory over Paul Laurence Dunbar High as its “high water mark.” That is exactly why Phil Hawkins has been brought in to right the ship.

Henry Clay High has before been a force in football. Back when there weren’t but four classes in Kentucky, the Blue Devils won a 4A title in 1981, under Jake Bell, and were runners-up, under Sam Simpson, 14-years later in 1995.

As for former star players, Frank Minnifield prepped at Henry Clay before a stint with the University of Louisville and several seasons at DB for the Cleveland Browns in the NFL (1984-1992). Before Minnifield, Ralph Kercheval was among the more famous Blue Devils.

Kercheval played in college, at UK, before a stint with the Brooklyn Dodgers which was then an NFL team. While at Kentucky, Kercheval was the first player to be named All-SEC (1933), setting several school records including the most punts in a season, before becoming a prominent member of Kentucky’s thoroughbred industry.

It has been pretty “slim pickings” since. Hawkins is being brought in to change all of that.

If Hawkins does half the job at Henry Clary as he did at both Apollo (Owensboro) and Bryan Station (Lexington), the Blue Devils should brace themselves for much better days and brighter prospects.

Hawkins is a program builder. He leaves them much better than he finds them.

We want to tell you we are big fans of Henry Morgan’s frame. It will only improve as he matures and spends more time working out in the strength and conditioning program.

Morgan is 6’2,” and weighs around 190-pounds. Morgan is a kid with both length and bounce and vertical explosion is tied to both running speed and twitchiness, characteristics well coveted when searching for ends, whether “Tight” or “Defensive.”

There will be two “Henrys” chartering vastly different paths in 2025 than what was traveled in 2024. Both Morgan and Clay have very rosy prospects from where we sit.

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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