Well, it is the first day of the week and time to designate, this week’s, Independence Bank Player of the Week. We are proud, here at Kentucky Prep Gridiron, to bring you a weekly article funded by our friends at Independence Bank highlighting players in the areas where Independence Bank flourishes who embody the same type of Revolutionary Service to their respective football teams which has made Independence Bank unique and special in the banking industry. Independence Bank has a goal of achieving Everyday Excellence and this week we are focusing on a player whose performance, this year, exceeded both the Red Devils’, and the Owensboro community’s, expectations. We are focusing on a linebacker who seemed to both strive for and achieve excellence every single day he walked on either a practice or playing field. That player is Sophomore Middle Linebacker, Trace Grenier.
Trace Grenier is a former Kentucky Future Star who came up to the High School program playing along the defensive line. At 6’0″ 215 pounds, one can see him playing on a defensive front for Owensboro Middle School. Coach Fallin recognized that Trace had the quickness, burst, explosion, and speed to stand him up and play him at the middle or Mike linebacker along side freshman Austin Gough. Owensboro plays an odd front which leaves the middle linebackers over guard slots much of the time having to get the front properly aligned, make pre-snap reads, and make good calls to counter what the offense was showing it was inclined to run. According to Coach Fallin, Grenier improved every week this season in his ability to read, make pre-snap calls, and take the appropriate scrape and pursuit angles. Coach Fallin reports Grenier improved as he benefited from live game action. By the end of the year, Grenier and Gough both had gotten quite skilled at fighting through blocks, getting down hill in run defense, finding, covering, collisioning, and re-directing offensive slots, tight-ends, fullbacks or running backs. Grenier, in 10 games of action, registered 70 tackles, 44 of which were solo tackles, with 2 tackles for loss, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. We have just released our AFI-KPG All-State Sophomore team and many on the selection committee, this author included, believed Trace should have been on the team as a linebacker. Several of us believe we missed one here, but, then again, that always happens in any All-Star selection process. It isn’t perfect, far from it. Grenier is a guy who we will continue to monitor, going forward, as he has the frame, build, quickness, speed, and explosion to play linebacker for a long time. We believe Grenier is an All-State caliber player and will play on Saturdays in short order. We don’t have any strength or speed numbers on Trace as he is recovering from shoulder surgery so he hasn’t participated in the testing Coach Fallin customarily does as part of his offseason regimen. Having seen and enjoyed Grenier on the Team Kentucky Future Stars circuit, I can attest his strength, speed, spacial quickness, and explosion are in line with the very top percentage of Sophomore linebackers playing Class 5A football in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. On behalf of Independence Bank, we can’t think of a young man who more embodies the attributes of achievement, through effort and hard work, any better than Owensboro’s Trace Grenier.
Congratulations to Trace Grenier for his Revolutionary Play which has earned him this week’s recognition from the fastest growing bank in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, your friends at Independence Bank. This is Fletcher Long reporting for Kentucky Prep Gridiron reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!
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