Ronnie Mingua

Marcus Hamilton from Calloway County is the @minguabeefjerky Protein-packed Performer of the Week @Aspirationsgym, @khsaafootball, @KyHighFootball, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans, @MarcusHam61, @CClakerfootball

June 25, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

Marcus Hamilton is a young big who got some meaningful PT along the defensive front a year ago. Hamilton prefers defense, like every other young “Big” playing football in Kentucky. We have bad news for him, though. We expect colleges will look at him as an OT prospect over his playing defense at the next level. It will all come down to how well he runs, how explosive he can become, as to which side of the scrimmage line he ends up playing. For now, we expect he may get some two-way run this coming year. He certainly has been blessed with the God-given tools to help the Lakers considerably this coming season (2025). Enjoy this feature and don’t forget to pick up a few bags of some of the world’s finest beef jerky products. #SavorTheFlavor out there in Perry County, KY.

Friday Night Fletch

Slow Motion Replay: ‘Holy Toledo, Batman! It’s Coach Ben Pumphrey!’ @KyHighFootball, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans, @khsaafootball

June 21, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

We thought we had concluded our “Slow Motion Replay” series and then a colleague reached out to me and said “What about Ben Pumphrey?” We researched it and couldn’t have agreed more. Pumphrey was among the more fun and charismatic coaches the KHSAA has ever known. He was also a guy who traveled the commonwealth taking hard jobs, jobs many of his colleagues didn’t want. Pumphrey did it to make a difference and what a difference he made. Pumphrey was enshrined in the KHSAA Hall of Fame in 2004 and richly, deservedly. Today he is being featured by us. Again, his being featured by Friday Night Fletch and KPGFootball is richly and deservedly past due. Enjoy this edition of the Slow Motion Replay series. Be aware, there is no telling where this series will actually end and when. We will keep writing them as long as you care to read them.

Friday Night Fletch.

Mason Griffin has a pretty tight lid on the QB job at South Laurel @Masegriffin7, @JohnHines66, @CoachDGage, @Gtown_Football, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans, @khsaafootball, @KyHighFootball

June 21, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

His name is Mason Griffin and he may be the best QB in the KHSAA with whom you might not be completely familiar. He is 6’4,” weighs 215-pounds and has a 4.0 GPA. Griffin plays for Next Up 7X7 and passed for 2,199-yards and 18-TDs his junior year in only 10-games of action. Griffin made his first team all-district squad and finds himself playing for a legendary head football coach in John Hines who has won over 200-career games. South Lauren is coming off a 6-win campaign and played in its first playoff game in years. Enjoy this feature about a young man whose star is on the rise and who may show up on some “Mr. Football” lists before all is said and done.

Friday Night Fletch

Jalen Dantzler is the @minguabeefjerky Protein-packed Performer of the Week @CoachDantzler, @JalenDantzler_9, @TomLuginbill, @BigTimerCox, @DemetricDWarren, @khsaafootball, @KyHighFootball, @bigassfans

June 18, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

Marvin Dantzler has done it all from a stand point of coaching. He has won championships from Track & Field to football. He has trained plenty of tremendous athletes along the way. Add the name “Jalen Dantzler” to the list. Jalen is his son but he is much more than that. Jalen Dantzler is among the best DB prospects in the KHSAA’s class of 2027. He is a speedster who is athletic enough to be among the best long jumpers in the high school ranks. Dantzler is getting a ton of D-1 looks and we are flat looking and evaluating him too. Enjoy this feature and don’t forget to pick up some world famous jerky products from Mingua Beef Jerky and “SavorTheFlavor.”

Friday Night Fletch

Slow Motion Replay: Sam Simpson, over his 27-year career at Henry Clay provided Blue Devil fans lots of shining moments @HCHSDevilsFB, @HCHS_Athletics, @MarionCoKnights, @KyHighFootball, @khsaafootball, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans

June 16, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

Sam Simpson went 32-years coaching at two places not easy to win ball games. Marion County was five years and the other 27 were spent in Lexington at Henry Clay High. Simpson won 193-games at Henry Clay, taking the Blue Devils to one of its two visits to the title game. Henry Clay beat St. Francis DeSales back in 1981 for the 4A title under Jack Bell. Simpson would take the team on an improbably four (4) game run through the playoffs which ultimately ended in the title game against Mike Glasur’s Tigers. Well, that ended up like matchups with St. Xavier often do, with the Tigers leaving the field with victory. Enjoy this installment of our “Slow Motion Replay” series.

Friday Night Fletch

Nash Bird from West Jessamine is our @minguabeefjerky Protein-packed Performer of the Week @NashBird24, @WJCOLTSFootball, @kwc_football, @CoachWalker_M, @DLCoach_Danford, @bigassfans, @khsaafootball, @KyHighFootball

June 11, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

Nash Bird is a “Dude.” This guy had a really fruitful day at the KWC Junior Combine and left Owensboro on quite a few “recruiting boards.” This guy will field some offers this summer. If he has the kind of season in ’25 he had in ’24, look out 5A, District 7, because the Colts will be looking to improve drastically over the 3-8 Scott Marsh’s Colts posted a year ago. This is a kid with good length (76-inch wingspan), decent strength (225-pound bench press), an upper level speed for a kid in the spring of his sophomore year (4.69-second 40; 4.44 second short shuttle). Enjoy this feature and don’t forget to pick up some world famous jerky products from Mingua Beef Jerky and “SavorTheFlavor.”

Friday Night Fletch

Brody Calhoun from Trigg County maybe one of the best linebackers, at his level of play, of whom you haven’t heard @BrodyCalhoun22, @CoachEzell45, @TriggFootball, @khsaafootball, @KyHighFootball, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans

June 9, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

Brody Calhoun is an example of a star HS player who is very likely to play in college but at what competitive level we aren’t in a position to accurately forecast. You see, there is a possibility Calhoun isn’t done growing so to know at what college level he may play we would have to speculate how his frame finishes. We just aren’t in a position to know. Calhoun’s on field production is “off the charts” as the rising junior has made close to 160-career tackles and hasn’t taken his first 11th-grade class yet. We are approaching “Dead Period” so get ready. Not much lies on the other side of “Dead Period” apart from two preseason scrimmages and opening night. We’re ready. We hope you are. Enjoy the feature.

Friday Night Fletch

Bryson ‘Cowboy’ Ford, from Christian County High is our Mingua Beef Jerky Protein-packed Performer of the Week @BrysonFord34, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans, @CountyMustangs, @KyHighFootball, @khsaafootball @CoachAtchley, @ColonelFootball

June 4, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

Bryson Ford is one of ’29s finest at either MLB or TE. It isn’t likely he plays both ways at 6A Christian County, at least not as a freshman. It is highly likely he gets varsity early run on defense. They call him “Cowboy” and the nickname just fits. Unlike the song written by Ed and Patsy Bruce, letting your son grow up to be this particular “Cowboy” isn’t nearly as bad a prospect as the other type of cowboy. This kid has enviable length, a solid frame, and has his strength and power numbers close to where you would like to see them. If we can get a little height and more density we will be cooking with grease. Enjoy this feature on a kid very deserving of some of the world’s finest beef jerky products and don’t forget to #SavorTheFlavor out there in Christian County, KY.

Friday Night Fletch

Slow Motion Replay: Jack Haskins rode off into history, like one tin soldier @McCrackenStangs, @pths_football, @TCEonSGPN, @KyHighFootball, @khsaafootball, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans

June 3, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

This may prove to be the longest article of the series. This is already the longest series in magazine history. It is something else too. It is the most important undertaking we have ever before attempted. It is critically important we remember this guys before they fade into the dustbin of our collective memories. Jack Haskins did something in WKY we thought we would see. In a sea of “ground and pound” offenses and steady, “crowd the run box” defenses, Haskins filled the Friday Night air with leather. Of course, when you have 1989’s “Mr. Football” at QB, Pookie Jones, you have to incorporate an offensive system which complements your personnel. That is what Haskins did at Calloway County and the landscape, out west, has never looked the same. Enjoy this installment of this series featuring a guy who was a revolutionary, offensively, to the KHSAA game.

Friday Night Fletch

Branson Jones from Estill County is our Mingua Beef Jerky Protein-packed Performer of the Week @BransonJones_2, @EstillAthletics, @CKYEastFCA, @minguabeefjerky, @khsaafootball, @KyHighFootball, @bigassfans

May 28, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

Branson Jones is a kid who made about every middle school postseason team a kid his age can make. Jones was selected to the Best of the Region twice, and was awarded a “golden ticket” to the FBI Top Gun 2024 combine. Estill is coming off a 6-5 which was a single point from being a 7-4 and could use an infusion of talent on its varsity roster. Is Jones the guy? We think if things fall into place, he sure could be. Enjoy this feature on a kid very deserving of some of the world’s finest beef jerky products and don’t forget to #SavorTheFlavor over there in Irvine, KY.

Friday Night Fletch