Three former Junior Pro teammates team up this fall for @CentreFootball. @williammlong @minguabeefjerky @KyHighFootball @MaxPreps @d3football @evankelley07

Barnett, Kelley, and Long reunite on Colonel roster

I got to coach these three guys back in Junior Pro. We had a mighty good team for the four years the three of them were together. Having three future college players on the same Junior Pro roster lends itself to that outcome.

Fletcher Long, KPGFootball Senior Scout and former Assistant Coach for the Clarksville Junior Pro Packers

It is well reported that somewhere in the neighborhood of seven percent of high school players, nationwide, go onto play college football somewhere at some level. We don’t know what the percentage of Junior Pro players would be but our guess is it would be miniscule.

That is exactly why it is noteworthy and significant that three former teammates from the Clarksville, Tennessee area will suit up and storm the field together this Fall for the Centre Colonels. Those three are Miller Barnett (DB), Evan Kelley (DL), and William Long (DL).

Of the three, only Long prepped in the commonwealth of Kentucky (Breathitt High). Barnett graduated from Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, Tennessee. Kelley graduated and played at the same high school as former Heisman winner, Baker Mayfield (Lake Travis; Austin, TX).

Now if you are wondering whether the three of them fared well when last they suited up; how does 35-2 over a four-year period with 3-league championships and a runner-up sound? Centre College would love the same outcome.

We were able to interview Coach Long, our Senior Scout, about his former players. He told us, “Barnett and Kelley have outstanding athleticism and have been excellently coached. They are tremendous football players and, provided they pick up the scheme, could see the field sometime over the course of their inaugural seasons.”

Long went on to say about William Long, “Will has been there a year longer than the other two and went to Ireland with the team this past Spring, so his familiarity with the team, coaching staff, and scheme should factor in his favor as far as playing time. All three of them were excellent players for me and were integral to our highly successful four-year run.”

The Colonels are coming off a strong year. When last the Colonels were leaving a playing field, they had convincingly beaten Berry College in Valhalla (the Vikings’ home field) and had just polished off an 8-2 record narrowly missing an invitation to the NCAA championships.

The Colonels figure to be a strong contender for the SAA (Southern Athletic Association) championship this coming Fall. The Colonel squad is in Fall camp presently, and word around the program leaking out about the team is that it appears to be among the stronger units Coach Frye has fielded in his tenure.

That is quite a mouthful. Frye is the school’s all-time winningest coach and the individual for whom the new stadium has been named.

How much of a role will the three (3) former “Packers” from Clarksville’s Junior Pro league play in the upcoming season? There aren’t too many outside the Colonel locker room who can say for sure.

Barnett and Kelley are both freshmen. Long is just a sophomore coming off a freshman season where he got some spot duty but, for the most part, was a valuable and accomplished member of the Scout team (Long, last year, won multiple 12th-Man Awards for outstanding Scout team play). Getting on the field early at a program with a roster like Centre’s is no easy proposition.

Could each of them factor into the season upcoming? Sure.

Will they? That won’t be determined until much later.

However, Clarksville residents will attest, good things happen when these three guys hit the playing field simultaneously. Word to the wise, Danville; it worked right well the last time.

This is Coach HB Lyon, reporting for KPGFootball, and we’re JUST CALLING IT LIKE WE SEE IT!

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