We should start out by saying there is quite a bit of school spirit running through the high school located in Nicholasville, Kentucky a.k.a. West Jessamine High School. “The Colts” are the mascot for West Jessamine High School and the student section is aptly called “the Colt Crazzies.”
Well, the colts weren’t too crazy about the 4-7 record posted in 2018. Their consternation about the performance was rendered all the more understandable by the fact they had one of Kentucky’s finest offensive linemen, up front, leading the offense’s charge in UK Signee Eli Cox and still could muster very little offensively. Cox made the AP’s All-State (first-team) Football squad in 2018 and the 6-4, 300 pound man-mountain is slated to play offensive guard for the Wildcats as soon as he is deemed physically prepared to contribute by Coach Stoops’ staff. Even with Cox, the Colts only scored 184 points in its 11 games.
Though Eli Cox is out of eligibility, as is FB Greer Stone (133 carries, 642 rushing yards, and 5 TDs), and RB Desmond James (467 rushing yards, 94 carries, 4 TDs), there will still be some star-power around the Colts locker room this coming Fall. One performer who tends to get overlooked (everywhere but here) is Class of 2020, Kane Lathery.
from the left
Lathery, as the picture to the left of this paragraph would certainly corroborate, is a combination football-track star with sprinter speed. Not only was he a star on the offensive side of the ball for the Colts in 2018, he also anchored a defense which, if the truth were being told, needed all the help it could get.
At 5-10 and weighing 175 pounds, Kane carried the pigskin 125 times in 2018 for a team leading 690 yards. He accounted for 5 of the team’s 18 rushing TDs on the year and contributed in the passing game too. Lathery was the team’s second leading receiver with 10 receptions for 181 yards and 2 TDs receiving. While 10 receptions may not seem like a lot, it is quite sizable where the QB, Noah Reliford, completed only 67 balls out of 116 attempts. Defensively for the Colts, Kane was credited with 49 tackles and a team-leading 3 interceptions from his DB-post.
Kane will have some help on hand in 2019 from some other key returning components. For one, the Colts return its leading receiver in dynamic playmaker, Jackson Green. Green is a Class of 2021 prospect who’s name was tossed around the selection committee meeting when we were putting together our KPGFootball All-State Sophomore football team last season. While he wasn’t selected, he was right there on the very cusp, if you will.
In 2018, Jackson Green lead all Colt receivers with 29 of the team’s total 67 receptions. Green accounted for 443 receiving yards and had 5 TD receptions. Noah Reliford will be back at QB where he was steady in 2018 triggering the offense. Reliford was 67 of 116 through the air for 890 yards with 7 TDs thrown against 11 picks. That is an efficiency rating no team, hoping for success, can weather so there will need to be vast improvement there.
There is no telling the impact of losing an AP-first-teamer up front may have on an offense which wasn’t stellar with which to begin. It is additionally hard to tell the impact losing a lead-blocker/FB-type like Greer Stone will have on the Colt run-game. Notwithstanding the losses, dynamic playmakers on both sides of the football return.
While much attention will be lobbed in the direction of the dynamic edge outside playmaker, Jackson Green, KPGFootball believes Kane Lathery’s steady, two-way performances may provide something about which “The Crazzies” can go crazy in the upcoming season. Crazy, used in that way, is a very good thing so, with apologies to the late Jack Buck, play by play broadcaster for the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team…Go Crazy Kane, Go Crazy!
Reporting for KPGFootball, this is F.W. Long, reminding all of you ballers out there to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE.
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