What does John Hardin need to do to improve in 2013? What do they need to keep doing to be successful? Remember, please be constructive.

JH should be a very good team again this year just like in years past. A definite top 3-4 team in class 5A. Tougher schedule this year with the addition of Highlands and I think PRP while they are no longer playing Boyle County and Central Hardin. Neither Boyle nor Central Hardin could compete with them the last two years and I don't think this year would have been any different. For what its worth, I do think this will be one of the weaker John teams, especially compared to the last two years. Would love to hear what EasyPro and Slobberknocker think though.

John will make it back to the state semi finals in my opinion. QB/DB Patrick Anderson must stay healthy for this to happen. The team will live and die by his play. It's a lot of pressure on him but he will handle it fine. The defense will be strong again just like years past. All State DL and D1 athlete Matt Elam will lead the defensive charge. New Coach Chad Lewis is a good man and will do just fine in replacement of Mark Brown. It should be business as usual For the Dawgs. No worries other than facing Highlands at home and finding a way to beat Bowling Green at their house this year. I predict a 9-1 regular season.

He's right. The defense will be good. Lots of experience returns. Elam and Smith will be hard to handle. Offensively, they will have some talent in spots. Smart athletic quarterback, but what surrounds him will be the big question. If they have to rely heavily on Anderson to carry the load, there could be durability issues. You can never really tell, high school kids are unpredictable sometimes. Coaches will tell you...when you put your livelihood in the hands of 16-17yr. olds, you can expect the unexpected. All that said, i don't know if this is the year they bounce and beat another very good BG team. Should be fun though!

I agree JH defensively should be very good this year. I do think losing Fleming, Ray, and Brown will have some effect so I hope they can fill that void. Offensively I have two question marks right now, line and receiver/tight end. One starter returns for the offensive line but I think they will be able to develop some kids like they do every year. Replacing Dorian Collins at wide receiver is a big concern for me. He had over 1,000 yards receiving and was a big play receiver for them. I also don't know who will replace Kennedy at tight end. Running backs will be very good so it should be an exciting year.

Agree. WR/TE will be interesting. Although relying heavily on either in the wing-t means you're probably not a great team anyway. As long as Coach Lewis can find a few guys that can catch a ball, i think they can keep defenses honest. A few young RB's could develop into solid players in a few years. Losing Ray, Fleming, & Brown will be noticed, but I think they will be okay, especially in the middle. In my opinion( don't hate me) I think Chris Smith is a better LB than Domonick Brown. Line play is always crucial, and time will tell who will mature and step up to fill the holes left behind

After this year I believe our Dawgs will have a rebuilding year or two. Finding replacements for the likes of Collins, Holtsclaw, Ray, Brown, Doss, and Fleming will be tough but not impossible with the Seniors we have. There is also a shot of some transfers from out of area like years past due to Ft. Knox being near by. Maybe will get another big time player that way. Let's keep the fingers crossed.

In my opinion, depth will be a concern for John Hardin this year. Coach Lewis has a solid group of seniors returning, but the classes below them are very thin in numbers and talent. The freshman team didn't have but about 20 kids and that's a low number for John. Plus the freshman team only won a game or 2. This year looks promising, but will likely lose to BG in the semis. They will not go undefeated this year with highlands and PRP both on the schedule.

John will make it back to the state semi finals in my opinion. QB/DB Patrick Anderson must stay healthy for this to happen. The team will live and die by his play. It's a lot of pressure on him but he will handle it fine. The defense will be strong again just like years past. All State DL and D1 athlete Matt Elam will lead the defensive charge. New Coach Chad Lewis is a good man and will do just fine in replacement of Mark Brown. It should be business as usual For the Dawgs. No worries other than facing Highlands at home and finding a way to beat Bowling Green at their house this year. I predict a 9-1 regular season.

 

So do you have JH beating BG or Highlands? I do not see them beating either one.

So do you have JH beating BG or Highlands? I do not see them beating either one.

 

Like any fan of their team I have hopes of beating both Highlands and BG, however we will be underdogs in both games. The one loss in my regular season prediction would be to Highlands.

I agree with Slobberknocker and think JH will go 9-1 during the regular season, although PRP will be a very tough game. I do think depth will be a big concern also because I don't know how strong the Junior Class is. I know the Sophomore class will not be strong at all based on their performance as Freshman last year. One question I have is who is Patrick Anderson's backup at QB? Is it the Shay Stone kid. I think he was his backup last year as a Freshman so it seems like they were grooming him for the next few years. I know he did get some playing time last year due to a number of blowout wins.