Whitley County Colonels

 

Jim Black's Whitley County Colonels are young, but talented.

 

Whitley County lost a lot of talent this past season with the graduation of Boston Bryant, Tilmon Jackson and Samuel Vanover graduating.

 

But that still doesn't mean the Colonels can't and won't compete for the district championship. They'll be hard-pressed to unseat Harlan County as the district champions, but they've got the best chance to do so.

 

Whitley County lost its top three tacklers from this past season and could be young on the defensive side of things, but the Colonels do return a lot of talent on the offensive side of things.

 

Talented sophomore tailback Zack Mills returns and should improve on his 854 rushing yards and five touchdowns from last season. He averaged close to 10 yards per carry. Quarterback Austin Ysidro returns (ompleted 22-of-46 pass attempts for 360 yards and two touchdowns while running for 834 yards and 11 touchdowns) along with Austin Hooper (ran for 584 yards and two touchdowns last season).

 

 

Schedule

Once again, Whitley County plays one of the toughest slates in the mountains. Coach Black challenges his team early and often this season with a game against Morristown West to begin things on Aug. 23 and the Colonels follow that up with a road-test against Madison Southern on Aug. 30.

 

Whitley County will then play three straight games at home against Bell County, Rockcastle County and Clay County before hitting the road and playing Knox Central on Sept. 27.

 

The Colonels will also travel to play Perry Central on Oct. 11 before hosting Harlan County, which could be for the district crown on Oct. 18 and Letcher Central on Oct. 25.

 

 

Players to watch

Zack Mills (tailback) — Mills will be Whitley County's main offensive threat after rushing for 854 yards and five touchdowns on only 95 carries as a freshman in 2012.

 

Austin Hooper (fulback, linebacker) - The senior fullback ran for 584 yards and two touchdowns last season while finishing with 37 tackles and one interception on defense.

 

Austin Ysidro (Quarterback/safety) - Ysidro is a threat throwing and running with the ball and he's a top-notch safety as well. He completed 22-of-46 pass attempts for 360 yards and two touchdowns while running for 834 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also had one fumble recovery, one interception and 46 tackles.

I don't see their QB being much of a threat through the air. He was 22-46 and 2 td's. I am a fan of Whitley County and hope they do well.

If you can throw the ball then you are considered a threat.

If you can throw the ball then you are considered a threat.

 

Good write up. Ysidro threw 6 td's last year which is about 1 per 8 attempts and that compares well to anyone in the state.

I by no means think Whitley will air it out but look for the number of passes to at least double.

As far as schedule Morristown West, Harlan Co. and Boyle will be games Whitley will be underdog. Clay, Rock, Letcher, Perry will be games Whitley will be SLITE favorite. Bell, Madison Southern, Knox will be toss ups. I think anywhere from 4-8 wins.

Thank you very much.

I don't see their QB being much of a threat through the air. He was 22-46 and 2 td's. I am a fan of Whitley County and hope they do well.

 

I think he will be much more of a threat to run, but what you may not know is that he played all season last year with a torn labrum which was repaired surgically in the off season. He ran track instead of playing baseball last spring and improved his speed, and has strengthened his arm by a large margin. What may be the bigger question is who will catch the passes. The answer is the young and yet untested corp of receivers who are biting at the bit to get the chance to make waves in the running offense of the Colonels.