newarkcatholicfan

 El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego) at Round Rock Express (Texas)

Note: I have watched Raceland at their place and on the road.

Jacob Litteral

School

Raceland-Worthington High School

Positions played

Center, Guard

Graduating year

2026

Height and weight

6’2 280

How long have you played football, along with the reasons you continue to play?

I have played football since kindergarten, so roughly around 10 years later, I continue to play the sport because I love it; it’s been my favorite since day one.

What is the best part of being a student-athlete at Raceland High School?

Probably the academics and my friends. 

Who is the toughest teammate to go up against in practice?

I’d have to say off the top of my head that either Jaxon Heighton or Noah Wallace were very talented. 

What is the most rewarding part of being an offensive lineman?

Probably, when the running back has a good game, it just let's you know you did your job and you did it well.

What is the worst type of weather for you, as an offensive lineman, to play in?

Probably hot and sunny; I would much rather play in the rain or cold.

Who is the best player that you have faced in a game, along with the team he played for?

Probably Kenyatta Hardge, He played for LCA and is committed to Kentucky.

What are your personal goals for the 2024 season?

Win state, would also like to make all district/ all area.

What has been the highlight of your football career so far?

Probably beating Pikeville at their place last year.

As an athlete in any sport, what has been your most embarrassing moment?

One time I was playing kickball at school and dropped the ball completely when trying to catch it. It was awful, man.

Would you rather play on grass or turf?

Turf when it’s sunny, grass when it’s raining.

What is the strongest part of your game?

Probably pass protection.

What part of your game must you work on the most to become a better player?

We need to get faster laterally. 

Where is your favorite place to get a good meal?

Raising Canes 100%

What is one sport you wish you could play but do not have the skill set to do so?

Probably a strong man; I think it’s cool how they pull cars and stuff.

If you could go back in history and pick a time to live, when would it be?

I love all history, but if I had to pick, I’d probably say the Age of Exploration, which is roughly 14–1600.

Link to the game pics he sent with his interview
https://daveburnworth.blogspot.com/2024/05/2024-interview-with-jacob-litteral-from.html

Note: I have been to Mercer County once for their bowl game.

Name

Juhon “JJ”Goodman 

School

Mercer County High School

Positions played

Defensive end, defensive tackle, and offensive tackle 

Graduating year

2026

Height and weight

6’3, 230

How long have you played football, along with the reasons you continue to play? 

9 years, and the reason I’m continuing to play is that I just love football and enjoy putting in all the work it takes to become a great athlete, and it’s going to get me a free way to college.

What are you going to miss the most from the 2024 class? 

Man I’m going to miss my senior teammates; one specific one is Kingston Mays. He’s a defensive end just like me, and he has pushed and encouraged me to become better than him.

The Titans had a nice season in 2023, going 10-2. What will the 2024 team have to do to improve that record? 

We are going to have to become a lot more disciplined, and we just have to outwork every team we play against, and each year we continue to do that.

What is the worst part of a Mercer County practice? 

Man, I would say, is how long and how hard coach yeast is on us. I'm so blessed to have a great coach to push us and make us better, but it's very hard, and it’s going to get me prepared for the next level.

What is your favorite part of practice? 

My favorite part of practice is when we are in team period and everyone is doing well, having fun, and competing.

Who is the best player that you have faced in a game, along with the team he played for? 

I would say Kaden Smith from Taylor County; he was a great edge rusher and is going to be really good at EKU.

What are your personal goals for the 2024 season? 

My personal goals are to be a much better athlete than last year, become a leader for our team, and lastly, receive my first Division 1 offer.

What is the toughest part of playing defensive end? 

I think the hardest thing about defensive end is that you have a lot of responsibility because your linebackers count on you, but I enjoy having that responsibility because it makes me a key player on our team.

What is the worst type of offense for you, as a defensive end, to face in a game? 

I would say wing t just because there’s so many double teams and against huge schools it’s hard to play against.

Do private schools have an advantage over public schools? 

I don’t really know much about private schools, but as long as you work hard, whether private or public, it shouldn’t matter.

How important is it for you as a player to win the bowl game that Mercer County hosts? 

It’s very important for our community so they can come back to other games during the season, and it’s just become a tradition.

Are you hearing from any colleges? If so, would you name one or two of them? 

I’m not really communicating one-on-one with them, but Coach Yeast brings them in, and we get to talk to them and have been invited to camps.

What is the one food you cannot eat? 

Broccoli, it’s so nasty.

Have you watched any of the UFL games? 

I haven’t watched the full ones, but I’ve watched highlights and clips of them.

What is a talent or skill that you have that would shock your teammates? 

I can juggle sometimes; they wouldn’t believe it, but I have done it every once in a while.

Link to the pics sent to me by the player includes interview too.
https://daveburnworth.blogspot.com/2024/05/2024-interview-with-juhon-jjgoodmanfrom.html

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10 minutes ago, MaddenCurse44 said:

Always on Thursday.

I know. I went last year.

I was hoping this would be on a Friday or Sat.

Name: Scott Grizzle

School: Pike County Central High

Positions: Teacher/Head Football Coach

College: Kentucky Christian/Marshall University 

Would you share with everyone your coaching career, from your first job up to your current position?

My first coaching position was as a volunteer QB's coach at Raceland High School, working under coach TJ Maynard. I had my bachelor's degree from Marshall in criminal justice and never really considered getting into education. Following that season, I enrolled in the MAT program through the University of Cumberlands to get my Masters in Special Education and was hired as a full-time coach at Raceland. In 2016, I was fortunate to get the opportunity to lead the Greenup County High School program as head coach and alternative learning teacher at the high school. My next coaching position was at Russell High School as a QB coach and credit recovery teacher. Following my time at Russell, I had the opportunity to be a full-time coach at the University of Pikeville, working for Coach Corey Fipps as a running backs and wide receivers coach.

What was the first thing you said to the team when you met them?

I just introduced myself and let them get to know me. We talked about structure and work ethic; we also talked about our goals for the season and what it will take to achieve them. I also let them know that myself and our staff are in their corner, and we will be a leadership program that just so happens to play football. We will teach them to be leaders in the classroom and community, and that will translate to the field.

What offense and defense will you run?

Offensively, it will be an air raid-based scheme with some focus on RPOs and zone running schemes. We believe in an uptempo system that utilizes the entire field both horizontally and vertically. 

Defensively, we will continue to be an odd front defense that can get into multiple fronts and coverages, while at the same time keeping our scheme simple and allowing our kids to be confident in their assignments and rally to the football.

I have talked to enough coaches who have taken over a program, and it seems the common thread from last year does not matter. We are starting all over. How much of who started last season will play a part in who starts this season?

It's a clean slate for everyone at this point. Their work ethic and commitment throughout the summer will play a major role in who gets the first team reps come fall camp.

The first time I went to Pike County to watch football was back in 1998. The stadium was awesome. Now it seems to need a face lift. Is there any plan to update things?

Our facility has certain aspects that are amazing. Our field house rivals any school in the area, and the view from our stadium is unbelievable. The mountain right up against the field is something so unique and just a really cool backdrop for football. We have some work to do, but the overall facility I was extremely pleased with, and I believe it will have an awesome atmosphere on Friday nights. 

Who are some of the coaches you have learned the game from, and how much of what you have learned from them will you incorporate into what you do?

First would be Coach Randy Vanderhoof, my high school coach. Not only is he a phenomenal man, but he is also an incredibly knowledgeable coach and one of the first high school coaches in Kentucky to incorporate the air raid offense.

TJ Maynard, current HFC at Russell High School TJ is great with X's and O's, but he's also really knowledgeable about running a program from top to bottom. He taught me a lot about how to structurally do things, from booster clubs to team camps, etc. 

Mike Salmon's at Raceland, which is very similar to TJ, is great at structurally building things for success. Incredibly intelligent coach and another really good X's and O's guy. 

Corey Fipps at Upike. I thought I knew a lot about the air raid until I met Coach! He is incredible with how he operates the offense. It's like he's always three plays ahead of the defense. He knows exactly what he wants and really forces the defense to react to him. He's also incredible at bringing a team together and building relationships. It was an awesome experience working for him. I'm really appreciative of that guy; he taught me a lot. 

What are your thoughts on playing out-of-state teams, and will you be playing any once you have openings in your schedule?

I'm open to playing anybody as long as it makes sense in terms of travel and scheduling home and away and is beneficial to our kids. 

What changes, if any, would you make to the playoff format that the state of Kentucky has?

As of right now, I don't think there are any, but there can always be tweaks to make things better. I would like to see some of the travel issues be better, but I know the Khsaa is doing the best they can with that.

What are your thoughts about students playing multiple sports?

Absolutely. We encourage our guys to play them all if they want to. Competition breeds experience, whether it's on the court, field, or wherever. The more you compete, the more you're ready for those crunch-time situations.

How important is it to you that all of the lower levels throughout the program play a full schedule?

Extremely important. We most likely will not have enough numbers for a full freshman team, but our JV and middle school teams will play a full schedule, and I will be involved in being at those games as well as our other varsity coaches. 

Should all teams in the program run the same base offense and defense? Explain

Definitely JV and middle school. Our middle school and youth league coaches will be able to incorporate their own schemes, but overall, they should be very similar to our high school schemes. Especially in terms of formations and base play calls. 

What is your go-to snack?

If I'm at the office or on the field, sunflower seeds, ranch, or dill pickles. 

late-night snack: oreos and milk.

What is your favorite sports movie?

Remember, The Titans is tough to beat; Southpaw, the boxing movie, is way up there. The program is another football classic; those are prob top 3.

What is a talent you have that might shock your players?

I'm a mediocre guitar player. lol

Link to the pics that the coach sent.
Let me know what you think.

https://daveburnworth.blogspot.com/2024/05/2024-interview-with-new-pike-county.html

Norfolk Tides (Baltimore) 

At

Worcester Red Sox (Boston)

Name: Daniel Barker

School: West Carter High School

Position: Head Coach/Assistant Principal

College: Morehead State

What are your concerns entering the 2024 season?

We want to continue to build on the momentum from late in the year. Our young team learned to compete and eventually win, and we need to carry that over. We lost five games by a total of 23 points, so we know what we need to be successful and continue to build this year. 

How important is spring ball for not only the players but also the coaching staff?

Being a school of 500, spring ball is hard for us. We have a ton of multi-sport athletes and some multi-sport assistant coaches. We get all the work we can, but small school spring ball is probably not as beneficial as it is at bigger schools, in my opinion. 

What will you miss the most from the 2024 class?

There were only six of those guys, but they competed hard and were tough kids. Had some good senior leadership on the OL/DL. We had some skillful kids that did a really nice job for us. 

What is the thought process behind the grid game you guys play before each season?

We want to compete, build depth, and stay healthy. This year’s opponent will be Greenup, so we will get to see a talented, well-coached team with a dynamic QB. It should be good work and help us prepare for the season. 

West Carter was able to double their win total from the 2022 season to the 2023 season. What were the biggest improvements from 2022 to 2023?

Our 14- and 15-year-old kids became 15 and 16 years old. Kids were older, more experienced, bigger, faster, and stronger. More importantly, I think our kids began to understand the things that made our really good teams so great. I think there was a little bit of expectation that winning would be easy after our 2019–2021 run of seasons. It’s never easy. Those kids worked their tails off, and now our kids understand what it took for those groups to be great. 

What will the 2024 team have to do to finish over 500 this season?

Stay healthy. Continue to focus on the details. Compete at a high level. 

If you could make one change to Kentucky High School football, what would it be and why?

Eliminate the bye week and move the season back a week. 

As the head coach, what do you do to help aid your players in getting recruited?

We keep up-to-date information on all of our prospects that we share with schools. We help our kids find schools they’re interested in and that they can play at. We don’t have a ton of kids each year that try to play college ball, but when we do have kids that want to, we can usually find them a school they really like. 

What is the most rewarding part of being the head football coach at West Carter High School?

Running the football team in your home town can be an awesome experience. We don’t have a huge school, super-nice facilities, or a lot of money. We don’t have a lot of people moving into our community. We run a program the hard way, but it makes the success even better. It’s a harder job than people probably realize, but it’s very rewarding to see kids in our community grow and have success. Seeing kids grow all the way from Pee-Wee through their senior years is awesome, and we have so many of our players that stay up to date on Comet football after they’re done!

What is the toughest part of being the head football coach at West Carter High School?

I think it’s similar to all small, rural, county schools in that you have years where you’re young as a whole, inexperienced, or have a smaller roster. Being a coach at a small school can be a humbling experience. You can play in a state championship game one year and win two games for an entire season in the span of 2–3 years. 

What do you look for as far as non-district games go?

If we can, we look for EKC games. If not, we look for similar-sized schools. We try to find teams that will prepare us for who we will see in district play or in the playoffs. 

Where is the best local place to grab a full meal?

For a small town, Olive Hill has great food options. Giovannis, Tyler’s, Tre Fratelli, Tres Hermanos, Walkers, and Trail Town are all really good. 

What is your favorite college football matchup to watch?

Miami vs. Florida State... Go Canes!

Where is your favorite vacation place?

Any of the beaches in the Clearwater Area.

Link to pics that the coach sent for the interview
https://daveburnworth.blogspot.com/2024/05/2024-inteerview-with-west-carter-ky.html

For me, the plan is to head to Boyd County to see the new stadium and meet up with the coach from West Carter.

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