WEST LINCOLN

West Lincoln Bears

WEST LINCOLN BEARS

COME IN TO 2022 SEASON SEEKING PLAYMAKERS, LEADERSHIP

No one in West Lincoln football history has run for more yards or scored more touchdowns than Enrico “Red” Price.

Price wrapped up his career last season and ahead of the 2022 campaign, West Lincoln head coach Brad Bland has a big hole to fill in the skills position group.

In fact, the Bears don’t have a player returning who’s scored a varsity touchdown after the graduation of Price, fullback Gabe Bush and quarterback Ashtin Auttonberry.

Bland says that the pre-season workouts have been about trying to find who’ll bloom into leaders on a young team.

“I’ve told them that coming in to every season, we usually know who’s going to lead us on the field and who’s going to be our guys that lead from within,” said Bland. “We’re still trying to figure out who that’ll be and what our identity is going to be.”

West Lincoln is coming off an 0-9 season that saw them drop some very tight games. East Rankin Academy beat the Bears on Perry Miller Field with a long touchdown pass that came with 30 seconds remaining in the game.

The Bears were stopped from punching in a 2-point conversion to tie the game against St. Andrew’s in a two-point loss. West Lincoln also had a COVID-19 related cancellation in its 2021 season opener at Franklin County.

Bland expects to have a roster somewhere around 27 when the season begins and finding younger players to increase the team’s depth is one of his most pressing goals.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that are going to play both ways,” said Bland. “Any time we can have a younger, unexperienced guy to step up and find a position to help us — especially on defense — that’s going to help us as a team.”

With plenty of questions, there are a couple places where Bland has the answer for who he can count on in that spot.

One of them is quarterback, as sophomore Caden Seay takes over after seeing situational work at the position in almost every game last season.

Last season Seay attempted 13 passes and carried the ball nine times on the ground. That might not be much on another team, but it’s the more experience than any of his other teammates have with the ball in their hands.

Seay stands 6-foot and weighs 215-pounds and he’ll be a big factor in the West Lincoln offense.

On his right, Seay will have the two most experienced linemen for WL in junior guard Zackary Taylor and junior tackle Baylor Sills.

2021 RESULTS (0-9)

SACRED HEART 42, WEST LINCOLN 14 PUCKETT 35, WEST LINCOLN 21 MCLAURIN 22, WEST LINCOLN 7 EAST RANKIN ACADEMY 20, WEST LINCOLN 14 BOGUE CHITTO 17, WEST LINCOLN 6 ST. ANDREW’S 21, WEST LINCOLN 19 AMITE COUNTY 38, WEST LINCOLN 3 LOYD STAR 36, WEST LINCOLN 21 EAST MARION 48, WEST LINCOLN 0

2022 ROSTER SENIORS

Colby Hall, Javarius Lewis, Kallion Stewart, Joshua Thornhill, Samuel Porter, Kamren Clark JUNIORS,

Gunnar Smith, Ryan Wilson, Baylor Sills, Mason Laird, Zackary Taylor, Zachary Floyd, Ryan Purdy, Brice Peeples SOPHOMORES

Haz Boyte, Caden Seay, Tyler Hall, Rhett Hedgepeth, Joseph Martin, Joshua Myers, Chance Stewart FRESHMEN

Hayden Ezell, Tucker Parsons, Jacob Thames, Weston Patten, Layton Sullivan, Brody Dillon EIGHTH GRADERS

Braden Hamm, Christian Jones

“Last year Zack played around 330-pounds and this year he’ll be closer to 270-pounds,” said Bland. “He’s really worked hard to slim up and stay strong and he’s going to be a guy that we really count on to lead us.”

Sills clocks in at 6-foot-2, 230-pounds. Also, on the line will be junior tight end Brice Peeples, a player that Bland praises for his physicality.

Peeples plays inside linebacker on defense and is the leading returning tackler on the team after making 59 stops last season.

Junior Logan Anders will start at center and got some playing time last season as a sophomore. Gage “Red” Hedgepeth will battle for playing time at left guard and senior Kam Clark will play left tackle.

As is the case with many 2A programs in the state, almost all of those offensive linemen will stay on the field to play along the defensive front when the Bears swap possession.

There will be a change this year on the defensive side of the ball as Bland will call the defense, after previously calling the offense since taking over as head coach in 2019.

Preston Gordon — who has previously been the head coach at WL in his career — has taken on a new role within the program after previously being the defensive coordinator.

“Coach Gordon is going to be head coach for our junior high program,” said Bland. “We wanted someone that could be dedicated to running practice for the junior high that could go past the little bit of teaching time that we have built into our school day.”

The hope is to build the junior high program up and retain players that will then move on to the high school team.

Returning to the staff will be coaches David Gilbert and Dane Hodges. Bland says those two will have a heavy hand in teaching and installing the offense.

The search for playmakers on offense will include Braden Hamm and Chance Stewart at fullback and Kaleon Stewart and Tyler Hall at wingback.

“Tyler stands 5-foot-4 and weighs 120-pounds, but plays like he’s 6-foot-1 and 220-pounds with the effort he gives on each play,” said Bland.

Bland also hopes that senior Tyrell Fairman can factor into the offense as a halfback after taking a couple seasons off from football.

Senior Colby Hall returns as a wide receiver and is one of the most seasoned players in the senior class.

The West Lincoln coaching staff will be further bolstered by three paraprofessionals — David Purdy, Chris Seay and Jeffery Hedgepeth — that have signed up to help.

“Those are some dads that want to help us this year and we’re excited about having them out to encourage the boys,” said Bland. “Through last season, even in those close losses, we had a group of senior leaders that never stopped fighting until the final whistle. You hope to see that same kind of toughness in this team as well.”