After losing most of their skill position players to graduation, the Apollo Eagles will rely heavily on the offensive line experience and defensive front seven as they look to rebound from a tough 2022 campaign. For 2023, the Eagles dropped to Class 5A and will compete in the same district as Owensboro. Apollo Head Coach John Edge said it’s been a productive offseason and is confident his team can find some success.
“We feel really good. We had a really great offseason,” Edge said. “One of the things that we’ve got to do is keep improving. We’ve got a lot of young guys coming back, so we have to make sure they know what they’re doing. They do, for the most part. They’ve been really hungry. and they’ve gotten a lot of stuff done over this offseason.”
The Eagles are looking to take a big step forward after coming off a 2-9 season where they struggled on both sides of the ball.
Most of the offensive production won’t return for 2023. That includes quarterback Christian Combs, running backs Donte Dixon and Noah Rhinerson, and receivers Carson Contratto and Bryson Velotta. They combined for about 2,400 of the team’s roughly 3,200 yards rushing and receiving and 29 of the 35 offensive touchdowns.
Edge said they have several key linemen returning, and he’s confident they’ll help lead the offense. The Eagles will turn to senior Eli Masterson, junior Niles Board, and sophomore Landen Bratcher for their production.
Masterson was a top receiver for Apollo last year with 33 catches for a team-high 519 yards and three touchdowns. Board was the third-leading rusher with 22 carries for 162 yards and a pair of scores; he also caught four passes for 92 yards and a touchdown.
Edge said two players are still competing to be named starting quarterback: sophomore JT Edge and freshman Max Johnson.
“We’ll be young offensively, but we’ll have a lot of continuity,” Edge said. “We’re running a system and just trying to ensure everybody’s gonna be on the right page.”
Defensively, the most significant loss is Morgan Eans, who by far led the Eagles with 132 total tackles (91 solo). He also had the only defensive touchdown on one of the team’s six fumble recoveries and grabbed one of the team’s nine interceptions.
One of the top returning defensive producers will be junior Jamison Brown, who was second on the team with 79 tackles (42 solo). Board and Masterson also proved useful on the defensive side last year. Board had 36 tackles (28 solo) and an interception, while Masterson had 30 tackles (15 solo) to go along with a pick and a fumble recovery.
“In order to win championships, in order to win ball games, you’ve got to play great defense,” Edge said. “We’re getting there here at Apollo. I know last year wasn’t very good. But, we’ve made a lot of adjustments and different things that we were doing.”
Edge said he feels “really good” about their front seven on defense and reiterated he’s especially confident in both the offensive and defensive lines.
“We’re just trying to get a lot of these kids reps,” Edge said. “Once we get into gameplay, we’ll have our starting 11. Right now, we’ve been using our scrimmages and 7-on-7s to get as many looks and get everybody ready for the games.”
The schedule for Apollo will look quite different due to reclassification.
In recent years, the Eagles have competed in Class 6A, District 1 — which includes Daviess County, McCracken County, Henderson County, and Marshall County.
Now they’re in Class 5A, District 1 — which includes Owensboro, Graves County, Madisonville-North Hopkins, Marshall County, and Muhlenberg County.
“We did a lot of major scouting in the offseason of who we’ve got, what fronts they give us, what coverages they give us, what formations they give us,” Edge said. “You’re gonna structure your offense and defense the way you want, but you might have to modify some things depending on who you play.”
Apollo will use a tough non-district slate to prepare for the new district, starting this Friday when they play at Owensboro Catholic. The Eagles return home the following week to play McCracken County and then have a pair of road games at Meade County and Bowling Green.
District play starts with a three-game homestand against Muhlenberg, Owensboro, and Graves, followed by away games at Madisonville and Marshall. The Eagles wrap up the regular season at home against Daviess County.
Edge said the city-county games are always big on the schedule, but he’s focused on making sure Apollo is ready to compete in the district matchups so they can set themselves up for the postseason.
“We’ve gotta be ready by district time,” he said. When that fifth game hits, we’ve got to be rolling. We just have to keep improving what we’ve done in the offseason, and we’ll be just fine. I’m not worried about it.’
Full schedule:
- August 18 at Owensboro Catholic
- August 25 vs. McCracken County
- September 1 at Meade County
- September 8 at Bowling Green
- September 15 vs. Muhlenberg County
- September 22 vs. Owensboro
- September 29 vs. Graves County
- October 6 at Madisonville
- October 20 at Marshall County
- October 27 vs. Daviess County
