Football teams around the state will hit the field Friday as the 2020 fall season gets underway.
This is our third story in a series previewing the upcoming football season. Over the next several days, each local football will be highlighted. The Owensboro Red Devils are the next story in the series.
The Owensboro Red Devils fell in the KHSAA Class 5A State Tournament semifinals to Frederick Douglass last season but with a solid core returning, coach Jay Fallin and his squad are ready to make 2020 their revenge season.
Junior quarterback Gavin Wimsatt’s recruiting has exploded in recent months with a top-40 ranking in the 2021 class, according to 247Sports and with Rivals now having him as a four-star recruit.
Wimsatt threw for 2,729 yards last season with 31 touchdowns through the air and 12 on the ground to go with 564 rushing yards. He also had 10 interceptions on 351 pass attempts.
The Red Devils also return their top rusher in Ethan Avery (681 yards, 10 touchdowns) and top receiver in Treyvon Tinsley (909 receiving yards, 12 touchdowns).
On defense, senior linebacker Austin Gough returns after an injury shortened his junior campaign. The Red Devils only have four defensive players that played all 14 games last season so Fallin will be looking for multiple players to step up for OHS.
Owensboro Red Devils
Head coach: Jay Fallin
2019 record: 12-2
2020 schedule
Sept. 11: v Apollo
Sept. 18: v Daviess County
Sept. 25: v Ohio County
Oct. 1: @ Muhlenberg County
Oct. 9: @ Owensboro Catholic
Oct. 16: v Graves County
Oct. 23: @ Grayson County
Oct. 30: @ Henderson County
Nov. 6: v Breckinridge County
What’s your outlook for the season?
Frankly, we try to focus on goals that are not related to wins and losses. We truly emphasize being a little bit better each day as we walk off the practice field or the meeting room (Zoom Meetings for the time being). I believe that if we do that, winning ball games takes care of itself. Our goal is to bring outstanding focus, energy, enthusiasm, effort and attention to detail to practice every single day. If we do that, I feel that we can have great success in the regular season and set ourselves up for a run in the playoffs.
Who are your key returners?
Offense
WR Ben Flaherty (Sr)*
WR Treyvon Tinsley (Sr)*
WR Steven Stevenson (Sr)*
RB Ethan Avery (Sr)*
QB Gavin Wimsatt (Jr)*
FB/RB Austin Gough (Sr)
OL Levi Madewell (Sr)*
OL Justin Millay (Sr)*
OL Ryland Chaney (Jr)*
OL Logan Palmer (Sr)
Defense
DL Kindrick Williams (Jr)
DL Logan Palmer (Sr)
LB Austin Gough (Sr)
FS Ben Flaherty (Sr)*
SS Javonte McHenry (Sr)*
CB Steven Stevenson (Sr)*
CB Javius “Byrd” Taylor (Jr)*
Specialists
P Gavin Wimsatt (Jr)*
LS Ryland Chaney (Jr)*
Punt/KO Returners Ben Flaherty*, Treyvon Tinsley*, Javius “Byrd” Taylor
* Denotes player who started all 14 games in 2019.
Any newcomers that could make an impact?
WR/DB Khalil Rogers (So)
WR/DB Ethan Pendleton (So)
RB/LB Jeremiah Goodwin (So)
DE Sahvon Hines (So)
WR/DB Nic Avery (Sr) (Transfer- Castle HS, Newburgh, IN)
RB/DB Kenyata Carbon (So)
What is something you’ve noticed your team needs to work on?
As with everyone right now, we’ve got a critically short period of time to prepare. We have to accept that it is going to be a process over the course of the first half of the season, while simultaneously making sure we use every minute of practice time to be as prepared as we can for week 1.
What do you need to do to be successful?
- The same thing we need to do every year:
- Develop our veterans into leaders and our young guys into competitive varsity players.
- Developing a team chemistry and loyalty to one another that is the result of trust, reliability and accountability to one another.
- Develop a fierce style of play in which every player who takes the field plays with exceptional effort on every down.
- Limit injuries by investing in pre and post practice warm ups, mobility and treatment and exhibiting good practice habits and practice “etiquette.”
- On offense, we need to put together drives that result in points by:
- Staying ahead of the chains
- Limiting, by working to eliminate, turnovers.
- Limiting, by working to eliminate, penalties. Especially procedural and dead-ball penalties.
- Taking advantage of personnel mismatches and finding the weaknesses that occur in every defense.
- Taking advantage of big-play opportunities when they present themselves.
- On defense, we need to limit our opponents’ scoring opportunities by:
- Knowing and understanding the scouting report and game plan from week-to-week.
- All 11 knowing their assignment and pursuing the ball as hard and fast as they can on every play.
- Maximizing opponent turnovers by pursuing the ball.
- Limiting, thorough working to eliminate, penalties.
- Defending the full field; if we stop our opponent for no gain on 4th and Goal from the one after a 15 play drive, we have succeeded.
- On special teams, giving ourselves a chance to win by:
- Knowing and understanding the scouting report and game plan from week-to-week.
- Taking advantage of “hidden yardage.”
- Limiting, through working to eliminate, penalties. Especially procedural and dead-ball penalties.
- Limiting, through working to eliminate, turnovers.
- Maximizing opponent turnovers by pursuing the ball.
How has COVID-19 changed the way you prepared for the season?
The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has changed everything about everything, not just sports. We have to follow a very strict set of protocols with regard to how players arrive, how they practice when with us, and how they depart, in addition to a heavy emphasis on social distancing and mask-wearing in everything we do. This is, of course, completely appropriate and necessary. The pandemic, and the KHSAA’s adoption of Option 1, has placed a very unique time constraint on pre-season preparation as compared to other years. We have to make the most of every moment in preparation to try to get our guys ready to play a game in 3 weeks. Our coaches and kids are excited and up for the challenge.
