Jim Mashek

RAIDERS WILL TANGLE WITH RUSSELLVILLE ON FRIDAY NIGHT

Dane Parsley pondered the question. Warren East High School’s sophomore quarterback has grand designs for the Raiders this fall.

He’s aiming high.

Warren East is taking a 3-0 record into Friday night’s short road trip to fabled Rhea Stadium and a non-district game with the winless Russellville Panthers. Parsley and his teammates understand that Russellville has plenty of good athletes, however, and that the Panthers were the KHSAA Class 1A runner-up last December.

He’s taking nothing for granted.

But Parsley and his teammates are convinced this Warren East squad is going places.

“In my mind, we’ve got the ability, the potential, to be like the Warren East team in 2012,” Parsley observed Wednesday after the Raiders’ practice on the blue turf of Jim Ross Field. “That team was phenomenal. I was 5 years old …

“We’re all here to win.”

That 2012 East squad went 13-1 and reached the KHSAA Class 4A state semifinals.

Sixth-year Warren East coach Jeff Griffith has a seasoned senior class, plenty of offensive firepower and a hungry bunch of Raiders on the Louisville Road campus.

They’re thinking big.

“We’re a pretty mature football team,” Griffith said. “In 2020, the COVID season, we started six freshmen and eight sophomores. Those guys are juniors and seniors now.

“The last two years, combined, we only had 13 seniors. These kids have played some football. It’s a good senior class … Everybody thinks we’re pretty good, but we’ve got to do it.

“You’ve got to prove it. To yourselves.”

Warren East has rolled through its first three opponents, drubbing White House Heritage (Tennessee), Ohio County and Edmonson County by a combined 136-7. Griffith likes to remind his team that the Raiders’ most important games are in front of them, but they’ve got one more tilt before opening KHSAA Class 4A 2nd District play on the road against Russell County.

First, Warren East will take the short road trip to Russellville’s fabled Rhea Stadium, a weather beaten, concrete structure built with Works Progress Administration funds just two or three years before World War II. Russellville is still looking for its first victory of the season, but Dane Parsley and his Warren East teammates know the Panthers have plenty of talented athletes.

Veteran Panthers coach Mikie Benton, a former UK defensive back, took his squad to the KHSAA Class 1A state championship game last season.

The Raiders are trying to keep the big picture in mind, while simultaenously focusing on the here and now.

They’ve yet to be challenged this season. And at some point, that’s going to change. Warren East put together a four-game winning streak last season, only to fade in November and drop a 27-26 heartbreaker to archrival Franklin-Simpson in the first round of the KHSAA Class 4A playoffs.

The Raiders went 5-6, finishing the season with three consecutive defeats.

“We’ve made a lot of progress so far,” senior linebacker/tight end Simon Ghee said after Wednesday’s practice. “I’d say being consistent is the big thing, for this team. Ohio County was probably our best game, so far, but we like our defense.

“We like our defense a lot.”

Perhaps that isn’t surprising, with Jeff Griffith being a former WKU linebacker who played under former coach Dave Roberts with the Hilltoppers.

The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Ghee is being recruited by the likes of Eastern Kentucky, Murray State and other FCS programs in the region, but he hasn’t given up on the idea of playing at the FBS level, perhaps a Group of Five school. He’s a versatile defender and in three games, he’s recorded 13 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

Ghee’s fraternal twin brother, Isaiah Ghee, is pretty versatile himself. Isaiah Ghee, a 6-foot, 160-pound receiver/defensive back, also handles the placekicking duties, too.

It all starts with Dane Parsley, though.

Once kind of a gangly freshman, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound sophomore has worked diligently on his game, his body and his role with the team.

The Raiders don’t lack for confidence.

“A lot of people are telling us how good we can be,” Parsley said. “We’ve got a good chemistry on the field and in the locker room. The guys hang out together. We’ve really got a good defense.”

The Raiders have another college prospect in offensive tackle Kajarius Barber. Barber, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound junior, excels at pass blocking and has played a big role in Dane Parsley’s success.

Parsley, a three-sport athlete — he also plays basketball and baseball — has completed 26 of 45 passes for 416 yards and nine touchdowns this season. He’s been intercepted just once.

That’s just the beginning.

Parsley is a dual threat, and effective in a moving pocket. He’s rushed for 292 yards and a team-high six touchdowns, on just 17 carries.

Senior receiver Ahmad Alexander leads the Raiders with 10 receptions for 195 yards and four touchdowns, but East teammate Tray Price — like Parsley, he plays basketball and baseball, too — has been equally valuable with 10 catches for 148 yards and three scores.

Senior running back Quinton Hollis is off to a promising start, too, with 214 yards rushing. He’s averaging almost 10 yards per carry. Chris Taylor, a promising freshman, has added 103 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Opposing defenses may have to pick their poison with the Raiders.

“We’ve had a different guy, every Friday,” Hollis said. “I’m just tryin’ to do my part.”

Kickoff for Friday’s game at Russellville, the Linton-Wren Kickoff Classic, is set for 7 p.m.