RAIDERS’ DANE PARSLEY PUTTING UP IMPRESSIVE NUMBERS; GATORS HAVE WON FIVE STRAIGHT
No one had to tell Jeff Griffith, Warren East High School’s veteran football coach, that crosstown rival Warren Central was on its way to doing something special.
The Dragons took a 61-game losing streak, dating back to the 2015 season, when they opened the season on the road against Class 5A Bullitt Central on August 20 in Shepherdsville.
Warren Central won that game, stopping the Cougars 13-0, and, as it turns out, the Dragons were just getting started.
While Warren East has been a dominant squad in winning its first six games, Warren Central coach Mark Nelson’s Dragons have had to challenge some obstacles along the way.
19 RECEPTIONS FOR 281 YARDS AND THREE TDs.
Some of which they’ve been able to conquer.
Warren East (6-0) and Warren Central (3-2) square off in a KHSAA Class 4A, 2nd District game on Thursday night on the blue turf of Jim Ross Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
After back-to-back losses to Trigg County and Greenwood, Warren Central has come back with a vengeance. The Dragons opened district play with an impressive 30-22 victory at Allen County-Scottsville on September 16, and one week later, Nelson’s WCHS squad finally got to play at home against district rival Russell County.
Warren Central swamped the Lakers 36-9, and will take a winning record into Thursday night’s game against the Raiders. Warren East won last year’s game at WCHS, taking a 41-14 victory, but the Dragons have shown a tough mindset in putting past failures in the rear-view mirror in Nelson’s second season on Morgantown Road.
LOSING STREAK ON OPENING NIGHT.
“In high school football, there’s nothing more powerful than confidence and momentum,” East coach Jeff Griffith said. “Now they’ve gotten some confidence. Mark and I go back a long way … He’s a top-shelf guy, a really good coach.”
Warren Central unleashed an effective running game in rolling past Russell County at Joe Hood Field. Senior running back Deanglo Patterson carried the ball seven times for 107 yards and a touchdown, and quarterback Kayumba Jean Aime was also effective when he broke the pocket, rushing for 92 yards and a score. Defensively, Kangakole Jean Aime was EVERYWHERE for the Dragons, recording 17 tackles, including six for losses, and two sacks.
HIS SECOND SEASON AT WARREN CENTRAL.
“We got after ’em pretty good,” WCHS coach Mark Nelson said. “We scored twice, pretty quickly, and then went into a lull there, with some holding penalties … We took a safety.
“But we scored twice before halftime and led 28-2 at the half.”
Nelson compared the challenge in front of the Dragons to their road game against Greenwood, when the Gators struck quickly before cruising to a 49-8 victory at The Swamp. As fate would have it, Greenwood (5-1) is the other South Central Kentucky squad playing on Thursday night, as the Gators will open KHSAA Class 5A, 2nd District play on the road against Christian County (2-4) at the Stadium Of Champions in Hopkinsville.
Kickoff for that game is also at 7 p.m.
“Warren East is very well coached, and they’re big, they play hard,” Nelson said. “They’re a physical team. Lots of skill. Coach Griff is a good friend of mine and he does a great job with those kids.
“Their defense … they’re big up front.”
RUNNING AND THROWING THE BALL.
Griffith returned his entire offensive line from last year’s 5-6 squad, which dropped a heartbreaker in the first round of the KHSAA Class 4A playoffs. District rival Franklin-Simpson slipped past the Raiders 27-26, completing a two-game sweep of Warren East, last year. But that was Dane Parsley’s freshman year as the East quarterback, and what he’s doing in his sophomore season is something else entirely.
“Dane certainly has all the tools,” Griffith said. “Size, speed, intelligence, a big arm … he’s very mature for a kid his age. We’ve got a lot of good players around him.”
Parsley, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound sophomore, has completed 57 percent of his passes for 999 yards and 18 touchdowns. He’s been intercepted only once. What makes him particularly effective, at least in Nelson’s mind, is that he averages nearly 100 yards rushing per game. He’s rushed for 584 yards and 12 touchdowns, and senior tailback Quinton Hollis has added 493 yards and seven TDs on the ground.
“Dane Parsley makes good decisions back there,” Nelson said. “I know he can throw, but his running ability is something special. You can get a good pass rush on him, and he’ll pick a hole, and he won’t slow down, when he makes his cuts … They use (tight end) Simon Ghee very well. Their defense is big, up front.
“Warren East is a lot like Greenwood. They’ve got a lot of weapons, can beat you in different ways.”
SQUAD HAS WON FIVE STRAIGHT.
Greenwood extended its winning streak to five games last week, knocking off Glasgow 41-28 at Hank Royse Stadium. Sophomore quarterback Ryan Huff has passed for 897 yards and 12 touchdowns, without an interception, while teammate Tel Tel Long leads the Gators with 367 yards on the ground.
Senior tight end/linebacker Lofton Howard, the son of Greenwood head coach William Howard, was a one-man wrecking crew against Glasgow. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound WKU commit has scored 10 touchdowns, most of them as the quarterback in the Wildcat offense, while leading the Gators with 62 tackles, including 12 for losses, and four sacks.
Warren East and Greenwood have open dates after Thursday night’s games, while Warren Central will be on the road to play Green County (3-2). Warren East’s Jeff Griffith believes the timing was right for a Thursday night game, as most South Central Kentucky schools will have Fall Break in the first full week of October.
“Later in the year, I don’t mind Thursday games,” Griffith said. “I can do some scouting on Friday night, and then the kids go on Fall Break next week.”
THURSDAY’S GAME AGAINST WARREN CENTRAL.
BE A LITTLE BUSY THIS WEEKEND …