Jim Mashek

CHANEY WILL UNLEASH WILDCATS’ FAMILIAR WING-T ATTACK

FRANKLIN — Max Chaney settled into his chair inside the Joker Phillips Field House and made a prediction or two about Franklin-Simpson High School’s impending football season.

“We’ll throw the ball … if we have to,” Chaney said with a smile Monday afternoon, while the Wildcats hit the weight room before a light workout at refurbished Mathews Stadium. “We’re going to be physical …”

No surprises there.

Franklin-Simpson moves to the KHSAA’s Class 3A ranks after 16 seasons as a Class 4A school, which included back-to-back state championships in 2017 and ’18, in addition to two runner-up finishes. The Wildcats have an experienced quarterback in senior Mathias Dickerson, and they return their leading rusher in junior Blake McPherson.

Top to bottom, the ‘Cats look pretty strong at the skill positions, and in the secondary. But Franklin-Simpson will have a revamped offensive line in 2023, and that’s where the Wildcats will need to click to make their familiar Wing-T offense really work.

“It’s really important for us to stay healthy, especially up front,” Chaney said.

Franklin-Simpson went 7-4 while toiling in the KHSAA’s Class 4A, 1st District last year. Warren East finally broke through against the Wildcats in 2022, with quarterback Dane Parsley taking control late in the game while the Raiders knocked off their longtime nemesis, 36-21.

Jeff Griffith moved on after Warren East’s impressive 12-1 season, joining the football staff at Eastern Kentucky University, prompting Chaney to crack:

“Jeff finally beat us, and then he ran off …”

Chaney was grinning when he said it, and he is quick to point out that the Wildcats again will play some of their familiar opponents, regardless of classification, with squads such as Warren East, Greenwood, Warren Central and Allen County-Scottsville on the schedule. Franklin-Simpson opens the season against Christian County on August 18, in the first game of the J Allen Builders Bowl at Warren East High School.

“In our new district,” Chaney said, “the only outlier is Adair County, and they’ve got a new coach in Steve (Stonebraker), who did a really good job at Casey County. We already know Hart County, Glasgow and Butler County (moving up from Class 2A) are very good, and we’ve been playing them for a while.

“We’ve just got to keep working. Work to get better every day.”

Franklin-Simpson has about 48 players in its program, so the Wildcats will be able to play a junior varsity schedule to help prepare its younger players. But there’s precious little depth on the offensive and defensive lines, which has made for some interesting battles in training camp.

“We’ve taken a tight end and made him a pulling guard,” Chaney said, “and taken a fullback and made him a tackle.”

The lone returning starter on the F-S offensive line is senior center Noah Williams, but Dickerson’s ballhandling skills should go a long way in making the Wildcats’ Wing-T offense purr like a new vehicle on the assembly line at the Corvette plant.

“I’d say this team has a lot of potential,” Dickerson said. “All of our guys are gonna go, when it’s time to play. We’ve got plenty of guys at the skill positions. Nobody here is gonna question anybody’s will to win.”

Max Chaney said F-S senior Hayden Satterly is the kind of player upon which the Wildcats can count. Satterly usually plays fullback and linebacker, but he’s been known to fill in at other positions, including deep snapper and punter. Franklin-Simpsonn also has a new placekicker in senior Maddie Alexander, who will split her time between football and girls soccer in the fall.

(Logan County and Russellville also have female kickers in Kyla Bilyeu and Madden Bloodworth, respectively.)

“We’ve got some young guys, but they’re fighters,” Satterly said. “Tradition never graduates. That’s kind of our motto here.”

Blake McPherson led the Wildcats with 870 yards rushing last season, scoring five touchdowns. Quarterback Mathias Dickerson is effective in short-yardage and goal-line situations, and he rushed for 504 yards and a team-high nine touchdowns last season. Dickerson threw the ball only sparingly, passing for 442 yards and six touchdowns, but the Wildcats usually like to control the clock and keep the opponents’ offense on the sideline.

Brady Delk, the Wildcats’ sophomore, gives Chaney a reliable backup quarterback behind Dickerson, but Delk also plays wingback and running back, just one of the versatile performers on the Franklin-Simpson roster.

Chaney also is counting on senior defensive lineman Tytus Brown, who led the Wildcats last season with seven sacks.

“Tytus is undersized, but he’s got a lot of ‘dog’ in him,” Chaney said. “Hayden Satterly’s like a coach on the field. We’ve got some roles to fill, on the line, but this is a great group of kids. They’re hard workers, they’re coachable.

“We’re looking forward to getting started.”