Jim Mashek

(Editor’s note: This series offers a look at high school football teams in South Central Kentucky.)

Glasgow High School’s football team was in the planning stages of spring drills a few months back, when veteran coach Jeff Garmon held an important meeting with his players.

No. 1, he was letting them know that the Scotties were planning to throw the ball more in 2023, that Garmon was convinced that junior quarterback Easton Jessie and his group of seniors, including University of Kentucky recruit Rico Crowder, could give his Glasgow squad a lift with more offensive plays out of the spread formation.

And No. 2, and perhaps more important, Garmon was letting his team know that Glasgow’s enrollment had dropped to about 610 students, and the Scotties could drop a class from the KHSAA’s Class 3A ranks to Class 2A for the ’23 season.

Or they could stay put, in the KHSAA’s Class 3A, 2nd District, which would include the likes of holdovers Hart County and Adair County, and newcomers Franklin-Simpson (moving down from 4A) and Butler County (moving up from 2A).

“It was pretty much unanimous,” Garmon recalled. “I asked the boys before (the reclassification) happened, ‘Do you want to stay in 3A or go to 2A?’ They wanted to stay in 3A.

“That’s what the boys wanted to do.”

Then again, one year removed from a berth in the KHSAA Class 3A state semifinals, the Scotties went .500 in regular-season play before squaring off with Union County in the first round of the playoffs. The Braves belted Glasgow, 50-20, and the Scotties finished the season with a pedestrian 6-5 overall record.

“We’ve got unfinished business in 3A,” Glasgow linebacker Mason Arms told WBKO-TV. “That’s all it comes down to.”

Easton Jessie and Rico Crowder agreed, that ‘unfinished business’ is the catchphrase around Glasgow football. The Scotties open the season against LaRue County on August 18 in Glasgow. Garmon’s squad begins district play on the road, against nearby Adair County, on September 22.

“That’s what we wanted,” Easton said on Thursday night, after the Scotties mixed it up with Logan County in an intrasquad scrimmage in Russellville.

“Definitely,” Crowder added.

Glasgow has traditionally operated out of a Wing-T formation, and Garmon points out that the blocking schemes for the Wing-T and the Spread have plenty of similarities.

And the Scotties return their offensive line intact.

“I really wanted to adjust our offense to our personnel,” Garmon said “We’ve tried to learn a blend of the two offenses, and you’ve got to have a quarterback who can make it work.”

That’s where Jessie comes in.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Glasgow junior did it with his arm and his legs on Thursday night, yielding to backup QB Hudson Gumm for the second half against Logan County. Jessie had a brilliant 20-yard scoring run, on a keeper to the right side, in the second quarter, after hitting Scotties running back Daylan Thomas on a scoring pass for the first points of the night.

Jessie passed sparingly last year, as a sophomore, completing 61 of 110 passes for 927 yards and 13 touchdowns. He was intercepted only four times while adding six rushing touchdowns.

Jessie will take the snaps from Glasgow center Luke Simmons, and the 6-foot-5, 280-pound Simmons is surrounded by four other returning starters — Ryne Randall and Camron Johnson at tackle and Rad Gentry and Frankie Cianci.

“I really like the new offense and feel a lot more comfortable with these guys,” Jessie said. “I feel like the Spread (offense) fits my skill set, and playing style, much better.”

Simmons agreed.

“We’ve just got to keep working hard, in practice,” Simmons said. “One day at a time. Win some games in the fourth quarter.”

The Scotties’ Rico Crowder is graduating in December and will enroll at the University of Kentucky as a preferred walk-on for 2024 spring drills. He had a team-high seven touchdown receptions last year, and figures to get more opportunities in his final season at Glasgow.

Glasgow no longer has workhorse tailback Kieran Stockton (1,264 yards rushing, 23 touchdowns in ’23) or steady receiver Javon Clark (a team-high 31 receptions, 473 yards, three TDs), but Garmon likes a group of incoming sophomore receivers, and senior Gavin Neal is an experienced hand at tailback.

The Scotties also return senior placekicker Wes Travis, who converted 35 of 41 extra-point attempts last season.

“Last year, we had a small senior class, and we got hit hard by injuries,” Garmon said. “Toward the end of the year, we had some discipline issues … We got through the season, but we were short four or five players we were counting on toward the end. We just didn’t play real well …

“This group is playing with a chip on their shoulder. They’ve got something to prove.”

Garmon and Jessie agree that it’s critical that the Scotties keep that offensive line intact.

“We’ve had football at Glasgow for more than 100 years,” Garmon said. “We’ve had 15, 16 winning seasons in a row, since an 0-11 season in 2008 … But you’ve got to remember that all it takes is two or three major injuries, and we’re in trouble.

“A lot of teams have to deal with that.”

Jeff Garmon graduated from Glasgow High School in 1987 and played college baseball at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky. He was the head baseball coach at Corbin High School before returning to his alma mater in the mid-2000s.

“It’s been an enjoyable group of kids to work with,” Garmon said. “We’re looking forward to the season.”