Bluegrassrivals

Miles Simpson! Enough said? Simon Kenton, who started off 2008 terribly, getting pasted by Boone Co, before the resurrection of their season took place. Having a Playoff caliber game against Campbell County propelled them on their cinderella run that took them to the Title game before having the shoe stolen by Trinity. Will they be back?

What do they have coming back?

KnottCentralGuru Wrote:What do they have coming back?

SK returns arguably the most talented player in the state in running back Miles Simpson, who ran for over 2,000 yards last season. SK also was the 6A runner-up.

SK graduated 13 players. Pretty good numbers return for a smashmouth orientated team.

ttt

BlackcatAlum Wrote:SK returns arguably the most talented player in the state in running back Miles Simpson, who ran for over 2,000 yards last season. SK also was the 6A runner-up.

SK graduated 13 players. Pretty good numbers return for a smashmouth orientated team.

They return a solid offensive line, an experienced quarterback in Chad Lawrence, and a good defensive line. They will miss Matt Neal at LB, but they've had some recent success in the feeder programs and middle schools. With all that being said, the district they play in is an absolute meat grinder. The four teams that make it out of this district are going to inflict some damage on the teams they play in the playoffs.

Simon Kenton senior running back/defensive back Miles Simpson (6 feet 3, 205 pounds) will attend a camp at Michigan this weekend, said Pioneers coach Jeff Marksberry, who also said senior offensive lineman Jordan Hansel (6-3, 290) will attend upcoming camps at Murray State, Western Kentucky and Vanderbilt.

sould be tuff again

^ They will be, but honestly, they were equal last year to the other NKY 6A teams, which tells me that if SK could make the finals last year, so could Ryle, Campbell County, Boone County, or Conner. All have the core of their teams coming back for this season.

http://kentuckypreps.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=960806

The Simon Kenton Pioneers captivated a community last season as they made an improbable run all the way to the Kentucky 6A state championship game.


Wayne Litmer

Miles Simpson scored 41 touchdowns as a junior for the Pioneers.
After going 3-4 in their first seven games the Pioneers rolled off seven straight wins, including four playoff road victories.

A big factor in the team's late-season surge was their senior leadership. If Simon Kenton is going to come out on top in one of the state's toughest districts, new leaders will need to emerge.

Let's take a peek at the 2009 edition of the Pioneers.

2008 RECORD: 10-5, 2-3 (6A, District 6)


COACHING: Jeff Marksberry has posted a 45-53 mark in his nine years as the head coach at the school. He calls the shots for the team's Multiple-I offense. Meanwhile, Jesse Herbst handles things on the defensive side of the ball where the Pioneers institute a 3-5 scheme. Steve Burns is the special teams' coordinator.


OFFENSE: Mr. Kentucky candidate Miles Simpson returns for his senior season. A star on both sides of the ball, Simpson is one of the Tri-state's most prolific runners.

Simpson rushed for 2,309 yards 284 carries, caught eight balls for 233 yards, and scored 40 times as junior in just 15 games. He found the end zone in all but three of the Pioneers' games, including eight games with three or more touchdowns.


Wayne Litmer

Simon Kenton's success up front starts with tackle Jordan Hansel.
Opening holes for Simpson is a solid offensive line, anchored by Division I prospect Jordan Hansel. The team graduated some key pieces up front and building depth here will be a big key for the Pioneers' chances of another deep playoff run.

Quarterback Chad Lawrence should only get better as a junior. He took over for Patrick Bustle midway though last season and was vital in the team's late-season run. The dual-threat quarterback had never lost a game as a starter until the state championship game loss to Trinity.

Ryan Winkler is team's top returning receiver. He caught eight balls for 116 yards and a touchdown as a sophomore, but will see an increased role this season.


DEFENSE: Just like the offense, the defense will have to deal with the loss of four starters. The unit gave up 20.8 points per game in 2008 and will need to improve on that this year to have repeat success.

The strength on this side of the ball is the team's linebacker corps. Senior Nik Brown will be look at to be a leader and a playmaker.

Junior Austin Baldwin compliments him well. He led the team with 6 sacks as a sophomore.

Simpson is a shut corner and his presence automatically makes the Pioneers' secondary rock solid.

Derek Picirillo has the potential to play at the next level and will be counted on up front to plug the run and create pressure. Depth on the defensive line appears to be a bit of question mark heading into '09 though.


2009 SCHEDULE:
08/29 - vs. NewCath (Nippert Stadium) - 2:45 p.m.
09/4 - Dixie Heights - 7:00 p.m.
09/11 - Shroder Paideia - 7:30 p.m.
09/18 - Henry Clay - 7:30 p.m.
09/25 - Conner - 7:00 p.m.
10/02 - at Cooper- 7:00 p.m.
10/09 - Ryle - 7:00 p.m.
10/16 - at Boone County - 7:30 p.m.
10/23 - at Campbell County - 7:30 p.m.
10/30 - at Scott - 7:00 p.m.


FINAL TAKE: Despite having most of their marquee players back from last year's team, the Pioneers lost most of it leaders. How this year's seniors step in that regard will go a long way towards determining this team's fate. The district is as tough as it gets and after being swept by Boone County, Ryle, and Conner in the regular season a year ago, it's easy to see how tough it is going to be for Simon Kenton to win the district this year. Still they have a solid nucleus and one of the best players in the entire Tri-state in Simpson, so anything short of another deep playoff run would be a disappointment.

wish them well

Rob Van Winkle Wrote:They return a solid offensive line, an experienced quarterback in Chad Lawrence, and a good defensive line. They will miss Matt Neal at LB, but they've had some recent success in the feeder programs and middle schools. With all that being said, the district they play in is an absolute meat grinder. The four teams that make it out of this district are going to inflict some damage on the teams they play in the playoffs.

I agree Neal did an excellent job and was the leader on defense. I still forsee a possible repeat of last years performance with the talent level S.K. has returning. I would have like to seen a Highlands/S.K. matchup this season! Really would get to see some marquee players in that one.

NewCath and Dixie will be 2 big early games!

richardhead Wrote:NewCath and Dixie will be 2 big early games!

This should be an extremely entertaining game between Chris Kelly and Miles Simpson. The last time these two faced off was in the championship of the NKYFL in 2005. Kelly put a hit on Simpson that left the young man woozy and out of his game, costing the Raiders than championship.

It would be nice if SIMON-KENTON could make it back to the STATE finals to break up the LOUISVILLE Championship game.

Simon Kenton senior running back and defensive back Miles Simpson is the reigning Enquirer player of the year and a strong candidate for this year's Mr. Football award. He is one of the top-rated recruits in Kentucky's class of 2010. Schools like Purdue, Indiana, Kentucky and Louisville have offered scholarships.




Recruiting Web site Scout.com has Simpson ranked as the 26th best running back in the country, seven spots ahead of a player committed to USC. But in this summer recruiting diary (as told to Enquirer reporter Ryan Ernst), Simpson says he pays little attention to ratings.

I don't really read the rankings or try to compare myself against other players. Really, the only player I've ever tried to be better than is my dad (David). He played at Newport and won a Division I-AA national title at Eastern Kentucky in 1982. He already has a ring; I want one too.

That's what we've been working for all offseason, winning a state championship.

I also went to UC's summer camp and Michigan's summer camp. They were both really fun. UC actually had more players at its camp, but Michigan was a little more competitive. I was kind of hoping Michigan was going to offer, but they haven't yet. If they do, great. But I'm not really worrying about it. I knew going into the Michigan camp it was going to show me what I needed to work on, and it did: speed, footwork and flexibility.

I've been working on speed a lot in practice, but I don't know if I've gotten any better. The only guys I can really race are Sage Powell and Nik Brown. They're both pretty quick and they're right there with me.

Another teammate, offensive lineman Jordan Hansel, is kind of going through the whole recruiting process with me. He has two Division I offers and schools are starting to talk to us like we're a package deal. I think that's awesome. I'd love to go to school with one of the guys I play with now.

Other than football, I spent most of my summer working at Camp Ernst. I'm a counselor and a lifeguard. I basically just get to run around and do activities with kids. My whole family has worked there and I started going there when I was 6.

Pretty soon I'll have to make that college decision. I thought about doing it before the season, but then I talked to my dad about it and he said I should wait.

I really wanted to get it out of the way so I could focus on the season and not stress out about it. But right now, I don't know what I'm going to do or when I'm going to decide.

http://nky.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...908200302/

Simon Kenton's heavily recruited left tackle, Jordan Hansel, has plenty of video of himself dominating opposing defensive linemen.

But the Pioneers coaching staff recently considered compiling an additional tape, one of Hansel's celebratory sprints downfield behind senior tailback Miles Simpson.

"He loves blocking for Miles," said Simon Kenton head coach Jeff Marksberry. "We toyed around with making a film of Jordan's hand-waving, fist pumps and other antics he does following Miles into the end zone."

Simpson, the reigning Enquirer player of the year, joins Hansel among 15 returning starters for the Pioneers, who finished 10-5 last season and reached the 6A state championship game.

Simon Kenton plays its season opener against Newport Central Catholic at approximately 2:45 p.m. Aug. 29 in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown at Nippert Stadium.

The Pioneers are playing for the first time since a crushing 48-0 loss to Louisville Trinity in the Class 6A state final.

The result came as a shock to Simon Kenton, which trailed 41-0 at halftime, even knowing the Shamrocks' perennial dominance.

"We had cautioned them all week about being in awe," said Marksberry. "So it was quite disappointing. At halftime we just told them to seize the moment, soak up the atmosphere and play hard. Our kids have talked about getting back to the state championship, and this time playing to win."

With eight starters returning on offense and seven on defense, Simon Kenton has the experience necessary to make another postseason run.

It could be more difficult, however, with Northern Kentucky's 6A district matched up with Louisville St. Xavier's district in the first three rounds.

Simon Kenton, which began last season 3-4 including a 42-7 loss at home to Boone County, would like to avoid another slow start.

Stardust Wrote:http://nky.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...908200302/

Simon Kenton's heavily recruited left tackle, Jordan Hansel, has plenty of video of himself dominating opposing defensive linemen.

But the Pioneers coaching staff recently considered compiling an additional tape, one of Hansel's celebratory sprints downfield behind senior tailback Miles Simpson.

"He loves blocking for Miles," said Simon Kenton head coach Jeff Marksberry. "We toyed around with making a film of Jordan's hand-waving, fist pumps and other antics he does following Miles into the end zone."

Simpson, the reigning Enquirer player of the year, joins Hansel among 15 returning starters for the Pioneers, who finished 10-5 last season and reached the 6A state championship game.

Simon Kenton plays its season opener against Newport Central Catholic at approximately 2:45 p.m. Aug. 29 in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown at Nippert Stadium.

The Pioneers are playing for the first time since a crushing 48-0 loss to Louisville Trinity in the Class 6A state final.

The result came as a shock to Simon Kenton, which trailed 41-0 at halftime, even knowing the Shamrocks' perennial dominance.

"We had cautioned them all week about being in awe," said Marksberry. "So it was quite disappointing. At halftime we just told them to seize the moment, soak up the atmosphere and play hard. Our kids have talked about getting back to the state championship, and this time playing to win."

With eight starters returning on offense and seven on defense, Simon Kenton has the experience necessary to make another postseason run.

It could be more difficult, however, with Northern Kentucky's 6A district matched up with Louisville St. Xavier's district in the first three rounds.

Simon Kenton, which began last season 3-4 including a 42-7 loss at home to Boone County, would like to avoid another slow start.

I know that high school coaches like to build up their own players and I'm sure Hansel is a decent high school O linemen, but here is what the ESPN high school scouting report had to say about Hansel:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting...eason=2010

In my opinion he's another big high school linemen over hyped because he has decent size. Might be good in college with a lot of development, but after watching the video in the link, I'm not terribly impressed at his high school play last year. Perhaps he'll be much better this year and I'll change my opinion of him.

charlie22 Wrote:I know that high school coaches like to build up their own players and I'm sure Hansel is a decent high school O linemen, but here is what the ESPN high school scouting report had to say about Hansel:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting...eason=2010

In my opinion he's another big high school linemen over hyped because he has decent size. Might be good in college with a lot of development, but after watching the video in the link, I'm not terribly impressed at his high school play last year. Perhaps he'll be much better this year and I'll change my opinion of him.

My understanding was that he had a great summer at prospect combines.

Stardust Wrote:My understanding was that he had a great summer at prospect combines.

May have. All I know is what I've observed and what I've read. The simple fact of the matter is that colleges base their recruitment of high school linemen on potential based on size. People very erroneously equate that to mean they are very good high school football players. Many more times than not, they are not what I'd consider really good high school football players. Heck, we played against Madison Central last year. The Warford boy was rated one of the highest O linemen in the state lat year, in my opinion, simply because he got a scholly from UK. The simple fact is that he wasn't in my top 10 O linemen we faced last year. Almost every O linemen on Johnson Central's team was better, as were many on Whitley County's team. But because Warford was big and he got a D-1 scholly (which had to be based only on potential), folks thought he was a very good football player. He may have dominated some weaker players, but at least when he played against a good football team and good defensive linemen, he was average (at best). You'd think that if he was a stud, one of the best, O linemen, he'd have performed better against other good players, wouldn't you?

Heck, watch the video and see if you don't agree with the report. It's spot on in my opinion and it's important to remember that video is probably his highlight tape. I'm not intending to pick on this kid because big o linemen being overhyped is something that I've started to notice. Another poster on another site has been making a big deal of this for some time. At first I thought he was full of baloney. But I started to notice what he was talking about and more times than not, I think he's right.

Pioneers poised to repeat run
By Adam Kiefaber • [email]akiefaber@nky.com[/email] • August 18, 2009

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Going into last season, Simon Kenton High School head coach Jeff Marksberry thought 2008 was going to be the year his team would win more than six games for the first time since 1993.


However, the Pioneers got off to a bad start losing four of its first seven games including three to district opponents.

After a 42-7 loss to district foe Boone County in Week 8, Marksberry had to find out what was wrong.

"It was stressful. As a coaching staff we sat down that night (after the Boone County game) and started brainstorming," Marksberry said. "'Where did things go wrong? What happened? What's the problem?'"

At the time, Marksberry decided to make a major change by replacing senior quarterback Patrick Bustle with sophomore Chad Lawrence.

Lawrence, who at the time had won 29 of his 30 starts at quarterback since he was in the seventh grade, started his first varsity game against Russell, a game the Pioneers won, 40-20.

The following week, Simon Kenton beat Campbell County, 15-7, to secure the district's last playoff spot.

In the playoffs, the Pioneers defeated Lafayette, Conner, Boone County and Male before losing the Class 6A title game to Trinity. Simon Kenton's magical run to the state championship was a pretty impressive feat considering the program hadn't won a playoff game since 1993.

In 2009, the Pioneers are poised to make another run to the Class 6A championship.

Leading the way will be senior running back Miles Simpson, who rushed for 2,309 yards and 37 touchdowns in 2008. Simpson ability to carry his team has caught the eye of many colleges, as he now has offers from Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Purdue, Central Michigan, Troy and WKU.

"It takes a lot of pressure off having someone like Miles in the backfield," offensive tackle Jordan Hansel said. "There have been plays where people have just blown up their blocking assignments and he still got a touchdown because of how well he can run."

Hansel (6-foot-4, 295 pounds), who has scholarship offers from Louisville and Ball State, will lead an experienced offensive line that returns four starters from '08. Overall, the Pioneers return eight starters on offense and seven on defense including two linebackers who had at least 100 tackles last season in Nik Brown and Austin Baldwin.

Simon Kenton will have its hands full early in the season with in-state matchups against Newport Central Catholic (Aug. 29), Dixie Heights (Sept. 4) and Henry Clay (Sept. 18). The Pioneers will play all five of its district opponents in straight weeks this season, against Conner (Sept. 25), at Cooper (Oct. 2), against Ryle (Oct. 8) and at Boone County (Oct. 16).

Last season, Simon Kenton finished fourth in the district and barely made the playoffs. Like last season, a deserving district team (Simon Kenton, Boone County, Ryle, Campbell County or Conner) will not be able to advance to the playoffs in 2009.

"It just shows the depth of our district and, you know what, it is not any different this year," Marksberry said. "From top to bottom, I don't know if there is a stronger district in the state. I really don't."

Good luck to SIMON/KENTON this year, I'm glad we don't have to play them anymore.

By Ryan Ernst • [email]rernst@enquirer.com[/email] • August 24, 2009

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Chad Lawrence remembers only the opening kickoff from the biggest game of his life. The rest is a blur, a detail-less nightmare. The lopsided loss, the 11,556 fans who went silent as he went to the turf, the ambulance ride - it's like it all happened to someone else.


Simon Kenton's junior quarterback insists what he has lost in memory he has more than gained in resolve. Entering his final week of practice before facing live competition for the first time since a scary state finals injury, he'll need it.

"I think it's all made me stronger, because I want it so much more," Lawrence said. "It just made me hungrier for a championship."

Head and neck trauma, no matter how much we wish it didn't, has a place in high school football. A recent study from the National Athletic Trainers Association estimates there could be more than 62,000 such injuries annually in the U.S.

But few are as dramatic as the one that struck down Lawrence.

It occurred in the marquee game of last year's state finals at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in Louisville - the Class 6A championship game. The game was being broadcast on live TV throughout the state. With 4:45 left in first half, Simon Kenton trailed 27-0 and faced a third-and-9 near midfield. Lawrence, scrambling to his left, decided to tuck the ball and turn upfield. Play by-play announcer Brian Milam made the following call: Lawrence ... running ... is just decapitated by Messina. And he is down.

Trinity defensive lineman Frank Longley had wrapped up Lawrence near the Simon Kenton sideline and spun him back toward line of scrimmage. Then linebacker Brock Messina hit him helmet-to-helmet, on the left side of Lawrence's head.

http://nky.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...908240336/