[Norm Peterson]

Jumpers lost some talented Seniors from last year no doubt, but the backbone of this Jumper team has been the class of 2014. Somerset will return a TON of senior talent this year and should be able to score in bunches. Defensively they will be very good, possibly not as good as last year but a very good high school defense. Somerset will cause matchup problems offensively on the edges with 4.4 speed in Cam Cheveraunt, 4.5 speed with Will Lange, Addison Thompson with 4.6 speed, and newcomer Jordan Doan is really going to impress some people this fall. Castle Hatcher will also be a year older at QB, and he may be one of the best in 2a, possibly the best QB in the state from a team not named Trinity/Highlands by the time he reaches his Junior/Senior seasons. Up front they're going to have the best offensive line since the 2010 state runner up team. This team will once again be in contention to represent the east for the 2a state title game. While I agree that Middlesboro has gotten significantly better (and I do believe they may come in 2nd in the district this year) It is difficult to play outside the unfriendly confinds of the crater, and they play the Jumpers at the patch this coming season. In two years Middlesboro will be the team to beat in the district however with all of the Junior talent they have this coming year.

I think the offense will be way better than last season. The defense will definitley take a step back. There's no way that you lose two D-I players and replace them with someone as good. However, I think the offensive improvement will more than offset the losses on defense. I'm not seeing the offensive line being better this season. They have to replace 3 starters in the interior 5 plus Williams at tight end. That's 4 out of 6 positions that will have new starters. Skidmore and Perdue are two big pieces to return but I don't think you can expect to plug in 4 new starters and be improved--especially early in the season. The good thing is with the speed the Jumpers have they don't have to have a physically dominant line. Coach Perkins always does a great job and I'm sure he'll turn the line into an asset instead of a question mark. Who will be the 4 new starters?