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GORDON LEE TROJANS
Head coach: Josh Groce (14-8 here and overall)
Returning starters: 4 offensive; 5 defensive
Last year’s record: 10-2, lost in A public second round
Key players: Penn Askew (5-10, 160) Sr. RB/DB, Chandler Brown (6-0, 265) Sr. OL/DL, Kade Cowan (5-8, 155) Jr. QB/DB, Caden Derryberry (6-0,170) Sr. WR, Zane Blaylock (5-8, 160) Sr. WR/LB, Nate Dunfee (5-9, 155) Jr. RB/DB
Season outlook: How do the Trojans follow up their most successful season in 19 years? First off, Coach Groce and his staff need to find yards – lots of them – after the loss of players who produced nearly 4,700 yards of offense for a team that scored 466 points, the most in program history.
Cowan gets the first shot at quarterback and brings good athleticism to the position, while a backfield group of Askew, Blaylock, Dunfee and Ryan Swaney will share carries in the wing-T attack. Groce believes Derryberry is well equipped to step in as the top receiver, while two-way starter Brown returns after being one of the highest-graded linemen last year.
“It’s a big challenge for us,” Groce said of the turnover. “A lot of those seniors played three years, and they knew exactly what we were doing on both sides of the ball. They know what we’re doing and why we are doing it. For us as a staff, it’s fun because we’re having to work and teach.”
The defense graduated six of its top seven tacklers, the exception being Askew, who led the team with 95 stops last year from his safety position. The secondary, which will also include Cowan, Dunfee, Derryberry, Swaney and Grant Dillard, is in good shape, and Brown, Stephens and Justin Cruise will be counted on up front.