Four downs with Conner

The last time Conner won a playoff game, the big group of seniors for the 2025 class were all freshman.

Now with the majority of those seniors on their third year of varsity football, the time is now to change that for the Cougars as they approach the 2024 season. It won’t come easy, playing in a rugged Class 5A, 6th District that featured three teams that won a playoff game in 2023, two of them making it to the state semifinals and Cooper being the Class 5A runner-up.

Heading into the upcoming season, the Cougars boast a seasoned roster with nearly
20 returning seniors, 17 of them three-year starters.

FIRST DOWN — RECAP

Last season, Conner showed significant improvement, finishing with a 5-5 (2-3 in district play) regular season record and a 5-6 overall record, more than doubling their win total from 2022 when they went 2-9.

“We saw improvement from two years ago, but we’re not to the point where we’re
happy yet,” Cougars quarterback Wyatt Hatfield said. “We still have to keep getting better.”

The Cougars learned a valuable lesson about being prepared to perform whenever
called upon. As the season drew to a close, injuries to key players Ben Fay and Adam
Duncan plagued their season.

“When you have two impactful players get hurt, you have to be able to pull the rank
so to speak and step up when your time is called,” Conner coach David
Trosper said. “That’s the hardest thing about high school football, is that we work
these guys until they’re seniors and you count on the leadership and playability
they’ve had for three years, but when they get hurt you have to have somebody
that’s going to step up.”

SECOND DOWN — OFFENSE

Hatfield stands as a cornerstone of the experienced Cougars. Through the air, he
threw for eight touchdowns and a mere two interceptions on 143 attempts. On the
ground, he led the team with 741 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns.

Conner also brought back key playmakers across the board: Dion Abernathy, their
second-leading rusher; Chase Caplinger, their top receiver and Chase Bailey, a
force at halfback, linebacker, and tight end.

The offense will anchor itself in the trenches, led by Conner’s return of a talented
offensive line spearheaded by Dylan Stewart, who promises to be a focal point.

Mix in the experience across all positions, the Cougars are poised to field a
formidable offense.

The return of Hatfield is instrumental for the team, enhancing both
playmaking ability and leadership.

“My coaches and I talk about this,” Hatfield said. “People tend to act off of how I show
my emotions.”

In the backfield, Abernathy brings in 553 rushing yards and eight rushing
touchdowns as the second-leading rusher a season ago behind Hatfield. Along with Chase Bailey, the running back room is in good shape.

The wide receiver corps will be complemented by Caplinger and Elliot
Bucher, who combined for 389 yards and three touchdowns last season

“We’ve been playing together since we were sophomores,” Bailey said. “We
pulled up Dion his freshman year, so he’s been playing with us. It’s been the same
offense since my sophomore year. I think we should be really good this year.”

In addition to his time at halfback, Bailey will also contribute as a tight end. Last
season, he tallied six receptions totaling 69 yards and a touchdown.

THIRD DOWN — DEFENSE

Similar to the offense, the Cougars’ defense is primed with Bailey to lead the charge.

“It starts with Chase Bailey,” Trosper said. “With him being a middle linebacker, he’s got to do some great things up front. Bowden Roberts and Riley Marsh are both returning starters. Dylan Stewart played some on the line last year and will be asked to step up and get some things done on the end of it. Wyatt Hatfield and Elliot Bucher will be the guys in the secondary.”

The four leaders in total tackles (180 of 390 total team tackles) from last season all
graduated, so there will be some ground to make up, but they have the ingredients
to do it.

“Teams are going to have to watch out for me and Kannon Lawson in the middle,”
Bailey said. “Our safeties are also going to be great; Elliot Bucher can read the field
perfectly. Then our line is going to tear through people. It’s going to be fun”

Bucher brings back the most tackles from last season with 27.

In addition to the usual impact players, the younger members of the team will be
called upon to rise to the occasion

“Sheppard Dozier is going to be called upon to do some stuff in the backend. Aydin
Depenbrock, he’s a big kid that physicality-wise we feel pretty good about,” Trosper
said. “Our district is a beast so these guys have to be ready to play.”

FOURTH DOWN — GOALS/OUTLOOK

Ultimately, Conner’s sights are set on the state championship, while also ruling all of
Boone County.

“We take it steps at a time, but we break everything out on state championships,”
Trosper said. “We also want to be county champs, we want to beat all the
schools, Ryle, Boone County, and Cooper. Obviously, all the underlying, undefeated
and all that kind of stuff are your goals, but you want to take the steps to be county
champs, district champs, region champs and state champs.”

The Cougars defeated Boone County last season, but still haven’t beaten Ryle since
2018 or Cooper since 2021, which should add fuel to the fire for a group that is still
looking for a big county win.

“I want to beat Ryle so bad,” Bailey said. “We’ve never beaten them in my high
school career and that’s one of the biggest things I want to go after this year. It’s
always county champs. That’s our goal.”

As many battles as the team has gone through on the field together, it will be their
brotherhood that helps them achieve what they want.

“Every single person on the team is one my friends,” Hatfield said “We’re all super
close. There will be groups of ten of us all going out to eat almost every day. We’re
best friends.”

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