The NKyTribune is featuring each of the 21 high school football teams in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties leading up to the first games of the 2018 season on Aug. 17. We will then provide focused coverage of our local teams throughout the regular season and into the playoffs.
By Evan Merrill
NKyTribune contributor
With several standout players returning from last year’s 8-4 team that won a Class 4A district title, the Scott Eagles expect to have another successful football season.
“We should be coming back way better than we did last year,” said Sabeon Turner, one of 21 seniors on the roster. “Everybody’s put in a new mentality. Everybody’s been working hard and proving themselves.”
Sabeon Turner is a two-way starter and one of the senior team leaders for Scott.
A two-way player at wide receiver and safety, Turner caught seven passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns while also making 53 tackles and two interceptions last season. Scott head coach Dan Woolley considers him the team’s most improved player.
“Honestly, it’s a nice compliment to hear (from the coach) considering it’s my senior season coming up and I decided I wanted to do something about it,” Turner said. “I did not want us to be underdogs anymore. I wanted people to not only notice me, but notice the team.”
The Eagles’ other senior veterans include quarterback Chad Ohmer, who passed for 1,053 yards and 12 touchdowns, and middle linebacker Jared Kelsay, who recorded a team-high 128 tackles.
Kelsay moved from safety to middle linebacker last season and became the team’s primary run-stopper. With a full year of experience at the position, he could be even harder for opponents to handle.
Ohmer, who stopped playing football in the eighth grade to concentrate on basketball, made a remarkable return and had a major impact on the offensive unit’s success.
“With as much as we run the ball, he was able to hurt some people (with his passing) when they brought their safeties up,” Woolley said. “He’s just a natural-born leader who’s not afraid to tell his teammates what they need to do.”
Dan Woolley
Quincy Perrin, the leading rusher and scorer on the last year’s team, is also returning. The 15-year-old junior is coming off a breakout season when he picked up 1,441 yards on 164 carries for an 8.8 average and scored 17 touchdowns.
Woolley said there were so many other good running backs in Northern Kentucky last year that Perrin was “caught in the shuffle” when local coaches voted on all-star teams, but he’s poised to put up some big numbers once again.
“He’s gotten a lot stronger, bigger and faster in the offseason (and) worked pretty hard.” the coach said. “He’s one of those kids … because of his age still has a lot of potential ahead of him as you get older.”
With proven playmakers returning on offense and defense, Scott is considered a top contender for the Class 4A district title once again. Last year, the Eagles won all four of their district games, but victories against Mason County and Bourbon County were by close margins.
“It comes down once again to leadership,” Woolley said. “Defensively, I think we need to be able to stop the run and offensively we need to be able to take the pressure off of our running game with our passing game.”
SCOTT EAGLES
2017 season: 8-4 record, lost in second round of Class 4A playoffs.
District: Class 4A, District 7 with Bourbon County, Harrison County, Holmes, Mason County.
Head coach: Dan Woolley (38-30 in six seasons at Scott).
2018 SCHEDULE
Aug. 17 – at Newport Central Catholic, 7 p.m.
Aug. 24 – DIXIE HEIGHTS, 7 p.m.
Aug. 31 – HOLY CROSS, 7 p.m.
Sept. 7 – at Conner, 7 p.m.
Sept. 21 – MASON COUNTY, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 28 – at Harrison County, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 5 – at Cincinnati Taft (Ohio), 7 p.m.
Oct. 12 – at Bourbon County, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 19 – HOLMES, 7 p.m.
Oct. 26 – at Lloyd, 7 p.m.
Other NKyTribune prep football previews:
DAYTON GREENDEVILS
DIXIE HEIGHTS COLONELS
COOPER JAGUARS
CONNER COUGARS
HIGHLANDS BLUEBIRDS
LUDLOW PANTHERS
BOONE COUNTY REBELS
HOLMES BULLDOGS
WALTON-VERONA BEARCATS
BROSSART MUSTANGS
NEWPORT WILDCATS
