Rogers’ work to reverse Patriots’ fortunes begins with discipline

This may not be a rebuild in the traditional sense, but Death Valley is very much a construction zone these days.

Not the facility, though improvements continue to be made following significant improvements a year ago. This year, most of the work is being done within the program as a new coach and a young team try to put Lincoln County football back on the path to consistent success.

Levi Rogers, a 2008 Lincoln graduate who took over as the Patriots’ coach earlier this year, said it wasn’t necessary to tear the program down and build it back from scratch, but he said there was and is much work to be done.

“I don’t know if it’s necessarily rebuilding as much as it is just doing things differently,” Rogers said. “The way we approach things is a little bit different … so it’s just adapting to those things and building and really just getting everybody on the same page because I think we have pretty good talent.”

The first pages of Rogers’ instruction manual focus on character, and he said he hopes improvements in that area will be noticeable Friday when Lincoln opens its season against Garrard County in the PBK Bank-WPBK-FM Death Valley Bowl.

“The effort that we play with and, I think, the discipline is something that you can see right away,” he said. “We’ve been focused on building the character as well as getting these guys as much experience as we can, but that discipline is what really matters.”

He said discipline will allow young players to develop consistency in their practice and playing habits, which will in turn lead to improvement on the field.

There is room for improvement in a program that has had just two winning seasons and four playoff wins in the 16 seasons since Rogers’ senior year.

However, there is also a great deal of youth and inexperience, and Rogers said there is also a leadership void to fill.

“We’ve got a lot of new stuff going in with a new staff and we’ve picked some stuff up pretty well, but there’s been some struggles in some areas where they’re doing different stuff than what they’re used to,” Rogers said. “I’ve been talking to our guys about leadership because there’s not a whole lot of guys coming back (and) we’ve got to find which guys are going to step up and take those leadership roles.”

On the plus side, numbers are on the rise, and Rogers said there is a high level of support for the program.

“My phone doesn’t stop, but I think they’re excited,” he said. “Lincoln County is a place that’s always had support … and me being from here, I think it adds a little bit of extra excitement. Hopefully we can get some wins under our belt, and I really think it’ll go through the roof if we can.”

Rogers, who spent one season as head coach at Casey County and whose 12 years as an assistant coach included seven at Lincoln, went to school with some of the parents of his current players and got to know those players when they were eighth-graders in his last year on the Lincoln staff.

The program has grown even since the start of the school year to about 62 players. Juniors make up about one-third of the roster.

There are, however, only four returning starters on offense and three on defense, meaning many players must adjust to playing their first meaningful snaps at the varsity level.

“It’s going to be a big jump, but they’ve been adapting well,” Rogers said.

The returnees on offense include senior wide receiver Gavin Douglas (15 catches, 246 yards, 3 TDs), junior running back Bob Floyd (289 yards, 4 TDs) and junior lineman Grady Foster. Another junior lineman, Matthew Sneed, is coming off a knee injury that sidelined him for most of last season.

Douglas and Floyd also return to the defensive secondary, and senior Canaan Dawson returns at linebacker and will also play on the offensive line.

On offense, junior Kash Smith, who played very little in his first two seasons and is coming off shoulder surgery, will run the ball and catch passes, while senior Damon Spigle will also carry the ball and junior Johnny Adkins will catch passes.

Sophomore Clay Pendygraft, who hasn’t played football since elementary school, will start at tight end and outside linebacker, and senior Bradley Cole will play wide receiver and defensive back.

Senior Malaki Stewart and junior Gunner Shelton will bring size to the defensive front, and senior Jayden Patel will start at safety after a strong summer.

As for who will play quarterback, there has been a competition throughout the preseason between sophomore Tucker Foster and junior Brennin Hazlett, who attempted 14 passes between them last season.

Rogers said both of them do a number of things well, and he saw no need to announce a starter prior to opening night.

“I’m not really letting the cat out of the bag because I think it’s made both of them better. Having that competition has brought both of them along,” he said.

The coach said it’s possible that both Hazlett and Foster could get some snaps, but he said it was likely that one of them would get more reps in practice this week based on their play in the Patriots’ final preseason scrimmage last Friday.

“We could look at playing two guys, but I plan on narrowing the snaps down,” Rogers said. “Depending on how it goes in the first game you could see both guys, but if one gets in there and plays really well I’m probably not going to take him out.”

Rogers said he hopes Lincoln will have a balanced offense.

“I think we have the ability to be balanced based on the quarterback play, because I think we have the receivers, the tight ends and the running backs to be able to do all of it. We’ve just got to make sure we can get that quarterback play there before we really start relying on the passing game a whole lot,” he said.

He said those who are playing on defense have caught on quickly to that system, which is based on a three-four scheme but will also use some four- and five-man fronts.

“So if we can get the guys in the right spots, I think defensively, we can be OK to start out,” Rogers said.

Rogers said he’s looking forward to coaching the home team in the Death Valley Bowl – his Casey team defeated Lincoln in last year’s bowl – against a Garrard team led by his cousin, former Lincoln coach Spencer Crutchfield. The connections between the two coaching staffs and the two schools run deep.

“It’s going to be exciting, it’s going to be packed, and family’s going to be everywhere for all of us,” Rogers said.

The Patriots and Golden Lions last met in 2018. Lincoln won that game 35-20 but has lost four of the past five meetings.

Lincoln plays four games before its district opener Sept. 20, and Rogers said he hopes to see steady improvement in the weeks leading up to that game against Russell County.

“There’s going to be mistakes, so hopefully the effort will be there all the way through and we just continue to get better,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rogers is also working to align the program with the middle school program led by first-year coach Mark Davis, another former Lincoln player, and the youth football program.

“We’re trying to get them to where they run the same kind of base stuff that we run,” Rogers said.

Lincoln County at a glance

Coach: Levi Rogers

2023 record: 4-7

Top returnees: Canaan Dawson, Sr. FB-LB; Gavin Douglas, Sr. WR-DB; Bob Floyd, Jr. RB-DB; Grady Foster, Jr. OL-DL; Matthew Sneed, Jr. OL-DL.

Schedule

Aug 23 GARRARD COUNTY 8:00

Aug. 30 BULLITT CENTRAL 7:30

Sept.6 at Danville 7:30

Sept. 13 BOURBON COUNTY 7:30

Sept. 20 RUSSELL COUNTY 7:30

Sept. 27 at Somerset 7:30

Oct. 4 at Wayne County 7:30

Oct. 18 BOYLE COUNTY 7:30

Oct. 25 at Taylor County 7:30

Nov. 1 MERCER COUNTY 7:30

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