HANCOCK COUNTY — Opening night for the 2021 high school football season is a little more than five weeks away, but the preparation is already in full swing.
Teams have been conditioning for several months and workouts are underway throughout the state, including in Hancock County. Scrimmages are approximately a month down the road and questions are steadily being answered with each passing day.
At the same time, there remain several more questions.
How will the Greenfield-Central Cougars look in head coach Travis Nolting’s third season at the helm? What can we expect from the back-to-back sectional champion Mt. Vernon Marauders under new head coach Vince Lidy? Will the Phil Morris era in Eastern Hancock football bring a sectional title? Are the New Palestine Dragons gearing up for another deep postseason run?
As we ponder what’s to come, here are five local standouts, in no particular order, from 2020 that will unquestionably once again come ready to compete on the gridiron this fall as we collectively count down to opening night on Friday, Aug. 20.
Keagan La Belle, Mt. Vernon
A multi-sport athlete with strength, speed and endurance, Mt. Vernon incoming senior Keagan La Belle was an all-state force to reckon with on both offense and defense for the defending Hoosier Heritage Conference champion Marauders (13-1).
The heart of the back-to-back sectional champion Marauders’ offense, La Belle turned 106 carries in 13 games into 903 rushing yards at 8.5 yards on average per attempt. He averaged 69.5 yards per game, while sitting several second halves due to IHSAA mercy-rule blowouts.
His 20 rushing touchdowns highlighted a season that also included four 100-plus yard single-game performances. His longest rushing attempt in 2020 was measured at 62 yards.
La Belle also hauled in five receptions for 77 yards and a touchdown. However, he was named an All-HHC selection as a defender at linebacker in 2020 despite posting 1,180 all-purpose yards.
In the middle of Mt. Vernon’s defense, La Belle recorded a team-best 102 total tackles with 7.8 per game. He had a defense-leading 71 solo tackles and 31 assists with 8.5 tackles for a loss. He added nine sacks with two interceptions, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
Gehrig Slunaker, Mt. Vernon
A two-year starter for the top-ranked Class 4A Mt. Vernon Marauders in 2020, incoming senior quarterback Gehrig Slunaker maintained his consistency after posting a 2,080-yard season as a sophomore for the 2019 regional champions.
His completion percentage increased from .534 (133-for-249) in 2019 to .585 (144-for-246) in 2020 while his passing yardage totals dropped slightly to 1,889. A part of that was a result of the team’s rushing prowess and nine lopsided victories in 13 overall for the back-to-back sectional champs.
His quarterback rating jumped from 91.8 to 97.4 with a career-best 22 touchdowns thrown in 2020. In his high school career, Slunaker has passed for 5,258 yards and 46 touchdowns with 383 completions in 699 attempts.
With senior Ashden Gentry back this fall after leading the Marauders with 671 receiving yards on 48 receptions in 2020, Slunaker could put together another strong campaign under new head coach Vince Lidy.
Grayson Thomas, New Palestine
High school football debuts don’t get any better than the one New Palestine’s Grayson Thomas put together last fall.
As a true freshman starter, Thomas filed right in for the Class 5A Dragons and hit the ground running, leading to an All-Hoosier Heritage Conference selection.
In 10 games, Thomas rushed for 1,101 yards on 211 carries at an average of 5.2 yards per rushing attempt last season. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound rusher produced 110.1 yards per game, breaking off a season-best 76-yard run with five total 100-plus yard single-game performances.
Thomas led the Dragons with 84 points scored and 14 rushing touchdowns overall.
This fall, while Thomas will only be a sophomore, he will be a de facto team leader for an offense that returns five players with starting experience. The Dragons averaged 195 yards rushing and 142 yards passing with 25.7 points per game in 2020.
With the graduation of quarterback Lincoln Roth and top wide receiver Blake Austin (University of Indianapolis), the Dragons running game will be a point of emphasis as a new signal caller emerges this preseason and continues to learn on the job.
Houston Swan, Eastern Hancock
Records are meant to be broken, and to date, Eastern Hancock incoming senior quarterback Houston Swan pretty much owns them all.
Last season, Swan passed for 386 yards in Week 1 to set a new school single-game record. He has already established single-game marks for completions (27), passing touchdowns (6) and passing attempts (45).
In 2019, the All-MEC selection set a new single-season mark for passing yards with 2,511, attempted a season-record 311 passes, converted a school-record 201 completions and had a single-season best 33 passing touchdowns.
For his career, Swan’s 5,677 passing yards makes him the program’s most prolific quarterback ahead of Jarett Lewis (5,417 in 2014-17). He is on track to set the school’s career mark in passing attempts (767) with 724 and his 432 completions rank him first all time. His 68 career touchdown passes are also the best in program history (Jarett Lewis, 58).
In 2020, Swan completed 133 passes in 232 attempts for 2,005 yards, 24 touchdowns with 10 interceptions at 200.5 yards per game, 15.1 yards per completion and a 102.4 quarterback rating.
So what’s left for the 6-foot-1 Swan and the Class 2A Royals? A sectional title.
Held without a championship since 2014, the goal this season is presumably to chase down the program’s 11th sectional title overall and first ever in 2A.
Spencer Johnson, Greenfield-Central
The Class 4A Greenfield-Central Cougars lost valuable time last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the program made strides with a 3-5 record.
One area where there was obvious improvement was on defense, losing a pair of Hoosier Heritage Conference games against New Palestine and Delta by a combined nine points.
While a loss is a loss, the Cougars were able to hold both New Palestine (17-14, L) and Delta (22-16, L) within reach. Incoming senior linebacker Spencer Johnson played a big part in that achievement.
As a junior, Johnson had a team-leading 73 total tackles in eight games. He recorded 41 solos, 32 assists and averaged 9.1 tackles per game with 4.0 for a loss.
His two sacks were second behind fellow incoming senior Joey Roland (7). Johnson also had four forced fumbles, a blocked punt and a trio of fumble recoveries.
In his career, Johnson has 137 total tackles (62 in 2019) and continues to progress with age. A staple in head coach Travis Nolting’s 4-3 defensive scheme, Johnson and the unit’s seven returnees will be key in the Cougars’ quest at their first winning season since 2016.
