A touchdown of a season.

With this being the first winning season in quite some time for the football team, they believe that this season was quite a good run.

Head Coach Ethan Atchley and Receivers Coach Tyler Faucett sees this season as one of the best seasons in Bullitt East history. Junior Travis Egan, junior Camron Brogan and junior Mason Gauthier were all top players in their class, and in 6A. Seniors Jansen Hayden and Matthew Parrott are going to definitely miss playing with this team, during the regular season.

Atchley believes that the season has went really well. “I think it went really good. We did a lot of things and won a lot of games that we felt coming into the season, we had grown a lot here in the last few years, and we’re getting ready to take the next step, and flip the page and really figure out a way to get kids to believe in winning habits, winning mentality, and truly understand what it takes day-in and day-out,” Atchley said, “I think the summer buy-in and hard work that kids really displayed; it was one of our best summer preparation camps for things here, and going to Jay-bez camp in Southeastern Kentucky, right before school started was one of those peak highlights. We got a really good team camp, we came together as a group there, and really found out a lot about who we had on the team and then being able to start the year off with a bang with beating Spencer County and putting it on Iroquois, and then getting to a point of having a 3-0 win record, and playing Graves County that drove a long way to come play us. That was probably the first time that I think a loss here has really affected a team that I’ve been fortunate enough to coach.” Atchley noticed a few highlights from the season.

Some of the main players from the season were Egan, and Gauthier, with them breaking many records. “So, Travis, top passer, he’s got over 2,200 yards and is the second best passer in all of 6A. A Mr. Football candidate that’s a senior from Daviess County is the top passer in the entire state, and at the 6A level. So, Travis, right now, is a top five passer across all classes, and we knew that coming in that he was going to be pretty talented, and one of the things Travis did this year was really minimize the mistakes that he made last year as a sophomore,” Atchley said, “You’ve got Mason Gauthier that has, going into this game and he didn’t play in the Fern Creek game, he’s got 1,400 yards rushing right now, and he’s got 21 touchdowns. Then, we’ve got two of the top leading receivers in 6A, and really all classes.”

Some of the games that had stood out to Atchley this year were games such as the Male Game, the Graves County game, and the Oldham County game. “I am really proud of how we played. Getting to a winning record, and hosting a home playoff for the first time since 2013. There have been, before I got here, kind of some slow deterioration of dedication and consistent effort, and understanding of what winning programs have. I think this group, and really the groups before them, really helped us work towards this year of coming out of COVID, and being able to have some guys with some experience, a couple with some other young talent, and helped us really take the next step this program needed to, which is a winning season, beating Fern Creek, and a home playoff game,” Atchley said, “We got to go play at Male, and it was for district championships, some huge RPI points, and for us to showcase how far from the measuring stick maybe we had come; our kids battled their guts out for a good portion of that game, and for three quarters, they were in it where in the last two years, we haven’t been in it past the first quarter. They’ve run away and they’ve dominated us, and they’re better this year than they were in any of the other two years, but we are too. So, we had worked to close that gap, and we were 14-14 almost going into halftime, and they got two touchdowns that we wish we could take back, and we went into halftime 28-14, and we played Male as well as Trinity and Saint X did.” Atchley is very proud of what the team has accomplished, this year, especially with the challenges they had to overcome.

Faucett believes that the season was pretty tough, but they did do some good things. “We had a lot of this regular season, we thought we had a chance to be pretty good. And we’ve done some good things; first winning season in several years. We beat Fern Creek for the first time in several years, but we left some opportunities on the table as well. We had a very good chance to win when the Graves County game, had a very good chance to win the Oldham County game, so while we’re excited to have made progress in the last couple of years, we’re still a little frustrated at times with what our team could be, and that’s part of the growth process. Part of the maturity process is growing up; we saw a really young football team and you expect some speed bumps or different types of mistakes, but overall we’re proud of the growth we’ve made,” Faucett said.

There are actually no receivers on this year’s team, making it to where Faucett gets to work with the same receivers he did this year, next year. “We’re hoping to play for a while longer, but this group that I’ve got is going to come back next year, and we don’t have the single seat senior in the receiver group. So, they’ll be back next year. I hope that they will attack the offseason, even those guys that have been really successful this year, have some areas where they could get better, and if we can improve and do the work in the offseason, we have a chance to have a really special group next year with the talent we have coming back,” Faucett said.

Faucett is quite proud of what the team has accomplished, this year, especially with the challenges they had to overcome, such as being “bit by the injury bug.” “We have dealt with a lot of injuries this year. We’ve had a lot of guys that played through some injuries and we’ve had a lot of guys that have lost time over injuries and it’s been guys in key spots. Nolan played through an ankle injury most of the season, Cam’s dealt with a shoulder injury where he’ll hopefully come back, Austin had an ankle injury, Mason missed the Fern Creek game with a concussion. We’ve had other guys that have fought through it several injuries, and have been hurt all year and play through it. We’ve had several, especially defensive linemen, that have played through different injuries. Janssen Hayden, Kayden Jenkins, and some of those guys, Tyler Redmon. So, they’ve all played through a lot of injuries, and this year it seems like the injury bug has been really tough on us,” Faucett said.

Egan believes that the season went pretty good. “I think the season is still going good, because we’re still playing. But there’s always things that you can improve on, like the Graves County game, and the Oldham County game, weren’t all good, but there was things to learn from our younger team, but we’re making steps,” Egan said, “Well, we had our first winning season since 2013. We had our first home playoff game since 2013. So a bunch of big strides.” Egan definitely did notice highlights from the season, like it being the first winning season in quite some time. Egan’s net yards passing was 2285 yards.

Egan is very proud of himself, along with his teammates, on how they did this season. “We always fought hard, we made a lot of mistakes and stuff to learn from obviously, but it’ll be a good learning experience for us. Going to the playoffs and next season,” Egan said, “Not being too good for the past few years, we don’t know how to really win as a program, and we are starting to learn how to.” Some challenges that Egan, and his teammates, had to overcome, to get to where they did, were things like not being too good for the past couple of years, and then really having to step up this year.

There are quite a few things that Egan is going to miss, about being able to play with this team. “Seniors are a really big group of good guys that I’m gonna miss a lot. I don’t know, they’re just irreplaceable, every senior is,” Egan said, “We had a lot of memories like Taco Tuesday, that was always a good one. I coached flag football, people came up and supported that all around. We’re all just friends. So, it’s always really fun.” Egan definitely made quite a few memories this year, such as Taco Tuesday. 

Brogan feels the season was pretty successful. “I’d say the season was a success. I’d say that because we’re hosting our first playoff game,” Brogan said, “We had to overcome a lot of injuries in the regular season. We had four starters out on defense.” Brogan noticed a couple of highlights, from this season. Brogan yards gained receiving was 822 yards.

Brogan feels quite proud of his fellow receivers, along with himself. “I’d say I’m proud of the team in general. We played well in the regular season, and hosted a home playoff game,” Brogan said, “We had to overcome a lot of injuries in the regular season. We had four starters out on defense.” Some challenges that Brogan, and his teammates, overcame, to get to where they are, was to deal with quite a few injuries.

Brogan is going to miss things such as his seniors being able to play on this specific team. “I’d say I’ll miss all my seniors. I’d say I’ll miss our linemen, Luke Pope, a lot on offense,” Brogan said, “I’d say my favorite memory was seven-on-sevens in the summer. We got to know the team there.” Brogan definitely made a few memories before this season even started, during the summer, such as the seven-on-sevens they have.

Gauthier believes that the season went alright, but he feels they did improve. “I feel like there’s spots where we didn’t play as well as we should have, but overall, I think we improved a lot from last year,” Gauthier said, “I think the highlights of the season are, of course, beating North Bullitt and Bullitt Central felt great. Being able to actually show we can compete in 6A now, when we haven’t really shown that, and just being able to have a winning season.” Gauthier did notice a few highlights, from the season, like beating our rivals. Gauthier’s net yards rushing is 1423 yards.

Gauthier is overall proud of himself, along with his teammates, on how they did this season. “I was proud. I feel like we played as a unit more than we have in the past, and also we had more units this year to use,” Gauthier said, “We had a lot of injuries starting off (are some of the challenges they had to overcome). We were out almost half of our defense, and we had to play multiple games, with almost half of our defenses, and we were able to overcome that, and still win football games.” Some challenges that Gauthier, and his teammates, had to overcome, to get to where they did, were things like injuries.

There are quite a few things that Gauthier is going to miss, about being able to play with this team. “It’s kind of sad to see the seniors go; it’s kind of done with them, and I’ve played with them since we were all little, we all played together. So, it’s kind of sad to see them go,” Gauthier said, “We went to camp and that was fun; we all just got really close. Then, Hopkinsville just jumping in the pool and swimming in the pool with everyone, was really fun.” Gauthier definitely made some good memories this year. 

Hayden feels the season was kind of solid. “I think we did pretty solid, but then again, we’ve had some mess ups, I’ve had some mess ups. But I mean, we keep it solid. We did our thing,” Hayden said, “Just overcome a whole lot of injuries. Just next man up, you know, always next man up. We’ll fill up, see how it goes, and then that’s probably the biggest one was injuries. That hurt us a lot. But then again, we’ll come back, and be the same thing we was.” Hayden believes the main thing they had to overcome is the injuries.

Hayden noticed a couple of highlights, from this season. “We’ve had a couple mess ups on defense, but I think we did pretty solid, and played a really good game, against Fern Creek. I think that’s when we stepped up. I think we started to get strong after Graves County, that’s when we got solid,” Hayden said, “Just just the locker room in general (is some good memories). You see some funny stuff in the locker room. It’s always a good time.” Hayden definitely made some good memories this year, especially in the locker room.

Hayden is going to miss quite a few things about being able to play on this specific team, overall, as well as just on the Bullitt East football team, overall. “I’m gonna miss my guys, man. They’re really like family, because I’m with them like five days a week, during practice, sometimes six. Then, after that, we’re even hanging out, like we’ll go out to eat somewhere, we’ll go to a buddy’s house; we’re always together. So I’ll miss that the most: just being a family,” Hayden said. 

Parrott believes that the season went pretty good. “It went pretty good, but it definitely should have gone better. We tossed a few games away, that we should have done a lot better,” Parrott said, “I’d say traveling to Danville, and beating them in their house would be a pretty big one.” Parrott did notice a few highlights, from the season, like the game of Danville.

Parrott is very proud of himself, along with his teammates, on how they did this season. “Pretty proud; this is probably the most proud I’ve ever been for any team I’ve played on, but then again, we still tossed a few games away that we should have won,” Parrott said, “I feel like injuries is a challenge that every teams face so maybe that.” Some challenges that Parrott, and his teammates, had to overcome, to get to where they did, were things like the battle of injuries.

There are quite a few things that Parrott is going to miss, about being able to play with this team. “I’ll definitely end up missing just playing football, and having something to do every day,” Parrott said, “Going to team camp for sure, winning ballgames; that’d be a good way to sum it up.” Parrott definitely made a good memory this year, from team camp and winning games. 

Catch the football team this Friday, at Male high school, at 7:30 p.m., for their postseason.

To see how every regular season game went this year, view this link, here: https://scoreboard.12dt.com/scoreboard/khsaa/kyfb21/?id=85602