The Caldwell County football team enters the 2019 season still reeling from the loss of head coach David Barnes, but the games go on starting Friday night.
Barnes died unexpectedly on Saturday. Waynee McGowan, who had been the assistant head coach, was named interim head coach at Caldwell this week.
The Tigers have a lot of new faces in new places this season after graduating over 20 seniors from last year’s 8-4 squad.
Junior Russ Beshear takes over the quarterbacking duties this season with the graduation of Joby Jaggers, who is now at Murray State University.
Beshear saw limited time at QB as a freshman, completing seven of 10 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed 11 times for 88 yards and a score that season.
Beshear is more of a threat to run than most recent Caldwell quarterbacks have been, bringing a different dimension to the Tiger attack.
Senior running back DeEric Hollowell returns after rushing for 898 yards and eight TDs in 2018. Hollowell also had 26 receptions for 195 yards and three scores last year. He figures to be even more involved in the offensive game plan this season.
Caldwell lost five of its top six receptions leaders and will look for someone to step up in that department. Juniors Baron Wells, Tripp Branch and Tate VanHooser will look to pick up the slack.
Senior Luke Stallins and junior Dalton Haney are returners on the offensive line for Tigers.
The Tigers will continue to utilize the spread offense, although they could be a little more deliberate at times because of having several players who will see action on both sides of the ball this season.
Caldwell is a little more experienced on the defensive front, with two linemen and two linebackers back. In addition, Beshear moves from linebacker to safety.
Beshear is the top returning tackler after making 92 stops last year. Only Caleb Burden had more, 137. Beshear led the team with 11 sacks.
Senior Devin Kilgore is back at defensive end. He was third on the team in tackles last year with 82 and also recorded seven sacks.
Sophomore Drew Davis takes up a lot of space in the middle after starting there as a freshman.
VanHooser and senior Ben Holt are returning starters at the linebacker spots.
But Caldwell must retool its secondary after suffering massive losses to graduation in that area.
Branch will handle the punting duties for the Tigers while sophomore Blake Vivrette will take care of the kicking chores.
Caldwell makes the move back to Class 2A this season after a four-year run in 3A. The Tigers are back in a district with Mayfield, Murray, Ballard Memorial and Fort Campbell.
Caldwell kicks off the new season at home this week, hosting Class 5A Christian County at 7 p.m. at Tiger Stadium.
It will be the Tigers’ first game in 14 years without Barnes on the sideline.
Barnes was 110-50 in 13 seasons as head coach at his alma mater. He is third on Caldwell’s all-time wins list. Pat Gates went 117-86 in 18 seasons while Fred Clayton was 117-60-10 in 18 years.
Overall, Barnes was 171-126 in 26 years as a head coach, including 13 years at Daviess County.
The entire West Kentucky Conference will honor Barnes this season with a “Barnes Strong” sticker on their helmet.
