Tyler Dixon | Owensboro Times
After another shutdown pushed back their season opener, the Kentucky Wesleyan College Panthers are ready to hit the gridiron Saturday when they hit the road to take on Ohio Dominica.
The Panthers were scheduled to start their 2021 season last Saturday against Hillsdale at Steele Stadium but Covid caused the college to shutdown for a week, delaying the football program’s start to the year.
KWC went 1-10 in 2019 but grabbed its lone victory in the final game of the season as the Panthers beat Alderson Broaddus 41-30.
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Panther head coach Craig Yeast said they’re ready to get rolling.
“It’s been over 450 days, I don’t know the exact number. It’s been quite some time,” he said. “I think for the most part it’s not really about my own self. It’s more about the players and the coaches. Our players having an opportunity to play and our coaches having an opportunity to coach because it’s been a long time.”
For Yeast, there are a few things for his guys to focus on going into Saturday’s matchup.
“Get to the game, get to the game healthy,” he said. “Have our young men focused on what they have to do. Understanding that this game is something that can be taken away from you at any time and we know that now first hand. Even when we’re healthy, it’s taken away. Just be focused and go out, play hard and execute. Do what you’re coached to do.”
The Panthers were only able to suit up once in 2020 as they hit the field in November for their annual scrimmage.
Yeast said he saw several things in the scrimmage but said they were getting better.
“I saw a lot of our young men competing and I thought that was something that we went into the offseason, even though it got cut short, that was one of our main points of emphasis was to compete. When we had our scrimmage, one of the things that I saw was we got better and we competed really hard. That was very rewarding for me.”
Coming into the season, Yeast said there are a couple areas where he feels his team has really improved.
The second was the offensive line but the first is the play of his defensive backs.
“I think our secondary has to be the best secondary in the conference and possibly one of best secondaries in the nation,” he said. “I think we have some guys in that group that are that good.”
Yeast has said he wants his players to be successful after college and that that is one of his focuses this season but the former SEC wide receiver also likes to win.
He said preparing them for the next step, whatever that step is, is vital.
“One of the things is that we’ve got several young men that are on track to graduate,” he said. “I think we have about nine guys that are going to come back in the fall that could graduate this semester. That, for me, is success. But more importantly, I want us to raise our overall team GPA. I was not really satisfied with the first semester. We’ve really, really honed in on making sure our young men take care of the academics because without the academics, it’s irrelevant.
“In terms of all the field, I want to win. At the end of the day, we all want to win. We came here, I came here to be a football coach and to win games. Our number one goal is to win but at the same time, I don’t want to see our guys go out there and quit in the middle of a game. I want to see us compete all the way through, win or lose. I think we did that last year or whenever that year was. I want to see our guys really compete and leave everything out on the field.”
Kentucky Wesleyan hits the field at 11 a.m. Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, against Ohio Dominican.
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March 26, 2021 at 12:14PM
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KWC football ready to start its season against Ohio Dominican - The Owensboro Times
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