Also his team’s offensive coordinator, Fern Creek High School football head coach Josh Abell said he daydreams about a program that airs it out and averages 50 points per game.
But that hasn’t been the Tigers’ way in Abell’s two seasons as head coach. At Fern Creek, defense comes first.
“It’s unique nowadays because kids want to go where they’re putting up points and seeing the spread offenses,” Abell said. “The fact that we’re able to sell the culture of a team on the aspect that we’re not going to give up points is pretty special. …
“There’s nothing I’d like to do more as the offensive coordinator than take two or three of those players and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to put up 50 points a game.’ But I’ve even bought into the idea of defense.”
And that defensive-minded culture has Fern Creek in the state semifinals for the first time since 1994. The Tigers (12-1) will travel to Bowling Green (12-1) at 8 p.m. EST Friday with a spot in the Class 5-A championship game on the line.
Fern Creek is allowing just 6.8 points per game and has posted six shutouts this season. Only once have the Tigers allowed more than 20 points, coming against Manual (28-18) in their only defeat on Aug. 28.
How to describe this Fern Creek defense?
“Hungry and aggressive,” senior linebacker Lamarius Kinslow said. “We’re like a tiger. That’s what we are, and we play like that.”
Abell said the program’s philosophy is simple: The best athletes are going to play defense. A handful of players play both sides of the ball, but Abell said the priority always is defense.
“As a staff and a team we’ve bought into the idea that if you’re a pretty good athlete, you’re going to play on the defensive side of the football,” Abell said. “We have a phrase, ‘Well, he doesn’t have a defensive bone in his body.’ If he doesn’t, then he’s offense and we’re going to teach him how to block or run routes or whatever.”
Abell credits much of the defense’s success to coordinator Don Hillerich, the former owner and coach of the semi-pro Louisville Bulls.
“He’s been around the game longer than I’ve been alive … and probably forgotten more football than I’ll ever know,” the 29-year-old Abell said. “It’s just a part of him and his staff that we’re not giving up points.”
And the Tigers have plenty of talent to make that philosophy work.
Kinslow, a 6-foot-2 225-pounder, leads the Tigers’ 4-4 scheme with 99 tackles (46 solo) and 27 tackles for loss and also has seven sacks. He has committed to Western Kentucky.
“Obviously we can talk about the fact that he’s a freak of nature; we get that part,” Abell said. “But he makes adjustments really well. … I can’t sit here and say he watches a bunch of film. I just think it’s starting to click with him, and he’s gotten better throughout the season.”
Linebackers Fred Harris (84) and Kyree Hawkins (69) rank second and third, respectively, in tackles. Abell called Hawkins the emotional leader of the defense.
“You can count on him to make a play, and sometimes he gets a little mouthy,” Abell said. “But that’s just his intense nature.”
Latrell Streater (5-10, 265 pounds) is the leader of the line with 59 tackles and eight sacks but also is versatile enough to play linebacker.
He said the defense has grown as a unit this season.
“We all play together and just have a mentality of going out there and flying around and being physical,” Streater said. “We have a lot more leadership on the defensive side of the ball than we’ve had in the past few years.”
The defense will get a test Friday against a Bowling Green team that is averaging 40.9 points per game and has scored at least 32 points in nine straight contests.
Junior quarterback Clark Payne has passed for 2,159 yards and 28 touchdowns, and junior running back Jamale Carothers had rushed for 1,222 yards and 20 scores.
“They’re very fast,” Abell said. “They create lanes outside the hashes for their running backs, and (Carothers) is really good and shifty and has good vision. They don’t do anything to trick you. They’re going to outnumber you on one side, and they’re pretty efficient at it.
“They play with a lot of confidence. They arguably could be a 6-A force as well.”
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.
FRIDAY’S CLASS 5-A SEMIFINALS
All times EST
* Fern Creek (12-1) at Bowling Green (12-1), 8 p.m.
* Pulaski County (12-1) at Highlands (8-5), 3 p.m.