SHORT GAP, W.Va. — In 2014, Kevin Whiteman led the Frankfort Falcons to a 13-1 season and a spot in the Class AA championship game. Three years would pass between playoff appearances but when Whiteman returned to the program in 2018, Frankfort jumped out to a 5-0 start and qualified for the postseason with an 8-2 record. That followed a 2-8 campaign in 2017.
“They felt like we lost some respect,” Whiteman said. “They wanted to get the respect back and have a winning season. As we got into the season, we got about to the halfway point and I felt pretty confident that we were going to have a winning season.”
Whiteman welcomes back an experienced roster with fifteen seniors and only a handful of starters lost on both sides of the ball.
“The tempo has moved a lot quicker because we know what Coach Whiteman wants, how practices are going to be and what needs to get done versus last year when it was all new to us.” said Frankfort senior running back/defensive back Nick Marley.
“We have eight guys on both sides of the ball that were starters last year,” Whiteman said. “When you have that kind of experience coming back, I see nothing but good things.”
The Falcon offense will be engineered by converted tight end Jansen Knotts. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound senior also doubles as a defensive end.
“He brings some things to the table that we didn’t have in the past,” Whiteman said. “We’re going to use him to run the ball some and that’s going to be nice to have a fourth running back.”
Multiple running backs will shoulder the load for the Falcons and the group will be led by last year’s top rusher Nick Marley. He found the end zone nineteen times while racking up 1,280 yards. Marley will go to work behind a front line that is deep and experienced.
“We didn’t lose a single starter on the line,” said Frankfort senior lineman David Blanco. “There was no senior on the line last year that started. Same line and we are going to do the same thing, maybe better.”
On defense, the Falcons welcome back their leading tackler in junior Jansen Moreland. His 63 stops were a team best last season.
In an increasingly competitive Class AA playoff picture, the Falcons hope to make some more noise with a deeper postseason run.
“We want people around the state to know who Frankfort is,” Whiteman said. “We set the bar high.”