Football 8/27/2019 3:53:00 PM CU Athletics

Fighting Tiger football ready to get 2019 started with the Battle of Highway 55

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – The Campbellsville football team will head down Highway 55 Thursday night to face rival Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Ky. at 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET.

The game will be broadcast on the radio on of 88.7 The Tiger as Jim Freeman returns as the voice of CU football alongside Matt Payton on color.

TIGER CLAWZ

Campbellsville heads into the 2019 season after a 4-6 2018 and a 3-3 record inside the Mid-South Conference Bluegrass Division.
Offensively, CU is returning plenty of skill position talent including running backs David Richardson and Ormani Zanders along with receivers, Kendon and Keanu Young and on the offensive line, Trey Binder is the only Tiger to return who started in all 10 games last year.
The defense looks to use its experience from last season and carry over to 2019 as the top-four tacklers from 2018 are back in Darius Moore, Marcus McCants, Parish Howell Jr., and Garland Webb. The defense as a whole returns a lot of experience from a 2018 squad that improved as a unit as the season went on.
On the special teams unit, Noah Bicksler will handle the punting and kicking duties for CU as the reshirt junior went 24-25 on PATs and 8-16 on field goals in 2018.
With a bit of a shake-up within the MSC, CU and the rest of the Bluegrass Division will say goodbye to yearly games against Kentucky Christian University and Cincinnati Christian Univeristy for games against University of the Cumberlands, University of Pikeville, and, new to the NAIA, Thomas More University.
The early season schedule for the Fighting Tigers looks grueling on paper as CU will face three-straight ranked opponents in the NAIA Preseason Coaches' Poll with both Southeastern and Reinhardt winning their divisions last season.

SERIES FACTS: THE BATTLE OF A DECADE

Separated by about a 30 minute drive down Highway 55, Campbellsville and Lindsey Wilson have been battling on the football field for a decade as the 2019 match-up will mark the 10th time the Tigers and Blue Raiders have faced off since the LWC football program was established in 2010.
The all-time series record has gone back and forth with either a tie or a Campbellsville advantage holding until last season when the Blue Raiders defeated CU 21-4 in Campbellsville.
With last year's win Finley Stadium, Lindsey Wilson broke the tie in games played at Campbellsville with the series still tied in games played in Columbia, Ky. at 2-2.
Both head coaches involved, Perry Thomas for Campbellsville and Chris Oliver for Lindsey Wilson have been the only head coaches to experience the Battle of Highway 55 rivalry as Oliver has been the only LWC head coach and Thomas is entering his 12th season.

SCOUTING LINDSEY WILSON COLLEGE

Lindsey Wilson is the No. 13 team in the initial NAIA Coaches' Poll in 2019 after their 7-3 season last year where they finished ranked 18th.
The Blue Raiders lost their leading rusher and receiver from the 2018 campaign, running back Blake Ingleton, and receiver Cam Wyche.
The LWC rushing attack doesn't appear it will take much of a step back with the loss of Ingleton as returning to their backfield is junior Jaylen Boyd, who had their second-most all-purpose yards behind Ingleton at 966 yards.
The Blue Raider defense also lost a significant amount of their leading tacklers from last season as their top five tacklers from 2018 are all gone with safety TJ James with the highest total tackles among returners with 43 tackles last year.
The special teams efforts for Lindsey Wilson will be led by their senior kicker, Jared Dougherty, who went 4-7 in field goals and 48-51 in extra points in 2018.

A QUESTION AT QUARTERBACK

The quarterback position for the Tigers was one of their biggest questions week-to-week in 2018 and could still be the case in 2019 as 2018 leading passer Josh Davis is no longer at CU.
Heading into 2019, the Tigers have been looking at a number of different options under center including lone returner Talaileva Sufia, transfer Chris Lubinsky, and a number of incoming freshman.
Heading into the match-up on Thursday, Coach Thomas and offensive coordinator Rick Gerhes have narrowed it down to the two sophomore in Sufia and Lubinsky as both will likely take snaps in the season opener.
Last season, Sufia appeared in five games, getting the starting nod three times. He finished the season going 29-56 (51.8%), for 375 yards a touchdown and interception while also picking up 48 yards rushing.
With the uncertainty at the quarterback position recently, CU has brought on former standout quarterback Hunter Brown to be the full-time positional coach for the quarterbacks after working with Tiger QBs on a part-time basis since he graduated in 2017.

DYNAMIC PASS CATCHING FAMILY

The Fighting Tigers will enter 2019 with a pair of wide receivers that have a special connection in more than one way in Kendon Young and Keanu Young.
The Youngs are cousins who have both played their entire four-year college football careers at Campbellville as Keanu came from Bardstown High School and Kendon being a local product from Campbellsville High School.
Keanu missed 2018 and took a redshirt year due to injury after a 2017 season that saw him earn First Team All MSC Bluegrass Division honors after 63 receptions for 798 yards and nine touchdowns.
Kendon is the most recent Tiger to earn NAIA All-American honors after a stellar all-purpose 2018 with 1,233 all-purpose yards and 10 touchdowns.

INTRIGUING FIGHTING TIGER NEWCOMERS

Like most years, 2019 will be full of fresh faces for Campbellsville football as Coach Thomas prepares to get some of his newcomers into their first action in NAIA football this week.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of positions are held down by returning players but on the defensive line, Micah Corley help control the middle as the former Campbellsville High School product will enter Week 1 as the starting defensive tackle after transfering to CU from Kentucky State.
Offensively, the Tigers added to their already deep wide receiving core with a pair of transfers in Ziyon Kenner and Malik Richards who came in from Austin Peay and Morehead State respectively.
Freshman won't go unnoticed on Thursday as nine are listed on the second string on the first 2-Deep of the season and the lone freshman starter Ethan Gossage will hold down the right tackle spot on the o-line against Lindsey Wilson.

CU will have an extended week after Thursday night's game to get ready for week 2 against another ranked opponent in No. 19 Southeastern in Lakeland, Fla. For their second-straight road game to start the season.

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Players Mentioned

#10 Josh Davis: QB; 6' 1"; Freshman; Georgetown, Ky.

#30 Noah Bicksler: K/P; 5' 10"; Redshirt Junior; Elkton, Ky.

#62 Trey Binder: OL; 6' 1"; Senior; Georgetown, Ky.

#2 Marcus McCants: DB; 6' 2"; Senior; Seffner, Fla.

#28 David Richardson: RB; 5' 10"; Sophomore; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

#10 Talaileva Sufia: QB; 6' 3"; Sophomore; Pago Pago, American Samoa

#14 Garland Webb: DB; 5' 11"; Redshirt Senior; Louisville, Ky.

#3 Keanu Young: WR; 5' 7"; Redshirt Senior; Bardstown, Ky.

#1 Kendon Young: WR; 6' 1"; Senior; Campbellsville, Ky.

#63 Ethan Gossage: OL; 6' 5"; Freshman; Knoxville, Tenn.

Players Mentioned

#10 Josh Davis
: 6' 1"; Freshman; Georgetown, Ky.
: QB

#30 Noah Bicksler
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Junior; Elkton, Ky.
: K/P

#62 Trey Binder
: 6' 1"; Senior; Georgetown, Ky.
: OL

#2 Marcus McCants
: 6' 2"; Senior; Seffner, Fla.
: DB

#28 David Richardson
: 5' 10"; Sophomore; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
: RB

#10 Talaileva Sufia
: 6' 3"; Sophomore; Pago Pago, American Samoa
: QB

#14 Garland Webb
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Senior; Louisville, Ky.
: DB

#3 Keanu Young
: 5' 7"; Redshirt Senior; Bardstown, Ky.
: WR

#1 Kendon Young
: 6' 1"; Senior; Campbellsville, Ky.
: WR

#63 Ethan Gossage
: 6' 5"; Freshman; Knoxville, Tenn.
: OL