NEW MARKET — Last year was a tale of two seasons for Southmont football. The first five games of the season saw the Mounties make history by going 5-0 for the first time in 40 years. However the ladder half of the rigorous Sagamore Conference schedule saw the Mounties play the SAC’s best in the likes of Danville, Western Boone, Lebanon, and Tri-West. The Mounties struggled on both sides of the ball getting out-scored 174-13 in the final four games. However Southmont was able to rebound and pick up a 21-7 sectional victory over Cascade before falling to eventual sectional champion Lafayette Central Catholic.
All in all Southmont posted a winning record at 6-5 for the first time since 2017. This season the Mounties return nearly every starter from last season and look poised to make some noise in 2022.
“We’re excited for this season because we have all of that experience coming back,” longtime Southmont coach Desson Hannum said. “This will be the first time in quite awhile that we’ve had a majority of our team returning. The biggest thing for us will be concentrating on the small details. We can’t take anything for granted on a daily basis and just have to continue to show up every day and put the necessary work in.”
On the offensive side of the ball the Mounties will once again feature a two-headed running attack with junior Wyatt Woodall and senior Carson Chadd. Woodall tallied 957 yards on the ground with six touchdowns. Chadd added another 449 yards and matched Woodall with six touchdowns as well. Senior Nick Scott will man the quarterback spot again for the Mounties this season. Scott threw for 668 yards and eight touchdowns a year ago.
Defensively Woodall also was the leading tackler for Southmont a season ago with 107 total tackles. Players such as Kellen Kaelin, Kion Cornelius, Seth Tolliver will all be seniors this season and will also make an impact on the defensive side.
“We’re going to have a lot of guys who are two-three year starters on both sides of the ball,” Hannum said. “Our front line will have guys like Waylon Gomez, Will Cody so we have experience all over the field. We’ll have to develop our depth a little bit in certain spots to make sure we have some extra guys ready for Friday nights.”
While the expectation is to continue to win for Southmont, in order to be more successful they’ll have to go through those top teams in the SAC all in a row just like a season ago. The goal this season is to breakthrough and finish in the top half of the ever-tough SAC.
“Going in we want to compete enough to be able to finish in that top-half,” Hannum said. “We have the potential to be able to do that. When you get into those games late in the season there’s going to be a very small margin for error. We have to get ourselves ready in the beginning of the year to be able to continue to grow as a team as the season goes on.”
Southmont opens up the season on the road against Fountain Central, before hosting North Putnam in their home opener in week two.
