With his Black Bears possessing a potentially lethal mixture of size, speed and experience not seen since the early days of the program, Harlan County coach Eddie Creech has offered a warning several times during summer workouts.

“I’ve seen teams try live off potential instead of rolling up their sleeves up and getting to work and trying to live up to that,” Creech said. “Even though we’re coming off a district championship, we’re trying to keep the kids grounded. You still have to out there and get in shape. You have to be efficient on offense and stingy on defense. To do those things you have to do your job. We’ve tried to keep it simple for the kids. Football is one play at a time and you have to focus on one game at a time. I think they know they have to earn everything this year. Nothing will be given to them.”

Harlan County brings back 16 of 22 starters from a district championship team that advanced to the second round of the 5A playoffs before falling to Southwestern. The Bears started 0-4 but won four of the next six, including a playoff victory over South Laurel.

“Offensively, we have to have a better mix as far as a run-pass ratio,” said Creech. “I think we’ll get that this year if we can keep our quarterbacks healthy. We need some continuity between our quarterback and receivers.”

The Bears have had a battle at quarterback in the summer as both Jacob Wilson and Cody Clayborn saw action as a starter last season.

“We had four different starters at quarterback last year and three different quarterbacks who won district games. We’ve had a battle at quarterback every year since I’ve been a head coach. We’ll use the two scrimmages to find a starter, then I will stick with it. We’re not going to Hazard and flip flop our quarterbacks,” Creech said. “Jake has some moxie. He is a very confident kid on the field and brings a positive energy. Cody has the size and arm strength and came in last year and led us to a district championship and a playoff win.”

Finding a balance has been the focus of the Bears’ offense during the spring and summer.

“We’ve spent a lot of the spring and summer on play action because teams know we like to ground and pound, but we found out last year if we don’t have the ability to throw the ball teams will load up the box,” Creech said. “My goal is to be at least 70-30 run pass to keep people honest. We hope to find more consistency throwing the ball this year.”

The Bears will be big and physical on the offensive front, led by junior left tackle Jordan Steele (), a potential Division I recruit who made an immediate impact in his first season with the Bears following a year in Georgia.

“He has as much talent as anyone we have up front,” Creech said. “He has great feet and a football IQ. He is very aggressive. We moved him around a lot last year and we’ll do that again.”

Bradley Wilson, a senior, returns at right tackle.

“He’s one of the nicest kids you could meet, but between the lines he is one of the nastiest players I’ve ever coached,” Creech said. “He’s very physical and it’t not uncommon for him to pick up two or three blocks in one play. There was one play last year where he pancaked a kid, then waited for him to get him and then pancaked him again.”

Senior Noah Saylor is back for his second season as a starter at center.

“Our whole offense runs around the center position. Noah gives us some experience up front,” Creech said. “He’s a weight room guy who has got his body strong and is built to play the game.”

Hunter Helton, a junior who played tight end last year, appears to have the edge at left guard. Ethan Collins, a sophomore, will also see action at guard. Billy Fields, a senior, returns at right guard.

“Left guard has been up in the air the most over the summer workouts. Hunter is a big, strong kid. When he wants to play, he’s hard to handle on both sides of the ball,” Creech said. “Billy gives us some experience there. He is one of the hardest working kids we have. He is also very humble and just shows up every day and goes to work.”

Elisha Smallwood, a senior, and Brett Roark, a junior, will start at the tight end.

“We have two dandies at tight end. Lige is a four-year starter, which is uncommon in 4A or 5A football. Brett is working his way back from an injury. They are both good blockers,” Creech said. “Roark is showing he can catch it, and Lige had some big catches for us last year and had a great summer in seven-on-seven.”

Cameron Smiddy and Justin Brown, both seniors, will see action at receiver, along with junior Tyler Flanary.

“Cameron is a strong kid who is willing to do what you ask him to do. Justin is just a natural who had a great summer in his first season with us,” Creech said.

Demarco Hopkins and Josh Turner, both juniors, will see action at fullback. Hopkins had an impressive first season with the Bears and could get more carries this year. Braydon Shanks, a junior who transferred from Harlan, will give the Bears another option at fullback.

“Demarco really dedicated his off-season to changing his body and he lost about 20 pounds. He will also seem some action at tailback,” Creech said. “Braydon is a big and physical kid who reminds me of Ethan Baird. He knows he’s coming in there as a battering ram and accepts that role.”

Senior running backs Benjamin Landis and Tyler Casolari lead a deep group of running backs. Landis, with 759 yards rushing on 118 carries, and Casolari, with 562 yards on 121 carries, are both expected to push for 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

“Ben and Tyler have a lot of the same traits. They kind of flew under the radar last year but had breakout seasons,” Creech said. “They are both hard-nosed kids who get downhill. Both have lost some weight and increased their speed.”

Jacob Bailey, a senior, and Matt Brown, a junior, will also fill important roles in the backfield.

“Jacob has really put in the time in the weight room and has improved and picked up some speed. He could play anywhere from wide receiver to halfback to tailback,” Creech said. “Matt is kind of our wildcard. He was the difference for us in two big district games last year. His ability catch the ball and get to the edge is a weapon. He will move him around to try to get him in space.”

The Black Bears’ defense lost linebacker Garry Henson, the leading tackler the last three years, but most of the other key players on defense return, including Smallwood at end.

“Lige will make us go on both sides of the ball. He is kind of our emotional leader and the kids kind of feed off his energy,” Creech said. “He plays the strong end in the 44 defense and has a big responsibility on that side of the ball.”

Cullen Whitaker, a sophomore, will take over on the other side.

“Cullen is one of the most physical players we have,” Creech said. “He’s a wildman, and not just on the field, and that translates well between the lines.”

Creech expects Steele and sophomore Ethan Shepherd to start at the tackles and make it tough to run up the middle against the Bears.

“Jordan gets a lot of attention for his play on offense, but If you watch the game film you see how many big plays he made for us on defense. He had some big sacks and forced fumbles,” Creech said. “We got another transfer in Ethan. This kid is benching close to 400 as a sophomore. He just shows up and goes to work. He has really fit in with our kids as far as being committed to the game of football. He’s a very aggressive kid.”

Gavin Ewald and Turner, both juniors, are the starers at outside linebacker.

“Outside linebacker may be our most solid position on either side of the ball,” Creech said. “You have two kids who are prototypical outside linebackers. Turner is a smart kid who is good at angles and knows what the other team is running. Ewald could play several positions. He’s very physical and very aggressive.”

Shanks and Hunter Blevins, both juniors, are the probable starters at inside linebacker. Kobe Burkhart is back after missing most of his sophomore year with an injury and could also play a big role.

“Those inside guys can’t be shy of contact and those guys fit that mold,” Creech said.

Bailey returns at safety after a strong junior season. He’s been slowed by a foot injury this summer but is expected to be ready for the opener.

“During the second half of the season last year, Jacob was tremendous at safety. He was breaking on the ball very well and helping us in run support,” Creech said. “When we go one high safety, he has the range and ability to go from hash to hash and cover the middle of the field.”

Justin Brown, a baseball standout who is in his first season of football as a senior, has added to the Bears’ athleticism, both as a receiver and in the secondary.

“Justin gives us the ability, like Patrick Bynum did last year, to lock down man-to-man on the back side and free up another guy for the box,” Creech said. “He’s long, he’s rangy and he really knows how to high point the ball.”

Flanary is the probably starter at the other corner with Josh Swanner also in the mix.

“Tyler has great feet and moves well,” Creech said. “Josh is a good athlete and could help us on both sides of the ball.”

Hopkins is expected to handle punting duties with Steele on kickoffs. Eli Lewis and Jacob Brown are the candidates for extra points.

Harlan County shifts to 4A after 10 seasons in 5A and will see some familiar faces with Letcher Central and Perry Central moving with them. District 8 will also include Clay County and defending state runner-up Johnson Central. The Golden Eagles have been a state power under Jim Matney and could be ranked No. 1 again this year.

“There are two ways to look at it. Our approach is to look at it as a great opportunity as one of 10 teams to have a shot at knocking off the No. 1 team in the state,” Creech said. “We have an optional 100-yard sprint at the end of practice that we call Johnson Central as a reminder of the type of competition we’ll have on our schedule. We’ve had 98, 99 percent participating so far.”

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HCHS schedule

Aug. 23 Harlan (W, 1-0, forfeit)

Aug. 30 at Hazard

Sept. 6 Martin County

Sept. 13 Knox Central

Sept. 20 at Wayne County

Sept. 27 at Clay County

Oct. 4 Letcher Central

Oct. 11 Open

Oct. 18 at Johnson Central

Oct. 25 Perry Central

Nov. 1 at Bell County