West Carter assembled its best football season in school history in 2020.
Coaches in the Eastern Kentucky Conference recognized the Comets accordingly. The Player, Coach, Co-Defensive Player and Assistant Coach of the Year all hail from Olive Hill.
Leetavious Cline is the EKC Player of the Year after racking up 2,115 rushing yards and 31 touchdowns as a senior. He became the Comets’ all-time and single-season leader in rushing yards along the way. Cline also made 48 tackles — 24 solo, 24 assisted, two for loss — and returned one fumble and one interception to the house, and caught one scoring pass.
Daniel Barker is the league Coach of the Year. He led West Carter to a 10-2 mark, its most wins in a season in school history and to the state semifinals for the first time, where the Comets dropped a thriller to eventual Class 2A state champion Beechwood, 35-34.
The Comets were 4-0 in EKC games, one of two teams undefeated in conference play. The other was Nicholas County (1-0).
Gavin Gibson represents West Carter by sharing Defensive Player of the Year honors with Russell’s Nathan Conley. Gibson made 100 tackles — 22 solo, 78 assisted — and 21 stops for loss and 5.5 sacks. Gibson is the Comets’ career leader in tackles for loss.
And Comets offensive coordinator Thomas Flannery is the Tiny Roberts Assistant Coach of the Year. The West Carter offense he directed put up 4,135 yards and 471 points — that’s 344.6 yards and 39.3 points per game.
In addition to Cline’s big numbers, quarterback Orry Perry set the Comets’ career passing record and Jackson Bond secured West Carter’s single-season receiving yardage high mark under the tutelage of Barker and Flannery.
Perry and Bond are both first-team All-EKC selections.
Barker said his individual award reflected the team’s success, not just his own.
“It’s always nice to be recognized by the other coaches,” Barker said. “I thought a lot of teams had really good years, so there was some really strong coaching throughout the conference. Coach of the Year awards are team awards, so I think it speaks to the job our kids did as well as our assistant coaches.”
Conley made 36 tackles — 26 solo, 10 assisted, two for loss — for the Red Devils. He also surpassed the 3,000-yard rushing mark for Russell offensively despite battling injury down the stretch.
Raceland quarterback Jake Heighton is the conference Offensive Player of the Year. Heighton threw for 1,745 yards, 20 touchdowns and nine picks for the Rams and was their third-leading rusher with 218 yards. Heighton led Raceland in ground TDs with seven.
Russell lineman Anthony Blevins was tabbed Lineman of the Year by EKC coaches.
Raceland kicker Peyton Ison claimed Special Teams Player of the Year honors. He connected on 28 of 38 extra points as well as the only field goal he tried — a 34-yarder at the buzzer to knock off Paintsville, 23-20, on Oct. 23. The Tigers went on to win the Class A state title after a pair of knock-down-drag-out battles with the Rams.
The Wes Hopkins Courage Award went to East Carter brothers Bryson and Braydon Kiser. Their mother, Stacy Kiser, died about 24 hours before the Raiders met Fleming County on Sept. 18. Bryson Kiser made a series of big-time plays that night in an emotional comeback overtime victory for East Carter, including seven tackles, three tackles for loss and three sacks.
And Bill Tom Stone received the Commissioner’s Award. Stone leads Lewis County’s booster club, the Lionbackers, and keeps the clock at games and takes care of the Lions’ field, Lewis County High School principal Jack Lykins said.
Each of the conference’s 12 schools got five players on the first team. All except one had five second-teamers.
All-Eastern Kentucky Conference Team
First team
Bath County — Tanner Butcher, Hunter Donathan, Jacob Easton, Carter Hart, Hunter McCoy
Boyd County — Peyton Boblett, Nick Cornwell, Jacob Kelley, Logan Staten, Carter Stephens
East Carter — Skyler McCormick, Ethan Moore, Brodey Stamper, Charlie Terry, Jacob Underwood
Fairview — Cody Caldwell, Jeremy Harper, Cameron Mitchell, Brennan Murray, Gracin Smith
Fleming County — Zeke Conn, Buddy Morgan, Payton Roark, Daniel Watkins, Tanner Weaver
Greenup County — Auston Clarkson, Brayden Craycraft, Brady Clevenger, Reid Parker, Mason Sammons
Lewis County — Dylan Hardy, Austin Howard, Tucker Madden, Ethan Sizemore, Peyton Spencer
Nicholas County — Ethan Adams, Brodie Isaacs, Tate Letcher, Spencer Neace, Seth Tincher
Raceland — Hunter Correll, Conner Hughes, Ethan Melvin, Landyn Newman, Will Nichols
Rowan County — Arian Brown, Brien Hill, Brady Kelsey, Byron May, Cole Wallace
Russell — AJ Biggs, Charlie Jachimczuk, Hunter Martin, Bradley Rose, Landon Taylor
West Carter — Jackson Bond, Brent Dailey, Gage Leadingham, Orry Perry, Dylan Roe
Second team
Bath County — Robert Conley, Brady Pitts, Owen St. John, David Walden, Jack Wilson
Boyd County — Tyler Baier, Austin Gibbs, Joe Lusby, Skyeler Tallent, Josh Thornton
East Carter — Tyrus Adams, Bobby Flaugher, Connor Goodman, Kanyon Kozee, Noah Marshall
Fairview — Cole Blevins, Chase Bradley, Gage Crooks, Tanner Johnson, Austin Miller
Fleming County — Levi Denton, Grayson Hurst, Kenley Manning, Logan Pinkley, Cooper Schwartz
Greenup County — Peyton Boggs, Garrett Kinney, Connor Lykins
Lewis County — Izaia Burns, Brycen Dummitt, Isaiah Hamm, Don Oliver, Braxton Smith
Nicholas County — Ben Buckler, Crispin Diaz, Landry Gray, Viston Hudson, Brady Switzer
Raceland — Parker Fannin, Ryan Holmes, Michael Meade, JD Melvin, Noah Reeves
Rowan County — Austin Fannin, Louis Hayes, Andrew Miller, Blake Perry, Landin Raines
Russell — Mason Lykins, Doug Oborne, Ethan Oborne, Carson Patrick, Chase Snedegar
West Carter — Logan Berry, Chancten Fox, Sam Jones, Blake McGlone, Samuel Rayburn
Honorable mention
Boyd County — Trey Holbrook, Brandon Kitchen, Dakota Thompson, Aaron Weis
Fairview — Eric Byrd, Christian Cordle
Fleming County — Jayden Argo, Tristan Emmons, Austin Hyatt, Carson Oldham
Greenup County — Hunter Clevenger, Quintan Farrow, Ike Henderson
Lewis County — Ashton Evans, Jentry Thompson-Zornes
Raceland — Drew Burke, Clay Coldiron, Will Farley, Parker Gallion, Reese Winters
Rowan County — Brayden Crouch, Cooper Kegley, Preston Messer, Logan Stevens, Austin Terry
Russell — AJ Raybourn, Jaden Smith
West Carter — Gavin Adams, Isaac Bond, Preston Nauman, Garrett Wolfe
League standings (regular season): West Carter 4-0, Nicholas County 1-0, Russell 4-1, East Carter 2-1, Raceland 2-1, Boyd County 2-2, Rowan County 1-1, Greenup County 1-2, Fairview 1-3, Bath County 0-2, Fleming County 0-2, Lewis County 0-3.
