KINGS MILLS - With the Kings Island Drop Tower in the background, there's not much dropped on the gridiron of Kings High School.
In football, it's been 11 seasons since the Knights dropped more games than they've won.
Since beginning as a charter member of the Eastern Cincinnati Conference, Kings has never had a losing record and has won or shared four of the nine league titles.
Last year with the season shortened due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kings was limited to eight games but finished 7-1 and 3-0 in the ECC. In their first six games, they averaged nearly 49 points per contest. They then defeated defending 2019 champ Turpin 17-0 before losing the season finale in the postseason to league co-champ Winton Woods 20-10.
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"Man, from top-down, there's a lot of really good programs," Kings coach Alex Garvin said of the ECC. "There's a lot of really good players we're already thinking about. This conference is really fun."
The Winton Woods loss came minus top rusher Ty Stylski, who ran for 1,033 yards in the seven previous games. Garvin will have to replace him with either junior Jay Holubetz (238 yards, four touchdowns in 2020) or senior Max Sannella (177 yards, five touchdowns). Both should get carries.
"We're kind of working tailback by committee," Garvin said. "Every year you take the pieces that you have and you lay them on the table and you say, 'What's the best way to orchestrate that so we're the most competitive team we can be on Friday nights.'"
Said senior Sannella, "It's a good spot to fill. Ty was a great running back. We have a lot of great guys on this team and our O-line is solid. We've got a lot of playmakers in the grade below us and we've got guys all around both ways. We've got a great culture. We're always bringing guys up and making them part of this team."
The top returning rusher for Kings is junior quarterback Will Kocher, who took over after an injury to then-senior Jackson Kwasniewski in week one. Kocher ran for 370 yards and eight touchdowns and was 45-for-76 passing for 868 yards and seven scores.
Kocher is also a celebrated baseball catcher who hit .301 and led the Knights in steals (13) this past spring as a sophomore. Baseball-wise, he's been offered by the Miami RedHawks.
"It's the most special position in baseball," Kocher said of catching. "It's kind of like playing quarterback. As a field general, everything happens through you. You learn you have to be the leader of the field and it really is super special."
Senior Noah Spencer is also in the quarterback hunt. The Knights don't throw a ton and don't return anyone who had 10 receptions or more. On the other hand, they ran for nearly 300 yards per game in conference play.
Potential pass-catchers include Andy Bauman, Jake Cameron and Elijah Jones.
Defensively, the Knights gave up 34 points to start 2020 against Anderson in a shootout but scored 70. In the playoffs, they shut out Turpin who suffered only one league loss last season after winning the title the previous year.
"Our defense is really predicated on the type of things we're going to see through the year," Garvin said. "We spend a different couple of periods every now and then on the different sets of offenses we'll see to make sure we're prepared."
An interesting prospect in the secondary is 6-foot-3-inch safety/linebacker R.J. Jackson, who picked off four passes last season. He is the son of former Cincinnati Bearcat running back Ray Jackson and is taller than his father.
"With the addition of Winton Woods, Lebanon and Little Miami, especially Winton Woods, I think we have one of the hardest conferences in the Cincinnati area," Jackson said.
The Knights start the season with back-to-back Greater Miami Conference opponents in Middletown and Sycamore. ECC play gets hot and heavy quickly as the Knights travel to Winton Woods Sept. 3.
"The ECC is probably one of the most competitive conferences around here," Kocher said. "It makes the year so fun!"
A rematch with Turpin is Oct. 15 at home and the Knights travel to nearby Little Miami Oct. 22 to wrap up the regular season.
A good resource this year for Garvin is new Kings athletic director Eric Taylor, who had several successful football runs at CHCA.
"He's a wealth of knowledge," Garvin said. "He's very passionate about sports, very passionate about football and very passionate about Kings and what we're trying to produce here in our young people."
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