Hughes seeing consistent improvement as Providence enters region play

Powered by sophomores and led by an outstanding group of upperclassmen, Providence Academy's football team is on solid ground heading into the meat of its schedule. The Knights are 2-2 on the season as they prepare to open up region play this Friday night on the road against The King's Academy in Seymour. The Lions are also 2-2 with wins over Zion Christian and Tri-Cities Christian and losses to Concord Christian and Southwestern out of Kentucky. First-year coach Micah Hughes inherited a team that features a dynamic sophomore class that includes starting quarterback Cam Blanton and a strong trio of running backs led by Kahler Oggero, who leads the team with 292 rushing yards through the first four games. Senior leadership comes from captains Roman Damron, Juan Carlos Vidas and Braden Miller with junior linebacker Ford Bowman serving as a tackling machine on the defensive side of the ball. "We've got a relatively young team, but we've got some great senior leadership," Hughes said. "We've got a phenomenal sophomore class. I'm super-excited about that. Each week, just the continuous growth of this team has been something really special for us." Hughes arrived at Providence with a vaunted passing attack that brought him a great deal of success at previous stops. As he implements his offense at Providence, which was a run-heavy team under previous head coach Daniel Kilgore, the mix between pass and run plays has been close to 50/50. So far this year, the ability of sophomore running backs Oggero, Ty Puhr and Noah Collinger to move the ball has been helpful in opening up the pass game. "We've got three really good sophomore running backs, and they've really kind of led the way for us honestly in a more run-heavy offense," Hughes said. "That opens up our pass game." Hughes has been impressed with the way Blanton - who started at quarterback as a freshman last season - has adapted to the new offense. "He has done a great job with learning the offense, managing what we do, and finding open receivers," he said. "Having more of a heavy run game has softened up the coverages." The fact that Providence has been so successful running the ball is more impressive when you consider the lack of experience along the offensive line. Two starters - senior Luke McIntosh and sophomore Bryce Jones - never played on the offensive line before this season. Freshman Lincoln Hornyak missed his eighth-grade year and is now starting as a freshman along with senior Juan Carlos Vidas, who missed a good portion of last season due to injury. "Four of the five haven't played a ton of high school snaps," Hughes said. "That's kind of the beauty of continuing to build a program. You get to see these kids and the growth day to day, week to week." The unselfishness displayed by Damron has been a major key to success in the run game. The senior tight end has moved to H-back at times, and his execution as a blocker - often a thankless job - has paved the way for the success of Providence's running backs. "We're trying to get him more active in the pass game right now," Hughes said. "He's just been such a key guy for us. "Roman has been asked to block a lot more than anticipated. He's done an unbelievable job helping us spring a lot of those long runs and being able to grind things out." Dameron has also been a huge contributor as a defensive end. Bowman has also come up big on the defensive side of the ball, leading the team in tackles, tackles for loss and sacks despite missing a game against Eagleton Academy. "He's kind of that core leader for us," Hughes said. "When he's not in there, we obviously take a dip. He is truly a disrupter back there and a phenomenal football player." Collinger, Puhr and Braden Miller have also been leaders on the defensive side of the ball. All three joined Dameron in stepping up to make plays in the game Bowman missed. With region play starting this week, Hughes is excited to see how his team stacks up against the stiff competition that lies ahead. "We know our identity," he said. "We know what we kind of hang our hat on. Each week is the growth and development piece. We're going to lean into our running backs, and we feel like that's going to open up our passing game."