There's now a target on the wings of the Falcons over at West Henderson.
After winning the 3A Mountain 7 conference in 2022, head coach, Pat Whitaker doesn't expect to be given anything easy this year. "It felt like last year, we snuck up on a few teams that didn't expect us to be as good as we were. I don't think that will happen this year, I think it's going to be a dog fight."
A team that lost some key components to graduation, including quarterback Lukas Kachilo. Now at Gardner-Webb, Kachilo piloted an explosive offense that averaged more than 41 points per game behind his 3,380 passing yards and 43 touchdown tosses.
However, Whitaker also retained several key components. The running back duo of Carson Dimsdale (1,087 yards and 6 TD) and Tayman Howell _653 yards and 7 TD) seek to aid whomever it is as QB1, something still in the works with only weeks to go before seasons start.
"That's something we're working on right now, we have three of them in the mix," said Whitaker.
Plenty of wide receivers have also returned, led by 3-sport star Truitt Manuel and his 1,391 yards and 27 touchdowns. Even with that, Whitaker sees pressure and leadership coming from his returning seniors that did have playing experience last season.
Defensively West has three of its top four tacklers back, including Eban Mann and his 109 stops and 8 sacks.
The first game for West Henderson is on the road, Friday 8/18 at Newton-Conover.
STORY & PHOTO COURTESY OF ABC 13 WLOSWest Henderson seeks to repeat conference title, will have to replace graduated QB to do so | WLOS
