Three Caldwell County High School graduates are headed to Kentucky Wesleyan College to play football.
Jake Pepper officially signed with the NCAA Div. II school, located in Owensboro, in April. He will be joined by former Tiger teammates Matt Tittle and Michael Lipson.
Pepper caught 30 passes for 378 yards and two touchdowns last season for Caldwell and handled all of the kicking and punting chores.
Tittle, who is expected to redshirt this fall, hauled in 34 passes for 395 yards and seven scores. He is Caldwell’s all-time leader in receiving yards (1,184) and career touchdown receptions (19).
Lipson was one of Caldwell’s top defensive players last season, recording 37 tackles from his end position. He also led the team in rushing with 483 yards on 77 carries.
Caldwell’s players would seem to be a good fit for the Panthers, who run the same offense as the Tigers.
KWC opens the 2008 campaign on Thursday, Aug. 28, when it hosts Div. II power Indianapolis.
The Panthers’ slate includes a trip to FCS (I-AA) member Stephen F. Austin in Nocogdoches, Texas, on Sept. 13.
Former CCHS teammates will be on opposing sidelines on Oct. 18 when KWC visits Missouri S&T, where Cameron Williams will be a redshirt freshman receiver after sitting out last season with an injury.
• The 2008 Trice Hughes Chevrolet Bowl at Tiger Stadium will be held on Friday, Sept. 5, and not Saturday, Sept. 6, as previously reported.
That’s good news for college football fans. On Sept. 6, Kentucky hosts Norfolk State, Louisville entertains Tennessee Tech, Western Kentucky visits Eastern Kentucky for the final time and Murray State plays at Indiana.
The Trice Hughes Bowl will pit Crittenden County and Lone Oak in the opener, followed by Caldwell and Glasgow in the nightcap.
Meanwhile, the Tigers have re-upped for two more years in the Browning Chevrolet Bowl.
Caldwell will play Madisonville-North Hopkins when the Maroons host this year’s bowl games on Saturday, Aug. 30. The other game that day has Hopkins County Central playing Fulton County.
Webster County will replace Fulton County for the 2009 and 2010 bowl dates.
• Satellite dish TV subscribers with the Big Ten Network will have a chance to see both Western Kentucky University and Murray State in action this season.
The “local” schools will visit Indiana University on back-to-back weekends and both games will be shown live on BTN.
The WKU game kicks off at 11 a.m. on Aug. 30 while the Racers will play at IU at 6 p.m. on Sept. 6.
All of the BTN games are available in high definition.
• Many media outlets were quick to jump on a story in Tuesday’s Lexington Herald-Leader that Mike Hartline is ahead of former Hopkinsville star Curtis Pulley for the University of Kentucky’s starting quarterback job.
However, many may have missed that the next day Wildcats offensive coordinator Joker Phillips said the competition for No. 1 signal-caller is continuing.
Phillips told the Lexington newspaper Monday that he had received reports that Hartline, a sophomore, has had a solid off-season. However, Phillips reiterated Tuesday that no decisions have been made about who will be the starter.
Phillips said on Monday that UK players have lauded Hartline’s work ethic this summer. Phillips also challenged Pulley, a junior, to step up.
Phillips said Tuesday that the race is still wide open and that there’s no clear front-runner.
“From what I’ve been hearing, Mike has been doing well, but we’re not going to pick a starter based on reports from players,” Phillips told the Herald-Leader. “We’ve got to get through fall camp. There’s still a long way to go.”
Fall practice begins on Aug. 5.
• Former Paducah Tilghman standout Hunter Cantwell, a University of Louisville senior, has been nominated for two of the nation’s top awards heading into the 2008 season.
Cantwell was selected as one of 26 of the nation’s top senior college quarterbacks for the 2008 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.
He was also one of 75 players selected to The Maxwell Award Watch List. That award has been presented to the outstanding collegiate football player in America since 1937.
• Former University of Kentucky receiver Keenan Burton says he’s reached a three-year deal with the St. Louis Rams.
Burton says his agent, Todd France, finished the deal on Thursday. Burton says he believes the contract to be worth more than $1 million.
Burton was selected by the Rams in the fourth round of the NFL Draft in April.
Burton ranks fourth in receptions, third in receiving yards, second in touchdowns and third in all-purpose yards for the Wildcats. He was the fifth Kentucky player to amass more than 4,000 all-purpose yards.
Burton’s best season came in 2006 when he caught 77 passes for 1,036 yards and 12 touchdowns.
He will report to training camp July 25.
