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Wlaf1450Campbell starts the season on August 22 at Lenoir City
By Clayton Carroll
JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF) – Before long, we’ll be hearing the booming instruments of the Mighty Cougar Marching Band, the cracking of helmets, and the “Voices of Cougar Football” Les Martin and Brent Allen.
It’s almost football time in Campbell County. As a matter of fact, it’s only one month away from today.
The Orange-and-Blue head to Lenoir City for a battle of felines for the first game of the year. It’s the Cougars and Panthers on August 22.
Both teams enter with new head coaches for the 2025 season. After Scott Cummings left Lenoir City to take over as athletic director at Halls, Billy Coleman is the new head man for LCHS. Coleman has more than 25 years coaching experience. As for the Orange-and-Blue, Taylor Ownbey is at the helm of the program. Ownbey was the defensive coordinator for last year’s squad, and this is his first stint as a head coach.
Coach O talking to his team post-practice with his coaching staff in the background
Ownbey won’t be alone on the sidelines of course. Coach O has put his coaching staff in place. Returning from last year is Mark Romero, whose role this year is offensive coordinator.
Romero (grey visor) instructs a Cougar during a recent summer practice
Two former Cougars will swap from the jersey to the polo shirt this season. Number 22 C.J Allen and his quarterback from 2018-2021 Hunter White, number 2, are part of Ownbey’s coaching staff. Allen is coaching running backs and line backers, while White is the quarterback and defensive backs coach.
Hunter White #2 and CJ Allen #22 were quite the backfield duo back in their playing days
The last addition to the Cougar staff is a familiar name. Chris Mayes makes his return to Reynolds Field this fall. Mayes will head up the wide receivers and defensive backs.
Coach Chris Mayes overseeing his group of young Cougars
Also, Dewayne “The Mailman” Kitts will once again be Director of Football Operations.
Before the Cougars take the field when wins and losses matter, the Orange-and-Blue will have three game opportunities. Campbell will play in two scrimmages and a jamboree at Carson Newman.
The first scrimmage of the season is at home on Friday, August 1, against the Eagles of Seymour. Coach Ownbey is excited about the scrimmage because he says it gives the team an opportunity to see where they are and fix things that are needed to be fixed before the rest of the scrimmages and the opening game. “It’s a week-by-week season,” Coach O stated.
Cougars get set to run a play
Here’s a look at the Cougar roster as of July 22:
| # | Name | Grade | HT/WT | Position | # | Name | Grade | HT/WT | Position |
| 0 | KEVIN MOORE | 12 | WR/DB | 50 | MASON WILSON | 9 | OL/DL | ||
| 1 | ELI LAWSON | 12 | QB/DB | 51 | JOSH RAMSEY | 12 | OL/DL | ||
| 2 | AUSTIN JORDAN | 12 | RB/DB | 52 | HUNTER NORMAN | 9 | OL/DL | ||
| 3 | OWEN BLANKENBLICKER | 11 | WR/LB | 53 | HAYDEN RICE | 11 | OL/DL | ||
| 4 | KAI DePUY | 9 | RB/DB | 54 | LOGAN BELEW | 12 | OL/DL | ||
| 5 | SILAS WEAVER | 11 | QB/LB | 55 | GAVIN BERRY | 10 | OL/LB | ||
| 6 | NICHOLAS ROSE | 9 | WR/DB | 56 | |||||
| 7 | 57 | LANDON JOHNSON | 9 | OL/LB | |||||
| 8 | JACK SEXTON | 9 | QB/DB | 58 | RYAN WEBB | 12 | OL/DL | ||
| 9 | KALEB RAYNOR | 10 | QB/DB | 59 | JULIEN REYES | 10 | OL/DL | ||
| 10 | MAX BOSHEARS | 10 | QB/DB | 60 | JAYDEN WALLACE | 9 | OL/DL | ||
| 11 | TIMOTHY GIBSON | 12 | WR/DB | 61 | CHARLES JONES | 12 | OL/DL | ||
| 12 | PAXTON WORMSLEY | 12 | K | 62 | JUSTICE EVANS | 10 | OL/DL | ||
| 13 | 63 | ALEX GAMBILL | 9 | OL/DL | |||||
| 14 | JESSE CHAPMAN | 9 | WR/DB | 64 | WILL GOINS | 10 | OL/DL | ||
| 15 | 65 | MICHAEL HAMILTON | 9 | OL/DL | |||||
| 16 | KADDEN HUCKABY | 12 | RB/DB | 66 | TIMOTHY RUSSELL | 10 | OL/DL | ||
| 17 | 67 | ||||||||
| 18 | LANDON CHADWELL | 11 | RB/LB | 68 | |||||
| 19 | SAM SEXTON | 11 | WR/DB | 69 | AIDEN EVANS | 12 | OL/DL | ||
| 20 | 70 | CADEN MILLER | 12 | OL/DL | |||||
| 21 | 71 | ||||||||
| 22 | TYLER KETTLEHAKE | 11 | WR/DB | 72 | JAKE LAWSON | 12 | OL/DL | ||
| 23 | EASTON AYERS | 9 | RB/DB | 73 | GAVIN PETREE | 12 | OL/DL | ||
| 24 | BRAYDON GRAHAM | 10 | RB/DB | 74 | CARTER WALKER | 9 | OL/DL | ||
| 25 | JACK STOOKSBURY | 10 | TE/LB | 75 | BRODY PIERCE | 9 | OL/DL | ||
| 26 | KIREN ANDERSON | 11 | RB/LB | 76 | |||||
| 27 | SKYLAR MOORE | 9 | WR/DB | 77 | GAGE FRALEY | 11 | OL/DL | ||
| 28 | JORDAN PERKINS | 10 | RB/LB | 78 | |||||
| 29 | 79 | ||||||||
| 30 | TITAN LONGMIRE | 9 | WR/DB | 80 | |||||
| 31 | GARRETTE WILSON | 9 | WR/DB | 81 | DREW CROLEY | 10 | K/P | ||
| 32 | JAMES BOWLIN | 9 | WR/DB | 82 | |||||
| 33 | LUKAS WOOD | 9 | WR/DB | 83 | |||||
| 34 | 84 | ||||||||
| 35 | BENTLEE GROSS | 10 | RB/LB | 85 | |||||
| 36 | CADEN GARNER | 10 | RB/DB | 86 | |||||
| 37 | KAYDEN WALLEN | 9 | WR/DB | 87 | |||||
| 38 | 88 | ||||||||
| 39 | 89 | ||||||||
| 40 | 90 | ||||||||
| 41 | |||||||||
| 42 | Coaching Staff Head Coach: Taylor Ownbey OC/OL/DL: Mark Romero QB/DB: Hunter White RB/LB: CJ Allen WR/DB: Chris Mayes | ||||||||
| 43 | |||||||||
| 44 | JACK NORMAN | 10 | WR/DL | ||||||
| 45 | JAXSON NOE | 9 | TE/DL | ||||||
| 46 | |||||||||
| 47 | |||||||||
| 48 | |||||||||
| 49 | |||||||||
The Orange-and-Blue will keep preparing for the first regular season game of the year on Friday, August 22, at Lenoir City with a 7pm kickoff. For their 15th straight season, Les Martin and Brent Allen will bring you the coverage of Cougar Football over the WLAF Doyle’s Tire Sports Network. The network spans ten WLAF media platforms. Watch over WLAF TV-1089 on Comcast-Xfinity,1450wlaf.com, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and you can listen by way of WLAF Radio AM 1450 & FM 100.9 and Amazon Alexa.
(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-07/22/2025-6AM)