The Clinton Central Bulldogs head into the 2024 season looking to take a step forward after finishing 1-8 a season ago.
Jeremy Fendley, a Clinton Central graduate, enters his second season leading the Bulldogs. After building the foundation last year, Fendley said this year they hope to continue building the program up.
“We were surely in what some would refer to as the rebuilding days, but we really didn’t even have a foundation to build on,” Fendley said. “Like last year was spent building the foundation. This year we’re starting to build on that foundation.”
Fendley, who previously coached at Sheridan and Westfield, put together a group of coaches around him that he feels confident in.
“I feel like the group of individuals we brought together know what it’s like to play Clinton Central football and what the expectations are with that,” Fendley said. “So it’s really good, really positive. I think, again, like I said, I think we’re trending in the right direction.”
One of the biggest struggles from last year for the Bulldogs was the limited roster.
“Our biggest hurdle coming out of last season was numbers,” Fendley said. “I mean, we finished with 17 in the tournament. So we have 40 on the roster now, so we were able to have a huge turnaround, and we’re feeling pretty optimistic about the numbers. So that’s always kind of step one is just making sure you have the numbers and you’re not getting beat by attrition every week.”
The 2023 senior class was thin for the Bulldogs; they lost just one starter. This year’s class looks strong and is led by Klayton Stevens.
“We’re not the young kids in town anymore,” Fendley said. “We have six seniors now. We have a good junior class. I would say the one standout is Klayton Stevens. He’s done everything we’ve asked, the kid has gotten bigger, gotten faster, and gotten stronger. We look to see some great things out of Klayton.”
Another name to watch for is Creed Mennen. Stevens and Mennen both spent time at Quarterback for the Bulldogs and combined to throw seven touchdowns and run for three, each caught a pair of touchdowns as well.
The county games are always the ones to watch. Clinton Central draws Frankfort in week one and Clinton Prairie in week 3.
“We feel if we can come out and compete well against those two teams, that it kind of sets us up for success,” Fendley said. “Now, (Clinton) Prairie is the first team on our conference schedule, but we close out county (games) with them. In week two, we have Faith Christian. They’re moving from an eight-man to an 11-man. So we feel pretty confident that we can go out and compete with those guys.”
The Bulldogs’ motto and brand, “no juice, no use” is their driving force. They hope that having that kind of attitude will lead them in the right direction this season.
You can watch local high school football action every Friday on hoosierlandtv.com. This week’s Game of the Week is Carroll vs Caston.
