By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
After three straight winless seasons, the Abilene football program completely righted the ship in 2022, winning four games and hosting Rose Hill in the opening round of the playoffs.
Now, following that taste of success, the Cowboys will look to take the next step with the first class of freshmen to become seniors under the watch of fourth-year head coach Brad Nicks.
“It’s been incredible to watch these guys grow up from freshman and we knew from the beginning that they had the potential to be really special,” Nicks said. “From the weight room to what they’ve done in basketball, baseball and track it’s been so fun to watch them grow and they’re a really great group of kids.”
Abilene returns a wealth of talent from their 2022 campaign, including at quarterback, where Stocton Timbrook (1,753 yds, 14 TDs) reprises his role as the Cowboy signal caller.
Timbrook will be joined in the backfield by his senior counterpart Zach Miller, with fellow senior Brax Fisher returning from injury to play a big role in 2023.
The Cowboys also return four different weapons for Timbrook who hauled in at least one touchdown pass a season ago, as the senior will look downfield for Weston Rock, Taygen Funston, Heath Hoekman, and Keaton Hargrave.
While the skill positions will be exceptionally deep for Abilene in this campaign, the O-Line could very well be its biggest strength, as both trench units have beefed up considerably over the offseason.
“Our biggest improvement has been on our offensive and defensive lines,” Nicks said. “That group has kept with what we’re trying to do and we may not have those 6-4, 280 type guys but they’ve worked incredibly hard to keep getting faster and stronger.”
The D-Line will be led by Hoekman, Sam Whitehair, and Kayden Timm, with Zach Miller and Landon Taplin anchoring the linebacking corps.
Meanwhile, in the secondary, Keaton Hargrave, Brax Fisher, and Joe Welsh will patrol the deepest parts of the field at safety while Weston Rock and Judah Bowell slot in at corner.
“We can always hang our hat on how hard we’re going to play, especially defensively,” he said. “That unit flies to the football, they’re smart players and they’ve become sound tacklers.”
With so many guys playing two ways on Friday nights, Abilene will need some new young stars to step up big in order to stay fresh, especially deep into the season.
“Most of our question marks are in our backups and our depth,” Nicks said. “We’re still looking for guys to give us 3-5 big plays here and there and we feel good about the great junior and sophomore classes we have behind these guys.”
Despite the slight lack of depth in some areas, the Cowboys boast both the talent, and the drive to do big things in 2023, and will be eager to take that next step come kickoff this Friday.
“We want to host a playoff game again,” he said. “That was a big deal for us last year and that’s always going to be on our list but this group also wants to win our first playoff game since 2015 and we’d love to be hosting in the second round as well. You have to be in the top four on the west side to do that but I think that’s a great goal for us.”
Abilene opens their season on Friday, September 1 when they host the Marysville Bulldogs at 7:00.