The Hendersonville Bearcats have been high-octane for years, and every year it seems like someone is ready to fill a void of graduation without missing a beat.

The 2023 squad is no different.

Hezzie Rudisill, whose 1,102 yards don't encompass his game-changing ability, leads the latest group hoping to burn rubber at Dietz Field.

"He just goes about his work, doesn't say a whole lot and just works hard," said head coach Kirron Ward, entering his second year at the helm. "He has a gear that most players don't have and that makes him a guy who's tough to deal with."

On the perimeter, Tayshawn Collins will step into the limelight as a senior after playing a supporting role for the likes of the graduated Eric Rasheed and Lennard Bennifield.

The one missing piece as of right now is also a missing piece of the teams collective heart. Elyja Gibbs, who would have entered his second season as starting quarterback after the first ended early with an injury, died in a car wreck in the spring. The team plans to honor Gibbs with homages to his #10, as well as having his parents as honorary captains for the home opener.

"We're just working, putting it together. We're figuring out our quarterback situation with the loss of Elyja," said Ward. "So that's the biggest thing we're working on, but they've had an outstanding summer. We've put them through the ringer as far as 7-on-7 and competition, and as younger guys they've handled it well."

Part of the offensive load will also be picked up by C.J. Landrum at tight end, but his biggest impact will be on the defensive side. Through two varsity seasons Landrum has racked up twenty sacks, ten in each campaign. As a junior he increased quarterback hurries to 43 from 29 as a sophomore.

"I know on-field play he's going to do his job, he's going to you know command a lot of attention," Ward stated. "The biggest thing for him, when he does get that attention, is just playing through it and leading other guys and encouraging those other guys to make plays."

Many of the plays will have to be hard-nosed. The Bearcats are the outlier in their conference as an air-it-out unit. Every other team, save for Polk County who has a new coach, is run-oriented if not almost exclusive. To prepare, Ward loaded his non-conference schedule with similar teams.

"The biggest thing is preseason and the non-conference schedule," he explained. "We know what teams are going to present, so we have teams like Mountain Heritage that are going to run the ball primarily, West likes to run the ball as well, North is going to have a lot of ability to run the ball too."

While Hendersonville still had a great 2022, finishing second in the Mountain Foothills Conference, they failed to sweep the county rivalries for the first time since 2019. While that's fun fodder for the socials, it wasn't a rallying cry during the summer.

"We try not to worry about it," Ward shrugged. "It was a good game, they were the better team that night, but coming into this year it's a different season."

The Bearcats open the season with a road trip to North Henderson, before hosting West Henderson then completing the rivalry tour by going to East Henderson.

 

STORY & PHOTO COURTESY OF ABC 13 WLOSHendersonville returns cadre of talented skill players for 2023 | WLOS