2026 Football Preview: Green Bobcats

FRANKLIN FURNACE — Green Bobcats coach Shane Colvin is playing the numbers.

No, Colvin isn’t playing the illegal three numbers mafia lottery game that was popular during the last century. His numbers are the total on his football roster.

“This year it’s been a lot better. We’ve been in the weight room consistently with 18 guys, 19 guys. We did a whole lot more 7 on 7s,” said Colvin. “We’ve had really good leaders.”

The Bobcats operated with less than 20 players for most of last season, but this year’s roster is currently at 24 and could grow.

“We keep getting better numbers every day. Small school like this, some kids aren’t going to come out until school starts. But the numbers are better. It makes it easier to practice. You can see a lot more formations,” said Colvin.

There has been a lot of youth in the additional numbers on this year’s team, but there is some talent that goes with it and Colvin is pleased with what he’s seen so far.

“This team is young, but they’re very coachable and we’ve been able to do some things this year that we didn’t do last year,” said Colvin. “They have a lot of heart. They’re wanting to get better. There are some days we say practice is over and they say, ‘No. Let’s keep going. We need to get better.’”

The Bobcats are going to switch to a spread offense this season due to a larger group of skilled players.

“We’re going to spread the ball out and try to get the ball to our skilled players and try to get some one-on-one opportunities,” said Colvin.

A trio of candidates are vying for the quarterback position that includes senior Gabe Blevins, sophomore Elijah Evans and freshman Liam McGuire. Colvin said each player brings a different set of skills to the position.

“They’re all pretty close,” said Colvin. “Gabe is more athletic. He can do a lot more things. Gabe started at quarterback his freshman year. They all can throw the ball.

“Elijah can play many different positions, too. Liam still has some growing to do. He has a lot of ability but he’s just a freshman.”

The running job will be filled by senior Alex Hagan, sophomore Leland Blevins and freshman Preston Bradley.

“Those will be the main three right there,” Colvin said. “We have some really good runners. Hopefully, the running game opens up the passing game.”

The wide receiving corps will consist of sophomore Luke Kimbler, freshman Ayeson Brown, Gabe Blevins, sophomore Kaiden Parsons, sophomore Kaleb Mutter, senior Noah McMackin.

“My wideouts are young, but they’re got a lot of talent. They got a lot stronger in the offseason. We got some seniors who came in and played this year. They’re very athletic and helped out a lot. I’m really excited where it goes,” said Colvin.

Junior Kamden Henderson, sophomores Hunter Moore returns to play center and Collin Hagans guard for the Bobcats. Freshmen Kyler McCallister, Carter Hughes and Micah Maynard can all play guard and tackle.

“We have a young line but it’s a strong line. We’re going to use some of our skill players on the line, too. We’ll move them in and out of the line to make it stronger when we need to run the ball.”

“We lost some linemen, but we also picked up a few, so we’ll be alright.”

On the defensive side, the Bobcats will mix up their fronts with three and four down linemen depending on what the offense runs.

Hughes, Hagans, McMackin, and senior Alex Spangenberg will all be candidates to play either tackle or end.

“Noah McMackin can play linebacker or anywhere across the front line,” said Colvin.

The linebacking corps will be made up of McMackin in the middle along with Hagen and Blevins. The outside linebackers are Preston Bradley, Blevins and Brown.

Heading up the secondary will be Kimbler, McGuire, Evans and Brown at the cornerback spots with safety jobs coming from either Parsons, Mutter, Blevins, McGuire and Evans.

The kicking game will have either Maynard or Blevins doing the placements with Hagen and Blevins battling to be the punter.

Colvin expects the Southern Ohio Conference race to be competitive.

“We’ve got some teams that are going to surprise. It should be more competitive than last year,” said Colvin.