Seniors pace Mustangs turnaround
By Charles Burney
MDJ Sports Writer
K ennesaw Mountain football’s
Class of 2023 has brought the
program to new and unprecedented
KICKOFF ‘22 59
keeping you
AT THE topgYaOURme OF
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• Orthopaedics
• Sports Medicine
• Spine and Joint
• Hand and Foot
• Limb Lengthening
• Deformity
• Trauma Care
• Physiatry
• MRI
• Surgery Center
• Physical Therapy
• Workers’ Compensation
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heights.
From 2016 to 2019 , the Mustangs
compiled an 8-30 record,
which included a winless
season.
Senior linebacker Evan Duke
said he knows how sour the
perception and irrelevance
around the team has been.
“I’ve seen how bad everyone’s
j ust dogged us, thinking
we were just terrible, or
whatever,” Duke said.
Now, the Mustangs enter
2022 ranked 9 3rd in the Max-
Preps preseason high school
football top 100.
Duke, along with fellow seniors
quarterback Cayman
Prangley, tight end Earl K yle,
offensive lineman Connor Lew
and linebacker Ethan V oltaire,
were a part of this winless team.
They witnessed the highs and
the lows of that year and became
a tight-knit group.
“They all played in middle
school together,” Mustangs
coach Caleb Carmean said.
“They played together in sixth,
seventh and eighth grade. And
then they just kind of rolled in
as freshmen, and we played a
lot of them early on.”
The experience they gained
as freshmen would be invaluable,
laying the foundation for
the Mustangs’ current success.
They were a major factor
in changing the team’s entire
mindset. Even with an 0-4 start
to the 2020 season, they would
win four of the last five games,
defeating region opponents
Lassiter, South Cobb, Wheeler
and O sborne to clinch the
program’s first playoff berth.
With much more playing time,
Prangley threw for 730 yards
and eight touchdowns while
compiling 178 yards rushing.
Running back TJ Jenkins led
the county in rushing with
1173 yards and 13 touchdowns.
They traveled to Woodstock
and met River Ridge in their
first postseason game. They
would lose 35-34 in a back-offorth
game of attrition.
“The mood of the team was disappointment
because that team
was loaded with competitors
who expected to win,” Carmean
said. “And that game helped us
to understand just how important
every detail was in order to
win the big games.”
In 2021, the Mustangs took
the next step, posting a program
best 9 -1 regular season
record and they would beat
Lanier at home in the first
round of the playoffs. They
went from 10 losses to 10 wins
in two years.
The coach and players said
this quick turnaround has been
a highlight of their lives and
the results of hard work and
dedication to the system. The
10-2 record has also exponentially
raised their expectations
as a team.
Many of the seniors had their
best seasons yet. Prangley had
1,882 passing yards and 24 touchdowns
with four interceptions,
adding seven rushing touchdowns.
Duke posted 75 tackles
and two interceptions. V oltaire
added 9 2 tackles and 4.5 sacks.
“Making the playoffs for the
first time ever as sophomores
in school history was huge.
And then last year hosting two
playoff games, winning our
region, you know, all these
things are first time things
that you know, this place that
cares about. It’s never been
done,” Carmean said. “So it’s
a huge compliment to the seniors
and their buy-in and
their commitment and (their
ability of) staying with us and
sticking true.”
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