GRC Football hosts multi-state competition

Published 11:00 am Thursday, July 24, 2025

July tends to be a quiet time for George Rogers Clark High School sports. 

However, as was evident on Monday, July 21, there are always exceptions to the rule. 

At the school location on 2745 Boonesboro Road, nearly 20 teams – including those coming from Ohio – arrived to take part in the Battle on Boonesboro 7-on-7 and Big Man Challenge. 

“It’s good just to get people here in Winchester buying things, supporting local businesses,and competing,” said GRC Offensive Coordinator Jordan Ray. “I’d like to thank our administration for putting it on….[and] our GRC football boosters.” 

Both 7-on-7 drills and Big Man Challenges, sometimes called linemen’s challenges, are commonplace for high school squads during the summer. 

The latter featured both offensive and defensive linemen taking part in a number of strength-related exercises, including the tire flip. 

From GRC, incoming senior Colton Johns was one of several participants. 

“It’s all about grit…we’re just pushing through and working as hard as we can,” he said. “It’ll grow us closer as a group [and] make sure we’re all brothers here.” 

The 7-on-7 drill, focused on passing concepts, strategies, and techniques took place on both the GRC football and baseball field, as well as the grassy area in between. 

One of the teams visiting was Sayre High School, defending KHSAA Class 1A state champion. 

The team is led by head coach Chad Pennington, who starred at quarterback for Marshall University before a long NFL career with the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. 

“What we’re looking for is [making] sure that we’re detailed in our route running and that we’re communicating on defense and just trying to get a feel for each other,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of new players…and young players that now have to step up and play in key roles.” 

Ray added that seeing such development was a key aspect of the day. 

“It’s [having] reps that we can’t match in practice,” he said. “You get to come out here and compete for six hours and play teams that are just as good [if] not better than your players, and it makes us better in the long run.” 

Along with Sayre and GRC, schools present included Fleming County, Harrison County, Frederick Douglass, Lewis County, Southwestern, Prestonsburg, Rockcastle County, DuPont Manual, Estill County, and both Anderson and Ironton from Ohio.

Ironton finished as 7-on-7 champions for the second consecutive year, with the Cards, Harrison County, Frederick Douglass, and DuPont Manual also finishing highly. 

Following the day’s conclusion, some final thoughts were left in a post on the team’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GRCHSfootballcards. 

“Thank you to all the teams for coming out today and participating in this event. We look forward to continuing to grow this event to be the biggest event in the state of Kentucky!” it stated.