Another year older - and hopefully a few wins better.

The Western Hills football team and third-year coach Don Miller are looking to improve on a one-win 2007-08 season.

The Wolverines have an open week to start the season but hit the ground running with their first game on the road against a district foe, Grant County, Sept. 5.

Last season, the Wolverines' roster was dominated by underclassmen with only four seniors. Again this season, Miller only has four seniors, but the other 21 returning underclassmen now have a year of varsity high school football experience under their belts.

Miller believes that experience, paired with a few changes, might be enough to get WHHS its first district title.

"We want to win the district championship," Miller said. "It's something we keep on chipping away at.

"I think every game we were close with Henry and Spencer and North Oldham," he added. "That's something the school needs and we're trying to push for that first district championship and then we'll see where we go from there in the playoffs."

Even without a district title, the Wolverines will still make the playoffs no matter what due to last season's realignment that put WHHS into a four-team district, which automatically puts the team into the playoffs each season.

The first change the Wolverines made was to their offense. Last season Western Hills averaged only 8.4 points per game against an opponent average of 32.5. To get more points on the board, Miller has put in a Jet style offense.

A Jet offense has roots in the classic single wing offense and utilizes motion before the snap that allows an offense to run the same play or similar plays from multiple formations. This keeps the defense off guard and unable to load up on one side of the line or the other.

"Offensively we're going to do a lot of things differently," Miller said. "We took on an aspect of the Jet offense. There will always be someone who will be in motion. That should give (quarterback) Dylan (Curry) a little more time since people will have to honor movement due to our speed in those slot positions."

Another thing that plagued the Wolverines last season was an inconsistent offensive line.

Senior Jacob Rocke, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound guard will lead an improved O-line this season that includes juniors Bubba Weber (6-foot-4, 290 pounds) and William Riddle (6-foot-3, 286 pounds) at the two tackle positions and Justin Perry, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound junior, at the other guard spot. Freshman Chistian Wilkins, who is only 5-foot-8 but weighs 240 pounds, will be the center this season.

Miller said he has already seen big improvements in the line from last season in the team's first scrimmage against Casey County last week where Curry wasn't sacked a single time.

Behind that improved line, Curry should improve on his 45 percent completion percentage and nine touchdown passes from last season. But with the new-found time from the new offense and better O-line, comes the opportunity to make more poor decisions. Curry tossed 12 interceptions last season.

"Dylan, being a quarterback and running the show, we will have to have a better year out of him and just being smart with the ball," Miller said of the 6-foot-6, 220-pound QB. "He tries to force a lot of things and tries to make things happen and he just has to do a better job of making the right reads and doing the right things. He'll be a huge factor this season."

Senior Darius Reed, junior Josh Preston and senior Cam Lee will also make a splash offensively this season.

Preston, a 5-foot-8 running back, returns this season after tearing his ACL last year. Miller says he is doing well this preseason.

Reed should play a big role in the new offensive scheme.

"We're looking for big things out of him," Miller said of the 5-foot-11, 150-pound slot receiver. "He has a nice set of hands and with us running the Jet, it also gives us the opportunity to give him the ball on the run."

Lee, who is moving into a different role this season " from full-time kicker to receiver and tight end " on top of his normal kicking duties, is also key in the Wolverine offense.

"He has a great set of hands," Miller said. "He is also a lot stronger in the kicking area. His field goals will be an advantage for us because if we get inside the 25 or 20 (yard line) and we get to fourth down, I know it's going to be three points."

Senior Josh Bell, who was third on the team in receiving last season with seven catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns, will also benefit from the offensive changes.

Defensively, Miller has seen an improvement from last season. He said that his team consistently has gotten "11 hats" to the ball, something that was often lacking in 2007.

Something that will help both offense and defense is speed. Miller says his team has plenty of it, thanks to some help from WHHS track coach Christian Adair.

"We have a lot more speed this year," Miller said. "We've worked really hard in the offseason. Coach Adair has come in and helped us. It has helped us with our speed. I have been working on strength as well. We're a lot stronger and a lot quicker and things look like they are heading in the right direction."

The Wolverines failed to win a single district game last season. Miller believes that the experience and changes this season will get his team over the hump and be able to put some better numbers in the win column this season.

Western Hills Football Roster

No. Name Class Pos.
1 Chris Pugh 10 Rb/db
2 Josh Preston 11 Rb/db
3 Cam Lee 12 K/te/de
4 Jalen Adair 10 Wr/db
5 Darius Reed 12 Wr/db
6 Bobby Clay 10 Wr/db
7 Arie Slone 10 Qb/wr/lb
8 Andrew Hewitt 11 Wr/db
10 Zach Bowman 9 Qb/db
11 Dylan Curry 11 Qb/de
12 Randall Stratton 9 Wr/de
13 Josh Bell 12 Wr/lb
14 Aaron Faris 9 Wr/de
20 Jacob Sharp 10 Rb/lb/db
22 Adam Aldbhaney 9 Rb/lb
23 Austin Smith 9 Wr/db
24 Jacob Cooke 11 Wr/de
25 Cody Hecker 11 Te/de
26 Eric Coubert 9 Wr/db
31 David Noble 9 Rb/lb
32 Quentin Martin 10 Rb/lb
33 Joshua Slone 9 Wr/db
34 Nick Cutter 9 Rb/lb
35 Devon Rowland 9 Rb/db
40 Justin Wright 11 Rb/lb
45 Daniel Noble 9 Rb/lb/de
51 Jacob Rocke 12 Ol/de
52 Dylan Hanvey 10 Ol/dl
53 Steven Owens 9 Ol/dl
54 Justin Polsgrove 11 Rb/lb
55 Justin Perry 11 Ol/de
56 Ken Holbrook 10 Ol/dl
57 Anthony Gibson 9 Ol/lb
60 Kyle Hammons 10 Ol/de
66 Christian Wilkins 9 Ol/dl
70 Darrell Lewis 10 Ol/dl
72 Bubba Weber 11 Ol/dl
73 Jacob Johnson 9 Ol/dl
74 William Riddle 11 Dl/ol
78 Gabe Loman 9 Ol/dl
79 Rex Sizemore 11 Ol/dl
80 Logan Curry 9 K/te/dl

WHHS Football Schedule
Aug. 29 Open
Sept. 5 @Grant County 7:30 PM
Sept. 12 @Franklin County 7:30 PM*
Sept. 19 West Jessamine 7:30 PM
Sept. 26 @Spencer County 7:30 PM
Oct. 3 East Jessamine 7:30 PM*
Oct. 10 Henry County 7:30 PM
Oct. 17 @Frankfort 7:30 PM
Oct. 24 @North Oldham 7:30 PM
Oct. 31 Lafayette 7:30 PM*
Nov. 7 @Anderson County 7:30 PM
BOLD - district games
* - games broadcasted on 1490 AM
beginning with pregame at 7 p.m.