Crowd Pleasers - Chad Dennis

When Matt Brown took over as the Oldham County football coach he knew one thing for sure—his offense would be in good hands. That's because Brown inherited one of the top quarterbacks in Class 5A, senior Chad Dennis. "It's always good to have someone with quarterbacking experience on the field, because with quarterbacks there's always that question, will he have pocket presence? Will he worry about taking a hit?" Brown says. "Well Chad's got all that, and he's very poised in the pocket." Last season the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Dennis finished fifth in 5A in passing (171 yards per game). He completed 175 of 331 passes for 2,223 yards with 18 touchdowns, but also had 21 interceptions. The latter was a focus of both Brown and Dennis in the offseason. "Last year I didn't do a lot of reading the defenses. We threw a lot downfield," Dennis says. "This year there's more single reads and not as many options to throw to. This year there's a single read, then if it's not there, it's checking down." So far so good. According to Brown during 7-on-7 summer play Dennis had just one INT. "So he's really come along," Brown says. Last year the Colonels came around late. They went 3-7 in the regular season, then won their first two playoff games before falling to Owensboro in the state quarterfinals. Can we expect a similar run this season? "I like coach Brown, I like what he's doing," Dennis says. "We have some good speed and a lot of playmakers, I think if we can get the ball to them we can win a lot." Win or lose, Brown is comfortable with the ball in Dennis's hands. "He's one of the best kids I've seen in a long time," Brown says. "He works really hard and does everything you ask him to do."