South Warren junior quarterback Gavin Spurrier (center) takes a snap during a scrimmage Thursday against Russellville at Rhea Stadium in Russellville.

South Warren is undergoing change in a couple of ways this fall.

Along with moving up to Class 5A and joining Bowling Green and Greenwood in District 2, the Spartans are changing their offensive identity for the first time in the young program’s history.

South Warren has built its reputation around an offense with a heavy read-option influence and turning athletes into quarterbacks. Now with junior Gavin Spurrier starting at QB, the Spartans will be throwing the ball much more without nearly the dual-threat presence it’s held in the past.

“I think smart programs and smart coaches adapt to the personnel they have,” South Warren coach Brandon Smith said. “We’ve got different personnel than we’ve had in the past. We’re able to do some things better than we used to not be able to do and there’s some things we used to do that we’re not as good at. You adapt and the objective is to move the ball and score. With what we’ve got, I think we’ll have more production through the air.”

South Warren returns plenty of experience, but not in the sense where those players were asked to be “the guy” last year. The most reliable experience may come where South Warren is changing the most: the passing game.

Seniors Greg Byrd, Preston Sparkman and Cody Eblen and juniors Caleb Lloyd and Cameron Harrison all return as either receivers or tight end options for the Spartans’ new quarterback.

Spurrier is a 6-foot-3 QB who is the son of Western Kentucky quarterbacks coach Steve Spurrier Jr. and grandson of 1966 Heisman trophy winner and national champion coach Steve Spurrier.

Smith saw that chemistry click in a scrimmage last week at Russellville when his offense was able to zip the ball up and down the field with ease.

“There’s six to seven guys who are coordinated enough to run and catch,” Smith said. “Really, you don’t get that a lot in high school. Those guys have done a good job making the quarterback look good. When you’ve got someone who can read the coverage and throw the ball on time, then you can have an effective passing game. You’ve got to have both. You can’t have one and not have the other and that’s a big part of it.”

Christian Winn will start at running back behind an all new offensive line. Sophomore Colt Jackson, junior Patrick Wilson and seniors Cooper Barr and JoTavien Bunton are the top four linemen while the team shuffles through who will start early in place of the injured Kenton Blick.

“We’ve got a couple of new players and they have really showed themselves throughout the summer,” Sparkman said. “I think our offense is going to do really good.”

Defensively, Sparkman and Jacob Lacey, a four-star defensive tackle who recently committed to Notre Dame, anchor the defensive line. Eblen, Clayton Bush, Pete Cross and Rowdy Shea all return with experience at linebacker. Cross was the team’s second-leading tackler last year with 81 stops.

“We have all the pieces to be a very good defense,” Lacey said. “We have players who return who have played in big games, so it’s all going to come down to who is going to want it more in games and being the smarter player.”

The school’s surge in student enrollment that has pushed its classification up twice in the last three years has produced a high graduation rate. In the last two seasons, 35 of South Warren’s 40 graduated football players either started or were significant contributors off the bench. Those players were essential in a 2015 undefeated Class 4A state championship run and a 9-3 run that ended in last year’s regional finals at Franklin-Simpson.

Typically, that turnover might suggest a rebuilding year is due for most schools, but not at South Warren, Smith said.

“I think we’ve got a group of guys that want to be good,” Smith said. “I know that it seems like a common statement, but really, it’s not. It’s uncommon. We have some guys that want to be good who will spend time on it and it’s important to them. Any time you’ve got that, then you can work with it. We have some physical guys by nature. When you combine the two, you’ve always got a chance. You’ve got a shot.”

2017 South Warren schedule

8/18 – Hopkinsville

8/26 – Warren Central at WKU

9/1 – Franklin-Simpson

9/8 – at Central Hardin

9/15 – Grayson County

9/22 – Barren County

9/29 – Greenwood

10/6 – at Ravenwood (Brentwood, Tenn.)

10/20 – at Bowling Green

10/27 – at Owensboro Catholic