Boyle County and Mercer County to play starting in 2017

Boyle & Mercer will play week 10 in 2017 (Mercer) & 2018 (Boyle).

Friendship aside, it is time for Chuck Smith and David Buchanan to go head to head.

The coaches believe it is in the best interest of both programs and their players to play this game.

They expect this to be a great week 10 game with a big crowd & a playoff type atmosphere.

I like it!

I anticipate both programs will improve and improve and this may be a top notch Intra-Class Rivalry in a few years

Man, the battles of the last few district games we had against Mercer in 4A were intense. Glad that they will return to play each other.

I had a feeling this game would come back after Coach Buchanan took over at Mercer County. I never felt like Coach Buchanan and Coach Smith had reservations about playing each other like Coach Pardue and Coach Smith seemed to.

IMO this is a game that should be played every season. Big gate and it means a lot to both communities. Boyle County and Mercer County kids play against each other in pretty much every sport at every level starting at around 6-8 years of age. It's super weird for them to not play varsity football against each other.

I had a feeling this game would come back after Coach Buchanan took over at Mercer County. I never felt like Coach Buchanan and Coach Smith had reservations about playing each other like Coach Pardue and Coach Smith seemed to.

 

IMO this is a game that should be played every season. Big gate and it means a lot to both communities. Boyle County and Mercer County kids play against each other in pretty much every sport at every level starting at around 6-8 years of age. It's super weird for them to not play varsity football against each other.

We are doing the right thing, but I am not crazy about Chuck being on the other sideline. He has been a very good friend since 83 and when we coached together at Mercer.

One good thing about being old is I have been down this road several times. I had great respect for the Rebels & Hogs , Coach Rall & Coach Johnson when we played them. I had to play my old boss from Paris, Roger Gruneisen, when he went to our cross town rival at Bourbon & I became the head coach for the Greyhounds.

The guys in Flatwoods, Russell HS, became very good friends, especially Coach McGlone & Coach Morriss. I always wanted to win in Flatwoods more than any other place, but had tremendous respect for them as people and their football program. In fact, I really enjoyed the challenge of preparing for a great staff & program. Those guys did a great job and we had some wonderful battles.... just too many were close games and we were on the wrong end of them. But, that did make each time we were able to win more valuable. And, their program pushed our program to get better across the board in regards to schemes, how we practice in the spring & preseason, game planning, fundamentals, etc. The Royals became a much better football program because of the Red Devils and their staff.

My HS coach (Larry French) & my dad (John Buchanan) were head coaches at both Boyle & Mercer. Sort of crazy how things turn out and now the Titans will play the Rebels and the guy on the other sideline will be one of the first guys I ever coached with on the same staff.... who happened to go on and win 5 state titles. He has come a long way from when we were marking the fields on Thursday nights at 10 pm & eating pizza with Coach French, Jack Robertson, & the Tatum brothers. Those were great days.... but I don't want to mark the field anymore. Lol

This game is good for HS football in our area. Our kids and fans will be excited about it and the atmosphere will be great. Today was a big positive for both programs.

Glad to see that these two teams will face off again. I have been a stat guy for Boyle for 23 years now and have a son that attends Mercer Middle School. Plus I am the Asst. Mercer Middle School Soccer Coach, so this will be kind of weird to watch. I will be Cheering for both teams and be watch the best two Coaches in the State of Kentucky ( just my opinion ).

Coach B., I think, has one of the best Offensive minds in football and really prepares he team for what the other defense will bring. Coach Smith is just that, Coach Smith. He studies and prepares he defense like no other Coach in the State. This will be a great series and looking forward to this game in 2017. I just wish we were playing right now.