1A #1 Beechwood vs. 1A #6 Ludlow

Who wins this highly anticipated district matchup? Can Ludlow shock the world? Will Beechwood dominate this district like always?

Ludlow in a upset Blackburn does his thing.

Beechwood 42-6

This is not the traditional Ludlow Panther team. Last year BW's junior varsity was better than Ludlow's varsity. Not true at all this year. I know Coach Rash will not allow the Tigers to under estimate this opponent. Blackburn is perhaps best running back BW will face to date. Unfortunately, he has to play QB so keying on him becomes much easier. If Ludlow can make a few stops early and perhaps score themselves quickly, this game could be a two touchdown win for BW. Ludlow's defensive weakness is against the pass and they have not faced any passing offense like the Tigers. Could be a big aerial night for Burch, if so, Ludlow could have a long night.

This is not the traditional Ludlow Panther team. Last year BW's junior varsity was better than Ludlow's varsity. Not true at all this year. I know Coach Rash will not allow the Tigers to under estimate this opponent. Blackburn is perhaps best running back BW will face to date. Unfortunately, he has to play QB so keying on him becomes much easier. If Ludlow can make a few stops early and perhaps score themselves quickly, this game could be a two touchdown win for BW. Ludlow's defensive weakness is against the pass and they have not faced any passing offense like the Tigers. Could be a big aerial night for Burch, if so, Ludlow could have a long night.

Williamsburg was a pretty good passing offense.

This is the best Ludlow team since the 1999 Ludlow team imo. In 1999 that Ludlow team gave Beechwood the toughest game they had all playoffs as it was 0 to 0 in the 4th quarter before Beechwoods depth wore them out. I don't think this Ludlow team is as good as the 99 Ludlow team but I don't think this Beechwood team is as good as the 99 Beechwood team.

It will come down to the line play on offense for Ludlow and their defense. For Ludlow this will be the best defense and offense they faced this year. Unfortunately this will not be the best defense or offense Beechwood has faced since they played teams like Covcath and Simon Kenton. So they are a little more battle tested for this game.

I'm hoping like heck Ludlow can pull it out, because they been fun to watch the 2 games I seen and are very good. I think Ludlow will make this a hard fought game. However I think I may like Ludlows chances better in a possibly rematch in the playoffs. I think just like the 99 team. After they get a taste of what Beechwood is like, that they will be more prepared for what they have to do in a possible rematch in the playoffs.

With that said I am looking forward to being there Friday rooting for Ludlow to pull it off!

Beechwood 42

Ludlow 20

Beechwood schedule will have them ready to play.

Ludlow 48 Beechwood 45. Going to be a shootout and the Panthers will win on the last play of the game on a long Blackburn TD run.

The shame of the situation is that, Yes, this is an exceptional Ludlow team, one that only comes along once in every 18 years in this case. A team like this, superior to Bellevue and Dayton, should be district champs - it should be their year to compete at the highest level of their division.

But no, Beechwood, a 2A/3A football program, housed in a 1A school, having a normal Beechwood season, is still probably superior to Ludlow, and will waltz to the District 4 championship, going through the motions, eating up four uncontentious games on their schedule and then heading deep into the post-season.

Don't get me wrong, they are playing within the rules that exist, and until something changes, will continue to "compete" in the cushy small school division, winning districts and regionals simply because they have a superior program and facilities.

At the next alignment NCC will probably drop back into Class 1A, giving the Tigers some degree of local competition, and furthering the misery of the River City Schools. With the development of our own athletic complex and continued increased interest in playing football here, we too might some day become contentious with the Beechwood Tigers, but its probably never going to happen for Dayton, Bellevue and Ludlow who have only playing for second place, and an annual thumping by Beechwood to look forward to. Farther down the road, they will again play second or third fiddle to the mid-major basketball programs housed in Class A schools. I guess its simply the nature of the beast. Ludlow deserves to be district champs. A win over Beechwood would accomplish this for them, but that's really asking a lot. Coach Willie Schlarman used to say that deserving has nothing to do with it. How true!

I have been around a lot of years, and have seen an overconfident Beechwood team lose to an underdog more than once. Doesn't happen often, but that's why they play the game. Looking forward to seeing Blackburn play.

That being said, I still believe the Tigers will roll.

Beechwood 35 Ludlow 14

I think Beechwood wins. Ill be there to check out this Blackburn kid!

Can't really fault BW for the fact that they were the largest 1A school and are now quite a bit larger than several 2A schools because when the alignment happened they were just that ....the largest 1A school.

I do not see any way they would still qualify for 1A in the next alignment if the same rules are applied.

Now on to the game at hand.....Ludlow can't play from behind all night. Their best situation would be to get a score early and put Beechwood on their heels. Easier said than done.

One other area Beechwood always seems to beat teams in are the special teams. Ludlow can't give BW any short fields, and they can't get field position flipped on them constantly. They will likely have to go 80 yards after each kickoff so they can't have any 3 and outs followed by a 25 yard net punt.

I think that Beechwood wins but not in the dominant way that some are thinking. I look for Ludlow to challenge them but will likely run out of gas due to depth. Would love to see the Panthers win though.

The shame of the situation is that, Yes, this is an exceptional Ludlow team, one that only comes along once in every 18 years in this case. A team like this, superior to Bellevue and Dayton, should be district champs - it should be their year to compete at the highest level of their division.

 

But no, Beechwood, a 2A/3A football program, housed in a 1A school, having a normal Beechwood season, is still probably superior to Ludlow, and will waltz to the District 4 championship, going through the motions, eating up four uncontentious games on their schedule and then heading deep into the post-season.

 

Don't get me wrong, they are playing within the rules that exist, and until something changes, will continue to "compete" in the cushy small school division, winning districts and regionals simply because they have a superior program and facilities.

 

At the next alignment NCC will probably drop back into Class 1A, giving the Tigers some degree of local competition, and furthering the misery of the River City Schools. With the development of our own athletic complex and continued increased interest in playing football here, we too might some day become contentious with the Beechwood Tigers, but its probably never going to happen for Dayton, Bellevue and Ludlow who have only playing for second place, and an annual thumping by Beechwood to look forward to. Farther down the road, they will again play second or third fiddle to the mid-major basketball programs housed in Class A schools. I guess its simply the nature of the beast. Ludlow deserves to be district champs. A win over Beechwood would accomplish this for them, but that's really asking a lot. Coach Willie Schlarman used to say that deserving has nothing to do with it. How true!

Ludlow has some things going on. If they keep their current varsity coach and they can keep enough of the younger players coming up, I don't look for their struggles to be nearly as consistent as in the past.

Dayton also has good talent coming up too, which will likely contribute to better teams in the future if the players remain. Either way, there's no argument that the smaller river city schools of NKY have been part of many struggles.

The shame of the situation is that, Yes, this is an exceptional Ludlow team, one that only comes along once in every 18 years in this case. A team like this, superior to Bellevue and Dayton, should be district champs - it should be their year to compete at the highest level of their division.

 

But no, Beechwood, a 2A/3A football program, housed in a 1A school, having a normal Beechwood season, is still probably superior to Ludlow, and will waltz to the District 4 championship, going through the motions, eating up four uncontentious games on their schedule and then heading deep into the post-season.

 

Don't get me wrong, they are playing within the rules that exist, and until something changes, will continue to "compete" in the cushy small school division, winning districts and regionals simply because they have a superior program and facilities.

 

At the next alignment NCC will probably drop back into Class 1A, giving the Tigers some degree of local competition, and furthering the misery of the River City Schools. With the development of our own athletic complex and continued increased interest in playing football here, we too might some day become contentious with the Beechwood Tigers, but its probably never going to happen for Dayton, Bellevue and Ludlow who have only playing for second place, and an annual thumping by Beechwood to look forward to. Farther down the road, they will again play second or third fiddle to the mid-major basketball programs housed in Class A schools. I guess its simply the nature of the beast. Ludlow deserves to be district champs. A win over Beechwood would accomplish this for them, but that's really asking a lot. Coach Willie Schlarman used to say that deserving has nothing to do with it. How true!

I am curious to know why you think Ludlow "deserves" to be district champs?