article 1A Notebook 10/9 - Crunch Time

The district battles are underway. The playoff picture is starting to take shape as teams close in on district titles. In this week's notebook we will focus on the key district game results from last week, this Friday's top battles and the impact of all on seeding and the playoffs.

Last Week's Key District Results

#2 Kentucky Country Day 42 #7 Louisville Holy Cross 37 - This game was the 1A Game of the Week and in the end it lived up to its billing. Country Day looked to be on their way to a clearcut win but a fourth quarter barrage by Holy Cross got them within one score before Country Day held on for the big win over their district rival. This district includes the Frankfort Panthers so there are still some key games to be played, but Country Day certainly holds the upper hand on finishing #1 in the three team District 3 with this win.

#8 Paris 13 Nicholas County 6 - The Paris Greyhounds did not expect this tough of a battle from Nicholas County, but District 5 has proven over the past few years that no one should take any opponent too lightly. Paris held on for a hard fought, down to the wire win that put them firmly in control of winning the top seed in District 5.

Bracken County 45 Bishop Brossart 26 - The Bracken County Polar Bears continue to rack up wins. The margin of victory in this one was more than most people expected. This big loss offset Brossart's big win over Nicholas County two weeks ago and put Brossart's hopes for the top seed in the district into desperation mode.

This Friday's Top District Face Offs

#1 Beechwood vs. #6 Ludlow - It is the biggest game for the Ludlow Panthers in perhaps 10 years, maybe longer. Ludlow takes their undefeated record to Ft. Mitchell for a district showdown against the top ranked Beechwood Tigers. Running QB Justin Blackburn has been the top player in 1A this season. He will face his stiffest test by far going against the Tigers defense, which is coming off a shutout of Bellevue. The winner of this game will almost surely be the top seed from District 4 in the playoffs and get home field advantage for a potential playoff rematch. For game discussion, here is a link to the predictions thread: http://bluegrasspreps.com/ky-football-high/1a-1-beechwood-354880.html

#7 Louisville Holy Cross at Frankfort - This will be the district opener for Frankfort and a must win for Holy Cross. A loss here puts Holy Cross into the 3 seed and a first round playoff battle against the loser of the Beechwood / Ludlow game. That would be a very tough first round playoff game. For the same reason, Frankfort needs to win to avoid that 3 seed and set up a district battle for the top seed next week against Kentucky Country Day.

Bishop Brossart at #8 Paris - A win by Paris and they are the top seed out of District 5. A win by Brossart, and they assure themselves of at least a tie for the top seed, with next week's game between Bracken County and Nicholas County determining the final standings. A Bracken County win and there is a three way tie. A Nicholas County win in two weeks over Bracken would make Brossart the district's #1 seed due to their head to head win over Paris. Bottom line - this game is for the district's top seed.

Campbellsville vs. Bethlehem - This game should determine the top seed out of District 2. These two teams are the top two teams in the district. If Bethlehem gets the upset win, they would need to beat Fort Knox next week to get the top seed in District 2 and avoid a three way tie for the top seed.

Big Non District Showdown

This is our 1A Game of the Week.

#3 Hazard at #4 Paintsville - The Paintsville Tigers are feeling a little overlooked in 1A. They started the season in the clear top 3 title favorites discussion with Beechwood and Hazard. An early season loss to a very good Hurricane WV team dropped the Tigers in the rankings and they have been stuck at #4 ever since. This week they finally get their chance to make some noise and storm back into the forefront of the title contender's discussion. Hazard appears to have made the big adjustments needed to stay on track following season ending injuries to the Smith brothers. This game will tell us if the current Bulldogs lineup has the stuff to make another run to the 1A title game. Here is a link to the game discussion thread on this one: http://bluegrasspreps.com/ky-football-high/1a-game-of-354814.html

Wrap Up

This week's games could set the playoff seedings for most of the districts in 1A ... or create tiebreaker scenarios and district top seed showdowns in the final week of district play next week. We can only wait and watch as Friday night unfolds and the results come in.

Another Excellent write up.

There's just too much to digest here.....amazing. Great work, VOR!

The Hazard/Paintsville match looks plenty enticing. Hazard's adjustment after losing key players has been really impressive and Paintsville has been machine-like rolling through its KY schedule. I think a close game flatters both schools and it looks to dead tight from the Calpreps prediction.

The Frankfort/Holy Cross game looks plenty intriguing as well. Frankfort has an accurate passer in Holt Hammons and a Mr Everything in DaJuan Davis who excels running and receiving. Frankfort lost several key interior linemen earlier this year. So this is a very good test for the Panthers against a good HC defense after a couple of games against weaker opponents.

And let the game match the excitement level already generated in NKY for Ludlow/Beechwood. Hope it is one for the ages! If the winner of that game looks like the 1 seed in District 4, will they get a bye in the first round of the playoffs, given there won't be a 4 seed in District 3? Emminence isn't participating this year.