Harrison County/#4(3A) Belfry Pike County Bowl Predictions Aug 24

[All State Baseball]

Kickoff is at 8:30 PM

 

Belfry should roll with ease

[Watusi]

Unusual circumstances result in Belfry and Harrison County playing each other two years in a row in the PCB.

 

Belfry typically starts slow and improves as the season wears on. They will lose early games sometimes and learn from them. An example would be the 18-0 loss to Boyd Co to start the 2003 season and then they went on to win the 2A championship later that year.

 

On paper the Pirates may be the better team, but don't count Harrison County out.

[ATLCat]

Unusual circumstances result in Belfry and Harrison County playing each other two years in a row in the PCB.

 

Belfry typically starts slow and improves as the season wears on. They will lose early games sometimes and learn from them. An example would be the 18-0 loss to Boyd Co to start the 2003 season and then they went on to win the 2A championship later that year.

 

On paper the Pirates may be the better team, but don't count Harrison County out.

 

Is the Tug River flooding!?!??!?! I see a ton of sand bags being tossed around in here.

 

Belfry may not look overly polished on offense in this game and may miss a few tackles, but anything less than a 4 TD win would surprise me.

[Watusi]

I've been surprised before, especially early on.

[Commander 25]

Belfry will roll in this one. 42-14

[Watusi]

Belfry should be about a 4td favorite. This is a game where you hope everybody gets some good reps, nobody gets hurt and you learn something from it. Early in the season lots of guys are playing up for the first time and you are still sometimes looking for somebody to step up and take ownership of a starting role.

 

I will be watching the FB position to see how much Hatfield plays and how he does. Having depth here will allow Carr to pull double duty at FB/RB.

I hope we see Warren throwing a lot and hope to see him run some triple option where I think he has the skills to excell.

The defensive line is a spot where we have some newcomers, it will be interesting to see who steps up there.

DE's and LB's - We have the potential to be really dominant here, lots of talent and experience at those positions.

[ATLCat]

I love the way Robinson plays, and you like having a guy with two years of starting experience return, but I don't think Robinson at HB is the answer for Belfry if Carr can prove he is focused and willing to run disciplined. Carr is one of the best athletes on the team and at his size and speed he could be a truly breakout player, and at the worst give Belfry the threat of a HR back like Dixon last year. The one thing Robinson definitely gives you are hands to catch the ball. Dari just doesn't have the physical stature to be the other HB. If Belfry does ultimately go to a backfield of Carr, Johnson, and Hatfield I would like to see at the very least Dari getting more reps at SE to add depth/speed at that position. Robinson is an asset on defense, so if he gets bumped from HB I don't think it is imperative to switch him to SE, as he will be a more than capable backup in case of injury.

 

It is almost scary to think about, but as good as this Belfry team is expected to be, you have the potential to return all your starting skill players on offense next year save Messer.

 

Speaking of Messer, I am really hoping Belfry uses him like the big Aaron Chapman kid 5 or 6 years ago. He is great at TE and more than adequate as a blocker, but I love the idea of lining him up at SE on 1st and Goal from the 7 and throwing a jump ball on the fade.Just the threat of a 6-6 Messer at SE against a 5'9 CB is worth showing to force the opposing coaching staff to gameplan.

 

Haywood's traditional 5-2 has in essence been more of a 3-4 the past few years and if you consider it such and Messer is a LB...I think you can argue Belfry may have one of the Top 5 LB Units in the state. The Pirates should be overflowing with depth in the secondary, Thacker is a fantastic DB, Robinson and Sani are very good as well. The interior DL, as you pointed out, is the only question mark I see on defense entering the season, and from the reports form the Hazard scrimmage they just dominated the defending 1A State Champs who have an explosive offense.

 

Adding the Francisco kid who decided to return to playing football could be huge. This kid showed a lot of promise as an underclassman and logged substantial minutes. If nothing else you just added a utility player who can add depth at 4 different spots (SE, RB, Safety, LB) and a more than adequate Special Teams piece.

[Watusi]

Agree 100% on Messer, he has so much potential and can be used in so many ways.

 

And Warren if anything is underrated. He may be the best QB in KY that nobody has heard of. I understand he performed very well at several camps this summer.

 

One other positive I didn't mention is the kicking game. Carr looked tremendous kicking in the scrimmage, his leg is much stronger. I am not sure who the punter will be, hopefully we won't need one very often

[ATLCat]

Sani has the potential to be a living, breathing definition of a Triple Option QB. He can throw the ball, he can handle the ball by hiding it and making the pitch, he can keep it and be very effective running. I am very excited to see what this season brings with him. Belfry has had guys who could do one or two things well, but not all three. Elkins could pass and play fake with the best of them, Williams could run and handle the ball, Daniel Wright was a great runner, Thomas Varney definitely could run and was an average passer yet he was out of position, Paul Howard was an above average passer and great at making the pitch, Casey Lequire could pass, Jonathan Wright could chuck it everywhere out of the gun... but it has been a loooong time since they had that guy who could do it all within Haywood's bread and butter offense.

 

In addition, Haywood has evolved over the past decade as his teams have seemingly gotten smaller and quicker. He has became very skilled at maximizing a "power" game out of smaller backs who really don't have the ability to run over top of you. Even his philosophy on the OL has changed as you rarely see the old 6'2 300+ guy who is there to occupy blockers. His teams are all about quickness and timing it seems. Guards pull, they have quicker feet to beat defenders to the spot, and if one guy misses an assignment on defense and gets sealed out of position the backs are quick enough to expose it before they can recover.

 

Even if they were starting a Sophomore out of necessity I'd still feel good about this offense this season, with the skill set of Sani and the pieces around hm that are tailor made to run the flexbone I am downright nervous with anticipation to see what it turns into.

[KY Thorobred]

Harrison County has to have one of the toughest schedules in the state...Belfry, Scott County, Highlands, Covington Catholic, Bourbon County just to name a few.

 

Good Luck Breds!

 

Belfry 44

Harrison County 12

[Watusi]

Harrison County has to have one of the toughest schedules in the state...Belfry, Scott County, Highlands, Covington Catholic, Bourbon County just to name a few.

 

Good Luck Breds!

 

Belfry 44

Harrison County 12

No doubt. Their district schedule is killer, especially for a team on the rebuild. Throw in Scott Co, Belfry and Bourbon and they are facing a murders row of sorts.

 

They should have had Pikeville in the Pike County Bowl last year and Belfry this year but they agreed to play Belfry both years because of a scheduling snafu that was created last season when Franklin County backed out of their agreement to play at the last minute.

 

I was impressed with the Breds play and never quit attitude in the game at Belfry last season. Is the QB back this year that played last season? What do they have coming back? With the coaching change, what type of offense and defense are they running this season?

[SLINK]

Belfry 41-12.

[Watusi]

Ky Thoroughbred, or anyone else familiar with Harrison County, can you tell us what to expect from Harrison Co this season? With the coaching changes, what type of offense and defense are they running? Who are the players to watch on this years squad?