Young Pirates grew up in a hurry. This team has potential to be very, very good.

I'm calling for another Belfry/Bourbon showdown in the playoffs.

Harlan County had allowed -60 yards rushing through their first two games... Belfry popped them for 310 rushing!

Great win for the Pirates. Expected Harlan Co to win this one by a couple of scores.

Wow.. Harlan get caught sleeping or is Belfry just this good?

Wow.. Harlan get caught sleeping or is Belfry just this good?

 

I think Belfry is (or was) still a little bit of an unknown. They are extremely talented but have been breaking in some new players, especially on defense. I think Belfry winning football games isn't a surprise, but perhaps this win this early might catch a few folks off guard.

Color me surprised by the final.

I think Harlan was leading 12-7 at halftime.

Nice win for the Pirates!

Nice win for the Pirates; didn't expect this.

Belfry is basically playing with a rebuilt line and Front 7. They have 6 Freshmen playing significant minutes with three of them starting. Belfry is stupid good at the skill positions.. pound for pound possibly the best backfield in KY. Most Belfry fans expected the Pirates to be a very good team by November once they matured..but so far they are playing better thn expected and the Freshmen have been clutch. Harlan County is a legit team..but Belfry did things to them they haven't had done in two years.

First of all, Coal Miner's Memorial Stadium and the entire Harlan County High School campus are beautiful. I just cannot say enough about how impressed I was. I would love to see that place in the fall when the leaves have turned. The fanbase is large and loud and they were perfect hosts. It was a great experience and those folks know how to host a football game. The parking situation leaves a lot to be desired, but I would have walked from Whitesburg to see this game, and it would have been worth it.

 

Now for the game, it did not disappoint, what a battle. Going in I expected a good matchup between two well coached teams, but I honestly did not believe that my Pirates had enough experience to hang with the Black Bears for 4 quarters. I was wrong. Both teams were physical and talented, and both teams brought it pretty hard, but I was surprised that Belfry was the more physical of the two. The war on the line of scrimmage went to Belfry on both sides of the ball. Even though Belfry was young up front, they made up for it by playing with a level of intensity that exceeded that of Harlan County. Belfry was a little bigger up front, but I think the advantage there was that they were fresher in the 2nd half. Harlan County played more guys both ways and it was apparent that they wore down in the 2nd half and that was reflected in the stat sheet.

 

Much like the game last week against Somerset, I thought Belfry made the right adjustments at the half and it paid off big. The offensive and defensive lines were considered a weakness for this team early on, and most Pirate faithful expected to have to be patient while they developed into a cohesive unit. I have to say though, that those guys were our strength last night and I give them two game balls for their effort.

 

I hated to see Harlan County's Cole Wilson go down with an injury and miss the 2nd half, reportedly it was a hop pointer. This kid is a player and he was a game changer for the Black Bears. He was the one kid with the kind of speed that Belfry couldn't match and losing him really hurt Harlan County. Wilson scored the first touchdown for HC on a 50 yard run where he slipped a tackle at the line of scrimmage and it was lights out once he got into open field. He also burned the Pirates on a long pass over the top where he got behind the Pirate secondary on a fly route. When he went out of the game, it limited the Bears' options greatly and took away the one weapon that Belfry had no counterpart for, IMO. If he had stayed healthy, I have no doubt it would have been a different game.

 

Overall, I was just tickled to death with the win. I admit it, going into the game I was going to be happy with a moral victory. I felt like if the younger Pirates could have a good showing and be competitive that it would be a good thing for them to play in a game like this, win or lose. In all honest though, deep down I didn't think this was a game we would win. And I thought if we did win, it would be some kind of fluke thing were it fell in our lap, but that just wasn't the case. Belfry was just simply the better team and they left some points on the board. Two sure touchdown passes were dropped that would have blown this game wide open.

 

Belfry is the type of team that usually starts pretty slow. We have learned to be patient, watch them develop and grow as the season progresses, and enjoy the fruits of that labor when they peak at the right time in November. This team is still growing and developing and they will get better, but it is a pleasant surprise to see them playing this well this early, especially against the quality competition they just faced. This could be a very special group before this is over.