Again, no disrespect to Pikeville, but Raceland is getting no love. Yes, Pikeville beat Belfry. Raceland should be 7-0 with a victory over a decent 4A Ashland but 2 critical turnovers within 2 minutes of each other doomed them. Is Pikeville favored over Raceland, probably and well deserved. But to leave them out of the conversation completely, especially in the East, is a little insulting. Now, please don't read this as an angry post. Just stating that Raceland should be getting a little more love at this point.

 

I agree with you. Hazard also is in that picture as well.

Man, you have got to get this thought out of your head. No where in his post did it say that football is better in NKY, he is simply stating his opinion that he thinks Beechwood will win 1A this year. No one is saying anything about Mayfield not being as good as NKY teams or Pikeville or anything or anyone. I think anyone that knows football knows that Mayfield is the team to beat and that Pikeville is really darn good too but this poster believes this Beechwood team is different. Take a chill pill buddy, everyone knows there is good football everywhere in the state.

 

I have been here since 2001 and have read plenty of posts to back my stance up. Same stuff is posted every year and that's fine as it makes the board more fun. No pills for me or change in my mind or most others who have trolled on here for awhile. We have heard it all, recently we had the frosh champs (I'm sure many of the tigers recall that group dubbed the greatest group to every walk the halls of Bw) or the super frosh QB who once moved to varsity late in the season would vault the Tigers to the title. Last year the preseason preview once again decreed the Tigers were the favorites for the title.

 

Bw remains very unproven, good wins over Franklin County and Cov Cath and maybe the Ohio win though its hard to say how that win stacks up. They are certainly a threat but they may also still be paper tigers like the past. They will get Mf up north if both are lucky enough to advance that far but I'm not sure that is any real advantage and the past would seem to support my thinking on that. In recent years I still feel that the Tigers biggest area of weakness has been their coaching staffs slow ability to adjust from a running team to one that was balanced and many say this year is different but so was last year. Even when passing more often to me they have not seemed to demonstrate a comfort level in doing so and their inability to adjust on the fly also seems suspect in the past.

I will add that VOR is a very knowledgeable fan of the Tigers and if he says they have fixed these areas then maybe we should all look out but for now I am staying still

How long has it been since Beechwood beat Mayfield?

1 Mayfield

2 Pikeville

3 Beechwood

 

But all three are somewhat still a mystery.

How long has it been since Beechwood beat Mayfield?

Never.

I will take a slight exception here and say that 5A may very well be the weakest class this year along with 3A. Just a point of clarification since you brought it up. Much like 3A, there is one team at the top with an exemplary resume then followed lots of teams with big questions.

 

I am not sure judging Pikeville's win over Belfry due to the class Belfry is in is fair. Belfry's resume with dominating wins over 6A Henry Clay, #6 5A Southwestern, and one of Tennessee's top 3A teams speaks volumes.

I understand your concern and I don't mean to take a stance against Belfry or 3A, just stating over the years Class 3A, and the old Class 2A in the four class system, were and is the weakest of classes. Not saying the class can't have some strong teams, just the class as a whole is what I'm talking about. I love Belfry, their history, they tradition and their brand of football.

I understand your concern and I don't mean to take a stance against Belfry or 3A, just stating over the years Class 3A, and the old Class 2A in the four class system, were and is the weakest of classes. Not saying the class can't have some strong teams, just the class as a whole is what I'm talking about. I love Belfry, their history, they tradition and their brand of football.

 

I still don't agree though completely. Since the 6 Class System I feel 2A has traditionally been the weakest class. This year is the exception. The Top 3 teams in 2A are VERY strong and there are about 6-7 quality teams behind them. With that said, 3A this year I do agree is way down. I have even said as much in other threads. That can be blamed in many things, but for the past 4 or 5 years 3A has been as strong as 5A IMO (save dominant Bowling Green and this year definitely included), stronger than 2A, stronger than 1A and not as strong as 4A.

I still don't agree though completely. Since the 6 Class System I feel 2A has traditionally been the weakest class. This year is the exception. The Top 3 teams in 2A are VERY strong and there are about 6-7 quality teams behind them. With that said, 3A this year I do agree is way down. I have even said as much in other threads. That can be blamed in many things, but for the past 4 or 5 years 3A has been as strong as 5A IMO (save dominant Bowling Green and this year definitely included), stronger than 2A, stronger than 1A and not as strong as 4A.

I guess I just see it differently. Over the years I have listened to quite a few very knowledgable football minds state that 3A is the weakest and I agree with them.

 

But, in the grander shame of things it doesn't matter in this argument, Belfry is good, Pikeville is good and Pikeville beat Belfry making them a strong candidate in Class 1A.

I guess I just see it differently. Over the years I have listened to quite a few very knowledgable football minds state that 3A is the weakest and I agree with them.

 

But, in the grander shame of things it doesn't matter in this argument, Belfry is good, Pikeville is good and Pikeville beat Belfry making them a strong candidate in Class 1A.

 

Save this thought process for the off season when things are slow and we can re-visit. :thumb:

 

What I will say to bring it back to topic from my stance is Pikeville beat Belfry. That was their best win. Belfry has dismantled three quality teams since including the #6 team in 5A Southwestern (when Southwestern had Doan). It would not surprise me to see Southwestern upset Pulaski County in two weeks. Beechwood's best win is CovCath. CovCath though just lost to Ryle. Mayfield's best win isn't quite on the same plane as either of those, but Murray, Tilghman, and Graves are all three pretty solid wins.

 

I really am shocked just how strong 1A is this year. Those three teams are all legitimately in the discussion as Top 20 teams in the state overall. That is almost unheard of for 1A football. To add on that more, teams 4-7 are collectively stronger than I can remember as well... Williamsburg retruns 9-10 starters on each side of the ball from a State Runer-Up and have been CRUSHING teams and we aren't even really talking about them. Absolutely fantastic year for small school football!

Save this thought process for the off season when things are slow and we can re-visit. :thumb:

 

I really am shocked just how strong 1A is this year. Those three teams are all legitimately in the discussion as Top 20 teams in the state overall. That is almost unheard of for 1A football. To add on that more, teams 4-7 are collectively stronger than I can remember as well... Williamsburg retruns 9-10 starters on each side of the ball from a State Runer-Up and have been CRUSHING teams and we aren't even really talking about them. Absolutely fantastic year for small school football!

We will have that discussion then.

 

This is why I love Class 1A. People automatically believe the smallest class to be the weakest class. I have said for many years, Class 1A is great football and people that are unfamiliar with the top Class 1A teams would be shocked at their ability.

My opinion is that Mayfield can get on the field and compete with all the schools in the state of Kentucky except for a few. I don't think you can say that about Pikeville or Beec

hwood. It's a good thing that Mayfield is leaving 1A because they are going to be loaded in the coming years.

4a is as weak as 3a and 5a this year. With Lex Cath and Boyle being down, especially. It's hard to find a Top 10 in that class. Teams 8-10 are very weak for being ranked.