For Pete's sake, that burns my hyde. :irked:

 

 

Two years ago, Ashland pulled a similar stunt and dropped Belfry after a verbal agreement, leaving the Pirates scrambling for games. That resulted in us having to travel to Southwestern two years in a row with no home game in return.

 

Now this!!!

You can come to Somerset two years in a row if you want!

You can come to Somerset two years in a row if you want!

 

Somerset cant handle that.

Belfry has been searching for a week 3 game to complete the schedule and they have reached an agreement with Newport Central Catholic for a 2 year deal.

 

As it stands now, here is the very challenging 2015 Schedule for the Pirates

 

Aug 28 - Tates Creek - Pike Co Bowl

Sep 04 - @ Harlan County

Sep 11 - Newport Central Catholic

Sep 18 - Pikeville

Sep 25 - @ Sheldon Clark

Oct 02 - @ Cabell Midland, WV

Oct 09 - Knoxville Catholic

Oct 16 - Lawrence County

Oct 23 - @ Pike County Central

Oct 30 - Johnson Central

 

Tough lineup there.

 

Great addition for Belfry. I know that JC contacted NCC 3 times for the same open date, but no response. Truly a tough competition early on and will get both teams ready for the remainder of the season and in to the playoffs. Got to love Belfry and their quality of opponents annually. Hats off to Haywood and the Pirates for this schedule.

Seriously.

 

They players they graduated were all multi-year starters, and ultra talented. Austin Hatfield is irreplaceable, the QB, Taylor, was a jack of all trades and a team leader on both sides of the ball. The center and right guard loss will be huge up the middle. These guys will be very hard to replace.

 

Belfry may struggle especially early.

 

Tusi's being a little conservative.

 

The optimist would say...

 

Offense

-Losing the Guard and Center is big...but Braden Preece played Starter Snaps last year and can play either position. The Pirates do return the rest of a very, very good line including Jordan Scott who is a man-child and an All-State candidate.

 

- Belfry loses Taylor at QB but may actually improve at that position. Keaton was awesome and made huge plays but he was out of position and never a passing threat. Noah Corbett actually took over at starter and played very well before an injury and a little "Coaching Lesson" in response to Social Media. Corbett has a big arm and is dynamic as a runner. If he puts in the work he could turn into a star.

- Losing Hatfield legitimately hurts and is my main concern on offense. You don't replace potentially an All-Timer. The silver lining though is Belfry returns both starting HB's, Corbett will be a rushing threat, and the Pirates have capable depth in Wellman and Fletcher. Fletcher even has starting experience.

 

 

Defense

-Taylor and Edwards were both very good DB's and Taylor was Belfry's best coverage corner... but if any silver lining came out of Belfry's unprecedented injury issues in the secondary it was the growth of depth. Catron will be one of the better Safeties you will find after missing most of last year and the Pirates developed several able bodies.

- LB is the primary concern with Hatfield and Stanley departing. Hatfield's blow isn't as tough as offense.. Belfry kept him fresh and gave Wellman plenty of snaps. Stanley will be tough as he was vital to the Pirate's success and improved night and day.

- The question will be do you move Nate Sanger back to LB? He started the year there and played really well but with Wellman and Hatfield it allowed Haywood to put him at NG. If you leave him at NG then Belfry returns their entire Front 5 and it is probably the best Front 5 in Kentucky.

 

"Belfry may struggle especially early" is what Tusi said and I will tweak it to say..

 

"It may take some games for Belfry to adjust back to Championship form"

 

I don't see any struggle in this team with that dominating D-Line, huge and talented OLine, and a deep assortment of skill guys with big play ability both ways.

For Pete's sake, that burns my hyde. :irked:

 

 

Two years ago, Ashland pulled a similar stunt and dropped Belfry after a verbal agreement, leaving the Pirates scrambling for games. That resulted in us having to travel to Southwestern two years in a row with no home game in return.

 

Now this!!!

 

I feel ya... I can see why Creech would do it..I honestly think HC bit off more than they could chew with their schedule the last two years and it hurt more than it helped.... but from a selfish standpoint "COME ON MAN!!!!!!!!!!" You are guaranteed a great gate.. you get to test your team out and see a measuring stick for how far off they are.. and let's face it Belfry isn't hard to try and scout. If I am a HC fan I try to keep Belfry and JC and soften the schedule elsewhere.

Is Belfry going to scrimmage Hazard this year?

I think they are Bac2369, that is a beneficial scrimmage opponent for both schools.

I agree. Gives Belfry a look at a spread team with pretty good speed and gives Hazard a look at a power running game and exceptional line play.

Somerset cant handle that.

 

We can always handle tickets sales from a school that travels as well as the Pond Creek Nation does! Hey we lost every game last year, how much worse could it get?

Great addition for Belfry. I know that JC contacted NCC 3 times for the same open date, but no response. Truly a tough competition early on and will get both teams ready for the remainder of the season and in to the playoffs. Got to love Belfry and their quality of opponents annually. Hats off to Haywood and the Pirates for this schedule.

How much do you think coach Matney's past & reputation played into the fact that NCC didn't want to talk?

 

It's no secret he has had a knack for creating his own controversies and has burned a few bridges. In particular he has not made many friends in NKY and his comments about private schools had to have left a bad taste in a lot of folks' mouths.

How much do you think coach Matney's past & reputation played into the fact that NCC didn't want to talk?

 

It's no secret he has had a knack for creating his own controversies and has burned a few bridges. In particular he has not made many friends in NKY and his comments about private schools had to have left a bad taste in a lot of folks' mouths.

 

I might be his only friend in NKY, lol. And now that hes one of the new officers on the Wrestling board, we get to be best buds.

How much do you think coach Matney's past & reputation played into the fact that NCC didn't want to talk?

 

It's no secret he has had a knack for creating his own controversies and has burned a few bridges. In particular he has not made many friends in NKY and his comments about private schools had to have left a bad taste in a lot of folks' mouths.

 

Not saying that it didn't, but from what I could gather it was an assistant coach and not Matney that made the efforts. Regardless, Belfry will continue to be in the thick of things come playoff time due to their quality opponents during the regular season.

Not saying that it didn't, but from what I could gather it was an assistant coach and not Matney that made the efforts. Regardless, Belfry will continue to be in the thick of things come playoff time due to their quality opponents during the regular season.

I've said it on here before, I like Coach Matney and we are friends, I'm not axe grinding here at all.

 

I just have a feeling that Johnson Central would have a tough time scheduling NKY teams, especially private schools, regardless of who the contact person is.

 

NCC just chose to drive an extra hour to play Belfry when a trip to Paintsville would have been much easier. Of course the Pirates are not as tough a matchup as the Eagles either, and that may have played a part in it.

Is their schedule still complete? As of yesterday there were rumors beginning to circulate about Harlan County dropping them in week 2, any validity to those claims?