Class 3A has had one of the most obvious turnovers in the new alignment with traditional powers Boyle County and Lexington Catholic moving down, along with strong programs in Caldwell County and Bardstown moving up. Add to that an already stout group of schools such as Belfry, Central, Paducah Tilghman, Corbin, Bell County, etc. and you have a strong class of teams.

 

Which 3A programs have the highest realistic expectations this season? Who can realistically win the state championship? Which programs may have regional title aspirations but a state championship may be a bridge too far? Who may be down compared to previous years?

Would prefer to wait until after a couple weeks, but just the buzz I am getting right now

 

Legit Championship Threats:

Belfry

Central

LexCath

Boyle County

 

Definitely Have a Puncher's Chance, But Would Be An Underdog:

Russell

Tilghman

 

Upside Is There, But a Long Way to Go:

Corbin

Caldwell County

Bell County

Etown

 

Dark Horse, But Don't Write Them Off:

Garrard County

Lawrence County

Bardstown

 

Will Win Games, But Probably Will Not See Football Past Thanksgiving:

Adair County

Breathitt County

Casey County

Etown's scrimmage vs CAL was impressive.

Etown's scrimmage vs CAL was impressive.

 

Judging purely off buzz from scrimagges (which is dangerous)

 

Trending Up:

Russell

Etown

LexCath

 

Trending Down:

Corbin

Bell County

What is it about Etown that has so many people buzzing?

What is it about Etown that has so many people buzzing?

 

They return the farm, skill wise across the board from a '14 7-4 team.

 

But, beating CAL in a scrimmage 6-0 has raised a few eyebrows.

 

Like @ATLCat said....not one to put a whole lot of stock into scrimmages, but outcomes like this against a team that is arguably Top 3 in 2A..Top 25 overall in the state; gets some more chatter going.

They return the farm, skill wise across the board from a '14 7-4 team.

 

But, beating CAL in a scrimmage 6-0 has raised a few eyebrows.

 

Like @ATLCat said....not one to put a whole lot of stock into scrimmages, but outcomes like this against a team that is arguably Top 3 in 2A..Top 25 overall in the state; gets some more chatter going.

 

Especially to me because of the fact their defense has to have improved based off this scrimmage outcome.

 

The knock on Etown over the past decade is the inability to stop anyone. Last year was no exception.

Would prefer to wait until after a couple weeks, but just the buzz I am getting right now

 

Legit Championship Threats:

Belfry

Central

LexCath

Boyle County

 

Definitely Have a Puncher's Chance, But Would Be An Underdog:

Russell

Tilghman

 

Upside Is There, But a Long Way to Go:

Corbin

Caldwell County

Bell County

Etown

 

Dark Horse, But Don't Write Them Off:

Garrard County

Lawrence County

Bardstown

 

Will Win Games, But Probably Will Not See Football Past Thanksgiving:

Adair County

Breathitt County

Casey County

 

Nice breakdown. Like I've said once before, I'll be surprised if this year's 3A champ comes from outside the consensus top four. Russell, Corbin, Bell Co., and Lawrence Co. could all give Belfry something to think about this year in the east, but I don't think any of them are ready to conquer the Pirates yet.

 

This class is so deep, I almost feel bad for a team like Garrard Co. Without Boyle Co. and LexCath in the mix, Garrard has the offensive firepower for a potential run at BG. But once you drop the Rebels and Knights into that region(which already included Central), it now looks like Garrard's ceiling might be the second round.

 

One things for sure... whoever wins the 3A title this year will have to walk through fire to hoist that trophy.