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Western Kentucky Power Rankings 08-30-15


Purple88

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BluegrassPreps 2015 Western Kentucky Power Rankings – Week 1 Edition - 8-30-15

 

The top story line this week is the emergence of the BIG 4. Bowling Green, South Warren, Mayfield and Owensboro are clearly the top 4 teams in the West this year. Does this mean any one of them can’t lose? Of course not; it means 2 weeks into the season I see all 4 as rock solid playoff contenders in their respective classes. Do I see others breaking into the Top 4? Only if one of these teams loses. Never fear other contenders, BG vs Owensboro is only 2 weeks away.

 

Inaugural Jayvon Quarles - Week 1 Western Kentucky Game of the Week: Bowling Green (5A) (2-0) 55 - at Christian County (5A) (1-1) 14 (at the Stadium of Champions) - The Purples were just too much for the young Colonels. Clark Payne (Jr QB) with 3 passing TDs and 1 rushing TD. RB duo of Carruthers and Yates – 3 TDs. The Purple D was solid led by safety Tre Fant with 2 INTs (1 a pick 6). Kolbe Langhi SO QB for Christian County threw for 1 TD and ran for 1 TD, but the Purples D harassed him all night. The Colonels are young and should improve as the season goes along.

 

Honorable Mention: Caldwell County (3A) (1-1) 48 at Franklin Simpson (4A) (1-1) 19 – WOW – this one caught me by surprise. Not so much that Caldwell won but the score. Last week turnovers cost Caldwell County, but this week they were aided by several key Wildcat turnovers.

 

Jayvon Quarles – Week 2 Western Kentucky Game of the Week: (Disclaimer: I am not picking the BG vs St X game because St X is not a WKY team and the fact that this game needs no hype help.)

Mayfield 2A (2-0) at Paducah Tilghman 3A (1-1): Mayfield’s first big game. Can Tilghman bounce back from a very physical game against Central Hardin?

 

Honorable Mention: Owensboro Catholic at Owensboro and Glasgow at Barren County – Both big rivalry games!

 

Week 1 Top 10:

10) McCracken County (6A) – Preseason Rank (PR): 5 - Last Week (LW) – Next 10; 2015 Record 1-1; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Win: 56-35 over 4A Warren Central (0-2). Welcome back Mustangs! You are still the biggest Jekyll and Hyde team in this ranking. But Zyaire Hughes played like the star he is with 204 yards rushing on 8 carries and 1 TD. Cash Jones played well at QB and Tryce Daniel caught 2 big TDs for McCracken. Which team shows up next week (the Paducah Tilghman team or the Warren Central team)? We will see. Week 2: At 4A Madisonville NH (0-2).

 

9) Christian County (5A) – PR: 6 – LW: 6 - 2015 Record 1-1; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Loss: 55-14 vs Bowling Green (2-0). Hot afternoon playing a hot opponent didn’t bode well for the young Colonels on the scoreboard. But this game will help the Colonels as they move forward to work on suspect areas. Like shoring up their defense – an issue from the 2014 season that still seems to be a work in progress. Week 2: At Henderson County 6A (1-1).

 

8) Russellville (1A) – PR: Next 10 – LW: Next 10 - 2015 Record 2-0; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Win: 42-21 over 3A Fort Campbell (0-2). Welcome to the Top 10 Panthers! MJ Jones carried 11 times for 172 yards and 4 TDs and Russellville enjoyed a roughly 400 to 100 yard rushing advantage in this game. But Russellville only played 19 players in this game. 15 of those made at least 1 tackle. Will this be their demise later in the season? Probably not next week: Week 2: At Butler County (2A) (2-0).

 

7) Paducah Tilghman (3A) – PR: Next 10 – LW: 5 - 2015 Record 1-1; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Loss: 48-25 to 6A Central Hardin (1-1). Tough matchup for the Blue Tornados with Central Hardin playing ground and pound against the physically smaller and with less depth than their 6A counterpart. Still Tilghman played with a punchers mentality and threw some haymakers of their own; just not enough. This week the Jayvon Quarles Western Kentucky Game of the Week is Paducah Tilghman at home vs Mayfield. If you live in the western part of the state (and I mean West); this is a big game every year!

 

6) Hopkinsville (4A) – PR: 8 – LW: 8 - 2015 Record 2-0; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Win: 21-0 over West Creek, TN (0-2). The late game of the Jerry Claiborne Toyota Bowl saw the hometown Hopkinsville Tigers defensively dominate their opponents from West Creek, TN. According to Silo11, West Creek attempted 30 rushes for negative 14 yards. The biggest stat for Hopkinsville was 15 penalties for 115 yards. If the Tigers can clean up the penalties (and that’s a big IF) they will be Very tough moving forward. Week 2: Vs Fort Campbell (0-2) At Trigg County in the David Sadler Bowl.

 

5) Murray (2A) – PR: 7 – LW: 7 - 2015 Record 2-0; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Win: 48-21 over 4A Calloway County (0-1). Solid win for the Tigers although they do give up 2 100+ yard receivers on the night, but Calloway County pretty much threw the ball exclusively. Attrition is good to the Tigers this week! Week 2: Home against 5A Graves County (1-1)

 

4) Owensboro (5A) – PR: 4 – LW: 4 - 2015 Record 2-0; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Win: 36-0 over 4A Madisonville NH (0-2). Madisonville was no match for the Red Devils vaunted defense (likely one of the best in the State). Owensboro’s offense has been effective in moving the ball when they have needed to. I know Red Devil fans want to move up this list, but for me Warren Central and Madisonville’s teams (this year) won’t do it yet. But there’s a little game in 2 weeks that will. Week 2: Home against cross-town rival 2A Owensboro Catholic (1-1).

 

3) Mayfield (2A) – PR: 2 – LW -3 - 2015 Record 2-0; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Win: 37-0 over 5A Marshall County (0-1). You know you’re good when you go 79-0 in 2 games and get comments like “We didn’t play that well”, etc. This is the life of a Mayfield Cardinal fan. Always sharpening the saw! The Big 3 of Bright, Arnett and Kennemore keep getting it done! The schedule ramps up this week as a true challenger arises in the Jayvon Quarles Western Kentucky Game of the Week! Week 2: At 3A Paducah Tilghman (1-1).

 

2) South Warren (4A) – PR: 3 – LW: 1 - 2015 Record 2-0; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Win: 42-6 at 5A Owensboro Apollo (1-1). How many points do you need? That’s probably how many the Spartan offense could have gotten for you on Friday night. Another outstanding effort by this team as they look to steamroll all their opponents. The Spartan defense is also one of the best units in the State. Week 2: Home vs. 5A Greenwood (2-0).

 

1) Bowling Green (5A) – PR: 1 – LW: 2 - 2015 Record 2-0; District Record 0-0] For Week 1 Results, see above in the Jayvon Quarles WKY Game of the Week Recap. This week BG has the best win of any of the Big 4 and move back into the #1 spot. Additionally, BGs opponents (Monroe Co – 2A and Christian Co – 5A) are almost definitely both playoff teams in their respective classes. Fear not non-Purple fans, as you can pull for (1-0) St Xavier this week. Week 2: At 6A Louisville St Xavier (1-0). This will be the fifth straight year these two have met. Last year, my opinion was St X was the better team, but BG won in an old-school classic 6-0 in OT (when is the last time that has happened?). Can the Purples get a second road win?

 

Week 1 Players of the Week:

1) Damion Carter – RB – Henderson County – 247 yards and 6 TDs sets a new Henderson County record and gets the first win of the year for the Colonels!

2) Jackson Adams – RB – Greenwood – scored 5 TDs on 19 carries and 271 yards vs. Allen County Scottsville!

3) Shane Burns – QB – Caldwell County – 18 for 21 on the night at Franklin Simpson for 233 yards and 3 TDs.

4) Zyaire Hughes – WR/RB/QB – McCracken County – 204 yards on 8 carries and 1 TD and 3 catches for 48 yards and a TD vs Warren Central.

 

Week 1 “Big Droppers”

Owensboro Catholic (2A) – Down – One OC poster said there wasn’t 1 thing he could think of that Catholic did well in this game. Coming off a shellacking of 1A Louisville Holy Cross, the Aces were set to roll into 2015. But Daviess County likely circled this game on their schedules while Owensboro Catholic likely circled this week’s game with Owensboro on theirs. It showed.

Franklin Simpson (4A) – Down – After handling Portland, TN in the opener, seeing Caldwell County lose at home in their opener and playing your first home game, prognostication was sky high in Wildcat Country. But penalties and turnovers are the enemy of all teams; not to mention Caldwell County is maybe the most undervalued team in the West.

 

Week 1 “Big Risers”

Caldwell County (3A) – Up – After a disappointing opening loss at home to Christian County; the Tigers came to play down in Franklin with an eye-opening 48-19 win. You are back on the cusp of the Top 10!

Hart County (3A) – Up – After a 21-0 win over Metcalfe County on Friday night the Raiders are a collective 39-0 with 2 wins to start the season! Considering Hart only won 2 games all of last year and hasn’t been 2-0 since 2011, the 2015 campaign has big promise!

Elizabethtown (3A) – Up – Coach Mark Brown’s Panthers are a collective 99 and 12 this year and 2-0 after beating 4A Marion County 53-6 this Friday night! The 3A west side of the bracket has quality teams up and down the ledger in 2015!

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Nice job, I have to disagre on a couple tho, murray to high and McCraken to low in my opinion.
I see where you're coming from Rookie and don't totally disagree, but how do you know which McCraken team will show up. With Murray, their early schedule won't do them any favors later on and they are that high at the moment due to attrition of the other teams only, but tougher games are coming.
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Great job; however I disagree with moving the #1 team SW down just because BG beat Christian County.... I understand you got some pressure from others to do this though....

 

If it's any consolation, and I mean any at all, South never should have been above Bowling Green at all. They're both super dominant, so that's not a slight, but BG moved down despite a win as well.

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Great job; however I disagree with moving the #1 team SW down just because BG beat Christian County.... I understand you got some pressure from others to do this though....

 

DT, I understand this and as I said in the beginning of the article I honestly feel I could make an argument with words for each of the Big 4. I just feel BG has been every bit as convincing as South has. Then we're splitting hairs judging teams with no losses AT THIS POINT. You do realize you picked Christian County last week. However, you'd likely pick the Richpond Colts against BG in football so maybe mute point.

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Good job P88, I see it

 

1 BG

2 Mayfield

3 Owensboro

4 S Warren

4 Murray (tie)

 

Brown,

The ONLY issue I possibly have with this is having Murray at a tie at 4. I'm just not sure the teams they have played would move them into BIG 4 category. Now if they beat Mayfield in a couple weeks then they are there, but probably not until. You know something on them I don't?

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DT, I understand this and as I said in the beginning of the article I honestly feel I could make an argument with words for each of the Big 4. I just feel BG has been every bit as convincing as South has. Then we're splitting hairs judging teams with no losses AT THIS POINT. You do realize you picked Christian County last week. However, you'd likely pick the Richpond Colts against BG in football so maybe mute point.

 

According to your logic then, why move the rankings at all? If it is splitting hairs, you should have left South at #1 ....

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