article Class 4A Football Notebook for (8/30)

[DragonFire]

This week was all about the top of the 4A rankings flexing their might. The top five teams won by an average of nearly 25 points, and by and large coming through without a challenge. This included Ashland opening their season with a strong 41-21 victory over Raceland, BluegrassPreps’ #2 team in 1A. It was the Quinton Baker show during that game, as Baker put up 248 yards on 18 carries, averaging a dominant 13.8 yards per carry while scoring four times, or roughly one score for every 4.5 times he toted the ball.

 

Also opening their seasons were #1 Johnson Central and #8 Bourbon County. Johnson Central was impressive as expected in a 41-6 thrashing of Fairland (OH), but possibly the most impressive win of the week for a 4A school came from Bourbon County. Bourbon County took on the favored Southwestern Warriors at Danville High, and Southwestern didn’t disappoint early in staking a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Bourbon County would chip away some as the game wore on, but still trailed 27-13 entering the fourth quarter. The Colonels would score three touchdowns in the frame, the final a 34 yard touchdown pass from Bolin to Orcutt to put them ahead 31-27 with just 1:05 remaining. Bourbon County conceded a meaningless safety with two seconds left for the final 31-29 margin. It’s a win that will push the Colonels up the rankings, and a sign we might be seeing more of the 2013 edition than 2014.

 

While that was really the most significant win, one of somewhat inflated importance because of fan mindsets came in the cross-county matchup between John Hardin and North Hardin. Bulldog pundits had hit the panic button (repeatedly) following their thumping at the hands of South Warren, and some were predicting that North Hardin would follow up last year’s upset of John Hardin with another win. The game was closer than the 40-21 final would seem to indicate, with North Hardin holding a 21-18 lead late in the third quarter. But John Hardin would get a pair of Robert Shorter touchdown runs to seize control, and when North Hardin failed to score on 4th and Goal from the two, it was ballgame.

 

Another significant step back from the ledge came in Collins’ 55-14 beating of Bullitt East. The Titans were lackluster in a 7-0 opening win over Montgomery County, but racked up over 400 yards of offense against Bullitt East, a team on the rankings fringe in 5A. The most eyepopping stat of those 400 yards came from Nasean Roseberry, who put up a pair of scores from ten carries for 140 yards, averaging 14 yards per carry. JR Lucas also threw for four touchdowns and 164 yards.

 

Two teams from outside the ranks that figure to jump in were Hopkinsville and Scott. Hopkinsville followed up their strong opening win over Graves County by shutting down and shutting out West Creek (TN) 21-0. West Creek had only 14 yards of offense in the first half and only finished with 118 on the night. The defensive effort helped make up for a slightly sluggish start from the Hopkinsville offense, which put up a touchdown in each of the final three periods. Scott, for their part, rode their defense on a pair of fumble recovery touchdowns, and shut down Dixie Heights 36-7. The pair of scores were the second and third of the year for the defense, which has accounted for half of all Scott touchdowns in the first two games. Scott has not historically had success against Dixie Heights, and it’s a sign of just how good this team is going to be in the coming year.

 

The biggest game of the coming week is undoubtedly Johnson Central at Lexington Catholic, the 3rd ranked team in 3A. LexCath is historically, very, very good, and the game gives Johnson Central a chance to truly reply to the dominant opening game win for South Warren over John Hardin. If Johnson Central fails to look impressive (or obviously if they lose), the Spartans will most likely ascend to #1 .