Class A 1st Round: Raceland (6-4) @ Bishop Brossart (9-1)

[The Cerebral Assassin]

Thoughts & predictions...

[RaiderPride5]

Rams win and look forward to Paintsville next week, and try to do what Paintsville did to Pikeville last year.

[Bac2369]

Raceland needs to come in and execute and not get off there game.

[sidelinedoc]

I think we (Raceland) have been battle tested all season. We have played only 2 teams with a sub .500 schedule and the only 1A teams we have played are in our District. If we come out and play like we did Friday night, I like our chances to win this one.

[Oldercoach]

So glad to see Mustangs have such an awesome year reviving this program. Congrats to coaching staff and this group of players. Afraid Raceland too much for BB, but the Mustangs will carry memories of a turn-around season of historic proportions.

[Bob Marley]

Raceland with a running clock.

[KentuckyJoe]

This is where the soft schedule is going to kill Brossart. I understand they need to stack wins to get more kids to comenout for football but once you play a decent team in playoffs you get a big L and season over.

[TheFauxTiger]

First team Brossart has played with a pulse. Rams big.

[STEEL_CURTAIN88]

Brossart has some decent skill guys. They kind of remind me of Lawrence County, minus the Daltons. BB's RB reminds me a bit of Mosely and they have a pretty good QB. But, they will lack the physicality upfront to control the Rams and while their skill guys may give us some trouble early on, but I expect us to wear them down towards the 3rd quarter and our Def front 7 starte to cause problems...

 

Milustangs keep it close for a half...

 

Rams 38

Mustangs 18

[hrcarrier]

I think this is closer than some are thinking. Brossart played a softer schedule and they are better than some want to credit them for. Regardless of the turnout, Brossart has accomplished A LOT considering where they were last year and should be motivational for struggling programs.

[jozey72]

I guess Paris is the walking dead.

[Mustang]

We are 9-1 becuase we are an improved football team/program.

 

The "soft schedule" comments are hindsight. At the beginning of the season, there were probably no games on our schedule that we would have been totally confident that we would have won, and believe me, we would have been pleasantly surprised to have known at that point that we would defeat Aiken, Bellevue, Ludlow, Nicholas County, and play a competitve game with Paris, while blowing out Dayton, Trimble, Bracken, Berea and Pendleton County.

 

We had nothing to do with scheduling the teams in our district, and after battling the 2-A Northern Kentucky programs, we welcomed the drop to a more competitive level. We were pretty good this year, it was an evolution of players who have been in our program for the past four years, newcomers who bolstered the roster, a coaching staff who earned their confidence, and a school that caught Football Fever. We have played Ludlow, Bellevue, and Dayton for years and I hope we will continue to maintain those rivalries. This was the first year that we have ever defeated Bellevue, Ludlow holds a sizeable advantage in the win-loss column, and we hadn't beaten Dayton since 2010. If we were concerned about folks thinking we were playing a "soft schedule" we could have stayed in 2-A, gone out of business, and never known what we missed.

 

I am not saying that in hindsight in the manner in which we have progressed that yes, perhaps this turned out to be a somewhat "soft schedule" compared to that played by the Rams, but it is who we are and who we play.

 

Hats off to Raceland for playing a tough schedule. That is who they are and who they play annually. They are a legal bona-fide Class 1-A school who by a formula devised by the KHSAA are scheduled to play Brossart in Alexandria this coming Friday night. We have accepted many challenges this season and will show up ready to compete on Friday night.

[oldrambler]

Raceland, to say the least has been inconsistent this season. With the brutal schedule that the Rams played I expected some losses. What times I was upset were the games that imo the Rams didn't pay as hard, with the pride that they usually do (btw, one or two of those were a W). I hope that we Raceland fans see the team that played vs. L'Ville Valley and at Russell last week. Should Raceland play as at Russell then who knows how far they can go ? Should they just show up/no effort for the majority of the game as vs. Fairview then it's a one and done post season......

I know that Brossart is good ... very good. A team doesn't go 9-1 by being a bad or even a fair team, they're Good !. Home field is imo huge in the playoffs.

Could a Mustang Fan please tell us a little about your team ....offensively, defensively, who are your better players / ones to watch ?

[Voice of Reason]

This is where the soft schedule is going to kill Brossart. I understand they need to stack wins to get more kids to comenout for football but once you play a decent team in playoffs you get a big L and season over.

 

No one is a bigger proponent of tough scheduling than me, but no way I knock Brossart for their scheduling. They were on the verge of having no football program just last year. No way I put a tough schedule in front of my players I am trying to get on the field if I am Brossart. Build some chance for success into the schedule.

[Mustang]

I really like the idea that Raceland showed up just 15 minutes prior to kickoff vs Russell, and had worn their pads and helmets on the bus to the game.

 

I think that's a great idea!!!

Being superstitious, I wouldn't change a thing for the trip to Alexandria!