@Watusi. I feel that Central was the best team in the west. Their letdown cost them a title game appearance. Wouldn't it have been sweet to see a final 8 with Belfry, Central, LexCath, E'town,Caldwell, Boyle, PT, and Lawrence. What a playoff!!!! Opportunities to see that many good teams face off in one class are few and far between with a 6 class system.

I think Central probably was the most talented team in the west, and they would have liketly given Belfry the best game as they are more familiar. Talent alone doesn't always win out though and Lexington Catholic earned their spot.

 

I talked to Central's AD for a long time before and during the 3A game. He had a good finger on the pulse of 3A football, gave some good input on the playoff games in the west. He predicted Belfry by 3 touchdowns and said it could be worse. He said he felt it would be that way against Central too and he just didn't think anyone would have had the team it would take to stop Belfry. He was a super nice guy too, BTW and I really enjoyed talking to him. Central athletics are in very good hands.

 

With Belfry's style of play, when they have the horses to run it like they do now, it is very difficult to prepare for them in a week. When you have a team like Lexington Catholic, who never sees this type of offense, and who's coaching staff have never coached against it, it makes it that much more difficult. All those things combined for the perfect storm, and Belfry just rolled them.

 

The final 8 you suggest would have been fun. It would have been a different means to the end, but I don't think it would have turned out much different. I would put Corbin in that mix, they had a nice team and gave Belfry a much better game than LexCath. I think I'd have them ahead of PT.

 

3A was a lot of fun this year, and lived up to all the hype, IMO. I hope it is this way again in 2016. It's only 249 more days until kickoff in August

2A - Mayfield and Desales

3A - Belfry and someone who doesn't get clocked in the first half

6A - Male and Trinity

3A is interesting. Central/Belfry been good games. I'd be interested to hear from Belfry fans who was more athletic Lawrence Co or Lex Cath. I know it's hard to believe around the state sometimes when we talk of skill kids in EKY. Robert and Timmy Dalton are freakish athletes!

 

LexCath was far superior in terms of athleticism when looking at all 22 positions and special teams.

 

Lawrence County though matched up better with Belfry.

 

The Dalton's had a lot more success than Ogbogu and Morris, but I think Ogbogu and Morris were a slightly better receiver tandem.

 

The Difference was LC was substantially better at matching up with Belfry's Front 7 which forced Belfry to respect the run by committing both DE's. LC was also better as a by-product at establishing their intermediate passing game and forcing Belfry's Safeties to have to both read run and play honest in the middle of the field. This opened up a couple well executed deep posts and double moves that led to big plays.

 

The Dalton gang are still vastly underrated though and just the simple fact that Ogbogu and Morris I noted as the "slightly" better tandem speaks volumes.

If I am following your logic correctly, you think Lafayette was better than Trinity?

 

No you are not following my logic. Male had to play Trinity on the "West" side of the bracket. That's how they were placed. If the 6A had been set up as a seeded bracket, in all likelihood Male would have been seeded 1 and Trinity 2, but since it's not seeded, and they had to play to advance to the Regional Championship, Male defeated them and advanced. Lafayette was placed on the "East" side of the bracket, and won and advanced, to be the best team in the East. Again, had it been seeded, Lafayette would have never advanced to the Championship game.

I voted no on 3A because I do not believe Lex Cath was truly the best team in the West.

 

6A speaks for itself. Lafayette was a decent team but not the best team out of the west, that was Central.

 

1A comes with an asterisk. I really believe the two best teams were both in the east, but I voted yes because I believe Beechwood was the best 1A team out of the west.

Lex Cath did beat Boyle Co @ Boyle, Central @ LCentral and thump undefeated E-Town, so I say yes they were the best out of the west. And you say Lafayette, sorry but they came out of the east and they would have not played Central. Central is 3A and Lafayette is 6A. :no:

No you are not following my logic. Male had to play Trinity on the "West" side of the bracket. That's how they were placed. If the 6A had been set up as a seeded bracket, in all likelihood Male would have been seeded 1 and Trinity 2, but since it's not seeded, and they had to play to advance to the Regional Championship, Male defeated them and advanced. Lafayette was placed on the "East" side of the bracket, and won and advanced, to be the best team in the East. Again, had it been seeded, Lafayette would have never advanced to the Championship game.

I see what you mean. That isn't what I meant with the original post, but now I do understand where you are coming from. Thanks for clarifying MM. :thumb:

 

The question I was asking is did the 2 best teams in each class actually meet in the finals? I know the division of teams into districts sometimes makes that an impossibility, but sometimes it works out that #1 and #2 are in opposite sides of the bracket and they both win their way into the title game.

Let's make no mistake about it. Belfry proved to be the best team in 3A in 2015. It appears they may very well be just as good, if not better, next season. I do not think any team out of the west makes a better showing in the championship game than what LexCath did, although I do not feel they were the best team in the west. Kudos to them for a coming out of a loaded bracket.

Let's make no mistake about it. Belfry proved to be the best team in 3A in 2015. It appears they may very well be just as good, if not better, next season. I do not think any team out of the west makes a better showing in the championship game than what LexCath did, although I do not feel they were the best team in the west. Kudos to them for a coming out of a loaded bracket.

 

I think they were the best team in the West... they earned and proved it by beating Etown and Central on the road in the playoffs and Boyle on the road in the Regular Season. With that said, they were not the best MATCHUP for Belfry.

 

Could Central beat LexCath if they played again? Could Boyle beat them? Absolutely. With that said, we can't go off some hypothetical when LexCath beat them when they lined it up on the field.

I think they were the best team in the West... they earned and proved it by beating Etown and Central on the road in the playoffs and Boyle on the road in the Regular Season. With that said, they were not the best MATCHUP for Belfry.

 

Could Central beat LexCath if they played again? Could Boyle beat them? Absolutely. With that said, we can't go off some hypothetical when LexCath beat them when they lined it up on the field.

 

You have a point in that LexCath won games on the field. BUT, winning a game does not necessarily make you the BETTER team. Several games every year are won by teams that were not the better of the two teams playing. Heck, I am not positive Belfry is in the title game playing out of the west.

You have a point in that LexCath won games on the field. BUT, winning a game does not necessarily make you the BETTER team. Several games every year are won by teams that were not the better of the two teams playing. Heck, I am not positive Belfry is in the title game playing out of the west.

 

You have to call them the best team since they won the games and proved it come November though.

 

Anything else is hypotethical.

 

Considering Belfry beat the West representative LexCath 43-0 and had a running clock in the 2nd Quarter I could assume that Belfry had a tougher road in the East since both Corbin and Lawrence County played them tougher... but that wouldn't be a fair comparison.

 

At the end of the day:

-LexCath beat the top three teams in the West on the Road

-Belfry demolished everything in their path including LexCath

- The transitive property doesnt apply to football, so it doesn't mean Belfry would also destroy every team LexCath beat

- Belfry's Front 7 and OLine would have been a mismatch for everyone in 3A and was the primary reason they have won 3 straight titles, the two teams best equipped to matchup happened to be Lawrence County and Corbin.

- This doesn't mean Lawrence County and Corbin would have beat any or everyone in the West

- Would Belfry have lost coming out of the West? Highly Doubtful... but then again Bowling Green lost to Graves County last year so stranger things have happened.

Heck, I am not positive Belfry is in the title game playing out of the west.

That would have been a whole lot of travel for somebody

You have to call them the best team since they won the games and proved it come November though.

 

Anything else is hypotethical.

 

Considering Belfry beat the West representative LexCath 43-0 and had a running clock in the 2nd Quarter I could assume that Belfry had a tougher road in the East since both Corbin and Lawrence County played them tougher... but that wouldn't be a fair comparison.

 

At the end of the day:

-LexCath beat the top three teams in the West on the Road

-Belfry demolished everything in their path including LexCath

- The transitive property doesnt apply to football, so it doesn't mean Belfry would also destroy every team LexCath beat

- Belfry's Front 7 and OLine would have been a mismatch for everyone in 3A and was the primary reason they have won 3 straight titles, the two teams best equipped to matchup happened to be Lawrence County and Corbin.

- This doesn't mean Lawrence County and Corbin would have beat any or everyone in the West

- Would Belfry have lost coming out of the West? Highly Doubtful... but then again Bowling Green lost to Graves County last year so stranger things have happened.

 

By your logic, LexCath loses to Lawrence County by 3 or is it 40. This whole thread is hypothetical. I think that is the point. I guess that NCC in 2A was better than any team in the west of 2A less Mayfield? I call bull. What you completely fail to see is that teams that play quality competition in consecutive weeks get worn down, and have to "breathe" somewhere. Look at Belfry's schedule (you act like you don't know it), Knoxville (9-25-15) a 38-14 win, then the next week Midland (10-2-15) a 49-7 loss in a horribly played game by Belfry, then the third week Lawrence Co (10-9-15) a 27-23 squeaker where Belfry trailed at the half, only to later throttle this same team 52-12 (can you say running clock). This shows me that after two tough matchups Belfry "breathed" against Lawrence Co the first time. I know you hate to think that anything other than Belfry being the most dominating thing since sliced bread is impossible, but that just simply isn't the case. If the teams on their side of the bracket was as tough as those on the west side, somewhere along the line Belfry would have had to "breathe" again. Does this mean they lose, definitely not. Hypothetically possible, YES. Fact is that Belfry had a cake walk to the title game, and no matter who came out of the west was going to fight tooth and nail to get there. I agree Belfry was the better team, and have said so a thousand times. But, turn the tables, and you see a much better title game in 3A just like you did in 2A.

By your logic, LexCath loses to Lawrence County by 3 or is it 40. This whole thread is hypothetical. I think that is the point. I guess that NCC in 2A was better than any team in the west of 2A less Mayfield? I call bull. What you completely fail to see is that teams that play quality competition in consecutive weeks get worn down, and have to "breathe" somewhere. Look at Belfry's schedule (you act like you don't know it), Knoxville (9-25-15) a 38-14 win, then the next week Midland (10-2-15) a 49-7 loss in a horribly played game by Belfry, then the third week Lawrence Co (10-9-15) a 27-23 squeaker where Belfry trailed at the half, only to later throttle this same team 52-12 (can you say running clock). This shows me that after two tough matchups Belfry "breathed" against Lawrence Co the first time. I know you hate to think that anything other than Belfry being the most dominating thing since sliced bread is impossible, but that just simply isn't the case. If the teams on their side of the bracket was as tough as those on the west side, somewhere along the line Belfry would have had to "breathe" again. Does this mean they lose, definitely not. Hypothetically possible, YES. Fact is that Belfry had a cake walk to the title game, and no matter who came out of the west was going to fight tooth and nail to get there. I agree Belfry was the better team, and have said so a thousand times. But, turn the tables, and you see a much better title game in 3A just like you did in 2A.

 

LexCath doesn't lose to Lawrence at all from what I saw. Matchups! Though Lawrence played Belfry closer they do not match up well with the Knights. I would take LexCath fairly big. Lawrence would not matchup at all with LexCath's speed and Offensive firepower.

 

Lawrence would not have matched up with Central or Boyle either. They would matchup very well with Etown who did not have a ton of depth or size on Defense, and would have been in a shootout with Caldwell...but I would like Caldwell by a score or two.

 

 

 

 

I dont see Belfry's 2 game stretch the same as you. Cabell Midland just wore Belfry out. End of story. One part was Belfry turned it over 5 times... the bigger part was the fact that every advantage Belfry had over every team they played in 2015.. was completely nullified against CM. CM was the only team as big, as deep, as strong, and as talented as Belfry in every position group.

 

Lawrence County was less the product of "breathing" and more the product of simply not protecting the football and some hangover form getting their teeth kicked in. Seven lost turnovers was the reason that game was close. Nothing more, nothing less. Generally speaking BAD football.

 

I never said Belfry had a tough path...in fact I specifically said in the example I made that it would not a fair comparison if I did infer that even though Lawrence and Corbin were more competitive against Belfry than LexCath. Heck Tusi and I have agreed with you all year they didn't have it as tough as teams in Region 2. HAHA

 

I do think there is some substance to teams having a bit of an emotional letdown after back to back tough games as you let on... but if there is one game you should never see laying an egg it is the State Finals.

Edited December 14, 201510 yr by ATLCat

I guess my biggest question TIGER is which 3A team had a "let down" or "Breathed" after multiple top tier games that was better than LexCath?

 

We can eliminate these teams from your hypothesis:

Caldwell's loss came to the lone contender they faced

Tilghman's loss came to the lone contender they faced

Boyle's loss came to the lone contender they faced

LexCath you already voted was not the best team in the West so they are eliminated

 

 

This leaves two options that played more than one Title Contender:

 

1. Central had only played one Title Contender (Boyle) before losing to LexCath.... if you can't get up for two straight playoff games are you really the best? Especially when Central slept walked through Round 1 against Western Hills.

 

2. The only one that truly fits your criteria would be Etown. The Panthers blew out Tilghman then won a great game against Caldwell before getting beat easily by LexCath.

 

Which team deserved to be called better than LexCath that LexCath beat? Is it Central who took a breather after only playing one legitimate Title Threat... and in doing so let up playing at home?

 

Or is it Etown who LexCath beat by 3 TD's?

 

I can subscribe to the theory that Central probably should have beat LexCath and thus could have been the better team... but I would come to that conclusion solely from the fact Central left points off the board and LexCath needed a blocked FG to win. I can't buy that the reason they lost is because they chose not to bring their A Game because they had already played one great team the week before and couldn't get up for two straight weeks. Especially considering the fact this was essentially the same Central team who in 2014 "got up" for back to back weeks to upset Corbin and South Warren. That Corbin game was about as emotional as a game as you can find to rebound from to play the #1 SW team.

LexCath doesn't lose to Lawrence at all from what I saw. Matchups! Though Lawrence played Belfry closer they do not match up well with the Knights. I would take LexCath fairly big. Lawrence would not matchup at all with LexCath's speed and Offensive firepower.

 

Lawrence would not have matched up with Central or Boyle either. They would matchup very well with Etown who did not have a ton of depth or size on Defense, and would have been in a shootout with Caldwell...but I would like Caldwell by a score or two.

 

 

 

 

I dont see Belfry's 2 game stretch the same as you. Cabell Midland just wore Belfry out. End of story. One part was Belfry turned it over 5 times... the bigger part was the fact that every advantage Belfry had over every team they played in 2015.. was completely nullified against CM. CM was the only team as big, as deep, as strong, and as talented as Belfry in every position group.

 

Lawrence County was less the product of "breathing" and more the product of simply not protecting the football and some hangover form getting their teeth kicked in. Seven lost turnovers was the reason that game was close. Nothing more, nothing less. Generally speaking BAD football.

 

I never said Belfry had a tough path...in fact I specifically said in the example I made that it would not a fair comparison if I did infer that even though Lawrence and Corbin were more competitive against Belfry than LexCath. Heck Tusi and I have agreed with you all year they didn't have it as tough as teams in Region 2. HAHA

 

I do think there is some substance to teams having a bit of an emotional letdown after back to back tough games as you let on... but if there is one game you should never see laying an egg it is the State Finals.

 

Call it "breathing", "emotional letdown", "hangover", "laying an egg", or whatever. The end result is the same. i thought LexCath benefited from whatever term you want to use when they played Central and when they played E'town. Conversely, they suffered the same thing against Belfry.