article Bluegrasspreps' Eastern Kentucky Power Rankings 9-17

[ATLCat]

1. Belfry Pirates (3A, 4-0)- Pirates make short work of their rivals from Pikeville, but the road gets substantially tougher travelling to take on one of Tennessee's best regardless of class.

 

2. Johnson Central Golden Eagles (4A, 4-0)- Harlan County was no match for Matney's crew. District play begins with Boyd County.

 

3. Corbin Redhounds (3A, 5-0)- The Redhound Revenge Tour claims another victim in Southwestern. Up next they look to make waves across the state taking on 2A Powerhouse Mayfield.

 

4. Wayne County Cardinals (4A, 4-1)- Coach Thompson's Red Birds made a statement by dominating a solid Mercer County team. They should be able to gear down against a severely over matched Clay County.

 

5. Pulaski County Maroons (5A, 3-1)- Pulaski distanced themselves from Rockcastle late to secure their biggest win of the early season. Madison Southern will continue to keep them on their game.

 

6. Southwestern Warriors (5A, 3-2)- Playing down in Class has not been kind to Southwestern as Corbin's Defense was too much. The Warriors head to Mount Sterling next.

 

7. Paintsville Tigers (1A, 5-0)- Paintsville continues to assert their will in Class 1A. The Tigers take on 4A Bourbon County in one of their final tune ups before District play.

 

8. Raceland Rams (1A, 5-0)- Hot on Paintsville heels and charging toward a collision, Raceland made short work of Lucasville Valley. They look to secure their second win against a bunch of Buckeyes this week.

 

9. Rockcastle County Rockets (4A, 3-1)- Rockcastle had a chance to make waves but instead belly flopped in a turnover filled loss to Pulaski County.They need to refocus or else 2A Somerset may sneak up on them.

 

10. Knox Central Panthers (4A, 2-2-1)- Knox Central called a rain shortened draw against Henry Clay that really showed us nothing. Expect a running clock against a struggling Russell County team.

 

 

Surprise of the Week:

Hazard 41 Prestonsburg 6

Most expected Hazard to take down the rebuilding Blackcats, but I don't think many expected them to do it quite this easy. Hazard shut down the one man rushing machine Wesley Hager and continue to push towards a showdown with Pikeville.

 

Disappointment of the Week

South Laurel 22 Leslie County 16

Leslie County entered undefeated and on the edge of a Top 10 ranking in 2A, but they left with a loss to a South Laurel team many do not view highly. With a loaded District opposite them in their region, losses like this seem to suggest Leslie playoff run may be too steep of a climb without improvement.

 

Player of the Week

WR (well sort of) Jake Johnson, Pulaski County

For the first time in the EKY Power Ranking's History we will have a repeat winner of the POTW award during the same season. Johnson was superb in his team's win over Rockcastle County. Johnson only had 6 catches for 74 yards, but that's not where he changed the game. Johnson ran for a TD, threw for a TD, Returned an INT for a TD, and added a punt return for a TD for good measure.

 

Position Unit of the Week

Belfry Pirates Offensive Line vs. Pikeville

The Power Rankings needs to give credit when it is due, and Friday night it was due to the Belfry front line. The Pirates seemingly set the difficulty level to "easy" with the kind of numbers they put up on the defending 1A Champs, the Pirates gained over 500 yards and averaged an astounding 20 plus yards per carry on Offense.

 

Game of the Week

3A Estill County Engineers at 3A Powell County Pirates

District match-ups will essentially start this Friday and in 3A District 7 you may be seeing the game that ultimately decides the District Championship as the two rivals square off in Stanton. Powell County was the surprise District Champions in 2015 and this year it appears Estill is the slight front runner at this early point of the season.

[Patman]

Luke Jacobs had 6 tds in Knott Central's win over Betsy Layne 4 rushing, 1 receiving and an interception return.