Being from Hardin County, I'd love for Elizabethtown to break the area streak and bring it home. Elizabethtown, Meade and John Hardin have all advanced to a final in the last 15 years or so and went a combined 0-fer in the final.

 

What's interesting is this Elizabethtown team is void of serious star power. No D-I locks like the Chris Todd (Texas Tech-Auburn), Brandon Deaderick (Alabama), Zipp Duncan (Kentucky) and AJ French (WKU) runner-up squad.

 

You go look at the BGP football offers thread and E'town has very few kids listed.

 

If E'town is as good as everyone thinks/hopes, then they should come out and make a statement against Franklin-Simpson, CAL and North Hardin.

 

I'm not trying to be a hater because I know a lot of folks inside the E'town program.

 

Don't get me wrong: E'town IS good.

 

But are they THAT good? Because Belfry has been on another level recently and even though E'town has been to back-to-back semis, the teams which ended E'town's seasons (LexCath in 15, Louisville Central in 16) weren't exactly that competitive when it mattered most (in the final).

Being from Hardin County, I'd love for Elizabethtown to break the area streak and bring it home. Elizabethtown, Meade and John Hardin have all advanced to a final in the last 15 years or so and went a combined 0-fer in the final.

 

What's interesting is this Elizabethtown team is void of serious star power. No D-I locks like the Chris Todd (Texas Tech-Auburn), Brandon Deaderick (Alabama), Zipp Duncan (Kentucky) and AJ French (WKU) runner-up squad.

 

You go look at the BGP football offers thread and E'town has very few kids listed.

 

If E'town is as good as everyone thinks/hopes, then they should come out and make a statement against Franklin-Simpson, CAL and North Hardin.

 

I'm not trying to be a hater because I know a lot of folks inside the E'town program.

 

Don't get me wrong: E'town IS good.

 

But are they THAT good? Because Belfry has been on another level recently and even though E'town has been to back-to-back semis, the teams which ended E'town's seasons (LexCath in 15, Louisville Central in 16) weren't exactly that competitive when it mattered most (in the final).

 

I like the way you think @Nathaniel Bryan

I like the way you think @Nathaniel Bryan

 

Would it surprise me if Elizabethtown DID win it all? It's possible.

 

I'm just trying to figure out how/why some folks think E'town has left LexCath/Boyle in the dust so convincingly. I CAN'T get there. At least not yet. If they struggle with F-S, CAL and NH, I definitely won't be there before the midway point.

 

That being said, E'town is fully capable of putting together a run like last year (E'town started 2-3 with losses to some good, but not great, teams like East Jess, Bardstown and North Hardin) and go deep again.

 

Three straight state semifinals? Doable. Likely in many people's eyes.

 

But state champ? Has Belfry fallen THAT far? Can E'town put it together in the trenches for four quarters with Belfry or Corbin or Louisville Central (which E'town has an AWFUL history with)?

 

E'town folks should know from past experience (the Todd team following the runner-up year; girls' soccer under Zoeller; girls' golf with three D-I players; girls' basketball ranked No. 1 three different seasons with Boley) that their programs do NOT do well when the expectations are high.

 

Not-a-fun fact: The last SIX times E'town has been ranked No. 1 in a sport during a season, it did NOT win the state title in any of those sports.

 

Personally, I'd rather fly under the radar and sneak up on people (like last year or even 2015) than have a ton of hype and come up short (see E'town girls' soccer or three straight seasons of E'town girls hoops).

 

Hype can be dangerous,, When hype shows its sharp side, that cut is rather painful.

 

Label me "Cautiously Optimistic." I ain't fully gulping and guzzling all that Kool-Aid just yet, though.

 

Just merely sipping. For now.

 

(Now watch them go 15-0 and leave me with a serious helping of crow to try to eat)

Playoff format for 3A.

 

D1 vs D2

D4 vs D5

D3 vs D6

D7 vs D8

Etown has 23 seniors, and every skill guy back. They will make a run at the title in my opinion.

 

Fleming County has 21 Srs. and a few will be playing after high school if they so choose. Not having them in there may just add fuel to their fire.

Fleming County has 21 Srs. and a few will be playing after high school if they so choose. Not having them in there may just add fuel to their fire.

 

That's good. Fleming will have to prove it. I still can't figure out how they lost to east carter last year. Games like that are what leaving you scratching your head. But I hope to see them succeed as I was high on them last year.

I honestly believe that Corbin is ranked a little too high. They are going to have to replace 7 starters on the defensive side, so the offense better play some ball control and score a lot of points until the defense grows up. They could possibly start the season off by losing 3 or 4 out of the first 4 games, which could cause some confidence problems as well. If they win 2or 3 of the first 4, then they should be alright, but could realistically go 6-4 or 5-5 in the regular season.

Fleming County has 21 Srs. and a few will be playing after high school if they so choose. Not having them in there may just add fuel to their fire.

 

With respect... comparing Fleming County and Etown isn't exactly a fair comparison.

 

One team went to the Semi-Finals and were very close to a State Finals appearance losing by a TD to Central. The other lost 61-0 in the 2nd Round on a running clock.

 

Fleming is no doubt a Top 15 team in 3A,,,, but it's not like they have accomplished anything that demands they should start the year in the Top 10.

With respect... comparing Fleming County and Etown isn't exactly a fair comparison.

 

One team went to the Semi-Finals and were very close to a State Finals appearance losing by a TD to Central. The other lost 61-0 in the 2nd Round on a running clock.

 

Fleming is no doubt a Top 15 team in 3A,,,, but it's not like they have accomplished anything that demands they should start the year in the Top 10.

 

Only comparison to E'town were the number of Srs., which is very good for a 3A team, but I could see them very close to Western Hills or PT in my opinion to start at least.

With respect... comparing Fleming County and Etown isn't exactly a fair comparison.

 

One team went to the Semi-Finals and were very close to a State Finals appearance losing by a TD to Central. The other lost 61-0 in the 2nd Round on a running clock.

 

Fleming is no doubt a Top 15 team in 3A,,,, but it's not like they have accomplished anything that demands they should start the year in the Top 10.

 

And for the record on comparisons pretty much everyone lost to Belfry with a running clock.

I've been hearing nothing but good things about Henry County from the locals you think this is the year they turn the program around

Only comparison to E'town were the number of Srs., which is very good for a 3A team, but I could see them very close to Western Hills or PT in my opinion to start at least.

 

Neither Western Hills or Paducah Tilghman were top-10 locks when looking at the CJ, LHL, BGP and CalPreps rankings at the same time.

 

IIRC, neither Western Hills or Paducah Tilghman even appeared in 2-of-4 polls.

 

Fleming County is likely an 11-20 team and might sneak into the top 10, but the bottom of the top 10 changes week by week.

 

So missing an "others receiving votes" isn't that big of a deal.

 

If Fleming winds up in the top 7 or so (jumping the consensus top 7 of Belfry-Corbin-Russell-LexCath-Central-Etown-Boyle), then I'll gladly eat some crow.

 

Not sure why the huff about a team likely not to crack the top 7, though. It's like arguing about a 20-13 NCAA basketball team that missed the final No. 12 seed.