Back to the question at hand is would Mercer be in the final game without Harrodsburg influence? Don't underestimate Coach Jaggers and what he can do with a team. Last year no one thought Mercer had a chance to win anything and they had a great season... No not one that took them this far but still better then what most thought. I know football is about injuries and it could happen to anyone but to say Mercer would not have been where they are now without the 3 ACL tears that put some of their top players out is the unknown. But remember Mercer had beat H-burg 2 years straight. So the best thing to do is not compare the two teams they both have great players and this is why they are where they are along with Jaggers and company's coaching. For the most part the parents, coaches and players have not focused or so it seems on which school contributed the most but focused on what can be done together. Of course they are going to be better then the Mercer team last year and the Harrodsburg team. They have been able to Merge 2 teams with great players on it into one. Jaggers stepping up and making it all work.

Mercer would have the basketballs out right now had they not consolidated.

Sorry to disagree Westsider but they didn't have much problem with the discrepency from the early 70's until 1986. At varying times they have been in the same district with Woodford County, Madison Central, Montgomery County and many others. They played Ft Thomas, Conner, Belfry (when they were 3A), Cawood, and a host of other bigger schools every year. The only reason Danville left 3A was because KHSAA ruled you could only play up one classification level.

That was 20 years ago, and Danville is in Class A now.

Mercer would have the basketballs out right now had they not consolidated.

I think you underestimate Jaggers and Company. They were not a crappy team last year and this year you add the experience that those players had last year under Jaggers system. Anything is possible. But then no one will know now will they?

Don't take it so personal. You aren't playing Trinity.

 

Your right we are playing Harrodsburg and Mercer County at the same time.

 

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

25.4% to be exact of ALL plays this year have involved Jackson. You are forgetting 3 other very good running backs (hey one even has over 2000 yards rushing this season... )

 

:thumb: Good post some people get on her and talk and have no idea what they are talking about!!

I think you underestimate Jaggers and Company. They were not a crappy team last year and this year you add the experience that those players had last year under Jaggers system. Anything is possible. But then no one will know now will they?

41-14. Enough said about 2005 Mercer team.

It's not like the 2005 Harrodsburg team was sitting the woods on fire last season either. They had 3-8 record last year. I understand some people are upset over all this merger stuff, but it happened and it's a done deal. People just need to get over it, and quit crying. Sometimes life's not fair either.

41-14. Enough said about 2005 Mercer team.

 

41-26 is what I remember.

41-26 is what I remember.

 

And the game was also closer than the score indicates. One play, and the game could have had a different outcome.

41-14. Enough said about 2005 Mercer team.

Great finally that understands it's 2006. Both teams are not this Titan Team

Instead of someone from Mercer getting on here and stating the truth about this they try to defend it with. Well what were we suppose to do? It's the cards we were delt. It just happened overnight. Hogwash.

 

I usually don't come on here and boast about Russell's team of how good they are. Unfortunately I'm the one that usually is quoted as saying things like "Russell's defense is suspect. We are not playing as well as we can. We might just be satified with the ring from 2005." I can't say that anymore. They played Belfry like a rabid dog.

 

Russell is ready to play the Mighty Titans. The Players on Russell could care less about this debate. One thing is for sure Mercer has not seen a defense this year like they are going to see Friday. Win or loose Russell will leave it all on the field. If they play with the "fire in the belly" attitude they had against Belfry, Russell will prevail.

 

Underdog. Russell is not the underdog. Period. They may be the underdog on BGP because of one reason. They are playing against two combined teams. I keep hearing about the 4.3 speed of the backs from Mercer. In true life they are probable 4.5 at least from the film I have seen. They are not faster than Reggie Bush who has 4.5 speed. Period. They look fast because they are playing against teams who are not fast. Russell has always been known for it's speed up until this week.

 

Reggie Bush has 4.5 speed? Hes a lil faster than that buddy.

41-14. Enough said about 2005 Mercer team.

 

The Final score was 41-26.

 

It was a very competitive game with Russell finding the endzone on some big plays like the 68 yard run by Kasey Clark on the first play of the second half. Russell did build a 34-6 lead in the third quarter but Mercer was able to cut it to 34-20 with 10:00 to play in the game.

 

It wasn't as lopsided as you would like to think. Mercer had 307 yards total offense; Russell had 359. Yeah, that's real dominating.

That could possibly be the most uninformed and short sighted post probably ever put on this web forum. Let's review just for a second, since so many people are so good at identifying problems, and no one has proposed a workable solution. All of this has to go into your thinking, unless of course you want to not let facts cloud your opinions (and those of others).

 

One, football in Kentucky is one of the few sports with hard clad, written game contracts. Those game contracts are on two year cycles with sometimes substantial forfeit fees. The two schools when they merged from what I read, had 19 or 20 signed contracts with opponents.

 

After reviewing the merger information, the local Boards of Education decided in the spring of 2006 to go ahead and make the move. Conduct their classes in whatever space they had until the new building is completed in a year or so. Bus kids all over town, back and forth, as needed, etc.

 

The KHSAA football alignment expires in 2006, as do the current game contracts. The Principals, Athletic Directors and coaches had been given information that the KHSAA was studying class expansion and not to schedule for the 2007 season. That way, there would be a fresh look at the entire system.

 

The current KHSAA classification system (that expires in 2006 according to their web site) is based on enrollment figures from 2003-2004 and 2002-2003 according to their web site. That is done in advance so that the classes can be established. Harrodsburg's 218 and Mercer's 655 would have been a total of 873. Yes, that is over the bounds set two years before that when the KHSAA (nor the Mercer Board) knew that a merger was coming. But their enrollment (as was every other KHSAA school) was taken based on the same set of data to fix those two years of competition. The point is that today's enrollment matters not one kid because no school is checked every year and automatically readjusted. There must be time for game arrangements, etc. And that few student's different with the class boundary is certainly no different than Danville having 50 more students than NCC this weekend, Bowling Green having nearly 100 more than Cov Cath (even when you double Cov Cath) or Ryle having 1500 kids in a game with a school with 1400 boys. Highlighting those differences, which are fractional when compared, just serves to make excuses.

 

The KHSAA, when given the information, had only two choices in my opinion. Leave the Class 2A designation for Mercer County or move them to 3A for one year. The concept of allowing them to play regular season but not for district championship would have held court challenge about as long as it takes to hit enter on the computer. So they were going to compete, the question then becomes where. In 2A decision, as I read in one local newspaper, you "minimize" the damage to the majority of schools. Only the Class A schools were impacted in terms of game scheduling. And some were not able to find replacement games and Harrodsburg (paid by Mercer County) would have had to pay forfeit fees.

 

Moving them to 3A would have then impacted a whole different group of schools for one year only (and a different MAJORITY as it was put), who had nothing to do with the problem and would have simply seen more of the aforementioned contract problems created. And without verification that their enrollment would even remain at the current level. Personally, I cannot help but think that both Danville and Burgin have benefited from a few families who didn't want their kids going to a mega size school, but preferred the smaller education setup like Harrodsburg had.

 

Lastly, don't even begin to think that somehow a one year athletic opportunity had anything to do with the final decision and its timing. That is a slap in the face to all of the alumni of old Harrodsburg. For there are now divisions and disagreements in that community that may take years to dissolve. Arguments along race, income, religion and social status lines still occur relative to this merger and are to be expected as one entire group within a community feels a lost identity.

 

So to blame the KHSAA for all of this seems to be very very uninformed. Given the very minimal options available, and past precedent, it was difficult for them to make any other decision. I know there are probably still old timers complaining about Scott County in the early 1970s whose football title should probably have an asterisk by it (according to some) because that was the one year wonder (actually two total) of the merger of Scott County and Georgetown.

 

Lastly, on a purely football note, having watched all four games last year, the best team of all 8 was probably Russell, from a purely football standpoint. They lined up and beat the heck out of a very good opponent. And the same thing could happen Friday. And while it may seem like David and Goliath to some (as I am sure the old fox McGlone will tell his kids) and may be like Remember the Titans to others, for once, can we adults on here shut up and let these kids have the spotlight and glory without clouding it in advance with excuses?

Wow I hope you feel better.

 

This has all been said a thousand times. If you would have read the original post I said it would have been unfair to Mercer. It is a hypothetical sitution that I think would be the most fair.

 

One school cries foul or fourty schools cry foul.

 

It is over simplified but it is true.

The Final score was 41-26.

 

It was a very competitive game with Russell finding the endzone on some big plays like the 68 yard run by Kasey Clark on the first play of the second half. Russell did build a 34-6 lead in the third quarter but Mercer was able to cut it to 34-20 with 10:00 to play in the game.

 

It wasn't as lopsided as you would like to think. Mercer had 307 yards total offense; Russell had 359. Yeah, that's real dominating.

 

But honestly. The only stat that matters at the end of that game was the scoreboard. One went on and one went home. Luckily for us it was Russell that went on.

 

From Russell's wesite Mercer had 306 yards total offense and Russell had 436.

Reggie Bush has 4.5 speed? Hes a lil faster than that buddy.

 

Not by much, he runs about a 4.4, I think at nfldraftscout.com he is listed at 4.37.