Class 1A Notebook (10/9) - District Previews

For all intents and purposes, playoff time is here. Teams have played most of their out of district games. Some teams have played tough opponents to get ready for the tough games to come in the playoffs. Some teams have scheduled to boost confidence and get wins. Now it is time for district games and there is a new twist this year. The first two rounds of the playoffs are against your own district opponents. In the tough, competitive districts, that puts extra weight on winning the regular season district games and avoiding a tough first round match up. In a couple districts, it makes things a lot easier for the top teams to slide through to round 3. Things will certainly be interesting to watch as the new playoff schedule plays out and the new RPI system puts its impact into rounds 3 and 4.

Let’s take a quick tour through last week’s results. Then we will preview each district in 1A looking at what the teams have done to position themselves for district play and how they have performed. Then we will wrap up with our Friday night preview for this week.

Weekly Review

More than half the 1A top ten chose last week as their open date, presumably to rest up, heal up and prepare for district play. The teams that were open last week with no game include #1 Pikeville, #4 Newport Central Catholic, #7 Williamsburg, #8 Kentucky Country Day, #9 Louisville Holy Cross and #10 Bethlehem. Three of the four top ten teams that played not only did not take the week off, they put a challenging opponent on the schedule.

#2 Raceland – Raceland always puts a challenging out of district schedule together. Last week’s opponent was area rival Ashland. Ashland came into the game ranked #3 in 3A and they proved that is no fluke as they handed the Rams a 26-0 pasting. In some ways the game was closer than the score. In other ways, it was an even worse defeat than the 26-0 final. Raceland actually hung tough through most of the game. Ashland scored a touchdown in each quarter so it was a methodical beating they put on the Rams. The score was 13-0 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Rams drove to the 12 yard line, hoping to get back within one score but were stopped there on downs. That is when the play of the game sealed the Rams’ fate. Tomcats RB Blake Hester took off on an 87 yard touchdown run stretching the lead to 20-0. The reason I say the game wasn’t that close is Ashland outgained Raceland 358 yards to just 157, with 335 of those Tomcats yards coming on the ground. The Rams put themselves through a tough test. They need to take the lessons learned, shake off the loss and move forward to district play.

#3 Hazard – Hazard also took on a huge challenge last week as they faced the #1 team in 2A, the Somerset Briar Jumpers. Somerset has been one of the most impressive teams in the state through the first half of the year. The Bulldogs took the loss 21-9, but that score says good things about Hazard. The closest any other team had come to Somerset was Beechwood taking a 32 point loss. That makes the 12 point defeat for the Bulldogs one to take note of. Even more impressive, the yardage totals were fairly even in the game. Somerset totaled 304 yards and Hazard put up 246 yards. Hazard looked as they might take a 3-0 lead to the half after Jonah Helm kicked a 49 yard field goal. However, Somerset went 68 yards in 52 seconds to get a last second score and gain a 7-3 halftime lead. Hazard took the lead back in the third quarter at 9-7 but Somerset once again responded immediately to get back on top at 13-9. Somerset then scored on a 54 yard fake punt play midway through the fourth quarter to get the win, 21-9. A very impressive effort for Hazard.

#5 Paintsville – Paintsville took on a challenging opponent as well. The Tigers were able to pull out a 21-14 victory over Union (VA), a very tough opponent. Union entered the game undefeated and ranked in the top 5 in Virginia’s 2A division. They compare almost equally to Paintsville so this was a very nice matchup for both teams. The game did not disappoint going down to the final seconds. The game was tied at 14 in the fourth quarter when Harris Phelps scored the go ahead touchdown with 8:30 to go. Jonah Porter then sealed the win with his second interception of the game at the 3 yard line in the final moments of the contest. Paintsville’s strength of schedule is #1 in 1A and this was another excellent win over a very strong opponent.

#6 Campbellsville – Our final top 10 team that saw action last week is the Campbellsville Eagles. Campbellsville’s opponent, 2A Metcalfe County, had only one win on the season. The Eagles took care of business with a 39-0 win. QB Arren Hash and WR/RB Malachi Corley dominated this game. Hash threw for 4 touchdowns and 3 of them went to Corley. Corley had 192 yards receiving on 5 receptions, with 3 of those going for scores.

1A Districts Preview

District 1

Russellville 1-6; 1-0 in district

Crittenden County 4-2

Caverna 1-5

Fulton County 5-2; 0-1 in district

We have one district game played in this district. Looking at the records of Russellville and Fulton County, it looks like a major upset. However, Russellville has played a schedule that is among the toughest in 1A and Fulton County’s schedule is among the weakest in 1A. This is another good example that in evaluating teams, strength of schedule is just as important as a team’s won loss record. Crittenden County is the clear favorite in this district. Under the new playoff format, if Crittenden County wins the top playoff seed out of district, Fulton County will get a chance to avenge their 34-31 loss to Russellville in round 1 of the playoffs. Look for the Rockets to go undefeated in the district and move on through the playoffs to round 3.

District 2

Campbellsville 5-2; 1-0 in district

Louisville Holy Cross 5-1

Bethlehem 4-1

Fort Knox 2-4; 0-1 in district

District 2 is much tougher to evaluate. Three of the top 10 in 1A are in this district. This will be one of the most competitive districts in 1A. With the new playoff format, winning the top seed out of the district will be a big prize. The #2 and #3 seeds will have to face each other in round 1 of the playoffs. That will send one of the top 10 teams in 1A home after the first round. Bethlehem and Holy Cross have a common opponent, Providence (IN). Holy Cross won 29-15 and Bethlehem lost 29-20. Campbellsville’s 2 losses were to the best 2 opponents any of these three teams have played. Campbellsville features one of the best players in 1A, WR/RB Malachi Corley, as well as one of the top QB’s in 1A, Arren Hash. Give the slight edge to Campbellsville for the top seed, but watch closely. Any one of the top 3 teams here is very capable of taking the top seed.

District 3

Kentucky Country Day 6-0

Berea 6-0

Eminence 5-1

Frankfort 2-4

Top to bottom, District 3 is arguably the toughest district in 1A. Once again we have a district featuring three very good teams. You could also say all three of the top teams in this district are outperforming expectations year to date. Undoubtedly, the undefeated Berea Pirates are doing things no one thought could happen this year. The strength of schedule puts big question marks on Berea but their 49-6 win last week over 4-1 Dayton shows Berea may be even better than we might think. We will find out soon enough as the Pirates host Kentucky Country Day in their district opener this Friday. Meanwhile, Eminence gets to test themselves in their return to KHSAA district play with a visit to perennially tough Frankfort. We will go with Kentucky Country Day as the pick out of District 3. The #2 seed will most likely be Eminence but the new Berea Pirates could surprise us even further and grab that #2 spot. Frankfort is the long shot. There is a lot of fun football to come as we watch this district unfold.

District 4

Dayton 4-2; 1-0 in district

Ludlow 4-2

Newport Central Catholic 4-2

Bellevue 1-5; 0-1 in district

Dayton is another resurgent, surprising program. The KHSAA has Dayton’s 36-12 win over Bellevue in week 2 listed as a district win, but I am not sure that is accurate. Those two teams face off again this Friday and I believe that game may actually be the one these two teams will count as their district contest. The big game this Friday in this district is Ludlow visiting Newport Central Catholic. The Thoroughbreds have played a strong schedule which positions them as the district favorite. Ludlow is the one team in the district with some chance at upsetting the Thoroughbreds, but don’t expect that to happen. Newport Central Catholic is the overwhelming favorite with Ludlow a solid number 2.

District 5

Nicholas County 4-3; 1-0 in district

Paris 2-4; 1-0 in district

Bishop Brossart 2-4; 0-1 in district

Bracken County 0-7; 0-1 in district

Nicholas County is the only team in the district with a winning record, and they are the favorite to win this district. The Bluejackets posted a 28-6 district win last week over Brossart. Meanwhile, Paris eeked out a district win of their own, 30-28 over Bracken County. That sets up a showdown this Friday between Paris and Nicholas County. The winner of that game will almost surely be the district winner. Brossart and Bracken County also face each other this Friday and the loser of that game will almost surely be the #4 seed. Look for Brossart to get the win in that game and Nicholas County to get the win over Paris. That will set the stage for Paris and Brossart battling in two weeks for the #2 seed and home field advantage in round 1 of the playoffs. Nicholas County should emerge as the round 3 playoff representative from District 5.

District 6

Paintsville 4-2

Raceland 3-3

Fairview 2-3

Betsy Layne 2-4

Two of the top 5 in 1A reside in District 6. Paintsville and Raceland has turned into one of the top district rivalries in the state. This year should once again bring us a couple classic confrontations. Both teams have lost their starting QB’s to injury, but both should be back at some point this year. The face off does not happen for 3 weeks so there will be plenty of time for those QB’s to get back in time to face each other. We can safely say this district is between those 2, but there is no predicting the winner between the two of them. Don’t count on the regular season game to tell you who will win the playoff game as the regular season winner has lost in the playoffs the past two years.

District 7

Pikeville 6-0

Hazard 4-2

Phelps 3-3

Jenkins 0-10 (forfeiting season)

District 7 is another two team race, and these two teams could very well be the two best in all of 1A. Pikeville is undefeated, ranked #1 and the favorite to win the district and state. Both Hazard and Pikeville have wins over Paintsville, the #3 team in 1A, and Hazard’s win was more convincing. The regular season showdown, and the battle for home field in the playoffs, happens in two weeks. That will be a dandy.

District 8

Pineville 5-1

Williamsburg 4-2

Lynn Camp 2-3

Harlan 1-5

Williamsburg is the favorite in District 8, but Pineville is putting together a very nice season and shows some upset potential. However, that thing we talked about all the way back in our District 1 commentary comes into play here as well. Pineville’s strength of schedule factor is woeful and betrays their 5-1 record. For that reason, it is much more likely that Pineville will be battling with Lynn Camp for the #2 seed than with Williamsburg for #1. Look for Williamsburg to be the #1 seed and to be representing District 8 when round 3 of the playoffs are here.

Friday Night Lineup

The district battles get started a day early with #4 Newport Central Catholic hosting their top district threat Ludlow on Thursday night. There are two other key 1A district contests. The upstart Berea Pirates host #8 Kentucky Country Day in a game we will call judgment day for the Pirates. Then perhaps the top game in 1A this week will feature #9 Holy Cross on the road at #10 Bethlehem. We will look forward to those games and recap them for you in next week’s 1A Notebook.

1. Pikeville vs. Phelps

2. Hazard -- OPEN

3. Paintsville at Fairview

4. Newport Central Catholic vs. Ludlow (10/10)

5. Raceland vs. Betsy Layne

6. Campbellsville -- OPEN

7. Williamsburg at Harlan

8. Kentucky Country Day at Berea

9. Louisville Holy Cross at #10 Bethlehem

10. Bethlehem vs. #9 Louisville Holy Cross

Edited October 10, 20197 yr by Voice of Reason