Who wins this district championship matchup? North Hardin won the first match on the road 7-0.l, to remain undefeated. It also give Central Hardin its first loss on the season. Does North Hardin continue with its undefeated season? Or Does Central Hardin get revenge and send North Hardin home for the year?

I think North Hardin defense gets them the win again.

I'll go with Central scoring just enough to get the win.

I see CH lost to South Oldham in their last regular season game. I was kind of surprised by that. Did CH rest any key players against SO?

No starters rested against South Oldham, just one of those games. South Oldham took the opening drive right down the field and scored a TD, then Central Hardin fumbled their first offensive play from scrimmage, South Oldham scored again and the wheels came off. Central Hardin pulled it's starters in the 3rd quarter. Trying to compare the South Oldham game to determine a winner in the upcoming North Hardin/Central Hardin game would be a waste of time in my books.

North 20-7.

No starters rested against South Oldham, just one of those games. South Oldham took the opening drive right down the field and scored a TD, then Central Hardin fumbled their first offensive play from scrimmage, South Oldham scored again and the wheels came off. Central Hardin pulled it's starters in the 3rd quarter. Trying to compare the South Oldham game to determine a winner in the upcoming North Hardin/Central Hardin game would be a waste of time in my books.

 

Thanks for the summary. Sounds like it just wasn’t meant to be against SO.

North 20-7.

 

I agree with this. Same score I was thinking.

I’ll go with a low scoring game, similar to the regular season matchup.

 

North Hardin - 14

Central Hardin - 10

Ok, here we go.

Five things that Central Hardin must do in order to win this game!

 

1. Take advantage of North Hardin's defensive aggressiveness and change up the snap count. In watching tape on PRP and especially Barren County last week, they were both able to switch up the snap counts and got North Hardin defense to jump off-sides at least 5 times.

2. Can Central Hardin implement some short quick pass routes, preferably slants over the middle or quick passes to the edge for RBs Deonco Wilkerson and Trejean Sanders or to WR Gavin George?

3. Central Hardin needs to target Gavin George in the passing game at least 10 times. He is arguably the best athlete on the field and his 4 touches the last time these two teams met was a travesty!

4. Central Hardin must get pressure on North Hardin QB Manie Wimberly! Central Hardin's unwillingness to come out of their 4-4 zone press defense and bring pressure could mean the difference in winning and losing this game.

5.Special teams. On paper, Central Hardin has a better field goal kicker in Evan Jones who has range up to 50 yards, (probably less in the cold conditions). Are they willing to kick the deep ball on kickoffs or use their not so popular "pooch kick" and give North Hardin possession at or near midflield?

 

My frustration comes from RB Deonco Wilkerson's ankle injury in the Barren County game and the Central Hardin coaching staffs refusal to hold him out of a meaningless South Oldham game and the Meade County game last week in order to get him healthy for this weeks game. As a result, he will be at best 70%. Earlier in the season and the first half of the Barren County game, he was explosive on offense and after 4 touches in the first half at Barren County already had 127 yards. Since then he has lacked the ability to explode through holes in the defense or cut effectively. He accounted for 200 yards of offense per game out of the backfield and at the WR position before this injury. This has been a huge loss to the offense side of the ball. His effectiveness as a defensive cornerback has also been felt.

With all that being said, I look for QB Chase Elmore to rebound from his worst performance of the year against North Hardin in the first game and to be more productive in this one. In the end, can Central Hardin produce enough offensive consistency to sustain a couple of scoring drives? Can they get an explosive play from Gavin George, Deonco Wilkerson or Trejean Sanders? Only Central Hardin's coaching staff can determine the answers to these questions.

I believe the winner of this game gets the winner of ST X vs Manual.

I believe the winner of this game gets the winner of ST X vs Manual.

 

If St.X wins then N Hardin/Central Hardin winner will get McCracken Co/Henderson Co winner. If Manual wins then N Hardin/Central Hardin winner plays Manual.

North Hardin 28

Central Hardin 14

CH 65 yard TD drive,

CH 7

NH 0

End of the 1st Qtr

CH 7

NH 0