BluegrassPreps Class 3A Football Rankings (10/5) - Discussion

[TheDeuce]

Class 3A

A somewhat ho-hum week in Class 3A was upended when Rockcastle County knocked off #3 Bell County, 13-7. Rockcastle's defensive effort was superb as Christopher Mink intercepted two Bell County passes and Rylee Deleon recovered a fumble. The win snapped a nine game series losing streak for the Rockets dating back to 2006 and with the win propelled Rockcastle into the Top Ten for the first time this season.

Top ranked DeSales was off this week after a scheduled meeting with Paducah Tilghman was canceled. Perhaps the extra rest will be helpful as the Colts are scheduled to host eighth-ranked Christian Academy - Louisville this week. CAL broke a modest two game losing streak with a 41-0 win over Henry County. Meanwhile, Paducah Tilghman was able to find a replacement game this weekend, defeating Murray, 31-21, behind 229 yards passing and two touchdowns from Jack James.

Two eastern Kentucky powers remained undefeated as they stream rolled toward a showdown in two weeks. Fourth-ranked Russell toppled 6A Simon Kenton, 32-31 in overtime, on a two-point conversion. Sixth-ranked Ashland made their first ever visit to Raceland a success, rolling the Class 1A seventh-ranked Rams, 50-15, behind 145 yards rushing and four touchdowns from Keontae Pittman.

Finally, welcome and congratulations to Lawrence County, the lone Class 3A school who had not yet played. Due to Covid issues, the Bulldogs had to sit out the first three weekends, but they showed little rust in shutting out Magoffin County, 39-0.

1. DeSales vs. #8 Christian Academy-Louisville

2. Belfry vs. 6A #2 North Hardin

3. Russell vs. Greenup County

4. Ashland vs. East Carter

5. Elizabethtown at 6A Meade County

6. Bardstown vs. 4A Marion County

7. Mercer County vs. 5A South Laurel

8. Christian Academy - Louisville at #1 DeSales

9. Paducah Tilghman at 2A #4 Mayfield

10. Rockcastle County at Jackson County

[gchs_uk9]

If you were picking today, who is the favorite in Class 3A?

Then, how many teams on this list have a realistic shot at a state championship?

[Pacman69]

3A is so competitive this year. There’s 4-5 teams who could win it all!

[ATLCat]

1 hour ago, Pacman69 said:

3A is so competitive this year. There’s 4-5 teams who could win it all!

 

1 hour ago, gchs_uk9 said:

If you were picking today, who is the favorite in Class 3A?

Then, how many teams on this list have a realistic shot at a state championship?

Favorite:

I think DeSales has earned the #1 ranking by being the team who has seemingly checked all the boxes. I don't think DeSales is as good as they were last year, but they are still stout all around and was a play or two away from having the biggest win of any 3A team. 

Great workhorse back.

Ability to get big plays in the passing game.

Quality and experienced OLine.

Aggressive and fundamentally sound defense.

Belfry has the stud player, but the Pirates have yet to really look anything like the team who won the title last year, especially on defense.

 

There is a second group I am going to mention, will call it "Too Soon" Contenders.. these are the teams who have probably been more impressive than DeSales and Belfry but we just haven't see them play another top tier team to compare to. Definitely contenders, but maybe something more special once they get a true test to pass.

Russell

Ashland

Etown

 

Then the third group are the Contenders* crowd. They have to be considered contenders without a true front runner to compare to, but they get an asterisk because most years they would definitely not be in that contender class:

I think you can take the remainder of the Top 10 and even throw in some names like Glasgow, Bell County, and Taylor County.

[Tkinslow]

I truly believe the champion this year will be someone unexpected as of now.

[ATLCat]

53 minutes ago, Tkinslow said:

I truly believe the champion this year will be someone unexpected as of now.

It has that feel of 2009 when Belfry and Central both were a little down and Tilghman got hot and defeated Somerset for the title.

I am not sure I see a team in 3A that at this point I can say "I would be shocked if they don't reach the Semi's"

[Tkinslow]

1 hour ago, ATLCat said:

It has that feel of 2009 when Belfry and Central both were a little down and Tilghman got hot and defeated Somerset for the title.

I am not sure I see a team in 3A that at this point I can say "I would be shocked if they don't reach the Semi's"

Yeah no one seems like they’re head and shoulders above the other teams.

[DevilMayCare]

6 hours ago, ATLCat said:

It has that feel of 2009 when Belfry and Central both were a little down and Tilghman got hot and defeated Somerset for the title.

I am not sure I see a team in 3A that at this point I can say "I would be shocked if they don't reach the Semi's"

I wish I could "like" the fact that @TilghmanPride "liked" this post. 😂

I'm sure you'd love a repeat of '09, TP.

[TilghmanPride]

42 minutes ago, DevilMayCare said:

I wish I could "like" the fact that @TilghmanPride "liked" this post. 😂

I'm sure you'd love a repeat of '09, TP.

Absolutely! I was just hoping to be near .500 this season. Although I don't see that repeat happening this year, I certainly didn't in '09 either. 

[gchs_uk9]

9 hours ago, TilghmanPride said:

Absolutely! I was just hoping to be near .500 this season. Although I don't see that repeat happening this year, I certainly didn't in '09 either. 

You were one game under .500 when the ‘09 playoffs started, yes?

[TilghmanPride]

31 minutes ago, gchs_uk9 said:

You were one game under .500 when the ‘09 playoffs started, yes?

4-6 heading into the playoffs that year. 

[coachb110]

We should be better able to judge DeSales after Friday's game vs St. X.  The Colts lost a close one to a very good LCA team.  St. X is a tough 6A team and if the Colts can beat them or even play them very close, then I think they will earn their early favorite honors.  I still wonder.  I see need for improvement in several areas for the Colts.  They do have a great coaching staff, and dedicated players, so maybe they can work out the kinks and live up to their ranking.  Everybody seems to be writing off CAL in 2A.  I think that's a mistake.  They are a very dangerous team that can hurt you in a number of ways.  Hopefully, the Colts will get to play them before the playoffs begin. That one could determine the favorite in 2A.

[gchs_uk9]

5 minutes ago, coachb110 said:

Hopefully, the Colts will get to play them before the playoffs begin. That one could determine the favorite in 3A.

This is an interesting point. I'm sure both teams will try to get the game rescheduled but there is no requirement to do so this year. If the game isn't played, both teams would get a win and a loss. Mix in Mercer's victory over CAL and the potential need to go to tiebreakers with the RPI and who knows what the bracket might look like. Could easily see DeSales/CAL in the first round.