One More, For Old Times' Sake

Records: Hoptown (0-2) | Christian County (0-1)

Week 2 Results: Hoptown lost to Mayfield 6-59 | Christian County had the week off

Series History: Christian County leads 29-27 all-time 

Early struggles: The final game in the near 60 year history of this rivalry should have no shortage of fire and will to win from both sides, just don't expect this to be the most aesthetically pleasing game we see this season. The offensively challenged Tigers are averaging about 80 yards per game through two weeks. Two of their three touchdowns this season have come via kick returns. Christian County is 4-34 since 2019 and got roughed up on the ground by Franklin-Simpson in Week 1, allowing 335 rushing yards on 8 per carry. 

Hopkinsville beat the Colonels last year, 22-0.

This is more sentimental than anything else. It would be nice to see a big voting turnout in here to see this rivalry out the door.

I think CC looked better against FS then Hoptown did against either of their opponents so I’m going with them.

Before the season started I would have picked Hopkinsville but the early returns have me leaning toward the Colonels. CC is inconsistent but they can break a big play at any time. 

I’ll take Christian County in what I hope is a classic to send off a great rivalry in Western KY, Hopkinsville may not win a game in the 1H of the season if they’re unable to pull this one out.

3 hours ago, TheBallCoach said:

I’ll take Christian County in what I hope is a classic to send off a great rivalry in Western KY, Hopkinsville may not win a game in the 1H of the season if they’re unable to pull this one out.

I'm rolling with the Colonels, as well. We may only have a one game sample, but they at least put up a fight against a quality team in Franklin-Simpson. Hopkinsville has faced two strong opponents and provided virtually no resistance for either. 

With the Tigers in bad shape this season and the struggles at Christian County over the last few years, I have little optimism regarding the consolidated football program getting off on the right foot next year. It may take some time.

8 hours ago, DevilMayCare said:

I'm rolling with the Colonels, as well. We may only have a one game sample, but they at least put up a fight against a quality team in Franklin-Simpson. Hopkinsville has faced two strong opponents and provided virtually no resistance for either. 

With the Tigers in bad shape this season and the struggles at Christian County over the last few years, I have little optimism regarding the consolidated football program getting off on the right foot next year. It may take some time.

This last part really has me scratching my head as both Hoptown and County have had really good teams not too long ago.  So what happened to get us to this trickle down shell of their former selves?  I personally think "The Consolidation" and its drawn out manner has caused at least some of it and its uncertainty has caused some to just say forget it.  I think it will take some time for the new school to gain a foothold and the leadership from the school and on the sideline will determine how long that will be.  I truly believe if the new coach/administration takes hold that there are more in the hallways that can make a difference for the new school.

As far as this game, I took the team that I thought had the best defense and to me that's Hoptown.  Been some classic games in this rivalry.  I expect a really hard fought game and a lot of people at the Stadium of Champions on Friday night.

Good luck to both teams and no injuries!

3 hours ago, Purple88 said:

This last part really has me scratching my head as both Hoptown and County have had really good teams not too long ago.  So what happened to get us to this trickle down shell of their former selves?  I personally think "The Consolidation" and its drawn out manner has caused at least some of it and its uncertainty has caused some to just say forget it.  I think it will take some time for the new school to gain a foothold and the leadership from the school and on the sideline will determine how long that will be.  I truly believe if the new coach/administration takes hold that there are more in the hallways that can make a difference for the new school.

As far as this game, I took the team that I thought had the best defense and to me that's Hoptown.  Been some classic games in this rivalry.  I expect a really hard fought game and a lot of people at the Stadium of Champions on Friday night.

Good luck to both teams and no injuries!

Agree with this post but they should be successful the first year of consolidation due to the fact 6A football in WKY is very weak.. Your main competition will be Henderson County who is on a downswing right now. Davies County, McCracken County are below average 6A teams compared to the rest of the state.  Until the last 4/5 years Christian handled Henderson pretty regularly.  Basketball, Wrestling  and Baseball will be top notch the first year.. With the right hire football won't be far behind. 

This will be an interesting game. Neither team is super talented but Christian County has better playmakers and they are older but have lost 4 in a row in this series. They were also down 40-13 to FS in game 1 and scored two TD’s in the last 5 minutes. 
 

Hoptown showed some really good qualities in their scrimmage vs South Warren but then played a really good Greenwood team and a great Mayfield team and didn’t show up at all. This is a young Hoptown team and should get better every game. 
 

Neither team winning would surprise me in this one. A true toss up. 

NFHS Video:

https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/christian-academy-louisville-ky/gam6f0f0c8f89

Update.

The superintendent announced this week that it probably won't be the last game and a lot of things are up in the air. They've jumped the gun on this project so many times, no one knows what is going on. McCracken's new Super was the Assistant in Christian who was leading the project and it's been a mess since he's left. 

As far as football goes, no one has had a clue about the consolidation since it got started. Lovelace was probably the easy choice to get the job, but he's gone. Craig Clayton was openly against it and they pushed him out. Marc Clark is going to be the consolidated school coach and there won't be a search. Not rumor or gossip, it's what he's been telling people. The last 2 hires for CCHS have been guys who were supposed to help Clark integrate his offense and system at County before the merger. Which has made the job toxic and no big names have applied. CCHS has went from Lovelace, Gehres, Ladson, and now Self. 4 coaches in 4 seasons. They also got moved to 6A so that they could compete in that district when they merge, making it much harder. As a CCHS alumni it sickens me. 

You have to get a great coach here. A coach that wins no matter where they go and can motivate kids to win at the highest level. Look at Todd Adler at Logan County. No one would say they have some talent advantage, they just out-work everyone. It's all a culture of accountability and success.

As for football in the area, it's been a slow 20 year decline since Clayton left. Kids here don't grow up loving football like they did. There isn't a system or passion. CCHS has never had good crowds, but Hoptown did. Back 20 years ago Hoptown and County both could both stand and compete with everyone in the state from Louisville, Lexington, BG, Owensboro, etc. The best athletes play basketball. Even baseball has taken some of the better athletes at both schools. Hoptown and Mayfield was a fun rivalry and now it's lopsided to Mayfield. The schools here compete more on the level with Caldwell and Madisonville rather than being the king of WKY. So many times I've seen kids at both schools playing basketball as a 6'4 Center that would look like an easy D1 foottball player. Lovelace had some good teams, but even his teams that made state didn't belong on the same field as Highlands and wouldn't have come close to the Louisville schools. Even a few years back he had some major D1 talent all along the roster and even those teams were smacked by the Bowling Green teams.

Clayton seemed like he had gotten some of his tradition back as they finally got back to region titles and semi-state regularly when he got back. Playing tougher schedules too. More D1 signees. But it seems like there wasn't enough support and with Lopez being passed over that they didn't want to build that program again. 

As for the game. Hoptown and County aren't top teams in their leagues. I do think Hoptown probably is a better all-around team and have a well coached defense. But County has the better QB. In a game like this I would default to the team with the better QB.

CCHS 12

HHS 6

Bump.