Braves And Wildcats Trying To Shrug Off Late Season Setbacks

Records: F-S (9-2) | UC (10-1)

BGP 3A Rankings: F-S (#10) | UC (#6)

Round 1 Results: F-S beat Hancock County | UC beat Adair County 

Series History: First meeting as far back as 1998

Teaser Preview: The road to perfection can sometimes be full of potholes. Union County and Franklin-Simpson were cruising at 9-0 and 7-0, respectively, before falling prey to a few imperfections in the pavement.

Defense has helped realign both teams. The two combined to allow fourteen points in their first round victories.

The vibe around this game suggests defense will again tell the tale.

Linebacker Waylon Wheatley paces the Braves with 104 tackles. The front seven as a group plays aggressively, with 'backers Amare Black and Leland Fought, plus lineman Kamden Davis combining for 25 sacks and 45 tackles in the opposing backfield. 

Hayden Satterly (102 tackles) and Tytus Brown (11 sacks/5 forced fumbles) lead the charge for the Wildcats. They'll be tasked with containing Jarren Johnson, who's accounted for 2,300 yards and 34 touchdowns. 

The majority of this game will be decided within 5-10 yards of the line of scrimmage, but the secondary leaders - Luke Thomas (UC/6 ints.) and Layne Alford (F-S/4 ints.) - will be waiting in the wings if, and when, the ball is in the air.

From 1976 to 1980, these two teams met four times in the 3A Region 1 championship game. Union County won the first matchup in 76, then FS won three straight from 78-80. In the Wildcats state championship years of 79 and 80, their closest playoff games were the wins over the Braves, both by only two points, one of which was in overtime. 
 

I think this year’s game will also be a close, low-scoring contest. In common opponents, both lost to Greenwood and beat Hancock County by similar margins. FS gave Greenwood a tougher battle, though, as the Wildcats had the ball twice in the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead but came up short. Greenwood had a three score lead on Union County in the fourth quarter of their game until Union scored late. FS has a more diversified attack than UC. If FS can contain Johnson, the Braves will have to get some other players involved to win. This is not a powerhouse FS team either, as they struggle to move the ball sometimes against good teams, but their opportunistic defense has kept them close in every game. I’ll take FS 17-14. 

I think this game is almost too close to call right now. It's really going to come down to clock management and preventing turnovers. I do think that Union does a better job of playing up against similar competition, where FS seems to struggle more with similar sized and skilled teams. I want to say FS, but I honestly think this game being at Union could pull enough in their favor. Also, Unions rushing attack seems very strong (1 RB at nearly 1800 yards and RB2 right at 1000??), FS has played down to run-heavy teams periodically this year. Should be a good game, but I'll go Union 21-14

25 minutes ago, CoachLawler said:

I think this game is almost too close to call right now. It's really going to come down to clock management and preventing turnovers. I do think that Union does a better job of playing up against similar competition, where FS seems to struggle more with similar sized and skilled teams. I want to say FS, but I honestly think this game being at Union could pull enough in their favor. Also, Unions rushing attack seems very strong (1 RB at nearly 1800 yards and RB2 right at 1000??), FS has played down to run-heavy teams periodically this year. Should be a good game, but I'll go Union 21-14

I agree Coach, should be a close one.  But the poll is really interesting to me 13-3 Simpson.  I wouldn't have expected that.  Plus its a 2.5 hour trip on a bus to Morganfield from Franklin.  That's a factor to me.

I like Franklin just on paper, but Union at home pushes me to a pick em game.

If the Franklin D can contain Johnson for Union (easier said than done) then I still like Franklin by a slim margin.

Paid video:

https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/khsaa/gam1872ed2215

Bump.

This game should be shown live on fschannel9.com. 

I was very unimpressed with the Braves when they came to Bowling Green to take on Greenwood, that being said the Gators handled Franklin Simpson very handily as well.

The battle of the trenches is always the key in games where running the ball is the motive, they seem to be very similar across the board, but I believe the Wildcats will able to take the top of the Union County defense through the air and find a way to win in Morganfield.

Franklin Simpson 23 Union County 20

The Union County band played My Old Kentucky Home before they played the national anthem. Don’t think I’ve ever heard the state song at a high school game before. I liked it a lot, it kind of gets to me a little. 

Just now, FSfan said:

The Union County band played My Old Kentucky Home before they played the national anthem. Don’t think I’ve ever heard the state song at a high school game before. I liked it a lot, it kind of gets to me a little. 

Johnson Central used to do it for like the past 8ish years that I know but recently they stopped for some reason.

Union County to receive. 

UC gets one first down then punts to FS 20. 

FS gets about 30 yards but then punts and pins UC at the UC 3. 

UC fumbles the handoff and FS scoops and scores from about the 10 yard line. FS 7-0 at 5:21 in first. 

End first FS 7-0. UC driving 2nd and 4 at the FS 9.