2023 Outcome

Record: 8-4

Following a tumultuous off-season, the Pirates endured a challenging front half schedule before building momentum with an unbeaten district run. Bell County and Mr. Football ended the Pirates' season in the second round of the playoffs. It was the second straight year they went out that early, marking the program's worst two year postseason stretch in 23 years.

? Belfry's 2023 Statistical Leaders

? Caden Woolum (ATH) | Dre Young (FB/LB) | Jack Stacy (OL) | Ronnie Blevins (OL/DL) | Koy Queen (DL) | 

? Chase Varney (QB) | Ace Caudill (RB/DB) | Jeremiah Austin (RB/DB) | Bo Wolford (OL/DL) | Colton Whitt (OL) | Max Dotson (OL) | Dante Davis (LB) | Hunter Hylton (RB/LB) | Cayden Varney (RB/DB) | Eli Caudill (RB/DB)

 

2024 Outlook

Philip Haywood begins his fifth decade roaming the Belfry sideline. The Pirates should add several more to his state best 479 career wins, as a good deal of youth featured in key roles last season, namely mighty mouse running back Ace Caudill and quarterback Chase Varney, who may have one of the better arms Belfry's had in some time. Those two, combined with a strong nucleus on the offensive line, should help offset the loss of production from last year's most versatile, dynamic athlete (Woolum) and bulldozing fullback (Young), both of whom doubled as defensive standouts. Lawrence County will threaten in the district, with Pikeville, Johnson Central, and Southwestern also highlighting the schedule. Belfry's footing as a top tier contender has slipped a little over the last two years, but as long as Haywood is around, the Pirates are in the mix.

I don't know what to expect of Belfry.

They should have a very good QB in Varney, they have Ace Caudill as a big play threat at HB, and they should have a solid OLine. Jeremiah Austin should do a solid job at FB but Belfry really needs a more physical HB to get the yards between the tackles.

JB Woolum is going to be a very good football player so maybe it is him who takes the next step? Cayden Varney coming back after an unfortunate injury ended his season on a cheap shot and he could also see some reps at HB.

Defensively Belfry should be ok... but I don't see a Championship caliber defense able to change teams and make them do something uncomfortable. The size and depth simply isn't there.

Losing Caden Woolum and Dre Young are big holes. Woolum was not only an excellent RB but he was clearly their biggest receiving threat. You could also argue both were Belfry's best players on the defensive side of the ball as well.

Belfry's LB play on the whole has got to improve immensely. They really struggled to get off blocks and struggled to get sideline to sideline against speed. You could see this in their final defeat as Daniel Thomas just grinded them to a pulp 6-8 yards at a time.

I don't see Belfry being a legitimate threat for the 3A title with the program CAL has going. I would probably ticket Belfry in the 6-10 range right now.

Even with the loss of talented athletes like Woolum and Young Belfry should still find a way to be contention. Varney is an impressive QB. He is a clean, accurate passer who hits his players in stride and one part of his game that stands out to me is his ability to make good reads and decisions pre-snap. He has a great understanding of the offense and does little things that you won't see on a stat sheet. I think once that offensive line gels then they Belfry will be in position to once again make some noise in the playoffs. That first half of the schedule is always tough but like in 2021, it could prove to be helpful down the line.

Although CAL I feel is in position to make another strong run, Belfry could certainly provide a challenge to them. 

On a side note regarding Coach Haywood, his record speaks for itself and I may be stating the obvious but having had the chance to learn some life skills from him recently, he is truly a master at connecting and relating with people.

Bump.

On 3/4/2024 at 2:19 PM, ATLCat said:

I don't see Belfry being a legitimate threat for the 3A title with the program CAL has going. I would probably ticket Belfry in the 6-10 range right now.

This is the last season in Class 3A, at least for the time being, as the Pirates are slated to drop down to Class 2A in 2025-26.

On 3/4/2024 at 2:19 PM, ATLCat said:

I don't know what to expect of Belfry.

They should have a very good QB in Varney, they have Ace Caudill as a big play threat at HB, and they should have a solid OLine. Jeremiah Austin should do a solid job at FB but Belfry really needs a more physical HB to get the yards between the tackles.

JB Woolum is going to be a very good football player so maybe it is him who takes the next step? Cayden Varney coming back after an unfortunate injury ended his season on a cheap shot and he could also see some reps at HB.

Defensively Belfry should be ok... but I don't see a Championship caliber defense able to change teams and make them do something uncomfortable. The size and depth simply isn't there.

Losing Caden Woolum and Dre Young are big holes. Woolum was not only an excellent RB but he was clearly their biggest receiving threat. You could also argue both were Belfry's best players on the defensive side of the ball as well.

Belfry's LB play on the whole has got to improve immensely. They really struggled to get off blocks and struggled to get sideline to sideline against speed. You could see this in their final defeat as Daniel Thomas just grinded them to a pulp 6-8 yards at a time.

I don't see Belfry being a legitimate threat for the 3A title with the program CAL has going. I would probably ticket Belfry in the 6-10 range right now.

I missed this when initially reading the post you made but that seems to be the key to Belfry and the difference with their year end success. I think back to the 2020 team that made the state semifinals, they had a couple of superstars, one of them being Isaac Dixon but lacked that consistent fullback that could get 3-5 yards up the middle when needed. That's so important for the type of offense Belfry runs. Sure they could still make a deep run, but I think having that (like you mentioned) will be what could take them to the next level. That was a huge part of their 2019 state championship run.

Big turnout for camp.

Does anyone know what happened in Belfry's scrimmage with Raceland last week?

I heard Belfry dominated Raceland.  Anyone?

23 hours ago, theguru said:

Does anyone know what happened in Belfry's scrimmage with Raceland last week?

I heard Belfry dominated Raceland.  Anyone?

Asked around, here is what I was told in the order I was told:

- Belfry looked really good. Have almost all their line back. Dominated the LOS.

- "Lost track of the TD's Belfry scored, it was a lot."

- "Either Raceland has fallen off far from last season or Belfry has gotten a lot better.... or I guess it could be somewhere between? Probably is somewhere in between but Belfry definitely looked a lot better"

- Belfry's backs all looked really good and the younger Woolum (J.B.) is going to be a star, "Then again, hard not to look good with the holes they were running through."

- Varney looked like a seasoned pro at QB. Does things you don't expect a Belfry QB to do. Threw a couple TD passes. If the line and running game forces teams to play Belfry the way teams have had to play Belfry in the pass... "Look out. He is the perfect QB to make them pay."

- Defense looked a lot better. Probably more about Raceland here, they really seemed young and lacked playmakers athletically. Still they (Belfry) played more confident and aggressive than the last two years. 

- "Two names to remember are J.B. Woolum and Dante Davis. Both Sophomores... both can be special on both sides of the ball."

- Perry Central will be a better test. Raceland's  needs a lot of reps it looks like, they weren't ready for the season to start and needed the scrimmage to be a scrimmage. Perry Central should be able to challenge Belfry's defense to see if they have improved or not and Perry Central's defense should at least throw some wrinkles with blitzes and stunts.