Franklin-Simpson Wildcats (5-3) | Hart County Raiders (8-0, 3A #4)

? Raiders On The Cusp Of Second Straight District Crown

• The state's #2 rushing offense is spearheaded by the trident ? backfield of Asbury, Griffin, and Martin, who combine to average 11 yard per carry. All three are on pace to eclipse a thousand yards this season. 
• This game might be over before 9:00, because Franklin-Simpson will bring its own formidable ground game to Munfordville. The Wildcats churn out just under 300 yards a contest.
• This district has been a war zone the last two years, and these two programs in particular, have been tenacious. Expect the rules of engagement to be short and to the point: Hit first, last, and everything in between. 

Series History ?: KHSAA record keeping shows only one meeting since 1998, last year's 21-18 win by Hart County 

I think FS will need to win the turnover battle to win this one. They did that against Glasgow and won by 2 scores. They did not do that against Adair County and suffered a running clock before halftime. FS is very young this year and they don’t have much size in the line. The second half against Greenwood last week was the best FS has played all year. Maybe they are coming together at the right time. If Hart County doesn’t make many mistakes, they will probably win behind their superior size and experience. FS may have to dig into their bag of tricks to gain an edge. The bad thing for FS is, that even if they were to win the game and force a three-way tie for the district lead, FS will still probably be seeded third because of the RPI. 

19 hours ago, DevilMayCare said:

Series History ?: KHSAA record keeping shows only one meeting since 1998, last year's 21-18 win by Hart County 

Last year was the first ever meeting.

After watching both these teams against the Scotties I really believe FS has a pretty good chance to pull the upset. Glasgow had numerous turnovers against both teams but I just think FS looked more explosive offensively. I think Hart is good but not near as good as they were last year outside of the district they played a really weak schedule and it may cost them in this game or possibly in the playoffs.

1 hour ago, Tkinslow said:

After watching both these teams against the Scotties I really believe FS has a pretty good chance to pull the upset. Glasgow had numerous turnovers against both teams but I just think FS looked more explosive offensively. I think Hart is good but not near as good as they were last year outside of the district they played a really weak schedule and it may cost them in this game or possibly in the playoffs.

Numbers aren't everything, but this is worth throwing out there.

• Hart and F-S average the same amount of yardage (28) per pass completion, so both can hurt you with home run balls or chunk plays in the passing game.

• There's some separation between the two in the run game. F-S averages a stout 7 yards per carry as a team, but Hart rips off a first down every time they run it. Whatever tactics your Scotties employed against the Raiders worked like no other this season. They came in averaging 11 yards per carry, but Glasgow held them to 5.4. Maybe there were matchup advantages at the line of scrimmage, I really don't know.

• The numbers point toward Hart County being the more explosive team, but like I said above, they don't always tell the whole story. I'll give Franklin-Simpson credit for facing slightly stiffer competition. That's not saying much, because Hart's schedule was soft through the first six weeks.

The problem with stats is that anybody can put whatever they want in on KHSAA. In every game Hart has played for example, they say they have 50-100 more yards rushing than the other team says they had. So either Hart is inflating their offensive numbers or other teams are inflating their defensive numbers. Point being, it makes it difficult to really see how these teams compare.

Looks as though Sporting Times will be covering this one! Link is below.

https://stfanclub.com/live/

This is my first trip to Hart County High School. Very nice facility here. 

First time I’ve seen this at a high school game. I love it. 

Hart County receives and starts at their own 19. 

Jacob Shoulders 6 yard TD run. HC leads 7-0 at 7:12 in the first. 

FS got as far as the HC 24 but a holding penalty and a big sack killed the drive. But the FS punt went out of bounds inside the HC 1 yard line. 

End first quarter HC leads 7-0 and has the ball 2nd and 7 at their own 4. 

99 yard TD drive capped off with a 3 yard TD run by Brennan Griffin. HC 14-0 at 5:10 in the second. 

FS punts to HC 34.