This will be the quickest game Friday night as both teams run it 90% of the time. I'm taking Union in this one don't think Belfry has enough team speed to contain Johnson once he gets past the LOS to the 2nd level. The Johnson kid should be a front runner for player of the year no one makes more of an impact for his team as he does.  

Would the KHSAA allow these two to meet somewhere in the middle and play on a neutral site and still let Union be the home team?

9 minutes ago, All State Baseball said:

Would the KHSAA allow these two to meet somewhere in the middle and play on a neutral site and still let Union be the home team?

That would strip the Braves of home field advantage. Even if this were an option, Union County would be foolish to give that advantage up.

9 hours ago, ATLCat said:

He plays a true QB position and not just a Wildcat.

Union's bread and butter is the read option and designed QB power and counter. He is a capable passer, especially when defenses are on ice skates and petrified of his running ability. As a result, when he passes there is usually a strong chance of success because play action will be effective and in designed routes they are sure to see one on one coverage because Safeties are sitting on the run game.

He reminds me of a Lynn Bowden type of player. 

Ultimately, I am not sure his passing would be super effective if a team is confident enough to jam receivers and break timing and can devote a Safety to spying the routes they try to hit... but this is much easier said than done. The way Union is running the ball teams are just trying to play the run and take their chances on an inaccurate pass at this point. 

Very impressive. Having 39 rushing touchdowns by itself is incredible, but for a QB to achieve that is unique. That has to be high in the record books for rushing touchdowns by a QB.

6 minutes ago, TCR said:

Very impressive. Having 39 rushing touchdowns by itself is incredible, but for a QB to achieve that is unique. That has to be high in the record books for rushing touchdowns by a QB.

ATL is right that Johnson plays a true quarterback position as opposed to just a wildcat, but he's definitely a natural running back playing quarterback out of necessity. He's 5'8" at best, with a compact, powerful build. He just happens to also have a solid arm.

Doesn’t Hart County and Belfry run a similar offense? If so then Union seeing it two weeks in row could give them advantage, as well as playing at home. 

15 hours ago, DevilMayCare said:

That would strip the Braves of home field advantage. Even if this were an option, Union County would be foolish to give that advantage up.

I can assure you Union County would not consider that option, they are pretty excited about hosting a semifinal game. 

From Fletcher Long on Facebook:

Western Kentucky HS Football fans; Friday Night (November 29, 2024), in Morganfield, KY, kicking at 7:00 p.m. CST, you have a "Haley's Comet-type" opportunity. You get the privilege of watching, if you so choose, the KHSAA's all-time winningest coach, Phillip Haywood, bring his Belfry Pirates (11-2) to play Coach Derek Johns' Union County Braves (11-2) for a berth in next week's 3A title game. Coach Haywood has a record of 491-159 over a career spanning half a century. Coach Haywood has won 8-titles, his most recent being in 2021 over Paducah's "Blue Tornado." This should be one-Hell of a football game. Getting to see Coach Haywood this far west of Lexington is a privilege. Take advantage of it... Tyrone Gregory Mike Evans Dereck Ford.

19 minutes ago, theguru said:

From Fletcher Long on Facebook:

Western Kentucky HS Football fans; Friday Night (November 29, 2024), in Morganfield, KY, kicking at 7:00 p.m. CST, you have a "Haley's Comet-type" opportunity. You get the privilege of watching, if you so choose, the KHSAA's all-time winningest coach, Phillip Haywood, bring his Belfry Pirates (11-2) to play Coach Derek Johns' Union County Braves (11-2) for a berth in next week's 3A title game. Coach Haywood has a record of 491-159 over a career spanning half a century. Coach Haywood has won 8-titles, his most recent being in 2021 over Paducah's "Blue Tornado." This should be one-Hell of a football game. Getting to see Coach Haywood this far west of Lexington is a privilege. Take advantage of it... Tyrone Gregory Mike Evans Dereck Ford.

Get there early. I went to the Union County home game against Adair County two weeks ago and while the KHSAA scoreboard (operated by the schools and in playoffs, the host school) said a 7pm start, the kickoff actually came at 6:30. We got there about halfway through the first quarter expecting to have time to spare.

I'd only ask these schools, it doesn't matter what time you play, just make sure the schedule on the website actually says the start time.

2 minutes ago, gchs_uk9 said:

Get there early. I went to the Union County home game against Adair County two weeks ago and while the KHSAA scoreboard (operated by the schools and in playoffs, the host school) said a 7pm start, the kickoff actually came at 6:30. We got there about halfway through the first quarter expecting to have time to spare.

I'd only ask these schools, it doesn't matter what time you play, just make sure the schedule on the website actually says the start time.

Don't hold your breath if you think you are going to get these schools to be accountable. Some schools are great, many of them are arrogant and don't want anyone telling them anything.

59 minutes ago, theguru said:

From Fletcher Long on Facebook:

Western Kentucky HS Football fans; Friday Night (November 29, 2024), in Morganfield, KY, kicking at 7:00 p.m. CST, you have a "Haley's Comet-type" opportunity. You get the privilege of watching, if you so choose, the KHSAA's all-time winningest coach, Phillip Haywood, bring his Belfry Pirates (11-2) to play Coach Derek Johns' Union County Braves (11-2) for a berth in next week's 3A title game. Coach Haywood has a record of 491-159 over a career spanning half a century. Coach Haywood has won 8-titles, his most recent being in 2021 over Paducah's "Blue Tornado." This should be one-Hell of a football game. Getting to see Coach Haywood this far west of Lexington is a privilege. Take advantage of it... Tyrone Gregory Mike Evans Dereck Ford.

Brings up a good point...

If you take away the State Finals appearances in Bowling Green, Belfry has never played a game in the Central Time Zone.

The furthest West Belfry has ever played a Non-Championship game has been at Louisville Central and at DeSales. Belfry took a heavy handed loss at Central in the 2017 Regional Finals and Belfry upset DeSales in the 2019 Semi-Finals en route to a State Title.

Now for some trivia:

Who can name the only team hailing from the Central Time Zone that Belfry has played in a regular season ballgame?

I know the trip from Pond Creek to the plains of between Morganfield & Sturgis have been discussed (I for one love these kind of match ups/trips this time of year), but to put it in perspective...

Belfry is closer to the following (out of state) ACC universities:

-Pitt, Maryland, UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, NC State, Clemson, Virginia, Virginia Tech (not that the last two are shocking)

..closer to the following (out of state) SEC schools.

- UT, UGA, South Carolina, Vandy

And, closer to the following notable cities...

- Cleveland OH, Charlotte NC, Pittsburgh PA and only about 50 miles short of one of the three routes shown to Atlanta.

IMHO, the two most egregious examples of what's wrong with the RPI system have been put on full display in Class 3A this year:

1. Central beats CAL head to head to win the District. Central challenges themselves with a difficult non-district schedule. Central's reward? Travelling to CAL in Round 3.

2. Belfry having to log 16 hours of drive time in a 24 hour window in the Semi-Finals because a CPU thinks that the victories one team had are the slightest of advantages.

58 minutes ago, ATLCat said:

Brings up a good point...

If you take away the State Finals appearances in Bowling Green, Belfry has never played a game in the Central Time Zone.

The furthest West Belfry has ever played a Non-Championship game has been at Louisville Central and at DeSales. Belfry took a heavy handed loss at Central in the 2017 Regional Finals and Belfry upset DeSales in the 2019 Semi-Finals en route to a State Title.

Now for some trivia:

Who can name the only team hailing from the Central Time Zone that Belfry has played in a regular season ballgame?

Being from Pike Co., I'm going out on a limb and say Somerset Briar Jumpers.

2 minutes ago, Carlito said:

Being from Pike Co., I'm going out on a limb and say Somerset Briar Jumpers.

Good guess but Somerset is still Eastern Time Zone.

HINT: It is a good bit further west than Somerset

HINT 2: The game was not played at Belfry