Aug 22 at East Carter
Aug 29 vs. Central (Pike County Bowl)
Sep 5 vs. Johnson Central (Appalachian Regional Healthcare Bowl)
Sep 12 at Southwestern
Sep 19 vs. Pikeville
Sep 26 at Pike County Central (District)
Oct 3 vs. East Ridge (District)
Oct 10 - BYE
Oct 17 at Betsy Layne (District)
Oct 24 vs. Shelby Valley (District)
Oct 31 at Letcher County Central

Wow, look at that early schedule!

We will all know what is up with Belfry before September ends. 

From Mountain Top Sports on Facebook:

Some of the Belfry Football players have been contributing to flood damage cleanup today. We commend our youth for their willingness to help.

Anything to report from Belfry?

Even though the addition of Belfry to 2A makes it a tougher road for my Briar Jumpers, I hope they are able to sustain the level of excellence the program reached under Coach Haywood.  They're such an important part of the landscape of Kentucky High School football.  

I haven't been able to stay plugged in to Belfry over the past few years like before, but here's the general outlook from what I gather:

POSITIVES

- Loads of experience. Belfry returns a lot of starters and most of those guys are multi-year starters. Traditionally speaking when Belfry has a veteran O-Line they are title threat. Belfry has that veteran O-Line this year. Bo Wolford will be in the All-State discussion, he is an excellent OLineman.

- Chase Varney returns and has had a very good career at QB. He will be entering his 4th year as the Starter and is coming off a season where he threw for nearly 1500 yards. The other good indicator of Belfry success is when they keep their backfield relatively in-tact returning into a new season. Belfry returns the entire backfield (FB Austin, HB Woolum, HB Caudill) which accounted for over 3000 rushing yards to pair with that veteran O-Line and Chase Varney's passing ability. All told, Belfry gained 5043 total yards last year on Offense and 73 TD's. In terms of production graduating, Belfry loses all of 53 yards and 0 TD's.

- On Defense the big name returning is Hunter Hylton. If you have never seen him play you are missing one of the funnest players in the State of Kentucky to watch. He is undersized at the DT position but he is a force of nature. Despite suffering an injury that cost him 4 games last year and he was not able to return in the playoffs truly at 100%, he was still Belfry's leader in tackles, TFL's, and sacks. You won't find a player with a higher motor or giving more individual effort. Cayden Varney also returns on defense in the secondary and will probably lead Belfry in INT's again.

- Belfry's defense, much like their offense is loaded with experience returning. Essentially Belfry returns 10 of 11 starters with DB Alex Long being the only hole to fill. For snots and giggles, Belfry also returns their key specialists. Nick Savage was a very dependable kicker and Chase Varney handles the punting. Belfry got some good production in the return game as well and all those guys are back.

- The drop to 2A should be fruitful in terms of District and Regional play. Belfry will be a prohibitive favorite as their biggest competitor in the Region should be Breathitt County. Belfry defeated Breathitt 56-26 last year. 

 

NEGATIVES

- The elephant in the room is the tragic passing of arguably the GOAT to ever do it, Philip Haywood. Matt Varney takes the reigns but noone could foresee a 2025 season without Haywood on the sideline. Varney inherits as good of a first year situation as one could hope for with the experience and production Belfry returns, but with it comes a few levels of pressure. Obviously the pressure of replacing a true legend is huge, but Varney also has the pressure of a level of expectations with this team. This group had won Middle School State Titles but despite a Semi-Finals push last year really hasn't been thought of as a true Title Contender. The loss to Union County was a very sour note as Belfry simply was not competitive. Adding to all of this, the Pirates may have some lean years coming as this is a very Senior laden roster and outside of a potential future superstar in Woolum, they will see a noticeable dip in the talent pool.

- It's hard not be excited over a defense returning essentially everything including All-State potential in  Hylton and DB Cayden Varney, but Belfry's defense definitely doesn't enter without it's share of disappointment. In Belfry's three losses the defense allowed over 40 points each time and allowed an average of 45 points. Even in victory, Belfry's defense still struggled to display the ability to get consistent stops or take over the game against teams with the ability to spread the field and mix in the run. This has been a theme with Belfry over the past three seasons and probably the single biggest question keeping them from being labeled a legitimate threat to be on the same level as a team like Beechwood.

As good as Hylton has been, Belfry has lacked the ability to consistently create penetration or pass rush outside of him and the LB'ers have struggled consistently tackling or getting the right angles for players getting to the second level. Belfry's secondary had numerous coverage busts and also really struggled tackling in space. 

- One of the biggest issues Belfry has had to overcome is their schedule was probably stronger than their roster the past few years. With the RPI format Belfry was handicapped because of close losses to good teams and this caused Belfry to consistently take their show on the road in the playoffs. No example being better than a 7+ hour trip to Union County last year. Belfry's schedule is still stout, although it should line up better to their talent and expectation in 2025. It is still risky as the schedule could set Belfry up to have one of the very best RPI's if they can manage to win out, but in the same breathe Belfry could easily be in the same spots as a deeper seed. Mayfield, Beechwood, and LCA are all looming outside of Belfry region, as are Somerset and Murray.  Almost all of those teams are certain to put up a big RPI number so Belfry has got to match them.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS

Matt Varney finds himself in a situation most coaches wish they never are in... but also finds himself in the unique position most coaches would die for. It cannot be understated that I am not sure I have ever seen a Belfry team who had the success the prior year that this team had which still returns this much talent and production. When blueblood programs in the State of KY return 8 or 9 starters each way they are thought to be loaded, Belfry takes that a level further. I am not sure I have ever seen a team return 5000 yards of production and essentially every offensive point scored before.

The scary thing is Belfry's offense has room to grow. JJ Austin grew leaps and bounds throughout the season at FB and was emerging as a superstar in the post season. JB Woolum has star potential after a successful Sophomore campaign and with a year of physical growth and a year in the weight room is well on the way to being the gamechanger his brother was a few years ago as both a dangerous weapon running and catching. Cayden Varney was returning from a devastating injury and when you add him as Senior next to the expected development of Woolum and fellow classmate Eli Caudill, you now add three viable receiving threats for Varney to throw to in addition to the vaunted Belfry rushing attack. It is going to be hard to hold Belfry under 35 points on any given night

If Belfry's defense can rise to the challenge this team has the ability to be special. Union County was the only game Belfry was not in position to win in the final minutes of the 4th Quarter. The Pirates had a second straight year collapsing to GRC despite a 3 TD lead and Belfry had Johnson Central dead to rights after a comeback until JC hit a big play with around a minute left in the passing game. Even that Union County game was a bit misleading as Belfry self destructed with turnovers and penalties behind the pressure of essentially seeing that they could not stop Jarren Johnson and the Braves' offense.

To a lesser note, Belfry will also need to show major improvement in Special teams consistency. Savage was a dependable kicker on Field Goals and XP's and the Pirates found some big plays in the return game including a notable return to change the game against Pikeville. With that said, part of Belfry's struggles was the inability to win the field position game in kickoffs and punting situations. Belfry consistently threw away probably 50-70+ yards of field position a game with their struggles in the kicking game. I would estimate the average starting field position for the opponent in Belfry's three losses was past the 45 yard line. Belfry also had their fair share of fumbles, muffs, and costly penalties negating returns. When Belfry played well in Special Teams it showed the difference. Belfry doesn't beat Pikeville or Rockcastle County without the decisive victory in Special Teams they enjoyed. It's common logic, when you have an offense this good the shorter the field the better chance of success and the less likely chance of a key penalty disrupting your momentum. When your defense does a decent job of limiting long TD's, but struggles to consistently get stops, then making the opposition go further is a big advantage.

If Belfry can secure a top RPI seed and stay healthy this is going to be a team no one in 2A will feel good about going on the road to play. For the first time since probably 2019 I feel that Belfry enters the season as a legitimate Title threat. Even in 2021 that was a flawed team who caught lightning in a bottle and rode Isaac Dixon's historic season to a title. Belfry has all the pieces you would want to be a dangerous small school football team in 2025.

TLDR, Belfry has a chance to be really good and returns more than probably any team in KY.

On 6/19/2025 at 8:23 AM, ATLCat said:

I haven't been able to stay plugged in to Belfry over the past few years like before, but here's the general outlook from what I gather:

POSITIVES

- Loads of experience. Belfry returns a lot of starters and most of those guys are multi-year starters. Traditionally speaking when Belfry has a veteran O-Line they are title threat. Belfry has that veteran O-Line this year. Bo Wolford will be in the All-State discussion, he is an excellent OLineman.

- Chase Varney returns and has had a very good career at QB. He will be entering his 4th year as the Starter and is coming off a season where he threw for nearly 1500 yards. The other good indicator of Belfry success is when they keep their backfield relatively in-tact returning into a new season. Belfry returns the entire backfield (FB Austin, HB Woolum, HB Caudill) which accounted for over 3000 rushing yards to pair with that veteran O-Line and Chase Varney's passing ability. All told, Belfry gained 5043 total yards last year on Offense and 73 TD's. In terms of production graduating, Belfry loses all of 53 yards and 0 TD's.

- On Defense the big name returning is Hunter Hylton. If you have never seen him play you are missing one of the funnest players in the State of Kentucky to watch. He is undersized at the DT position but he is a force of nature. Despite suffering an injury that cost him 4 games last year and he was not able to return in the playoffs truly at 100%, he was still Belfry's leader in tackles, TFL's, and sacks. You won't find a player with a higher motor or giving more individual effort. Cayden Varney also returns on defense in the secondary and will probably lead Belfry in INT's again.

- Belfry's defense, much like their offense is loaded with experience returning. Essentially Belfry returns 10 of 11 starters with DB Alex Long being the only hole to fill. For snots and giggles, Belfry also returns their key specialists. Nick Savage was a very dependable kicker and Chase Varney handles the punting. Belfry got some good production in the return game as well and all those guys are back.

- The drop to 2A should be fruitful in terms of District and Regional play. Belfry will be a prohibitive favorite as their biggest competitor in the Region should be Breathitt County. Belfry defeated Breathitt 56-26 last year. 

 

NEGATIVES

- The elephant in the room is the tragic passing of arguably the GOAT to ever do it, Philip Haywood. Matt Varney takes the reigns but noone could foresee a 2025 season without Haywood on the sideline. Varney inherits as good of a first year situation as one could hope for with the experience and production Belfry returns, but with it comes a few levels of pressure. Obviously the pressure of replacing a true legend is huge, but Varney also has the pressure of a level of expectations with this team. This group had won Middle School State Titles but despite a Semi-Finals push last year really hasn't been thought of as a true Title Contender. The loss to Union County was a very sour note as Belfry simply was not competitive. Adding to all of this, the Pirates may have some lean years coming as this is a very Senior laden roster and outside of a potential future superstar in Woolum, they will see a noticeable dip in the talent pool.

- It's hard not be excited over a defense returning essentially everything including All-State potential in  Hylton and DB Cayden Varney, but Belfry's defense definitely doesn't enter without it's share of disappointment. In Belfry's three losses the defense allowed over 40 points each time and allowed an average of 45 points. Even in victory, Belfry's defense still struggled to display the ability to get consistent stops or take over the game against teams with the ability to spread the field and mix in the run. This has been a theme with Belfry over the past three seasons and probably the single biggest question keeping them from being labeled a legitimate threat to be on the same level as a team like Beechwood.

As good as Hylton has been, Belfry has lacked the ability to consistently create penetration or pass rush outside of him and the LB'ers have struggled consistently tackling or getting the right angles for players getting to the second level. Belfry's secondary had numerous coverage busts and also really struggled tackling in space. 

- One of the biggest issues Belfry has had to overcome is their schedule was probably stronger than their roster the past few years. With the RPI format Belfry was handicapped because of close losses to good teams and this caused Belfry to consistently take their show on the road in the playoffs. No example being better than a 7+ hour trip to Union County last year. Belfry's schedule is still stout, although it should line up better to their talent and expectation in 2025. It is still risky as the schedule could set Belfry up to have one of the very best RPI's if they can manage to win out, but in the same breathe Belfry could easily be in the same spots as a deeper seed. Mayfield, Beechwood, and LCA are all looming outside of Belfry region, as are Somerset and Murray.  Almost all of those teams are certain to put up a big RPI number so Belfry has got to match them.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS

Matt Varney finds himself in a situation most coaches wish they never are in... but also finds himself in the unique position most coaches would die for. It cannot be understated that I am not sure I have ever seen a Belfry team who had the success the prior year that this team had which still returns this much talent and production. When blueblood programs in the State of KY return 8 or 9 starters each way they are thought to be loaded, Belfry takes that a level further. I am not sure I have ever seen a team return 5000 yards of production and essentially every offensive point scored before.

The scary thing is Belfry's offense has room to grow. JJ Austin grew leaps and bounds throughout the season at FB and was emerging as a superstar in the post season. JB Woolum has star potential after a successful Sophomore campaign and with a year of physical growth and a year in the weight room is well on the way to being the gamechanger his brother was a few years ago as both a dangerous weapon running and catching. Cayden Varney was returning from a devastating injury and when you add him as Senior next to the expected development of Woolum and fellow classmate Eli Caudill, you now add three viable receiving threats for Varney to throw to in addition to the vaunted Belfry rushing attack. It is going to be hard to hold Belfry under 35 points on any given night

If Belfry's defense can rise to the challenge this team has the ability to be special. Union County was the only game Belfry was not in position to win in the final minutes of the 4th Quarter. The Pirates had a second straight year collapsing to GRC despite a 3 TD lead and Belfry had Johnson Central dead to rights after a comeback until JC hit a big play with around a minute left in the passing game. Even that Union County game was a bit misleading as Belfry self destructed with turnovers and penalties behind the pressure of essentially seeing that they could not stop Jarren Johnson and the Braves' offense.

To a lesser note, Belfry will also need to show major improvement in Special teams consistency. Savage was a dependable kicker on Field Goals and XP's and the Pirates found some big plays in the return game including a notable return to change the game against Pikeville. With that said, part of Belfry's struggles was the inability to win the field position game in kickoffs and punting situations. Belfry consistently threw away probably 50-70+ yards of field position a game with their struggles in the kicking game. I would estimate the average starting field position for the opponent in Belfry's three losses was past the 45 yard line. Belfry also had their fair share of fumbles, muffs, and costly penalties negating returns. When Belfry played well in Special Teams it showed the difference. Belfry doesn't beat Pikeville or Rockcastle County without the decisive victory in Special Teams they enjoyed. It's common logic, when you have an offense this good the shorter the field the better chance of success and the less likely chance of a key penalty disrupting your momentum. When your defense does a decent job of limiting long TD's, but struggles to consistently get stops, then making the opposition go further is a big advantage.

If Belfry can secure a top RPI seed and stay healthy this is going to be a team no one in 2A will feel good about going on the road to play. For the first time since probably 2019 I feel that Belfry enters the season as a legitimate Title threat. Even in 2021 that was a flawed team who caught lightning in a bottle and rode Isaac Dixon's historic season to a title. Belfry has all the pieces you would want to be a dangerous small school football team in 2025.

TLDR, Belfry has a chance to be really good and returns more than probably any team in KY.

Agree, and complete breakdown of this season's Pirates. This should be their year and what better way for coach Varney to start his tenure with the success that looms ahead.

I do remember hearing Belfry name and I do remember when they beat Paducah Tilghman I think in 2021 in state finals and the awesome performance of their running back and then watching a few games on YouTube but I didn't know they were such a force in 3A with all those state championships and runner-up wow..this should really make 2A with, Mayfield, BW, OC and LCA very very interesting and I cannot wait...

On 6/19/2025 at 9:23 AM, ATLCat said:

I haven't been able to stay plugged in to Belfry over the past few years like before, but here's the general outlook from what I gather:

POSITIVES

- Loads of experience. Belfry returns a lot of starters and most of those guys are multi-year starters. Traditionally speaking when Belfry has a veteran O-Line they are title threat. Belfry has that veteran O-Line this year. Bo Wolford will be in the All-State discussion, he is an excellent OLineman.

- Chase Varney returns and has had a very good career at QB. He will be entering his 4th year as the Starter and is coming off a season where he threw for nearly 1500 yards. The other good indicator of Belfry success is when they keep their backfield relatively in-tact returning into a new season. Belfry returns the entire backfield (FB Austin, HB Woolum, HB Caudill) which accounted for over 3000 rushing yards to pair with that veteran O-Line and Chase Varney's passing ability. All told, Belfry gained 5043 total yards last year on Offense and 73 TD's. In terms of production graduating, Belfry loses all of 53 yards and 0 TD's.

- On Defense the big name returning is Hunter Hylton. If you have never seen him play you are missing one of the funnest players in the State of Kentucky to watch. He is undersized at the DT position but he is a force of nature. Despite suffering an injury that cost him 4 games last year and he was not able to return in the playoffs truly at 100%, he was still Belfry's leader in tackles, TFL's, and sacks. You won't find a player with a higher motor or giving more individual effort. Cayden Varney also returns on defense in the secondary and will probably lead Belfry in INT's again.

- Belfry's defense, much like their offense is loaded with experience returning. Essentially Belfry returns 10 of 11 starters with DB Alex Long being the only hole to fill. For snots and giggles, Belfry also returns their key specialists. Nick Savage was a very dependable kicker and Chase Varney handles the punting. Belfry got some good production in the return game as well and all those guys are back.

- The drop to 2A should be fruitful in terms of District and Regional play. Belfry will be a prohibitive favorite as their biggest competitor in the Region should be Breathitt County. Belfry defeated Breathitt 56-26 last year. 

 

NEGATIVES

- The elephant in the room is the tragic passing of arguably the GOAT to ever do it, Philip Haywood. Matt Varney takes the reigns but noone could foresee a 2025 season without Haywood on the sideline. Varney inherits as good of a first year situation as one could hope for with the experience and production Belfry returns, but with it comes a few levels of pressure. Obviously the pressure of replacing a true legend is huge, but Varney also has the pressure of a level of expectations with this team. This group had won Middle School State Titles but despite a Semi-Finals push last year really hasn't been thought of as a true Title Contender. The loss to Union County was a very sour note as Belfry simply was not competitive. Adding to all of this, the Pirates may have some lean years coming as this is a very Senior laden roster and outside of a potential future superstar in Woolum, they will see a noticeable dip in the talent pool.

- It's hard not be excited over a defense returning essentially everything including All-State potential in  Hylton and DB Cayden Varney, but Belfry's defense definitely doesn't enter without it's share of disappointment. In Belfry's three losses the defense allowed over 40 points each time and allowed an average of 45 points. Even in victory, Belfry's defense still struggled to display the ability to get consistent stops or take over the game against teams with the ability to spread the field and mix in the run. This has been a theme with Belfry over the past three seasons and probably the single biggest question keeping them from being labeled a legitimate threat to be on the same level as a team like Beechwood.

As good as Hylton has been, Belfry has lacked the ability to consistently create penetration or pass rush outside of him and the LB'ers have struggled consistently tackling or getting the right angles for players getting to the second level. Belfry's secondary had numerous coverage busts and also really struggled tackling in space. 

- One of the biggest issues Belfry has had to overcome is their schedule was probably stronger than their roster the past few years. With the RPI format Belfry was handicapped because of close losses to good teams and this caused Belfry to consistently take their show on the road in the playoffs. No example being better than a 7+ hour trip to Union County last year. Belfry's schedule is still stout, although it should line up better to their talent and expectation in 2025. It is still risky as the schedule could set Belfry up to have one of the very best RPI's if they can manage to win out, but in the same breathe Belfry could easily be in the same spots as a deeper seed. Mayfield, Beechwood, and LCA are all looming outside of Belfry region, as are Somerset and Murray.  Almost all of those teams are certain to put up a big RPI number so Belfry has got to match them.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS

Matt Varney finds himself in a situation most coaches wish they never are in... but also finds himself in the unique position most coaches would die for. It cannot be understated that I am not sure I have ever seen a Belfry team who had the success the prior year that this team had which still returns this much talent and production. When blueblood programs in the State of KY return 8 or 9 starters each way they are thought to be loaded, Belfry takes that a level further. I am not sure I have ever seen a team return 5000 yards of production and essentially every offensive point scored before.

The scary thing is Belfry's offense has room to grow. JJ Austin grew leaps and bounds throughout the season at FB and was emerging as a superstar in the post season. JB Woolum has star potential after a successful Sophomore campaign and with a year of physical growth and a year in the weight room is well on the way to being the gamechanger his brother was a few years ago as both a dangerous weapon running and catching. Cayden Varney was returning from a devastating injury and when you add him as Senior next to the expected development of Woolum and fellow classmate Eli Caudill, you now add three viable receiving threats for Varney to throw to in addition to the vaunted Belfry rushing attack. It is going to be hard to hold Belfry under 35 points on any given night

If Belfry's defense can rise to the challenge this team has the ability to be special. Union County was the only game Belfry was not in position to win in the final minutes of the 4th Quarter. The Pirates had a second straight year collapsing to GRC despite a 3 TD lead and Belfry had Johnson Central dead to rights after a comeback until JC hit a big play with around a minute left in the passing game. Even that Union County game was a bit misleading as Belfry self destructed with turnovers and penalties behind the pressure of essentially seeing that they could not stop Jarren Johnson and the Braves' offense.

To a lesser note, Belfry will also need to show major improvement in Special teams consistency. Savage was a dependable kicker on Field Goals and XP's and the Pirates found some big plays in the return game including a notable return to change the game against Pikeville. With that said, part of Belfry's struggles was the inability to win the field position game in kickoffs and punting situations. Belfry consistently threw away probably 50-70+ yards of field position a game with their struggles in the kicking game. I would estimate the average starting field position for the opponent in Belfry's three losses was past the 45 yard line. Belfry also had their fair share of fumbles, muffs, and costly penalties negating returns. When Belfry played well in Special Teams it showed the difference. Belfry doesn't beat Pikeville or Rockcastle County without the decisive victory in Special Teams they enjoyed. It's common logic, when you have an offense this good the shorter the field the better chance of success and the less likely chance of a key penalty disrupting your momentum. When your defense does a decent job of limiting long TD's, but struggles to consistently get stops, then making the opposition go further is a big advantage.

If Belfry can secure a top RPI seed and stay healthy this is going to be a team no one in 2A will feel good about going on the road to play. For the first time since probably 2019 I feel that Belfry enters the season as a legitimate Title threat. Even in 2021 that was a flawed team who caught lightning in a bottle and rode Isaac Dixon's historic season to a title. Belfry has all the pieces you would want to be a dangerous small school football team in 2025.

TLDR, Belfry has a chance to be really good and returns more than probably any team in KY.

Vintage ATL, bringing the goods like few others can. 

Belfry has the feel of a hand grenade that 3A has tossed into the 2A bunker.

Is Belfry 2A favorites? Can Belfry win 2A?...alot coming back, historically good and competitive in 3A...Just asking and wondering especially from those that know more about Belfry...

On 6/24/2025 at 3:03 PM, DaTruth said:

Is Belfry 2A favorites? Can Belfry win 2A?...alot coming back, historically good and competitive in 3A...Just asking and wondering especially from those that know more about Belfry...

Can they? Yes

Are they the favorites? Probably not. I don’t think Belfry would have been within three TDs of the best of Class 2A last year because their defense was simply questionable. Throw into that the question of how Belfry deals with the tough situation of the surprising loss of a legend.

With that said, no one brings back nearly as much as Belfry and if this team is a year bigger and stronger and the defense can show marked improvement, look out.

 

Philip Haywood always dressed for the occasion.