Central is taking the "anyone, anywhere" approach really seriously this year.

Aug 22 at Manual
Aug 29 at Belfry (Pike County Bowl)
Sep 5 - OPEN
Sep 12 - OPEN
Sep 19 at Bullitt East
Sep 26 vs. Covington Catholic
Oct 3 - OPEN
Oct 10 vs. Christian Academy Louisville (District)
Oct 17 - OPEN
Oct 24 - OPEN
Oct 31 at Mayfield

They have district games against Western and DeSales that still fit into the schedule and they are evidently playing St. X as well, so that would finish out the list of competitors. Just need to see where each team fits in.

Talk about an absolute meat-grinder of a schedule!!

I can only assume that the Central powers that be think the 2025 Yellowjackets will be one of the best teams in Central history.  Just wow on the schedule. 

I love Central’s approach. They simply do not care who you are. Line it up. 

1 minute ago, BillNye said:

I love Central’s approach. They simply do not care who you are. Line it up. 

I want to love the approach but I also wonder if many of us are going to be sitting here sometime in October wondering what Central was thinking. 

Just now, theguru said:

I want to love the approach but I also wonder if many of us are going to be sitting here sometime in October wondering what Central was thinking. 

At first glance, are there any auto losses to you?

Just now, BillNye said:

At first glance, are there any auto losses to you?

No, but at first glance none of the listed teams (not Western and DeSales) are auto wins either. 

2 minutes ago, BillNye said:

At first glance, are there any auto losses to you?

I believe Central lost over 20 seniors off of this year's team.  It might be tough sledding for the Yellow Jackets this year, but regardless, you have to respect their approach.

7 minutes ago, theguru said:

No, but at first glance none of the listed teams (not Western and DeSales) are auto wins either. 

 

5 minutes ago, Unrivaled97 said:

I believe Central lost over 20 seniors off of this year's team.  It might be tough sledding for the Yellow Jackets this year, but regardless, you have to respect their approach.

If Central lost 20 seniors and yet there are no auto losses where they are completely overwhelmed, I’d say that sets up for great learning experiences against high quality opponents. Win or lose.

I do agree though, it could be tough sledding in terms of their record. I'm just a fan of the aggressive nature. 

1 minute ago, theguru said:

I want to love the approach but I also wonder if many of us are going to be sitting here sometime in October wondering what Central was thinking. 

At first glance, I am already questioning it.

Central not only loses Cortez Stone but also have some very key players who just graduated. Central's roster on KHSAA only had 38 players Soph-Senior. 16 of those were Seniors. 

Looking at their offensive production.. Walker returns and that's a good thing. He was their primary QB. The bad news is he was 2nd on the team in passing (267 yards), he is now their leading returning rusher (248 yards), and even scarier he is their leading returning receiver as well (78 yards). Outside of Walker the next leading returning rusher had 55 yards, the leading receiver had 26 yards, and the other QB to pass for yard that returns threw for 26 yards.

Of those 16 Seniors it appears 10 of them played key roles with more than a handful playing both sides of the ball.

They do have two of their better defenders back in Basemore and Benning, but they lose three of their top 5 leading tacklers, they lose the guys who produced 13 of their 15 total INT's and all the guys who accounted for their fumble recoveries are also gone.

Maybe they are confident in their replacements?

Of those 7 listed non-district games I only would put Belfry as a toss-up game just looking at where teams were at the end of the season.. I would say Central will most likely start as a marked underdog against everyone else. With that said as well, Central has historically struggled making the long trek to Eastern KY and that Pike County Bowl is probably going to be pretty emotional for Belfry as that will be the first home game for a veteran team that returns 9-10 starters each way since Haywood's death.

Remember what Coach Dantzler said after beating CAL the first time around and it looks like that same bravado has spilled over to the schedule.

“We wanted to send a message to the entire 3A class that it comes through Muhammad Ali (Boulevard). It comes through us. There was a point we ran this class. We’re back."

For reference:

Per Paducah-Tilghman, Central ended up coming up with a different game on September 12th, so their opponent for Week 4 remains to be seen.

21 hours ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Per Paducah-Tilghman, Central ended up coming up with a different game on September 12th, so their opponent for Week 4 remains to be seen.

Sounds like scaredy pants.

I think week 4 will be against St. X.