Final from Pond Creek and the Pike County Bowl.

Central must be down quite a bit. Not saying they won’t be competitive come playoffs but so far they are not very impressive.

Impressive win for Belfry, congratulations.

Belfry's defense showed up in a big way. The Pirates thoroughly controlled this one and the Central offense struggled to string together much of a threat to score or even stack multiple First Downs together. Belfry routinely got good penetration and Central could not establish a running game to get into the 2nd Level. Belfry forced three interceptions. Hunter Hylton was all over the field especially in the First Half.

Belfry's offense wasn't all roses, but they were effective. Central did a fantastic job of limiting the big play from Belfry, but Belfry strings together four impressive scoring drives. Belfry showed flashes of dominance when they would mix formations and mix looks... they also had some head scratching moments for the 2nd consecutive week. All in all Belfry kept this one pretty firmly in hand and broke Central's will when it was there to be broken.

One negative for Belfry is Senior FB JJ Austin got hurt in the 1st Half on one of those scoring drives and never returned. Dante Davis came in and played great in his absence but hopefully there is nothing too concerning bigger picture.

I felt like Belfry's secondary had one of their best performances in a while. They really locked down the Central passing game and had maybe three more INT's in their fingertips. No busts in coverage and they did a fantastic job coming up when Central tried to get outside to use some of their speed. Belfry for all intents looked to be the faster team.

Best of luck to the Jackets moving forward. This is a program the Belfry community respects deeply and there couldn't have been a more fitting and worthy opponent on an emotional night where we remember Coach Haywood. The Jackets are very young but have to like what their defense demonstrated most of the night... their offense clearly has been hurt the most by graduation but I have no doubt this proud program will be back in the near future as they reload.

2 minutes ago, Tkinslow said:

Central must be down quite a bit. Not saying they won’t be competitive come playoffs but so far they are not very impressive.

Defensively I think they will get it together as the year goes. Belfry is a very explosive team.... Central kept them from breaking huge plays and there aren't many teams who can do that.

It is very clear they are struggling not having Cortez Stone. The Jackets usually have one if not two backs who can grind you down and then bust the big one once you miss a tackle... I don't see that back right now because of their youth. The Cherry kid has lightning quick agility and acceleration outside, but they also struggle to find a receiver who can create separation. Their inability to sustain drives or break big plays puts their defense in a tight spot and they have some steep ground to climb before I see that changing with the schedule they play.