Bullitt East will host North Hardin in the first round of the 6A playoffs this Friday night.  Bullitt East finished the regular season with a 35-0 win over the struggling Meade County Green Wave.  North Hardin finished the regular season win a big win over equally struggling Warren East.  

East finds it's way to this point finishing 2nd in their district behind Male and ending the season with a 6-4 record.  All of the losses that East had were against good to very good opponents.  East was outclassed in both losses to Boyle and Manual and struggle to compete against either.  Against Franklin Co and Male however, East seemed the better team against both for about 42 out of the 48 minutes in each game.  Dropping both games in heart breaking fashion.   

North Hardin come in the game finishing 3rd in a tough district behind St. X and Manual.  North Hardin ended the regular season at 5-5, losing to some very good teams as well.  Worst loss probably being to Oldham County.  

This match up is a district #2 seed vs a #3 seed but they seem to be very equal teams in most regards.  The only common opponents for these two teams were Manual and Meade Co. 

Manual beat NH 51-21 and beat East 37-7.

Meade lost to NH 35-7 and lost to East 35-0.

This game will most likely come down to the end or be decided by turnovers.  I like Easts chances to win but I would like them more if NH relied on the their run game a little more.  NH has done their damage this season through the air and East has struggle at times to make plays in the secondary.  Kirkland, the NH qb has 19 passing td's against only 2 int's.  East has been pretty stout against the run this year.  If East can knock down a few passes or get a pick then I think they win.  If they can't they will have to match NH point for point.  Whoever wins this tight one is rewarded with a trip to St. X the following week.  

This should be competitive game. NH has very good 3 star WR Ronald Lunz so that could give BE problems if secondary a weak spot. NH is undisciplined and gets penalized a lot so that is a problem for them. I'll go with Bullitt East since they have played some good teams well.

This game comes down to the secondary play for Bullitt East. You have got to get pressure up front on Kirkland and limit the number of big plays downfield to Lunz. 

If the Chargers limit the big plays downfield and limit RB Winfield to minimal yardage, Bullitt East wins.

I think there is a strong possibility that all Hardin County and Meade County schools lose in the first round this weekend, but that is for another thread!

My Prediction: 

Bullitt East 36

North Hardin 28

This game is one of our Pick 5 games:

TP94 Power Rating has this very close game.

Josiah Hope is a force to be reckoned with on North Hardin’s d line. 

IMO. The most intriguing 6A first round match up.

Hope makes plays on defense, just not when it matters on 3rd/4th downs, etc. 

Came from work, thought phone was plugged in but wasn’t. Low battery so I’ll share while I can. 
 

East drives to NH 30 but penalty and sack stops drive. East punts. NH gets one first then punts. A lot of flags fly on punt. East takes over on NH 39 after 15 yard penalty. 

After a couple of firsts East takes it in from 4. 
 

East 7

NH 0

4:43 1st

WB keeper for a first but fumbles at end of play. East ball on NH 39

Qb keeper

East forces to punt. Downed on NH 3

NH punting from the 7 and partially blocked. East takes over on NH 16. 

East punches it in from 2. 
 

East 14

NH 0

10:55 2nd