Breathitt Co. 12 Prestonsburg 7

[bobcatfan4ever]

Sounds like a great game by both teams.

[gish28]

Talked to my dad at half and said neither teams were really playing bad, but not really all that good. Breathitt turned the ball over 4 times and Prestonsburg just could not capitalize. Good luck to Breathitt the rest of the way out.

[newarkcatholicfan]

Nice job B.C. keep it going.

[TOPPERDAD]

Both teams played really good defense,C.Fugate ran the ball well,and P'burg had a very good ground game,Smash mouth football at its best,Very exciting game,really good crowd at the Honey Bowl, say some where between (3500-4000)Congrats to Bobcats now 2-0, all fans left the game happy had too enjoy this game it wasn't won till 4th Quarter and final 2 defensive plays were broken pass by ,J Haddix and next one was Rusty Hearld ,and that was the GAME...... Breathitt wins in a Good one ....Go Bobcats

[Belfry Wins]

Wow sounds like a great defensive battle.

[JC Alumni 76]

Looks like the battle most people thought that it would be. Not the score but the margin was everyone expected. Congrats Bobcats on the win over a solid Prestonsburg team.

[oneijoe]

Plenty of mistakes by both teams and a number of questionable calls, for sure, but...this game was played with playoff intensity !! LOTS of hard hitting... A true football fan couldn't ask for better.

 

These teams would go 5-5 in a 10 game series. They were that evenly matched.

 

Kudos to a really great crowd... and the Bobcats fed off their energy very well. The home bleachers looked even more full than in the '03 and '04 playoff games...:thumb:

 

The only critique...perhaps the Blackcats showed a little too much respect for Breathitt's passing game. Putting two safeties wide and deep put too much pressure on the 3-4 front in stopping the -unusual type- Breathitt run game (mostly draws and shovel-passes).

 

And NO, the new emphasis on calling "illegal helmet contact" is NOT good for the game... A fumble on Breathitt's first scoring drive was negated by the call when the defender's helmet knocked the ball loose. Think about it...if the helmet is on the ball (which is tucked), isn't the defender's shoulder pad where it's supposed to be ?!?

 

Though our team came out on the short end, Blackcat fans couldn't ask for a better effort. Congratulations to BOTH teams for an entertaining night !!!

 

 

:ylsuper:

[5wide]

My take on the game:

 

First, I thought Breathitt had more than 4 TO's...at least it seemed that way. I was thinking at least 5 or 6...and another 3 that could have been. They have to learn to take care of the football. They could have won this game a lot easier if they'd done so.

 

Breathitt controlled this game for the most part, but couldn't put any points on the board mostly due to turnovers (give P'burg some credit for that). I thought the defense did a pretty good job with the exception of two plays...P'burg broke a huge run near the end of the first half but wasted the opportunity with a fumble on the next play, and then the TD pass...I think it was the only pass the Blackcats completed all night...it was a nicely thrown ball and a great catch by the receiver. It looked like Breathitt's DB was in position to make an interception or knock it down and the P'burg receiver adjusted to the ball, got position and just went up and brought it down. One of the better catches you'll see in a high school football game.

 

I'd like to see Breathitt pass the ball a little more. Fugate doesn't have a real strong arm, so they're not going to open it up like they have in the past, but they could probably throw a little more, IMO. They've got some pretty solid pass catchers. I like the running game too. Jackson is a pretty good runner, and Channing Fugate is the best RB prospect they've had since Jason White graduated in 1998. I'd love to see Breathitt line up in the I-Formation and feed him the ball. He's got the talent and potential to be a stud at the high school level. I'm not sure why Jade Haddix doesn't get some snaps on the offensive side of the ball...he looked good at safety and is a good athlete. It seems to me that he could probably contribute some at WR...I'm not saying play him every snap, but I think I'd get him on the field a little bit.

 

Not sure what the stats were, but Breathitt's passing stats will be misleading, IMO...they ran the shovel pass a bunch last night, which to me is more like a running play...it's safe in the sense that if he drops it it's an incomplete pass. I'd say they racked up a bunch of passing yards on that play. As far as actually dropping back in the pocket and throwing the ball, they didn't do that much...7 or 8 times maybe.

 

Overall, I was impressed with Breathitt's young talent and they've got a lot of potential. I really think 2008 and 2009 are the year's when they might be able to make a return to the carpet. I wouldn't rule it out this year, but they've still got some work to do...in any case, we should be set for some entertaining football for at least 3 years. This team reminds me some of the 2001 squad...you could see the potential, but they shot themselves in the foot with mistakes and turnovers, before clicking in 2002. Of course, it's still a bit early...they've got plenty of time to improve. How much they improve will determine how big of a factor they are in Class 3A, because they have big potential, IMO.

 

My guess is that they're still a year away because they're still a little young, but we'll see. They should be fun to watch and I'm looking forward to it. I think they might have a pretty good chance to win a regional championship at the least, and maybe more depending on how much they improve.

[5wide]

Plenty of mistakes by both teams and a number of questionable calls, for sure, but...this game was played with playoff intensity !! LOTS of hard hitting... A true football fan couldn't ask for better.

 

These teams would go 5-5 in a 10 game series. They were that evenly matched.

 

Kudos to a really great crowd... and the Bobcats fed off their energy very well. The home bleachers looked even more full than in the '03 and '04 playoff games...:thumb:

 

The only critique...perhaps the Blackcats showed a little too much respect for Breathitt's passing game. Putting two safeties wide and deep put too much pressure on the 3-4 front in stopping the -unusual type- Breathitt run game (mostly draws and shovel-passes).

 

And NO, the new emphasis on calling "illegal helmet contact" is NOT good for the game... A fumble on Breathitt's first scoring drive was negated by the call when the defender's helmet knocked the ball loose. Think about it...if the helmet is on the ball (which is tucked), isn't the defender's shoulder pad where it's supposed to be ?!?

 

Though our team came out on the short end, Blackcat fans couldn't ask for a better effort. Congratulations to BOTH teams for an entertaining night !!!

 

 

:ylsuper:

 

It was a sloppy game...I think both teams should be pleased with the potential they have...not so much with certain aspects of their performance. Looked like P'burg's QB had a pretty good arm....any idea why they didn't try to pass more? I think they made life pretty easy on Breathitt defensively because there was virtually no threat of a pass.

 

You're probably right about P'burg showing too much respect for the pass game. Perhaps that's why Holcomb chose not to throw more...personally, if I were going to run the ball as much as Breathitt did last night...I'd use more I-Formation. Fugate seems to throw a decent deep ball, but his arm strength could be better...it gets a lot of air under the ball on those out patterns. I think Breathitt will need to come up with more variety down the road because teams will eventually stack the box and dare them to pass...looks like Holcomb's copying some Urban Meyer offense (or was it just me?).

 

Is P'burg a young team? What's the outlook like down the road? They looked like they had some good potential as well, especially if they have a lot of underclassmen like the Bobcats.

[EKUAlum05]

Good posts 5wide and oneijoe

[oneijoe]

It was a sloppy game...

...

 

Is P'burg a young team? What's the outlook like down the road? They looked like they had some good potential as well, especially if they have a lot of underclassmen like the Bobcats.

 

Yes, this is a fairly inexperienced P-burg team, especially in the trenches and at receiver.

 

QB Bobby Hughes has a very accurate arm, but like the Breathitt QB, it is NOT a rifle arm. The two downfield passes that got knocked out of the receiver's hands were balls that needed to be thrown flatter. Of course, that's the bad side to that kind of thrown ball. To the good, they're easier to catch, and our receivers are 1st year varsity.

 

Offensively, Coach D.'s game plan was to run off the ends. Actually, I thought the run was doing pretty well, but there were far too many procedure and holding calls to keep moving the chains.

 

Breathitt Co. made a lot of yards with that shovel pass in the spread. Though it's a slow developer, it's a well designed play that out-mans a 3-4 defense at the point of attack. I kept waiting our defense to put another man in the box, but it didn't happen until the 2nd half of the 4th.

 

All in all, I'm very pleased with the Blackcat's effort last night. Far too many penalties (esp. "holding"), for sure, but that should get better with each game.

 

 

:bunny:

[ukboys]

I think this will be a great learning experience for both teams. Both teams played well, but made several mistakes. It is still very early and these types of experiences only help to make teams better. By playing quality opponents and learning from mistakes made, these two teams will both be better off at season's end.

[TOPPERDAD]

Oneijoe, You said it best,if you are a fan of football you would have loved this game,and as a Bobcat fan i do think we could have lost it as easy we won this game.... Both teams looked better on Defense than Offense,and thats kinda not what we are use to but a win is a win,protecting the ball is a must,but man P'burg will hit you in the mouth and thats a plus for the Blackcats (really like the looks of them line-backers they are huge,and was impressed with their QB's speed and Running Backs speed also),I do think both teams will have good seasons and am very intrested in seeing what happens in play-off for each team,Good Luck will be watching ever so careful.....Go Bobcats