Was impressed with the Rams,just think Russell"s size was a little to much for them.Raceland should be very impressive in the playoffs where there more evenly matched in size.Wish the best of luck to Raceland.

 

Won't see too many teams like Russell in the Class A playoffs until you get to the carpet in Louisville. This was a good learning experience for the Rams, & will definitely help them down the road. Have to cut down on the turnovers & penalities. Carver had over 100 yards rushing. I think Raceland will definitely benefit from this, & be ready for the Comets & for the playoffs. Have to remember the goal of the big picture, which is the playoffs.

I just watched the 1st half on Ch. 25 replay. Raceland ran 31 offensive plays to Russells 18. At one time Raceland had 8 first downs to Russell's two. Raceland outgained Russell as well in the first half. Russell had the TD on a k/o return and a 75 yd. play that they broke for another TD, Raeland broke one 65 yd. TD but as for the most part Raceland seemed to control the 1st half.

Doesn't matter though, a game is 4qtrs and Russell dominated the 2nd half, took advantage of Raceland mistakes/penalties and 4 turnovers and won the game. Turnovers and penalties cost Raceland and imo were the difference. A team cannot make those kind of mistakes against anyone, let alone a good team like Russell and win.

As I said Rusell deserved the win, they were te better football team tonight.

Congrats to the Red Devils again.

Won't see too many teams like Russell in the Class A playoffs until you get to the carpet in Louisville. This was a good learning experience for the Rams, & will definitely help them down the road. Have to cut down on the turnovers & penalities. Carver had over 100 yards rushing. I think Raceland will definitely benefit from this, & be ready for the Comets & for the playoffs. Have to remember the goal of the big picture, which is the playoffs.

 

:thumb::thumb: Carver had over 100yds. rushing in the 1st half, I didn't hear how much he ended up with.

 

One more observation......Most all the talk about Russell was Jones and Abrams - this is the 2nd time that I have seen Russell and I must say that #38 (Bailey I believe) was imo the best football player on the field for the Devils vs. Raceland tonight. JMO

I just watche dthe 1st half on cg. 25 replay. Raceland ran 31 offensive plays to Russells 18. Raceland outgained Russell as well in the first half. Russell had te TD on a k/o return and a 75 yd. play that they broke for another TD, Raeland broke one 65 yd. TD but as fore the most part Raceland seemed to control the 1st half.

Doesn't matter though, a game is 4qtrs and Russell dominated the 2nd half, took advantage of Raceland mistakes/penalties and 4 turnovers and won the game. Turnovers and penalties cost Raceland and imo were the difference. A team cannot make those kind of mistakes against anyone, let alone a good team like Russell and win.

As I said Rusell deserved the win, they were te better football team tonight.

Congrats to the Red Devils again.

 

Sorry Oldrambler, I really thought we had a shot at this game, Sometime I think we might need to go to the wing T with a full back Field. and run the football. We can get good yardage. I don't know, we shot are self in the foot I think. Hats off to Russell they played a mistake free game and thats what it take to win ball games. The penalty's really killed us, But I am not making excuses, we lost and Russell won. The end.:thumb:

Sorry Oldrambler, I really thought we had a shot at this game, Sometime I think we might need to go to the wing T with a full back Field. and run the football. We can get good yardage. I don't know, we shot are self in the foot I think. Hats off to Russell they played a mistake free game and thats what it take to win ball games. The penalty's really killed us, But I am not making excuses, we lost and Russell won. The end.:thumb:

 

As did I but as I said it was going to take a mistake/turnover free game to do it.

I am old school and love the Running offenses like the wingT, Veer, I, and wishbone. With a mobile QB like Boyles, backs like Denton, Carver and Piercy that may not be bad idea. Raceland ad ran the football effectively all season.

 

Another thing that I am sure of is that our coaches know what they are doing much more than I so I will continue to trust them. :thumb:

As did I but as I said it was going to take a mistake/turnover free game to do it.

I am old school and love the Running offenses like the wingT, Veer, I, and wishbone. With a mobile QB like Boyles, backs like Denton, Carver and Piercy that may not be bad idea. Raceland ad ran the football effectively all season.

 

Another thing that I am sure of is that our coaches know what they are doing much more than I so I will continue to trust them. :thumb:

 

I to have trust in our coaches, And they Know more about what is going on with the game. I just like that kind of "O" I Guess. Plus I wouldn't trade our coaches for any other one any where else. Just Down a Little, But the boys will be better for it.:thumb: But any way congrads to John-Scott Carver and David Bailey for MVP of the Railcity Bowl Game

As did I but as I said it was going to take a mistake/turnover free game to do it.

 

Another thing that I am sure of is that our coaches know what they are doing much more than I so I will continue to trust them. :thumb:

 

Raceland will be fine. Russell played well & deserved to win. I'd put these two coaching staffs up against anyone in Kentucky. Any staff would be hard-pressed to match wits with these guys.

 

If anyone is overlooking Russell in 3A, they'll be going home early. And I'm sure the Rams would like nothing better than to Get the Eagles twice in one season, & then get another shot at LCA with all of their starters healthy.

Raceland will be fine. Russell played well & deserved to win. I'd put these two coaching staffs up against anyone in Kentucky. Any staff would be hard-pressed to match wits with these guys.

 

If anyone is overlooking Russell in 3A, they'll be going home early. And I'm sure the Rams would like nothing better than to Get the Eagles twice in one season, & then get another shot at LCA with all of their starters healthy.

 

:thumb::thumb::thumb:

Russell pretty much controlled game.Was very hard to try to watch the game,sidelines are lower than field and could only watch the plays from one end of the field.Glad it is being played in Russell next year.

 

Amen.

Well the Rail City Bowl has come and gone and I want to commend Raceland and Russell on putting this thing together. Kudos to Raceland on getting the stadium clean and making it a great atmosphere for a big time high school football game.

 

I've seen Russell play many times this year and of the Russell games I have seen them play that's the first game where they got hit square in the mouth from the opening bell and hit they immediately right back. The first half was like a heavyweight fight with both of these teams slugging it out and taking into the locker room with a 14-14 tie. A lot of talk around town this week was that the Devils were looking ahead to the playoffs and were not too concerned with this game. But when Raceland came out drove down the field and scored first you could see the Devils were in this game to win it. They came right back out and took the ensuing kick-off to the house. They matched Raceland's intensity on every play and it turned into a real slobberknocker.

 

The second half began with a typical Russell 3rd Quarter. They tend to really come into their own in the 3rd Quarter this year and they forced Raceland into making mistakes and kept Raceland's offense off the field. Now I didn't make it to the game against Simon Kenton or out to Mason County, but this to me was the most complete game Russell played year. With the exception of the first half interception Jones had I thought that was the best the Devils had looked all season. Russell really leaned on Raceland in the third quarter and eeked out some great runs and then Jones did a fantastic job passing tonight. A couple of times he was flushed out of the pocket and did a great job locating his receivers down field.

 

Some observations on the Ram side of things. They have got to get back to the fundamentals of tackling and they have got to make plays on the ball in the passing game. They also to be disciplined at the line of scrimmage and not put themselves in a hole before the the ball is even snapped. As everyone else here has already pointed out, penalties and turnovers will kill you. And when you commit them playing against a team who has been to the Pizza Box the last two seasons they will make you pay. And they did.

 

On the positive note it's nice to see the Rams have a duo of fantastic backs in Denton and Carver. I was really impressed with Carver's ability to get to the edge. When Carver cuts upfield he has another gear he kicks into and it really helped him get that long TD run in the first half. Denton is great north-south runner who hits anything in his way. I am not sure how many tackles he had tonight but it seemed like #20 was on the ball every play. Finally Raceland did a really good job blocking as well. Russell wasn't in the backfield very often and the credit goes to the O-line for that.

 

In the end though kudos to the Rams and the Devils. The Rams never quit and they came out and played physical football with Russell. Russell sure didn't overlook Raceland and matched Raceland's intensity play after play and the better team won tonight.

 

If anything it was great to see Russell and Raceland on a football field for the first time in my lifetime with the smell of hamburgers drifting through the air, the Russell cow bells rattling in the stands, the Raceland fans clanging those aluminum bleachers, and the headlights from the highway passing by the stadium. Last night was what high school football was all about. It's a shame we have to wait 364 more days for the rematch in the Hank. I'm ready to see these two go again already!

ADI has some good coverage of the game:

 

http://www.dailyindependent.com/local/local_story_300002829.html

 

A Slideshow:

http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/dailyindependent/flashpromo/slideshow/bowl_show/

 

Game report:

http://www.dailyindependent.com/localsports/local_story_300011959.html

 

Vankirk's column:

http://www.dailyindependent.com/columns/local_story_300011804.html?keyword=topstory

 

I joke about their Super 7 poll, but they do the best they can covering the local teams. Kudos to them for their coverage of the game!

These are my thoughts on the game.

 

The atmosphere was awesome, I've been to many Raceland games in the last fifteen years and I don't think I can remember anything as exciting as last night's game. First off, Russell played an awesome game and they are for real. They have size and speed, and are fundamentally sound. Raceland hung tough but turnovers and penalties killed us.

 

The half time adjustments have to go to Russell. They came out in the second half and dominated, congrats. I was very disappointed that Raceland lost, but I hope the "playoff" type atmosphere helps to prep for the real thing.

 

All in all, I had a great time. I was impressed with the sportsmanship of both team and the fans on both sides. I think this could be the start of something good, hopefully a renewal of a rivalry that should never have stopped.

 

Good luck Devils, as always I will be pulling for you guys the rest of the way out. Rams, get your heads up and get ready West Carter and then the playoffs.

 

Mike B.

Congratulations Red Devils. I was very impressed with the play of David Bailey. He played very well. He has the talent and ability to become one of the Russell great backs if he continues to play like he did last night. Congratulations on being named MVP.

 

I stand corrected. Tyler Jones played the whole game on both sides of the ball with no signs of a limp. He should have played and I said he should not. I was wrong. I'll bet that ankle is still sore though.

 

Russell limited the turn overs and protected the ball very well. I also noticed John Cornwell played an excellent game.

I watched the replay of the game last night and the play-by-play and color guys both continued to mention what a great offensive line Russell has. They block, make great holes for those little guys to run through. Many times I think we forget those guys whose names are never announced over the broadcast system, but are in there making things happen on every offensive play. A few weeks ago Drew Abrams gave credit to the line when he was interviewed in the Independent. Another great job by our defensive and offensive lines last night.:devil:

Ballgames are won and lost at the line of scrimmage.