Belfry is a class football program through and through, but I too wish someone in the AD office could tone the PA guy down. It's really takes the shine off what is otherwise a fantastic venue for HS football. That kind a rah, rah is classless, period. JMO

 

Now go get that next championship, Pirates!

 

 

You have to understand it's a delicate situation. Mr. Steve Phillips was the voice of the Pirates since the early 80's...and his unexpected death really affected the Pirate Nation. He's doing the best he can...and in his own way still paying his respects. I'm sure over time it'll get better.

I thought BC had great fans too, my biggest disappointment was when, the coach himself got the trophy. The Bobcats players should have been allowed to receive their trophy, after all they worked for and deserved recognition. IMO

My son once played for a basketball coach who didn't allow them to receive their trophy, I just think this is poor sportsmanship, no matter who the coach may be.

I felt the Bobcats never gave up. You all should be proud, because you have a good team.

 

I can assure you Mike Holcomb didn't accept the trophy on his own behalf. I played for him for 4 years and have known him for many more, and he is as classy a guy as you will meet and always looks out for his team first. I am sure Coach Holcomb just wanted to get his guys home as soon as possible. I have played in trophy games for Holcomb and I can assure you that at Breathitt Co., when we lose a big game, it hurts the players probably more so than the coaches because they have lost plenty more of those games than the players. Once again, I promise you that it wasn't the fact that Holcomb didn't "let" his players accept the trophy, it was just the fact that they had gotten embarassed by a bitter rival in a huge game and he just wanted his team and staff to get home as soon as possible.

I can assure you Mike Holcomb didn't accept the trophy on his own behalf. I played for him for 4 years and have known him for many more, and he is as classy a guy as you will meet and always looks out for his team first. I am sure Coach Holcomb just wanted to get his guys home as soon as possible. I have played in trophy games for Holcomb and I can assure you that at Breathitt Co., when we lose a big game, it hurts the players probably more so than the coaches because they have lost plenty more of those games than the players. Once again, I promise you that it wasn't the fact that Holcomb didn't "let" his players accept the trophy, it was just the fact that they had gotten embarassed by a bitter rival in a huge game and he just wanted his team and staff to get home as soon as possible.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head in this one, I didn't see any problem with Breathitt's team leaving the field, and if Holcomb was showing bad sportsmanship I would have expected noone to pick up a trophy. Additionally, the team would not have stayed long enough to shake hands and offer congratulations. I honestly think it was more of a case of Breathitt just wanting to let their emotions out without having to be on a field where such an unexpected final score just occured.

Unofficial Stats:

 

Breathitt:

Colbey Fugate- 14/21, 242 yards, 2 TD passing, 1 TD rushing, 1 INT

Channing Fugate- 15 carries, 48 yards

#3 Allen- 7 catches, 121 yards, 1 TD

Wesley Epperson- 3 catches, 94 yards, 1 TD

Total Rushing Yards: 38

Total Passing Yards: 242

Total yards: 280

 

 

Belfry:

Dustin May- 21 carries, 152 yards, 1 rushing TD, 1 Catch, 29 yards, 1 receiving TD, Blocked XP, 1 Forced Fumble, 1 Fumble Recover, 1 Sack

Charlie Dotson- 16 carries, 96 yards, 4 TD, 1 Forced Fumble

Ivan Lee- 9 carries, 75 yards, 1 TD

Thomas Varney- 2 carries, 39 yards, 1 TD

 

10 different Pirates carried the ball, 5 different Pirates scored rushing TD's.

 

Total Rushing Yards: 396

Total passing Yards: 29

Total yards: 425

 

Not trying to be rude, but i hate to see people left out, and you didn't mention Heath Varney's touchdown.

If Central beats PT tonight then we are going to see a match up of two totally different types of offenses. Central runs a wide open offense compared to Belfry's two TE and wishbone formations (I know this is what they traditionally run and what I saw on TV against Somerset).

 

I hope Belfry wins but I will say they will probably will see the best athletes all season next week if it is Central. Their waterboys run 4.3 40's. But they can be beat because they do not have discipline like Belfry does. They will make silly mistakes that I think Belfry will be able to capitalize on.

 

But man Central has some athletes.

 

:lol:

 

lmao

WOW......first off, congrats to Belfry. That was absolutely one of the most dominating performances I have seen in the last couple of years. The Pirates dominated this game pretty much from the second quarter on. A few observations from the game: CAM Stadium is by far the nicest high school facility I have ever been to. That place is something a lot of colleges could envy. You guys have something to be extremely proud of there:thumb: I don't know if I can call a wishbone offense "explosive", but that's about as close as it can be tonight. It was probably due more to Breathitt missing thousands of tackles, but Belfry just kept breaking long run after long run, maybe it was due to excellent execution as well. May, Lee, #9, and Dotson all were very impressive. How big are those guys? Lee and May looked huge. Belfry's defense absolutely can lay the wood. The hit #9 put on Allen (#3) for Breathitt was a slobberknocker. Turnovers killed Breathitt. You can't give Belfry the ball in the red zone and expect them not to score. Breathitt should have thrown the ball 60 times this game because that run defense of Belfry's was stifling. Passing the ball seemed to be the only thing working for Breathitt, but they didn't give Fugate great protection. The passing game could have worked even better than it did but Breathitt dropped about 5 passes that should have been caught. Holcomb's rant - First of all, it honestly looked like the ref spotted the ball about 10 yds too far. The holding call was a couple of yards behind the line of scrimmage, it looked to be around the 40 of Breathitt, and the ball was spotted on the other 40 almost. I don't know if I didn't see where the foul occurred or what, but it looked like the ref walked off a 20 yard penalty. I know the game was basically over at this point, but you cannot fault a coach for trying to fire his team up and get them to play with some kind of emotion. He can't give up on his kids and let them get walked over as he presumed was happening. The Belfry PA Man - Besides my team getting owned, this was the only downside to the game for me. This guy must have 3 sons playing and two daughters cheering because it was obvious he was doing more than just telling what happened. Now don't get me wrong, it's fine for a PA man to show enthusiasm when announcing TD's and firstdowns and so on, but to have him trying to rile the fans up for a defensive stand or basically cheerleading over the loud system is bush. Other than that, the fans were a class act and I was very impressed with the stadium. Overall, the atmosphere was great and Belfry played one helluva game and I will be cheering my tail off for them against Central. Come on Pirates, bring it back to the mountains again!!!:flame::ylsuper:

 

Not only is it bush for the PA man to cheerlead but it's also not allowed. The KHSAA has addressed this issue in the past couple of years and determined that it is not allowed. But the only way for it to stop is with the Belfry administration or the KHSAA putting a stop to it. Belfry is too classy of a program with some really great fans to have their reputation tarnished by a overzealous PA announcer.

If Central beats PT tonight then we are going to see a match up of two totally different types of offenses. Central runs a wide open offense compared to Belfry's two TE and wishbone formations (I know this is what they traditionally run and what I saw on TV against Somerset).

 

I hope Belfry wins but I will say they will probably will see the best athletes all season next week if it is Central. Their waterboys run 4.3 40's. But they can be beat because they do not have discipline like Belfry does. They will make silly mistakes that I think Belfry will be able to capitalize on.

 

But man Central has some athletes.

 

:lol:

 

lmao

 

That really is kind of funny, and when the game is over I hope Central will be wondering why all of those 5 flat 40s are in the endzone so much.

Sorry guys, I don't get online much on weekends. And when I do, the connection is not the best, to put it nicely.

 

Congratulations to Belfry. The only real surprise to me in the game was that Belfry scored 62 points...I'm not sure anyone saw that one coming. I won't say I expected Breathitt to lose by 34, but it also isn't a surprise. I was figuring more along the lines of 35-14...something like that. So, the game was a little higher scoring and the margin of victory a little wider than I would have predicted...the scoring surprises me a little, but the margin of victory doesn't.

 

Anyway, I'll try to give you my thoughts on the game tomorrow.

 

I would compliment the Pirates on their great team and season, but I'm afraid of how it will be interpreted.

Not only is it bush for the PA man to cheerlead but it's also not allowed. The KHSAA has addressed this issue in the past couple of years and determined that it is not allowed. But the only way for it to stop is with the Belfry administration or the KHSAA putting a stop to it. Belfry is too classy of a program with some really great fans to have their reputation tarnished by a overzealous PA announcer.

 

I have heard several PA guys that were out of hand this season. This seems to be a growing problem. While the KHSAA took some measures to correct this it isn't working.

 

First, the PA guys should want to add to the game. Seems like they want to be the local Dickie "V" and make a name in the community. PA should be done with complete class.

 

Second, the schools need to take control of the press box. Put the right people in spots and give them directions about what is expected. How do the school administrations miss this one?

Not trying to be rude, but i hate to see people left out, and you didn't mention Heath Varney's touchdown.

 

The unseen stats of the o-line that make the blocks that make the Pirate offense roll.Iwould luv to see all the great blocks made ,the timing ,line surge,defensive players put on thier backs ,got to be some All-Staters on that line or could be after this last GAME.Great job o- line:thumb:

Didn't this win make Haywood the 2nd Winningest coach in Kentucky History?

Didn't this win make Haywood the 2nd Winningest coach in Kentucky History?

 

Yes, it put him 1 ahead of Dudley Hilton on the list.

What I saw?

 

Breathitt came out tight, I thought, and it showed. They dropped two or three easy passes that could have moved the chains early on...Belfry took advantage and jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Breathitt County finally connected on a big pass play and then got in the end zone...at this point, I thought they got settled in and played pretty good for most of the second quarter. They stopped Belfry on 3 plays, got the ball back, marched down the field and cut it to one. With 1:41 to play, I think...at that point, it looked like it might be a real game. However, Belfry scored in less than a minute to go back up a TD, 20-13. That, in itself, wouldn't have been a killer, but Breathitt County fumbled early in the next possession and allowed the Pirates to score again and take a 2 TD lead into the locker room. I think the game was essentially over at that point. Breathitt had played great to get back in the game, and in a little over one minute, they gave it all back. BACKBREAKER!

 

Belfry took the opening drive in the second half and scored...after the teams exchanged fumbles, Breathitt coughed it up again and Belfry scored to go up 41-13. It seemed to turn into a snowball effect...I think the Bobcats were just down at that point and Belfry was on fire and it just got worse.

 

The Breathitt defense just wasn't big enough or physical enough to stop Belfry's quick hitters up the gut. That was the biggest difference, IMO. Once they wear you out with 5+ yards a pop up the gut, it's only a matter of time before they start busting big runs on the edge and that's exactly what they did.

 

I thought Breathitt would have to play a near flawless game to have a chance in this one, and they didn't...dropped passes and TO's eliminated any chance they might have had. I really don't think Belfry was playing their best football in the first half...they had a few fumbles themselves, which is uncharacteristic of this team from what I've heard. I think the opportunity was there in the first half if Breathitt could have taken advantage.

 

The second half, Belfry looked like a different team to me...especially defensively. I'll be honest, I was expecting the Belfry defense to be better than what I saw in the first half of that game. Breathitt moved the ball pretty well when they weren't shooting themselves in the foot. I saw it in the second half...they were fast and physical. The way they swarmed the ball reminded me of Breathitt's defenses from the mid 90's.

 

I was hoping Breathitt could have better success stopping that dive up the middle...once I saw the Pirates ripping off 5 yards at will, my worst fears were realized. I must admit though, when Breathitt scored and then forced a quick 3 and out and scored again, I was beginning to think I'd underestimated my team or overestimated the opponent...one or the other.

 

I really wish Breathitt could have just stopped Belfry at the end of the first half and gone into the locker room down one. I'd like to see how the game would have played out from there. I'm not saying I think Breathitt would win...I don't. I think Belfry was the better team and they proved it. However, I don't think the game would have spun out of control so fast had the first half not ended the way it did. And who knows, you get in the second half with some momentum and your opponent might make a mistake or two. In any case, I think the score would have been more respectable.

 

Nevertheless, I'm proud of what Breathitt County accomplished this season and I'm very excited about the future. We've got some great young talent and now that young talent knows what it's going to take to get to Louisville. I never expected Breathitt County to win their first 13 games of the season and come within one game of the carpet. My only real disappointment from the game was that I'd have liked to see Breathitt play their best and see what would have happened. But, overall, I can't be disappointed that the team exceeded my expectations and then lost a game that I expected them to against a better team.

 

Congratulations to both teams and good luck to the Pirates in Louisville.

 

I have a strong feeling I'll be making the long trip to Belfry again next year...thanks to the stupid KHSAA! :madman:

The Pirate Express keeps on rolling.

5wide, you nailed the essence of this game. The two quick TD's (the second one on a nice pass by Elkins) was the backbreaker heading into halftime. Then the turnovers that Belfry converted into points in the 3rd quarter was the salt in the wound.

 

I think if these teams played another 10 times none of the games would be this lopsided.

 

And if Breathitt gets to come to CAM again next year, it would be in the 3rd round for the Region 4 Championship. I expect it will happen too as both these teams have a ton of talent returning.