Nice game Central... details later.

CENTRAL, STATE CHAMPS!!!!!!

:dancingpa:dancingpa:dancingpa:dancingpa:dancingpa

I do agree with the some of the calls by the refs in that game especially the punt formation where Central went offsides. Belfry went into their set position and didn't move and were called for a false start. I hated how he would say whose team it was the penalty on instead of just saying offense or defense. Now for the pass interference calls they could of went either way in my opinion. The funny thing is we didn't have one single holding call in that whole game and please don't tell me it was a clean game because holding happens every play. The only flags were offsides, false start and illegal motion is that all those refs knew because I thought state championship you get the best of the best. One other thing if somebody familiar with Belfry would tell me why are they conservative because the play action out of the wishbone that receiver closest to the sideline was open all game. In all it was a hard hitting game and two GREAT teams battled to the final gun.

This was one of the most awkwardly officiated games I have ever seen, not saying it was a horrible called game, just the ref calling my time about 10 times when Belfry got into any offensive flow and some other things and the 2 Central fumble, as well as the borderline offsides and pass interferences.....

 

I agree that it was poorly officiated. I thought Belfry was in motion on nearly every play. The called it couple of times, but it could have been called more.

:dancingpa WAY TO GO JACKETS! :dancingpa

 

I new you could do it.

 

:dancingpa STATE CHAMPS! :dancingpa

 

How does that sound, guys? Got a nice ring to it, dosen't it?

 

Congratulations Coach Scroggins. I bet those boys over at Doss are eatin' a little crow today too, now aren't they?

I knew they could do it, because they were the hardest hitting team that St X played this year. Not ONE of the hardest. THE hardest hitters.

 

You know it's a cinderella story when, and this is my fav part of the story, Central had not even used their mascot all season. Don't know why, maybe they hadn't in years. In fact, they still weren't several games into the playoffs. Then a few games back, they figured they better find the mascot uni (it was sitting in the coaches office) dust her off and put her to use. Thats classic!!

 

Congrats Jackets. St X fan everywhere is proud of you!

Congrats to the Yellow Jackets. After the game you gave Highlands, I had you pegged for the title. Very good team.

 

Agreed. All the HHS fans I talked to were extremely confidant in Central and couldn't believe the poll results. They certainly used their regular season for optimum playoff results, didn't they?

Congratulations, Louisville Central on your first state championship! :dancingpa

 

And kudos to the St X administration for loaning your field to the 'Jackets. Classy move. :thumb:

Awesome move by the Xaverians.....excluding NKY and Louisville, almost everyone on here, and the state thought not only that Central would lose, but they would get BLOWN OUT. We tried, and tried to tell you that this team was a good, good team. The state found out last night. Congrats Central, Coach Scroggins, and the CENTRAL FAMILY, they are starting to build a very nice tradition there.....they are on the up and coming.

Central has a great team.

 

They controlled the LOS and were just too good for Belfry last night.

Here we go....

 

During and after the game I was obviously discouraged and the first reaction is to always blame the officials, blame the coaches, or blame somebody.... I don't want to do that. The fact of the matter was Central was better prepared, they were more the more phsyical team, they executed better, and they managed the game better. Ty Scroginns coached this game beautifully, from his scouting and preperation, to his use of timeouts to kill momentum. The only mistake he made was calling that fake punt.

 

From the opening coin toss Central did exactly what they needed to do. All too often teams always take the ball against Belfry, and typically Belfry capitalizes by scoring on their first offensive posession of the second half, but by deferring Scorggins turned the tables and it ended up paying off.

 

The story of the first half was mental errors. The one sure fire remedy for beatign a Belfry teams is forcing them into 3rd and Long situations. Belfry consistently put themselves in this position with illegal motion and false start penalties. Nonetheless, Belfry still had several instances on long yardage situations where they got exactly what they wanted, a receiver in single coverage with a step on their man, and when they did Elkins made perfect passes. It can be argued that a couple pass interference calls were there (in particular on the pass to Thomas Varney) butt he fact remains the officials made it clear that they weren't going to let this game be dteremined by flags being thrown, which I respect and prefer over flagging everything. Even with contact, the ball still hit the Belfry recevers hands on three passes and should have been caught. Belfry hauls in those three receptions and they force Central to take all 11 guys out of the box, but they didn't.

 

The Belfry defense played outstanding in the first half, and for that matter the game. Banks had no time to throw, and save the long TD run where Belfry made conatct with the back in the backfield, Belfry shut down Central. The Pirates were fortunate enough to get alot of momentum in the second quarter in building their 10-7 lead, and when Thomas Varney intercepted the pass with 13 second we can argue 'til we are blue in the face whether Belfry should have took a knee or not, but the fact is the only bad pass Elkins threw all game was intercepted and returned for a TD. If there was a Pontiac Game Changing Performance for HS Football, this would win it. It was an instant momentum shift, a shift that carried into the second half when Central took the opening drive and scored a TD.

 

The story of the second half was simply making plays. Central did, Belfry didn't make enough. The opening drive was huge for Central, culminating with the TD pass on a ball that went right between two Pirate defenders and into the receivers waiting arms. Another key play, IMO, was following May's TD to bring Belfry to 21-16 with about 8 minutes to go in the 4th Quarter. Knowing how hard it had been to score and drive the ball, I was shocked Belfry didn't go for the two point conversion. Had they got it, they would trail by 3 with a kicker who has range up to 50 yards. You don't get it, you trail by 5 which wasn't much more different than trailing by 4, either way you still HAVE to score a TD. Maybe if they trail by three, the Belfry posession which culminated with the fumble may have went differently, who knows. The last TD was a TD Belfry had to give up to have any chance of winning, as without any timeouts left the kid had picked up the first down on the carry. After that Belfry had a slim chance, which ended with the sack.

 

Ket Stats:

 

Penalties: Belfry= 6 for 27 yards, Central 2= 10 yards... there was one flag thrown the entire second half on Belfry, Central had none.

 

Central Team/Individual Stats:

Darrell Taylor 22 carries, 165 yards, 5 tackles, 1 FF, 1 Pass Breakup, 1 INT, 3 Total TD

*Best All-Around Performance at This Year's Finals So Far IMO

 

 

Leland Banks 5/12 passing, 88 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT thrown

T. Wadlington 7 tackles, 3 TFL (huge stat as he was the man shutting down Belfry's veer), 1 FF, 1 FR

 

Rushing Yards: 150

Passing Yards: 88

Total Yards: 238

T.O.P: 21:07

 

Belfry Team/Individual Stats

Dustin May - 25 carries, 2 Rec, 161 All-Purpose Yards, 2 TD

Andrew Elkins- 8 carries, 18 yards, 6/11 passing, 65 yards, 3 Fumbles (1 lost), 1 INT thrown

Ivan Lee- 9 carries, 33 yards (Season Low?)

Ryan Preston- 2 INT

Thomas Varney- 2 carries, 22 yards, Game-High 6 tackles, 1 INT, 20 yard Kick Return Avg.

 

Rushing Yards: 217

Passing Yards: 65

Total Yards: 282

T.O.P: 26:53

 

If someone were to tell me that Belfry had More Total yards, Won the Time of Posession Battle, would hold Central to 88 Pass Yards and 3 INT, and force 5 Turnovers, I would obviously expect them to win. This is a testament to just how hard Central played.

On a seperate topic, I want to address the crowds. The offciial attendance was 7,619, by far the most of Day 1 1300 more than the 5A game and almost 4000 more than the 1A game). Belfry fans were exactly what they should be, loud, large numbers, and in-tune with the game. But, the focus of this post is the Central fanbase and adopted fans.

 

For a school who has had ZERO support, it was very ncie to see the support they received for this game and I honestly think it was a factor in their victory. The entire Central student body turned out, and they did a great job of being loud when they needed to. If Belfry had to lose this game, I am glad it happened like it did to the team it did. I know just how much positive this means to that part of the City, and the perfromance by a few of the Central players on such a grand stage will ultimately present schoalrship opportunities and life opportunities that may not have been available before hand. The Central players absolutely laid the wood, as did the Belfry players, but when it was all said and done the ecntral players demonstrated excellent sportsmanship.

 

The one picture that sticks with me (aside from that daggone INT return) was a cluster of like 12 Central players all huddled around Dustin May and Ryan Preston waiting their turn to hug them and give them acknowledgment. It really was a good sight.

 

As for May and Preston. I wish that these two players could ahve ended their careers with another state title, but since that didn't happen, it was still awesome that both had the type of games that they did. Preston si one of belfry's All-Time most overlooked players, the kid has played any position they needed, he has saved about 50+ bad field goal snaps and turned them into makes, and yesterday he played absolutely perfect pass coverage.

 

Dustin May.... man what a football player. May still managed to run for over 100 yards with a defense that was hitting him with three or four players every down. If there was ever a game that 100 yards rushing was earned, this was it. The kid displayed the heart and determination that Belfry fans have came to love, shaking off injury to keep playing. Belfry will be loaded next season, but losing a player like Dustin may means you have lost one of the best football players to ever wear a red and white jersey. Hopefully the college scouts in attendance just how good of a player this 6'2 220 athlete is.

 

Thank you to all the Seniors.....

 

To Central... Congrats on being the best 3A team in the state!

^ great posts brother....congrats on a great season.

Central had talent all over the place.

 

It seemed like their lines were just as big as Belfry if not bigger and the linebackers and secondary all looked to be like 6'2 - 210. They were just big/lean/strong athletes who were playing sound and inspired football.

 

As good as Central was, Belfry had a chance to win the game. 3rd and 5 from the 15 or so with 4 minutes to go. Central blew that play up over and over again.

 

Great effort by both teams.

To the poster above who said Belfry got away with some false starts, I agree. Tailbacks left early a couple times and got away with it.

 

Officiating wasn't that bad. I don't think it had an outcome on the game at all. As a fan (regardless of team) I was a bit frustrating with all of the stoppages in play though.