Mercer County

[Wildcat77]

Coach French was at Lincoln County from 2004-2007 (4 seasons). During his four seasons, he was 29-17 (.630) and appeared in the 5A Semi-Finals in 2007 before losing to Highlands.

 

Coach Jaggers was at Lincoln County for 1991-1996 (6 seasons) where he compiled a 49-27 (.644) record and appeared in the 3A Finals in 1993 and coached Mr. Football Jeremy Simpson.

 

Very similar records. How many distict titles and regional appearances during their time.How big and fast was Jeremy Simpson and what D-1 school did he sign with?What was French's won- lost record at Mercer?

[PurplePride92]

J Smith played for Jaggers also didn't he? J is a great guy and still a heck of an athlete. I think J was his quarterback

[gchs_uk9]

French went to Meade County in '89. While at Mercer he took the Scotties to the Class A semi-finals in '86 I believe.

 

Correct. Mercer beat Henry County (28-14) in the first round/quarterfinals before falling to Heath (27-0) in the semifinals. That Heath team then beat Cumberland for the Class A state championship.

[Mr.Network]

Very similar records. How many distict titles and regional appearances during their time.How big and fast was Jeremy Simpson and what D-1 school did he sign with?What was French's won- lost record at Mercer?

 

In 4 years, French won the district 1 time and won the region 1 time. However, he did finish as the number one seed in the district in 2006, which used to be the same thing as winning the district.

 

In 6 years, Jaggers won the District 3 times and won the Region 1 time. However, his Lincoln County teams played for the Regional Championship 4 of the 6 years that he was there.

 

Simpson wasn't huge......he was fast but not a track star......he played fullback at Cumberland College (now University of the Cumberlands).

 

Regardless of his play in college, he was a great high school running back. In 1993, he carried the ball 397 times for 3,044 yards and 46 touchdowns in 15 games. Thats an average of 26 carries a game; 7.6 yards per carry; 202 yards per game.

[UKCATSFAN]

You'd need to check the facts on the whole charter bus thing. It didn't happen exactly as you stated, but I know that is the story Jaggers has told everyone... Charter buses have to be approved by the board and it was never presented to the board for their approval until the day before they were to leave... that isn't proper procedure... At least that is the word from one of the board members Jaggers' referred to in his Advocate Messenger article.

 

Jaggers knows x's and o's, no doubt about that. There are just a few other attributes or lack thereof that have some of the Mercer folks fed up. You can't deny his winning record and playoff game stats. But the past two years, 5-5 or 6-5, whatever... Mercer had many seasons like that before.

 

I'm not trying to stir the pot at all but the season before that was played at a levelthat they should have dominated, being twice the size of everyone else.

[theguru]

12-28-2008, 01:48 AM	#66
PurplePride92 All District Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Boyle County, KY Posts: 469	Quote: Originally Posted by UKCATSFAN I'm not trying to stir the pot at all but the season before that was played at a level that they should have dominated, being twice the size of everyone else. I am confused by your statement. Could you please elaborate?

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12-28-2008, 08:50 AM	#67
Hatz All World Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Martinsville, Virginia Posts: 5,807	Quote: Originally Posted by PurplePride92 I am confused by your statement. Could you please elaborate? I think CatsFan was trying to point out that Mercer spent one year in Class AA after consolidation when in fact their enrollment was 5A. The realignment would not take place until the next year.

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12-28-2008, 11:06 AM	#68
Wildcat77 JV Player Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 62	Quote: Originally Posted by UKCATSFAN I'm not trying to stir the pot at all but the season before that was played at a levelthat they should have dominated, being twice the size of everyone else. Harrodsburg had a population of a 175 students so that might have put them with 100 to 150 more than everyone else. Mercer was the mallest school in their distict by 200+ this year and they were able to win their distict.This has been discussed a 1000 times. Harlan County merged this year and had alot more students and they still lost 4 games . Letcher County Central merged 4 years ago and they didn't fair to well at 1st.

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12-28-2008, 11:13 AM	#69
Wildcat77 JV Player Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 62	Quote: Originally Posted by Mr.Network In 4 years, French won the district 1 time and won the region 1 time. However, he did finish as the number one seed in the district in 2006, which used to be the same thing as winning the district. In 6 years, Jaggers won the District 3 times and won the Region 1 time. However, his Lincoln County teams played for the Regional Championship 4 of the 6 years that he was there. Simpson wasn't huge......he was fast but not a track star......he played fullback at Cumberland College (now University of the Cumberlands). Regardless of his play in college, he was a great high school running back. In 1993, he carried the ball 397 times for 3,044 yards and 46 touchdowns in 15 games. Thats an average of 26 carries a game; 7.6 yards per carry; 202 yards per game. Great info about Simpson. How big was he?I saw in the paper where French was 70-51 while at Mercer.That's close to 58%. Does anyone know what the other coaches were and how many district titles , playoff wins and etc... Mercer has had over the years with each coach they have had.

[Hatz]

Great info about Simpson. How big was he?I saw in the paper where French was 70-51 while at Mercer.That's close to 58%. Does anyone know what the other coaches were and how many district titles , playoff wins and etc... Mercer has had over the years with each coach they have had.

 

John Buchanan had some success at Mercer when he was there from '74 to '77 if memory serves. French did a fine job at Mercer and built the program one step at a time. Awinning season here, a big win there.

 

1986 was the apex of the program he built but in '88 Mercer played Danville very tough in the 2nd round of the playoffs after the Scotties had upset a NKY team in the first round.

 

French did a fine job building a solid program at Mercer.

[mcpapa]

John Buchanan had some success at Mercer when he was there from '74 to '77 if memory serves. French did a fine job at Mercer and built the program one step at a time. Awinning season here, a big win there.

 

1986 was the apex of the program he built but in '88 Mercer played Danville very tough in the 2nd round of the playoffs after the Scotties had upset a NKY team in the first round.

 

French did a fine job building a solid program at Mercer.

 

Would this be Mason County Coach Dave Buchanan's dad? I see him prowling the sidelines at all the Roya;s' games.

[Hatz]

Would this be Mason County Coach Dave Buchanan's dad? I see him prowling the sidelines at all the Roya;s' games.

 

Yes. He was also coach at Boyle County, I think it was from '69 to '73 or so. :thumb:

 

And a pretty good car salesman too. (Sold my parents a few Oldsmobiles)

[Mr.Network]

Wildcat77,

 

Jeremy Simpson was 5'10, 180 pounds and wore #48. He was from the Crab Orchard section of Lincoln County and had there never been consolidation of the county schools with Stanford High School in 1974, Jeremy Simpson would probably have never played football.

 

Jeremy was a very modest and unassuming kid. He was getting his hair cut one day during the 1993 season at a small barber shop in Crab Orchard when the barber started talking about the football team and its success. Jeremy replied "yes sir" to the various questions and statements but he finally had to give a longer answer when the barber asked him, "Do you know that real good running back? That Simpson boy?" Sheepishly, Jeremy told him, "Yes sir, that is me."

 

The last that I heard, Jeremy was working as a Produce Manager for Food Lion.

[PurplePride92]

Great story about Jeremy. I work with a guy who played with Jeremy and he has had nothing but great things to say about Jeremy. They say he took a beating in high school but that it never slowed him down during the games even though it was obvious to the whole team that he was hurting.

[Tilghman Fan]

I think some of the fans expectations for the program are to high. I don't think you would wont he one state title if you had played in your proper class-- come on Mercer fans!!!!

Edited November 28, 2008 by Ram
Rule 13

[Wildcat77]

John Buchanan had some success at Mercer when he was there from '74 to '77 if memory serves. French did a fine job at Mercer and built the program one step at a time. Awinning season here, a big win there.

 

1986 was the apex of the program he built but in '88 Mercer played Danville very tough in the 2nd round of the playoffs after the Scotties had upset a NKY team in the first round.

 

French did a fine job building a solid program at Mercer.

 

I got on the KHSAA site and found where Mercer won 40% of their games during the 90's but they didn't have the 70's or 80's. They did have Meade County's during the 90's who won 63 %.

[PurplePride92]

I think some of the fans expectations for the program are to high. I don't think you would won the one state title if you had played in your proper class-- come on Mercer fans!!!!

 

Boyle fan here, but I saw that Mercer team play multiple times that year, including the state championship. That year, I believe Bowling Green and Covington Catholic played in the 3A state championship. I am not sure if Mercer would have won 3A, but I am sure that those two teams in the finals were the only 2 teams in 3A that might have beaten them. I truly believe that the state championship Mercer team was one of the top 7 teams overall in the state that year, and yes, Russell was that good that year as well. That Mercer team was a very special team and in my opinion it would have taken the best Covington Catholic team ever from 2006 to beat them. I think they would have beaten Bowling Green that year and probably Covington Catholic as well. We'll never know, but that is my opinion. They were that good.

[mchammer]

Would this be Mason County Coach Dave Buchanan's dad? I see him prowling the sidelines at all the Roya;s' games.

 

This is who I hear the Mercer community talking about. They would love to have him be the next coach if Jaggers leaves. Nice article in the Danville paper this week. Interesting to see the thread of ties of John Buchanan (from Boyle to Mercer) who hired Larry French (from Mercer to Boyle), Chuck Smith (from Mercer to Boyle) and David Buchanan, coach at Mason Co. who played for French at Mercer. Maybe Coach David Buchanan will complete the cycle (from Mason to Mercer). :thumb:

 

http://www.amnews.com/public_html/?module=displaystory&story_id=46022&format=html