Agreed with, with exception. I'm not so sure I'd call 05 and 06 down years. Those years probably weren't Dale's best scheduling. In 05 we played Colerain in the second game of the year. It's important to note that our 04 state championship team had primarily all senior starters, so we were very green at the start of 05. Colerain had won the Ohio state championship the year before and had a very good team coming back (they were the favorite to repeat with studs like Eugene Clifford and Connor Smith on the team). We went into the Colerain game with a hurt starting qb and he reinjured his shoulder early in the game. Colerain knocked our back up qb out of the game with a concussion early in the second half. I think we may have actually been winning at half by one point or were down by one. Don't remember for sure. In either event, it was close at half. They did spank us in the second half though. The next week, a very banged up team played Lou X in Lou. We played terribly and again got spanked. Later on that year, we got rolled by SF DeSales. But we went on to beat CovCath, which was a big favorite. We got beat by LexCath 17-0 in the playoffs, but LexCath went on to win the state championship. They had some kid playing qb by the name of Justin Burke if you remember him. LOL. In 06, we again had a challenging schedule. We beat Elder every way but the scoreboard and Elder's coach said so in the newspaper. It should have been our first win over a GCL team in the modern era. We then played Lou X the next week at Paul Brown stadium in extreme heat. We came into the game banged up badly from Elder. We were winning at half, X won by two touchdowns, but it was a one touchdown game most of the game. Our kids were exhausted, with several playing both ways and injured. Playing Elder and X in back to back weeks is very tough on a small squad, much like playing Colerain and X in back to back weeks in 05 was tough. We had no where near the depth those two years that we did in 09 and it's a credit to Dale that these days we seem to have developed much more depth than we did back then. As you pointed out, the loss to SF DeSales in 06 was a very close game and we had been winning late. I won't blame the loss on any one kid, but had a receiver held onto a pass in the endzone in the last minutes of the game, we'd have won that one. Can't fault the kid as it was raining hard and the ball was wet and hard to hold onto. Things happen. The other two losses that year were the two to CovCath, with the regular season loss being on the last play of the game on that miraculous pass from Bleser to Bovard. CovCath beat us by 10 in the playoffs and went on to win state. The records in 05 and 06 may indicate "down" but the performances on the field and quality of play did not. Excuse the length of this response, but I get a burr under my seat whenever I hear or read about us being down those two years. We were not. We played the toughest schedules of Highlands history those two years and we were eliminated from the playoffs both years by two exceptionally good teams that went on to win state.

I understand your points, but allow me to play devil's advocate and argue that HHS was "down" those two years (relatively speaking). Consider the following points...

 

- Coach Mueller has been at HHS for 16 seasons, and he has taken HHS to the state title game a total of 10 times, winning 8 titles. Over the past 7 years, HHS has been to the state title game 5 times (winning 4 titles). Coach Mueller has Highlands performing at such a high level that it can be argued any year when HHS does not reach the state title game under him is a "down" year, RELATIVELY speaking. Over the past 7 seasons, HHS has failed to reach the state title game only 2 times... in 2005 and 2006. In recent years, these 2 seasons have definitely been outliers.

 

- While it is true that HHS had a big win over rival CovCath in 2005, the fact remains that HHS only advanced to the 3rd round of the playoffs that year. Sure, Justin Burke was QB for LexCath that year, but I don't believe Burke played defense, and that year Highlands was SHUT OUT AT HOME IN THE PLAYOFFS. How many times in Highlands' storied history have the 'Birds been held scoreless at home in a playoff game???

 

- Finally, I will argue that when Highlands loses a game 45-0 against an in-state opponent (regardless of the particular circumstances), it is hard to say that the team is not at least a little "down" that year. I mean, 45-0?!?!?

 

You may notice that I always put quotation marks around the word "down" when I use it with regards to HHS. I do this deliberately, since "down" is a relative term, and Highlands in a "down" year is still better than the vast majority of teams in KY. So, I agree that HHS was a good team in both 2005 and 2006, but compared to HHS in 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009, the 2005 and 2006 HHS squads were not as strong.

 

Just some food for thought...

 

CovCath......Basically comes down to the last play of the game and CovCath pulls it out. They don't beat HHS at HHS in the playoffs. Very hard to do....Look at the record books. People can say what they want, but HHS (IMO) beats CovCath the 2nd time around at HHS.

 

Unpossible. One game is THE deciding factor on how good a team is for the year. The result would have been the same. :thumb: Or at least this is what I've heard from HHS all year.

After what I saw Cincy X do the rest of the year......I tend to think that a separation (if there was one), has become nill, at this point...HHS and X were both tremendously impressive...Who's better? IMO, X, mainly because they have many more horses at the top level....but we'll never know....I have read some on here that think HHS is the best KY team ever, and that's comical.

No I think both HHS and Lou St.X would not have done better than Cincy St.X if they played their schedule. I believe the fantasy HHS, Lou. St.X game would be a close game and a coin toss could have decided the game. I do believe that HHS would have struggled with Lou. St.Xs schedule much more than their own tip toe through the tulips. If you wanna bury your head in the sand at the thought that one game decides which team is better than by all means keep the delusion alive.

 

Seeing a struggle for you to make your case. I didn't say they are better based on one game, although I think HHS would win the match up. I just pointed out that HHS handled a team that had pretty much man handled Lvl ST X.

When I interviewed Cincinnati St. X's coach on the field after his team's loss to Highlands, I asked him if he would be willing to compare Highlands with Louisville St. X and Trinity. He said:

 

"I don't want to do that, but I will say that one reason Highlands beat us tonight is because they are much quicker and faster on both sides of the ball than the teams we beat from Louisville."

 

Direct quote.

 

Pretty telling IMO. Speed kills.

I understand your points, but allow me to play devil's advocate and argue that HHS was "down" those two years (relatively speaking). Consider the following points...

 

- Coach Mueller has been at HHS for 16 seasons, and he has taken HHS to the state title game a total of 10 times, winning 8 titles. Over the past 7 years, HHS has been to the state title game 5 times (winning 4 titles). Coach Mueller has Highlands performing at such a high level that it can be argued any year when HHS does not reach the state title game under him is a "down" year, RELATIVELY speaking. Over the past 7 seasons, HHS has failed to reach the state title game only 2 times... in 2005 and 2006. In recent years, these 2 seasons have definitely been outliers.

 

- While it is true that HHS had a big win over rival CovCath in 2005, the fact remains that HHS only advanced to the 3rd round of the playoffs that year. Sure, Justin Burke was QB for LexCath that year, but I don't believe Burke played defense, and that year Highlands was SHUT OUT AT HOME IN THE PLAYOFFS. How many times in Highlands' storied history have the 'Birds been held scoreless at home in a playoff game???

 

- Finally, I will argue that when Highlands loses a game 45-0 against an in-state opponent (regardless of the particular circumstances), it is hard to say that the team is not at least a little "down" that year. I mean, 45-0?!?!?

 

You may notice that I always put quotation marks around the word "down" when I use it with regards to HHS. I do this deliberately, since "down" is a relative term, and Highlands in a "down" year is still better than the vast majority of teams in KY. So, I agree that HHS was a good team in both 2005 and 2006, but compared to HHS in 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009, the 2005 and 2006 HHS squads were not as strong.

 

Just some food for thought...

 

I still disagree.

I still disagree.

After some more thinking about it, I think I now take your position on this, LN. The early/midseason 2005 schedule was probably too brutal for a young, inexperienced HHS squad, and HHS did nearly beat Elder in 2006 (losing only by 3).

 

I do still wish that HHS had played Columbus DeSales more recently (during either the 2007, 08 or 09 seasons), and not during 2005 and 2006. They beat HHS pretty handily at HHS in 2005 and I seem to remember there being some talk that DeSales' coach/fans didn't think too much of the way Highlands conducted themselves in that year's game (something involving pulling starters and then putting them back in). Anyway, I would love to see HHS beat DeSales.

Delta Rotary, because there is no way you can deny the FACT that Highlands beat the team that throughly beat Louis. St. X, you have to resort to the only thing you have left which is, what if? Your arguments show your pride for your team, but are extremely weak. Highlands dominated Cin. St. X and would have dominated Louis. St. X even greater.:thumb:

After what I saw Cincy X do the rest of the year......I tend to think that a separation (if there was one), has become nill, at this point...HHS and X were both tremendously impressive...Who's better? IMO, X, mainly because they have many more horses at the top level....but we'll never know....I have read some on here that think HHS is the best KY team ever, and that's comical.

 

Comical? Please fill me in, because honestly I do not know, if another team from Kentucky has been ranked nationally in the top 5. If there hasn't been, then at least confirm that you think that those ranking Highlands this year among the nation's elite have a "comically" distorted perception of Highlands. I mean, we can debate the accuracy of national rankings all day, but you at least have to admit that there are those people out there that closely follow high school football that would not consider it "comical", don't you?

Comical? Please fill me in, because honestly I do not know, if another team from Kentucky has been ranked nationally in the top 5. If there hasn't been, then at least confirm that you think that those ranking Highlands this year among the nation's elite have a "comically" distorted perception of Highlands. I mean, we can debate the accuracy of national rankings all day, but you at least have to admit that there are those people out there that closely follow high school football that would not consider it "comical", don't you?

 

I haven't been following these posts, so I haven't read many at all--except this one. My concern is basing an opinion on a "national ranking." I heard Jason Frakes from The Courier-Journaltalk about today on the radio who is the best team in the state. I don't think one common opponent can determine that, for among other reasons, when the teams played and the particular match-ups of the teams. I think this is what Jason Frakes is alluding to. Going undefeated is an accomplishment, especially for a school that is playing up in class. Yet I am surprised with such a high national ranking with playing only one nationally ranked opponent.

Agreed with, with exception. I'm not so sure I'd call 05 and 06 down years. Those years probably weren't Dale's best scheduling. In 05 we played Colerain in the second game of the year. It's important to note that our 04 state championship team had primarily all senior starters, so we were very green at the start of 05. Colerain had won the Ohio state championship the year before and had a very good team coming back (they were the favorite to repeat with studs like Eugene Clifford and Connor Smith on the team). We went into the Colerain game with a hurt starting qb and he reinjured his shoulder early in the game. Colerain knocked our back up qb out of the game with a concussion early in the second half. I think we may have actually been winning at half by one point or were down by one. Don't remember for sure. In either event, it was close at half. They did spank us in the second half though. The next week, a very banged up team played Lou X in Lou. We played terribly and again got spanked. Later on that year, we got rolled by SF DeSales. But we went on to beat CovCath, which was a big favorite. We got beat by LexCath 17-0 in the playoffs, but LexCath went on to win the state championship. They had some kid playing qb by the name of Justin Burke if you remember him. LOL. In 06, we again had a challenging schedule. We beat Elder every way but the scoreboard and Elder's coach said so in the newspaper. It should have been our first win over a GCL team in the modern era. We then played Lou X the next week at Paul Brown stadium in extreme heat. We came into the game banged up badly from Elder. We were winning at half, X won by two touchdowns, but it was a one touchdown game most of the game. Our kids were exhausted, with several playing both ways and injured. Playing Elder and X in back to back weeks is very tough on a small squad, much like playing Colerain and X in back to back weeks in 05 was tough. We had no where near the depth those two years that we did in 09 and it's a credit to Dale that these days we seem to have developed much more depth than we did back then. As you pointed out, the loss to SF DeSales in 06 was a very close game and we had been winning late. I won't blame the loss on any one kid, but had a receiver held onto a pass in the endzone in the last minutes of the game, we'd have won that one. Can't fault the kid as it was raining hard and the ball was wet and hard to hold onto. Things happen. The other two losses that year were the two to CovCath, with the regular season loss being on the last play of the game on that miraculous pass from Bleser to Bovard. CovCath beat us by 10 in the playoffs and went on to win state. The records in 05 and 06 may indicate "down" but the performances on the field and quality of play did not. Excuse the length of this response, but I get a burr under my seat whenever I hear or read about us being down those two years. We were not. We played the toughest schedules of Highlands history those two years and we were eliminated from the playoffs both years by two exceptionally good teams that went on to win state.

 

LN and T-bird:

Nice job on the summation of '05 and '06. I am late jumping on this but with a couple of sons playing in that time frame it always burned me to call the two years, "down years." Especially by folks who did not see them play. The two squads in '05 and '06 had a ton of talent. As LN eloquently stated and T-bird accurately stated, the competition was more than the 'birds could handle at a time when two platooning was common. Other than the X game in Louisvile, there were some close and exciting games the two years in question.

 

If you want to look for the 'Dark Ages" in HHS football, look no further than when I played. 1971 through 1974! No trips to the Championships and no playoffs other than B Station my sophomore year. Then came LN and T-bird and the championships resumed!

I haven't been following these posts, so I haven't read many at all--except this one. My concern is basing an opinion on a "national ranking." I heard Jason Frakes from The Courier-Journaltalk about today on the radio who is the best team in the state. I don't think one common opponent can determine that, for among other reasons, when the teams played and the particular match-ups of the teams. I think this is what Jason Frakes is alluding to. Going undefeated is an accomplishment, especially for a school that is playing up in class. Yet I am surprised with such a high national ranking with playing only one nationally ranked opponent.

 

Has any Kentucky team ever had a 4 year won-lost record of 54-1 ? Thats a freshman championship , and 3 varsity state championships , including 3 perfect seasons.

 

It's right there in the won - lost column , does anybody know of a team with a better record , ever ? If not ,then this team is best ever in Ky.

Has any Kentucky team ever had a 4 year won-lost record of 54-1 ? Thats a freshman championship , and 3 varsity state championships , including 3 perfect seasons.

 

It's right there in the won - lost column , does anybody know of a team with a better record , ever ? If not ,then this team is best ever in Ky.

 

While I respect an overall record, bringing in a freshman season several years ago as well as the past still doesn't give good reasons to base what goes on this season. It isn't good logic.

Has any Kentucky team ever had a 4 year won-lost record of 54-1 ? Thats a freshman championship , and 3 varsity state championships , including 3 perfect seasons.

 

It's right there in the won - lost column , does anybody know of a team with a better record , ever ? If not ,then this team is best ever in Ky.

 

Hoosier, over the last 4 years how many times did this group of Bluebirds that went 54-1 play Louisville X, Louisville Trinity, Cincy X, Cincy Moeller or Cincy Elder? Just curious because this group of 2010 Tigers lost 3 games in 4 years(Moeller as freshmen, Trinity as juniors, and Cincy X as seniors) X and T play at least 2 of these powerhouses every year at every level. HHS had a great year...earned the title of Best in State 2009 by virtue of beating Cincy X....but stop it with the "best ever in Ky" stuff.

Hoosier, over the last 4 years how many times did this group of Bluebirds that went 54-1 play Louisville X, Louisville Trinity, Cincy X, Cincy Moeller or Cincy Elder? Just curious because this group of 2010 Tigers lost 3 games in 4 years(Moeller as freshmen, Trinity as juniors, and Cincy X as seniors) X and T play at least 2 of these powerhouses every year at every level. HHS had a great year...earned the title of Best in State 2009 by virtue of beating Cincy X....but stop it with the "best ever in Ky" stuff.

 

The Tigers should play that schedule, they are a 6A team. Highlands is a 3A school playing in 5A. :idunno: