Oldham County (5-4) at Shelby County (1-8) this Friday.

 

This is an old, old rivalry with a long and colorful history. Many times, this game has decided a district crown. Once, it was the battle between the two top-ranked teams in the state of KY. There have been some great players and good coaches that have graced the sidelines in this one.

 

This year, the two aren't even in the same class anymore, much less the same district. Oldham is a 5A team - moving up to 6A next year - and Shelby has just moved down from 6A to 4A this year, after the splitting of the school into Shelby County and Collins high schools.

 

Oldham is coming off an emotional overtime game vs. Anderson County in which the Colonels lost, 40-37 - giving Anderson the district crown. It was a somewhat uneven performance on the part of the Colonels - they played great on the offensive side in the first half, and great on the defensive side in the second half, but did not play two halves of football on both sides. In the end, a blocked PAT late in regulation cost them the game.

 

Shelby is coming off an emotional high as well; the Rockets won their first game of the year last week on the road against Southern.

 

Who wins this game and why? Does either team have an emotional edge? I would have thought that Oldham - had they defeated Anderson and had Shelby still been winless - might have entered this game emotionally flat. But Matt Brown and the OC coaches certainly don't want to enter the playoffs on a two-game losing skid, and Shelby certainly showed they are not going to go quietly into the sunset by winning last week. So...I would think that both teams will be hyped to win this game, even if it has no playoff ramifications.

 

Certainly, Oldham will go into the game as the favorites, but we all know that in rivalry games, being the favorites often means nothing. I remember - when I was in 8th grade at Pleasure Ridge Park HS in 1976 - watching the 3-6 Panthers blast arch-rival Valley, 42-0 in the annual "Snowman Bowl" game. Valley, if I remember correctly, was 9-0 going into the contest... Records mean NOTHING when an emotional rivalry game is on the line.

 

Thoughts?

WOW...I can remember when this thread would have stirred a lot of discussion.

 

Oldham comes in licking its wounds after being upset by Anderson County in OT on the road last week... Shelby is on an uptick after winning at Southern.

 

Oldham County has won 7 of 12 meetings since 1998, but the Rockets have won four of the last five. Of course, this series goes WAY, WAY back...

 

Oldham's Matt Brown is one of the bright young coaches in the area, in his third year with a winning percentage of .647 and an appearance in the region final last year. His first two teams won the district and this team will host a playoff game next week as the district #2 seed. A former Oldham player, Brown could wind up being one of the school's all-time winningest coaches if he sticks around.

 

Shelby's Todd Shipley, in his 11th year at Shelby, probably doesn't get nearly enough credit for what he's done in Shelbyville, sometimes despite the circumstances. Although his overall record at the school is a little below .500, Shipley's 2007 and 2009 teams were excellent (9-3 and 8-5, respectively). His 2008 team would have been superb, but a rash of injuries to the primary skill players forced Shipley to re-tool a spread offense team into a power running team - no easy task. This year, he's had to deal with the loss of many of the key players from the 2009 team, as many have gone to the new Collins HS across town. He deserves a lot more credit for "coaching up" his teams, sometimes in difficult situations.

 

Live broadcast begins at 7 pm Friday on http://www.pegasussportsky.com. The game will also be archived.

Not even close Colonels win going away