Congratulations to Ryle, and my condolences for all my HHS friends on the ending of the streak. Very entertaining game to watch, even though I only caught the 2nd half. When Ryle scored with about 9 mins to go to go up 28-12, I told my wife "Highlands will still win this one, lets see how they respond". They didn't quite make it, but it was a great effort.

 

I was impressed with both quarterbacks and I wish I had seen Elliott at full strength. You could tell HHS had some inexperience in there on D, they were overpursuing and Ryle was using that against them with the ball fake. Give Hempel credit for making those reads. Ryle's OL did a good job, saw some great trap blocking on a couple of Hempel's long runs.

 

Both these teams will be fine for the playoffs, it should be a lot of fun to see how they progress from here.

 

Kudos to Dale and the HHS staff. The post game camera stayed on him and he personally congratulated each member of the Ryle team. A lot of coaches will shake the opposing head coach's hand and scram, but he made a point to work his way all the way through the line shaking players hands and offering congrats. That impressed me and is just another example of doing the little things right that HHS seems to always do. :thumb:

 

On a side note, are there any HHS faithful making the trip to Paintsville tonight for the Johnson Central - Belfry game?

Great job Raiders you were the better team last night. To me the game was won upfront on both sides of the ball. The Ryle offensive line absolutely dominated the Birds defensive line. On the other side Highlands couldn't run the ball at all except for Towles. I am not going to pull my famous quote out yet, but these boys better get it together quickly..GO BIRDS!!!

Great job by young Mr. Towles stepping up late in the game and lead a comeback. Didn't get all the way back but this might be the first time he has had to deal with some adversity since becoming a starter. This will add to his maturity as a QB.

J.K. Hall/ J. J. Jude; C. Hempel/ T. Elliott

Ryle D much better than Johnson Central

Johnson Central much better offense

Highlands @ Golden Eagles this year.

Ryle/Highlands @home could have gone either way and was closer than most people realize.

Ryle gassed in 2nd half.

J.C. goes both ways too.

What does all this mean, you ask? Well, it means that we just saw a preview of things to come and under much different conditions come November......Highlands is going to have their work cut out for them on the road in hostile territory.

 

I feel an addendum is necessary to this post that was given after Ryle/Highlands I......

 

Add Mullins/Tanner Bratton to the similarity list. This Raider squad is almost a carbon copy of Johnson Central.....The blueprint for beating the Birds has been exposed and unfortunately the game will be on the road which is another similarity. Hopefully the outcome will be a difference. Go Birds.

You're right Hemple is averaging one more yard a carry than Towles this season.

Tonight Towles ran for 148 yards.

Tonight Hemple ran for 128 yards.

I certainly see your point.

Two different types of running styles.

 

I sense you're frustrated with my post about Towles and toughness. I said earlier that the kid is a really good player and has great size so I'm in no way discounting his ability. My point, though, is that there are times when he chose to run out of bounds instead of delivering a blow or taking contact. Maybe that's the right move as he lives to play another down. However, Hempel showed that just because a kid is about to tackle you doesn't mean he will. Towles is bigger than Hempel so he's got the body to take the hit and potentially keep going and take it to the promised land. That's all I was saying.

 

Save the stats though. Sometimes intangibles are decisive.

As someone else said, Stop Please. This thread is about the HHS Ryle not SK. Move on.

 

I'm now a huge fan of the ignore button. Try it. It makes threads much more enjoyable.

Highlands beat Ryle by 2 td's at Highlands...again, why would Ryle take over #1?

 

Both teams are on the same level as far as I see it.

 

B/C this was the last meeting. At week #11 you would think teams would be playing at peak performance.

 

Just like in the BCS an early loss is not as hurtful as a late one!

J.K. Hall/ J. J. Jude; C. Hempel/ T. Elliott

Ryle D much better than Johnson Central

Johnson Central much better offense

Highlands @ Golden Eagles this year.

Ryle/Highlands @home could have gone either way and was closer than most people realize.

Ryle gassed in 2nd half.

J.C. goes both ways too.

What does all this mean, you ask? Well, it means that we just saw a preview of things to come and under much different conditions come November......Highlands is going to have their work cut out for them on the road in hostile territory.

 

I feel an addendum is necessary to this post that was given after Ryle/Highlands I......

 

Add Mullins/Tanner Bratton to the similarity list. This Raider squad is almost a carbon copy of Johnson Central.....The blueprint for beating the Birds has been exposed and unfortunately the game will be on the road which is another similarity. Hopefully the outcome will be a difference. Go Birds.

 

Your assuming Johnson Central beats Cov. Cath. It wouldn't surprise me if Highlands doesn't have another rematch with Cov. Cath. in the playoffs.

I believe Highlands reign at the top of NKY football takes a bit of a hit this Thursday night in Union.

 

Ryle - 28

Highlands - 27

 

Hempel and Elliott both play well and Ryle plays the 'complete' game.

 

Elliott rushes for 165 and 2 TD's, Hempel throws for 200 and 1 TD.

 

Wow, great game, in checking the 'predictions' thread I was wondering if anyone came close to predicting this outcome.... Look, I found one, as I pat myself on the back.....

 

I thought a big key to this game was the reaction of the Ryle coaches/players after the opening kickoff was run back for the Birds. Everyone remained calm and from where I was seated remained focused for the Raiders, there was no finger pointing or scambling around on the sidelines. It looked like business as usual. That play could have easily thrown the Raiders for a loop 15 seconds into the game. Kudos to the young men and the coaching staff for sticking to the game plan.

 

I thought Hempel played an extremely good game managing the running game, passing game and the clock and Ryle's defense was very good (up until the last 8 minutes when Highlands began spreading them out and throwing / scrambling). However, when the play needed to be made on the 2 point conversion, the Raider defense stood tough!!!

 

Congratulations Raiders and good luck to both teams in the playoffs!!!

I sense you're frustrated with my post about Towles and toughness. I said earlier that the kid is a really good player and has great size so I'm in no way discounting his ability. My point, though, is that there are times when he chose to run out of bounds instead of delivering a blow or taking contact. Maybe that's the right move as he lives to play another down. However, Hempel showed that just because a kid is about to tackle you doesn't mean he will. Towles is bigger than Hempel so he's got the body to take the hit and potentially keep going and take it to the promised land. That's all I was saying.

 

Save the stats though. Sometimes intangibles are decisive.

 

I hear what your saying but Towles made some smart decisions in getting down or out of bounds. There is no reason to take hits when you dont have to. In Hempel's case, he was taking on defenders because he had to in most instances. He ran the ball like he had to get to the yard marker on every carry. Towles was taking what they were giving him and living to play another play if you will.

 

IMO after Ryle's first loss to Highlands they have had that game last night circled and been staring at it all year. The Birds on the other hand not so much. It was just another game against a worthy opponent and a prep for the playoffs.

Keep in mind, the Birds kept feeding them yards with defensive penalties to help them chew up the clock. The Birds didn't do much to help themselves in that regard.

Your assuming Johnson Central beats Cov. Cath. It wouldn't surprise me if Highlands doesn't have another rematch with Cov. Cath. in the playoffs.

 

There is no way CCH will stop JC's running game. Their only chance is to win a shootout and I don't think they have the offensive guns to hang. The Birds will go to JC and last nights game will be a preview of things to come with the exception of the final score. Go Birds.

First, CONGRATULATIONS to Raider-Nation on a victory that will never be forgotten.

 

I wasn't at the game and haven't watched the DVR yet, but I did have a flashback to 1975 when I heard the score. Another HHS team that was "better than sliced bread" got shocked in their final regular season game to spoil a "perfect season". The key is to put this loss behind you and focus on the task at hand...WIN STATE! The blemish will always be there...nothing y'all can do about that now...but it DOES get easier to accept with a state championship title!

 

Secondly, kudos to Coach Warner for manning-up and scheduling the Birds twice a year, when some teams won't even do it once!

I hear what your saying but Towles made some smart decisions in getting down or out of bounds. There is no reason to take hits when you dont have to. In Hempel's case, he was taking on defenders because he had to in most instances. He ran the ball like he had to get to the yard marker on every carry. Towles was taking what they were giving him and living to play another play if you will.

 

IMO after Ryle's first loss to Highlands they have had that game last night circled and been staring at it all year. The Birds on the other hand not so much. It was just another game against a worthy opponent and a prep for the playoffs.

 

Oh please.....:cry:

 

IMO, Ryle was treating this game as a 'scrimmage' to prep for the playoffs and was still able to pull it out...... lol.

Come on, it was a great game between two very good teams with very good players and very good coaches. To say it was just another game for HHS is a little on the absurd side. It was a big game for them as well as it was for Ryle.

 

Hopefully both teams play well in the upcoming weeks and advance deep into the playoffs.

I watched the game again this morning and came away realizing that both teams played their hearts out. Ryle's O-line was probably the biggest factor in the win and Conner Hempel made some great runs and showed great toughness. Towles is a very gifted QB. It was not an easy night on which to throw the ball with gusting and very strong winds all night. Great to see the Ryle student body rush the field as the 2 best teams in NKY laid it on the line. We just happened to come out on top. Both teams can play better. I was surprised at the number of times that the Birds had presnap penalties (maybe they were emulating the Bengals LOL). I believe that this loss will be very beneficial to the Birds as they will refocus and improve in areas where they have gotten sloppy. I believe that this win will be very beneficial to Ryle as their players continue to believe they will find a way to win regardless of the opposition. The only coaching decision I would question was the BIrds going for 2 on the first TD. Great job by both staffs and it seems like the Ryle staff has matured nicely. On to the playoffs! I'd love to see both teams bring home some hardware from BG!! Best wishes to both the Birds and the Raiders!