can we close the book on 4A football and award Highlands the title?

 

I understand we have to play the games but if Highlands puts one on the Rebs is 4A over after week one?

I would say no. Teams can change a lot over the course of a season. It's my understanding that Boyle County will have several new starters this year, and I suspect that as the season progresses BC will become better. Plus, it's an unfortunate truth that injuries occur in football, and no one can predict if Highlands or any other team will be bitten by the injury bug over the course of the year.

 

Also, there are other teams besides Highlands and Boyle County in the mix. LexCath, Lone Oak, Johnson Central and CovCath (among others) will be in the running.

 

I will be curious to see how the LexCath-Bell County game goes in week 0.

I would say no. Teams can change a lot over the course of a season. It's my understanding that Boyle County will have several new starters this year, and I suspect that as the season progresses BC will become better. Plus, it's an unfortunate truth that injuries occur in football, and no one can predict if Highlands or any other team will be bitten by the injury bug over the course of the year.

 

Also, there are other teams besides Highlands and Boyle County in the mix. LexCath, Lone Oak, Johnson Central and CovCath (among others) will be in the running.

 

I will be curious to see how the LexCath-Bell County game goes in week 0.

 

I agree completely. I really think LexCath will be a lot better than people think. We shall see. I am interested in the Louisville Western/Highlands game also.

Lets hope not.

 

My understanding is Boyle is reloading in a big way. That said, the only thing for certain is they will be a better team at playoff time. Young teams can grow a lot during the season as LexCath did last year in between the Boyle games. So regardless of the outcome nothing is settled.

 

Obviously the winner of this game will be the 4A overall favorite for the first half of the season.

 

LexCath still has some work to do. Injuries have hit the defensive unit already with junior Nick Nash (season) and sophomore Marty Brown (at least 8 weeks). Both lines are solid with the return of senior Oscar Melendez who was out most of the season last year. Bolin is looking good along with his favorite target senior Adam Bush. The running back corp looks like it will be all sophomores this year, so somewhat young. So LexCath may not come out of the gate sharp either. Bell will be a serious test. But it will not be final indicator either. But the starting point is certainly much further along than last year at this time.

I'm sure many on here will say yes to closing the books on 4A and they may be right. However Boyle is a quality program and not a team that could be written off just for losing first game of the season.

Regardless of how the Boyle/Highlands game turns out on Friday I think it is safe to say this will be Highlands toughest road to a state title in 4 years.

I don't believe so. Overall, I believe that 4A is going to be tougher than 5A has been. I believe that Highlands will be favored, but there are some tough teams. Regardless of what the turnout is of Friday's game, I believe that Boyle will get better as the season progresses, Lex Cath will be good, Johnson Central returns a great team, Loan Oak should be good, and I believe that Cov Cath is going to be much more improved from last season. The 4A chase should be more interesting than what the Birds went through in 5A.