That's why it's called home field advantage.

That's why it's called home field advantage.

 

:laugh:

 

The opposing teams are lucky enough to even have bleachers to sit on.

 

This game is about the kids. I go to every single Garrard County game and stand. A little standing won't hurt anyone!

:laugh:

 

The opposing teams are lucky enough to even have bleachers to sit on.

 

This game is about the kids. I go to every single Garrard County game and stand. A little standing won't hurt anyone!

 

Guess i am just spoiled with the facilities Belfry offers and the past Semi-Final venues. The other recent away Semi-Finals were at Russell and Lloyd Memorial which both had ample seating that Belfry still maxed out.

 

 

If I were Garrard fans I'd probably try to get there extra early Friday if they don't want their seats taken though, or at the very least mark off "reserved seats" to prevent it. Belfry travels about as good as anyone in the State and will be there early if history holds true. Once Belfry filled the very small visitor section at Breathitt they overtook a corner of the Bobcat's home side in addition to standing all along the fence.

Guess i am just spoiled with the facilities Belfry offers and the past Semi-Final venues. The other recent away Semi-Finals were at Russell and Lloyd Memorial which both had ample seating that Belfry still maxed out.

 

 

If I were Garrard fans I'd probably try to get there extra early Friday if they don't want their seats taken though, or at the very least mark off "reserved seats" to prevent it. Belfry travels about as good as anyone in the State and will be there early if history holds true. Once Belfry filled the very small visitor section at Breathitt they overtook a corner of the Bobcat's home side in addition to standing all along the fence.

 

 

That's awesome that they travel that way! Garrard has a very small bleacher section, but most Garrard fans stand along the field, which personally I like. Should be the biggest crowd in history I believe. With the traveling of Belfry, and Garrard being the only area team still playing ball. Boyle, Lincoln, Mercer, and Danville fans will have people in attendance I would believe. Should be an exciting atmosphere for these young men!

No offense..but this is the 3A State Semi-Finals... not a weekend soccer game for 8 year olds.

 

I can totally sympathize with Garrard's situation as they build a new school, but you have to make the effort to accommodate the crowd for the biggest game in school history. Bring in temporary bleachers, take bleachers from the baseball field and set them up. The last thing you can do is have half the crowd standing or "sitting on a hillside" the last weekend of November in sub freezing weather.

 

Viperman stadium didn't even have anything to sit on. Concrete baby. As soon as we get a coal company up here to build a new stadium we will make it better. I saw about a 100 Russell fans sitting in the woods above the hills one year.

gchs_uk9,

 

The buzz is that Garrard plays all their games on their Middle School field while the new HS gets built and the stadium isn't very large seating wise. If this past Friday is any indicator I would expect Belfry to bring 1500-2000 fans if not more, and I would think this may be the largest attended game in school history. The pictures I have seen would suggest a lot of people will be left standing.

 

Do you think there is any chance this game gets moved to either Danville HS or Centre College to better accommodate the crowd?

 

Garrard does play at the site of the middle school (which was the high school until last season) but it has always been the high school field (both teams share the same stadium). The stadium isn't as large as CAM, but I believe it will hold 3500-4000 without too much trouble. If I had to guess the visitors side will hold 1500 easily. There is also a small set of bleachers in the south end zone but those are typically filled by Garrard fans. Beyond that, it might require some standing.

 

The largest crowd ever at Dyehouse Stadium was in 1995 when Rockcastle County visited. There was an estimated 5000 people in attendance and while some stood (many by choice) and seating was tight, it was able to handle the crowd nicely.

 

There is no chance the game will be moved.

No chance. Bring a lawn chair. There is good seating on the soccer field which is probably 20 feet above the football field and has a hill to sit on as well.

 

No offense..but this is the 3A State Semi-Finals... not a weekend soccer game for 8 year olds.

 

I can totally sympathize with Garrard's situation as they build a new school, but you have to make the effort to accommodate the crowd for the biggest game in school history. Bring in temporary bleachers, take bleachers from the baseball field and set them up. The last thing you can do is have half the crowd standing or "sitting on a hillside" the last weekend of November in sub freezing weather.

 

The soccer field comment won't make sense to the Belfry folks right now but when you get here you will see it is basically an upper deck to the visitors side bleachers. (Again, I know that doesn't make sense, but just wait). There WILL NOT be seating on the soccer field, though. The fire department shoots fireworks from there and it is closed off to fans during games.

 

Again, I have no doubt that while seating will be tight, Dyehouse Stadium will be able to handle the crowd.

Guess i am just spoiled with the facilities Belfry offers and the past Semi-Final venues. The other recent away Semi-Finals were at Russell and Lloyd Memorial which both had ample seating that Belfry still maxed out.

 

I would say the visitors side bleachers would be somewhat comparable to Russell.

Tough one for me, I got nothing but respect for Belfry and the Pond Creek Nation and gchs_uk9 is one of my favorite posters on BGP.

Calling it straight up I'll pick Belfry to win kinda easily 35-7. I'm not rooting for Garrard due to issues I won't bring up here, but would like the win for gchs_uk9.

I would say the visitors side bleachers would be somewhat comparable to Russell.

 

Thank you very much!

Tough one for me, I got nothing but respect for Belfry and the Pond Creek Nation and gchs_uk9 is one of my favorite posters on BGP.

Calling it straight up I'll pick Belfry to win kinda easily 35-7. I'm not rooting for Garrard due to issues I won't bring up here, but would like the win for gchs_uk9.

 

Thank you for those comments. Best of luck to the Jumpers this Friday night, too!

Garrard County Golden Lions

First Round: def. West Carter 55-6

Second Round: def. Russell 40-6

Regional Final: def. Powell County 48-16

All-Time Semi-State Record: 0-0

 

Belfry Pirates

First Round: def. Jackson County 55-0

Second Round: def. Lawrence County 46-16

Regional Final: def. Breathitt County 28-14

All-Time Semi-State Record: 7-8

 

Past Playoff Meetings

None

I think it is pretty safe to assume that these two teams really don't know much about each other. They share no common opponents, they have not met before as far as I know, and they haven't even ran into each other in passing camps.

 

I'm looking forward to the input from Garrard fans to let us know what has brought the Golden Lions this far, and what can keep them going.

 

As for Belfry, it is pretty easy to know what to expect from the Pirates as it would appear on the surface to be the same things they have done for decades. For starters, Belfry does not want to have to throw a single pass come Friday night. The Pirates would love to control the tempo and grind the Garrard line and exhaust them both physically and mentally until something breaks. They will ride their bull of a Fullback, use the triple option to stretch the defense horizontally, and save misdirection until the timing is perfect. Defensively the Pirates are spectacular at being unspectacular. You won't see a lot of blitzes and stunts, they will sit and read for most of the night, and the CB's will play fairly conservative. The defense will be very quick and will fly to the football, the Linebackers are very good at diagnosing plays and reacting, and the Pirate DE's are very athletic and can do everything from covering the flats to pass rushing to attacking the run. You will not beat Belfry solely with the big play, but if you plan on driving the ball you will have to play essentially mistake free football.

 

This particular Pirate team have some quirks that have made them special and brought them to where they are a little different then your standard issue Belfry teams of the past. First and foremost the Pirates lack a big name feature back who can essentially create a touchdown with shear individual talent like they have had in players such as Jones, Howard, May, Maynard, and Varney. What they do have is a stable of backs who show great patience and each have a specific skillset that makes them dangerous. The FB Willis is short and stout and a workhorse. His forte is falling forward and digging for those extra yards and even Louisville Central couldn't stop that last year. Sophomore Justin Johnson is Belfry's "speed back" and he is quickly turning into one of those feature backs I mentioned above. He is quick as a housecat, explodes into the hole, and can cut on a dime. Robinson is the other starting HB and he is a mixture of strength and quickness.. he is at his most dangerous on the option pitch and sweeps. Arguably Belfry's best defensive player is Safety Josh Dixon who will come in as a change of pace back. Dixon is a big back and has home run potential. He averages well over 10 yards per carry and has busted several long runs in very clutch times. The QB Williams is a 3 year starter and runs the belly series to near perfection. He hides the ball beautifully, carries play fakes out, is a dangerous runner, and a more than adequate passer when needed. Not only has he played in big games, he has came up big in big games including last year's Semi-Final where he put the nail into Somerset's coffin late in the game.

 

The one thing that really stands out about Belfry is their depth. For decades Belfry has been an "Iron Man" football team running the majority of their players both ways, even when fielding 90 man rosters. This particular Belfry team essentially has 3 separate platoons for Offense, Defense, and Special Teams. Defensively only 3 players truly start both ways, TE/DE Tony Messer, HB/DB Josh Robinson, and SE/DT Howie Dotson. The Pirates rotate several DT's depending on the package needed and also rotate several DB's who are interchangeable...thus making Messer really the only player who is asked to play the entire game (and he is a good one). The beauty in this is the fact that Belfry's very tough (and deep as well) O-Line only has to see the field when the Pirates are on offense.

 

Belfry was not expected to reach the Finals last year in what was viewed as a "reloading" year while a very talented crop of Sophomores and Freshmen found their place. That team was extremely young, and even this year was supposed to be a "bridge year" until the Pirates became a veteran team in the 2012 season. Belfry only has a few Seniors on each side of the football, but this team has really developed into a well functioning machine.

 

The biggest weakness Belfry has had thus far has been their tackling at times and inconsistent Special Teams play. My biggest fear for this game is focus. Belfry's only loss to Johnson Central came following a very emotional win in a very highly anticipated matchup. Johnson Central just simply won the game and made the plays... capitalizing on two long TD runs where Belfry missed tackles...and surprisingly whipping the Pirates up front and slowing down what they do best. Keep in mind Justin Johnson did not play that game as well, but to be honest on that night it probably wouldn't have mattered as JC just wanted it more. I have confidence that Belfry will have their heads on straight and not take a VERY dangerous and balances GCHS for granted, but the fear of an emotional letdown and eyes gazing ahead to vindicate the embarrassment laid on them by Central still lingers.

 

Really looking forward to seeing how this plays out and am very excited for the Garrard program to take such a big step forward.

I see this one as a long night for the Lions. Belfry will do what they want, when they want to. Margin could be 30+.

I think a lot of people are basing their opinions on the name on the front of the jersey which is much understandable. Garrard County has loads of speed, inside and outside, and can throw the deep ball at any time. The only thing that I worry about for Garrard is stopping the belly plays, and not getting sucked in too far on what they think is a belly, and then Belfry turns it around the outside for a long score.