article 1A Notebook 9/2 - Big Wins?

We had some notable wins for top 10 ranked teams in 1A this week. Of course, any win is a big win, but some are bigger than others. The question is which of these wins is truly a big win and which is not.

We will run through the week two results later but first let's take a look at some of the big wins that were posted this week in 1A.

Big Win?

Leading the way we have to talk about Paintsville defeating the Beechwood Tigers. Beechwood is the three time defending champ in 1A and have now moved up to 2A in realignment. Beechwood worked their way to a 14-0 lead, capitalizing on a short field following an interception for their second score. Paintsville scored a very important TD just a couple minutes before halftime to get it to 14-7.

The game began to turn from that point forward. Beechwood had lost RB/LB Josh Derry to injury and the offense bogged down. Then in the 3rd quarter Beechwood lost two more LB's to injury on the same play when they collided as Paintsville's QB hurdled over them. Paintsville was penalized on the play but the bigger blow was to Beechwood as two LB's collided head on and both left with concussions. Paintsville marched down for a TD but a missed extra point left them trailing 14-13 late in the 3rd quarter. Beechwood's offense continued to struggle with little to no running game other than runs and scrambles by QB Cameron Hergott.

Then the injuries showed their impact. Beechwood had Paintsville pinned down inside their own 15. Due to injuries Beechwood had to move their starting safety up to LB and Paintsville took advantage. Paintsville used play action to freeze the safety and threw behind him for a 15 yard catch that turned into an 86 yard catch and run TD. That put Paintsville up 19-14. Beechwood was not finished. They gritted out a drive to the Paintsville 10. There Beechwood had one pass into the end zone that would have been a TD but the receiver could not hold onto the ball as he fell in the end zone. The next play Beechwood scored but an official called holding on a wide receiver block. After the holding call, Paintsville was able to force Beechwood to try a field goal, which was missed. The Paintsville offense was able to get a first down and run out the clock.

How big was this win? In the now 13th year of the 6 class era, Paintsville becomes the first 1A team to beat Beechwood in a regular season game. Paintsville becomes only the 4th 1A team to defeat Beechwood at all in the past 13 years, joining Pikeville, Mayfield and Frankfort. Yes, this was a big win for Paintsville and it moved them up to #4 in the 1A rankings. Paintsville QB Jake Hyden was the player of the game for Paintsville running the ball and hitting on a couple big pass plays that turned into TD's.

Big Win? - Part Two

Top ranked Pikeville hosted the highly ranked in West Virginia Mingo Central. If you just look at those state rankings, this game looked like a great matchup. Mingo Central is a recent West Virginia state champion and has an experienced QB leading their offense. After one possession by each team there was no score and the game was shaping up as a good one. Then Pikeville scored on their second possession, and again on their third and the snowball started rolling down the mountain side getting bigger. By the time halftime arrived, Pikeville led by an eye opening score of 41-0. The only saving grace for Mingo Central was a last minute TD that avoided the shutout in the 47-7 Pikeville win.

So, big win for Pikeville? In the area rivalry sense, yes. These schools are just across the border from each other and Mingo Central really wanted to make a statement. Unfortunately for them, Pikeville put an exclamation point on how these teams truly compare. If we look at this game strictly in the football sense, Pikeville did what they should do.

Big Win? - Part Three

If you love high school football, calpreps.com is a great resource. It is the best ranking system out there and it ranks teams in every state across the entire nation. You can see how your favorite Kentucky high school team ranks versus teams in other states. We can only hope that the KHSAA's new playoff ranking system is as good as calpreps.com.

If we look at that Pikeville win, facing a top 5 ranked team from West Virginia would make you think the Panthers were in for a real battle. A closer look using calpreps.com tells a different story. In week one Paintsville beat Lawrence County 48-17. People looking at that game thought nice win but certainly not a "big win". Lawrence County is the #6237 team in the nation on calpreps. Mingo Central, Pikeville's opponent this week, is the #6168 team in the nation That is pretty much dead even. If Pikeville beats Lawrence County this week 48-17, I don't think anyone calls it a "big win".

That sets the stage nicely for this week's big face off in 1A. This Friday Paintsville will host #1 Pikeville. If we compare those opponents and scores above, it looks like this Friday's game should be just as good as you would expect just looking at the rankings.

One More

There is one more game that needs the spotlight. Then #4 ranked Raceland traveled to 3A Russell in another area rivalry matchup. Raceland struggled a little unexpectedly in week one as they edged out Greenup County. The week one struggles proved to be more than game one rust. The running game for Raceland is putting all the offensive pressure on QB Jacob Heighton. Then Heighton went down with injury and Raceland had no offense at all. The end result was a 41-0 Russell thrashing that leaves Raceland with some big question marks. The Rams don't get much time to find answers as they travel to 2-0 4A Rowan County this Friday.

The Rest of the Story

As we look at the rest of last week's results, there were a couple of notable losses. Newport Central Catholic lost to 5A Cooper 13-7 and Hazard lost to 4A Harlan County 22-20. Both of these games actually solidify Newport Central Catholic and Hazard in the rankings as they both lost narrowly to good higher class opponents.

The rest of the top 10 all posted wins over teams that provided little resistance.

The Week Ahead

We have a very nice schedule of games in 1A this week. The top 6 ranked teams all face strong opposition with the featured matchup being Pikeville at Paintsville.

1. Pikeville at #4 Paintsville

2. Campbellsville at 3A #8 Taylor County

3. Williamsburg vs. 2A Leslie County

4. Paintsville vs. #1 Pikeville

5. Newport Central Catholic at Roger Bacon (OH)

6. Raceland at 4A Rowan County

7. Hazard at 2A Prestonsburg

8. Crittenden County at 2A Ballad Memorial

9. Kentucky Country Day at 2A Washington County

10. Lynn Camp vs. 2A Middlesboro

I like the angle you took with this... good read.

Will be curious to see which win weighs more heavily in the RPI, with the way it is calculated.

Beechwood may be a 5-5 or even a 4-6 team, but the "opponent's opponents" factor will most likely be high as Beechwood is going to be playing a lot of teams that will win a lot of regular season games.

Mingo Central may end up being a 7-3 or 8-2 type of team, but with the RPI calculation their opponents will all be given a 5-5 default record.