sports_monster

is Steve Wright still being considered for the "county wide athletic director job"? I don't know when they are supposed to make a decision on that but I remember reading an article in the paper saying he was a possible candidate. Personally I like Wright getting that job over Durham at North

Maybe Coach Hatcher didnt feel like he good enough to shake hands with the great people from London. You know the Londonites are big city people now. They are in a class above everyone.

Glad to know we here in London think we're better than everyone else...did not know that. Thanks for pointing it out

Big City...HA! You've obviously not made a trip to London in awhile.

It's hard to tell what's next for the future of this Jag team...many people are calling for a coaching change. So...I guess it'll just be a waiting game to see what happens.

I believe that North's only chance for a win was last weekend and they blew that for their selves. So I'm taking GRC by 3 TD's or more

I'll take North this Friday Night. I just think that they'll finally get that win that they're looking for...of course WAY to late ,but it'll be good for the boys.

I completly agree with Mountain Thunder on this one...and pretty much every other week that everyone has said that North is going to get slaughtered. The North D is a good defense, they are by no means "awesome", and they can hold some teams from scoring for awhile. The North offense is just now allowing for any rest, so...I'll take it closer than everyone thinks.

Corbin 35

North 14

Corbin isn't going to score 50+ on this team..and just like MT said every week people get on here and say that this team is going to do it and they never do.

I think he's a good coach personally. I like the style of offense they run but they have Ricky Bowling who is an awesome QB that allows them to run and pass the way they do. As for is he winning enough for the people in London...well, thats another story. If South looks across the county, they've gotta think they've got it a little better right now.

Didn't really see this one coming at all.

I, as well, hate to see North been on this list...Most of us know that this is a much better team than the record shows and I'm sure it's that way for a number of those teams....espically GRC.

I mention Blair as at least one of the NL backs was compared to him on earlier threads stating that they need to run the backs outside the way they did Blair and that just wasn't accurate. I also didn't say you have to run everything in between the tackles either, just that backs have to be willing to hit the holes to get the sometimes tough yards to open up the outside. I too would like to see more outside runs, but many of Wardrup's outside gainers are on pass plays when he doesn't have someone open and begins to scramble.

 

No inconsistencies on my part regarding the O line so not 'everyone' has blasted this line. I think Wardrup generally has plenty of time on most occasions. I would like to see more short passes and didn't like the Hail Mary approach late in the game.

 

I also agree that it isn't just one thing or one player. There are several issues that need to be addressed for the Jags to salvage the season. I think they can, and the off week comes at a perfect time to get them back on track.

I, as well, think this off week is coming at a great time for the Jags. This will give them a little bit of time to regroup and let them get back on track. Hopefully this team can come back for the last 4 games of the season and show us the team we all think that they can be.

I don't know but I'd love to come to this game..I'd say it'll be a barn burner.

Good Luck to both teams.

No problem. It gets pretty complicated on who gets in once you hit the end of the district games. But North's fate could be in their own hands.

Yeah, I understand...I just hope this team can pull it out and at least get in, for the kids sake.

You HAVE to run the backs up the middle some, get them into open space and let them make people miss there. A good example was Nik Blair. Blair was small, but most don't realize that most of his yards came on plays between the tackles. Once he got into the 2nd and 3rd levels, then he became even more dangerous as he often cut against the grain or to the outside to pick up more yards, but more often than not, those plays started between the tackles. The key is too hit the hole hard and keep your eyes open for any gaps/seams in the defense. If you simply run sweeps all night, you allow the defense to just string the play out to the sidelines, allowing a defender to find a seam and make the play with the runner going east/west instead of north/south.

 

There is a big difference between playing against most team's frosh/sophs in JV ball and their jrs/srs in varsity ball. Also, North had a back a few years ago who ate up many teams on sweeps and counters in frosh and jv ball, however, once he was on the varsity field, he wasn't able to outrun the pursuit like he could in frosh/jv and therefore was never a factor in varsity games.

I'm confused by everyones assement of this offensive line then. The line is horrible when it comes to Wardup but they're fantastic when it comes to being able to allow running backs to run up the middle. If Wardrup is sacked then it's the O lines fault he's sacked, but if the running back has NO HOLE to run through thats their fault. There isn't any one thing wrong with this team, it's a combonation of many things but when a team is losing everyone starts to point at one thing and say thats the reason. This team doesn't have a Nik Balir and they sure don't have the line that allowed Nik to run it up the middle or even to the sides. EVERY run is up the middle unless they take Adrian to the outside to run...all I'm saying is run the ball to the outside SOME and that'll free up a little room in the middle if the defense has to guess where you're going to run it. The run calling is predictable, as well as every other call made.

If Perry has 1 district win when they play North, North MUST win to get in the playoffs. A head to head tie would go to the winner of the head to head matchup. North needs Perry to only have one win when they meet each other and pull off the win to make the playoffs.

 

As of last week, North had not put up their stats yet. As far as points for and against, it is not very good right now.

Yeah, I was just meaning record wise the worse in 5A they're dead last in 5A based on record. And thanks for clearing up the playoff subject for me, I appriciate it.

Isn't North Open next week and then they play Corbin the week after that....or am I mistaken?

So does Perry beating Whitley take North out of the playoffs now? I was looking at the stats on KHSAA and statistically North is the worse team in 5A (as far as records go)...I would have never thought that about this team coming into this season.

You are right, the O line has not gone backwards. The difference this season is that none of the backs seem to want to hit the hole. When they do, they are getting positive yards. They have to find a go to back with speed. Brandenburg will pick up some tough yards, but he isn't that speed back the Jags need.

I gave you all the stats on Setters in last years JV season (950+ yards) but the kid is 5'6-5'7 tops, and the coaches are trying to use him up the middle. All those yards he got were on sweep plays or counters toward the outside. Tyree, has had some good games goin up the middle but still nothing really productive, Tyree has some good hands so they've been passing to him a lot more. Brandonburg is really the only one that has been getting some decent yards up the middle.

I just think that some of the backs that everyone is being so critcle of are not being used right.

Well this was just the same 'ol same 'ol that we've seen from this North team. If they don't score they're not going to win games and I can't see this offense scoring enough to beat anyone this season the way they looked last night.

Middlesboro - 41

Clay - 35

Well we'll all see Friday night if PC will be "firing on all cylinders". If the offense can help out the D and score some points then I believe this game is going to be a lot closer than people think.

This North team is unsure of itself offensivly and I don't know why. I do think that the play calling is way to predictable , but I'm not sure a coaching change at this point would help the team at all...you can't just take an unsure team and then change everything they've leared all season. Now if you change up the actual play calling and not the plays and then I think that this team would have a better chance offensivly to score. The passing game is once again pretty much out Bear and Jones are going to need to step up and I believe that they will , but Wardrup isn't exactly the most acurate passer in the world so lack and recievers and inablility to throw acurate passes hurt in that sense...so that turns North into the running team that Coach Abbott really wants to be ,but then it goes back to play calling..any team that gets the tape from the week before can see that if you have 8 men in the box and blitz the gaps that Norths running game isn't going anywhere.

Like I said earlier...there just needs to be some changes.

Well I think that the main thing is to try to find some way to gain that confidence back. This team has many great players on it and even better kids and that's why I hate to see them lose these close games like they have. They always seem to be in the game until the end and thats when teams pull away from them. It's clear that at 0-5 things need to change...it's up to the coaches to decide what changes need to be made to rescue what little of a season is left. What I've not seen a great deal of and what may help, is better adjustments coming out of half-time. The team runs the same play, the same formations, the same defense that they run in the first half and well..it's not that hard to figure out how to beat a team that doesn't change anything up. LCC for example, AWESOME adjustments coming out of half-time, they come out firing and ready to beat you if they're down and ready to keep you down if they're up. So IMO adjustments would help....may not turn the season around ,but who knows..it would at least help.

I agree with Mountain Thunder. North's defense is awesome in the first half...no one has scored a lot of points on this team before halftime, now by the end of the 3rd and the 4th quarter that's a different story. I say Pulaski pulls away and makes it look like a worse game than it will really be. North's offense leaves the D on the field for to long during the game.

Pulaski 35

North 21

"...probably one of the best called games I've seen in awhile."

You must be kidding. What a great call when Cornett got speared by the Letcher player's helmet. Wait, I am wrong, there WAS NO CALL! But hey, put him in hospital with a punctured lung, broken ribs, and partially collapsed lung. He's still there too. But, what a "best called game".

missing a few calls here and there doesn't make it a horribly called game...you referred to one play that you thought made the game a horrible called game. Cam is an awesome kid and I hope that he gets better quick , but it's clear that you're really upset by him getting hurt and are going back to the play he got hurt on to determine the games officials...compared to what everyone from North thought about the Whitley game, the many I talked to were thrilled with the officiating in this game.

If Letcher can beat Whitley they can almost lock up the #1 seed in the district (if my math is correct). North MUST beat PCC to get the #4 spot.

That would be correct and thats just assuming that PCC doesn't pull the upset over Whitley