Mama Bear

He's 13. Lifts a little bit differently than say what the high school kids are doing. Lighter weights, more reps. No worries.

Tucker Lewis is an 8th grader and will be at Harlan County High School next year. His little brother, Hunter, was in the 135 weight class. Coach Larkey has been kind enough to let some of the middle school kids come in and work out in the weight room when the high school kids are out there. He had brought a bus load of kids this year and worked in a few middle schoolers to place in some of the smaller weight classes. Perhaps some of the middle school coaches in the county may want to bring some more boys out to this event to compete in the future. The sheer amount of kids who want to be a part of the Black Bear Football future are very promising. It's very exciting! :dancingpa

This was the first weight lifting competiton that I have been to and to be honest I kind of dreaded a long boring day. It was very very exciting! I was so proud of the Harlan County boys, but all the kids there were very impressive. There was a lot of hard work and preparation by all those boys to be able to do what was done today. We have some very strong and athletic young men here in Eastern Kentucky. I was also impressed with how well organized and smoothly that Lynn Camp's staff ran the event. The boys all seemed to enjoy it and was a nice little fundraiser for Lynn Camp.:thumb:

What are the weight classes?

Keep rolling Black Bears. I believe they have turned a corner. Expecting good things by tournament time. Glad the Bears are finally coming together.

The only numbers I can be sure of are of my grocery bill!

:thumb:

I thought Wardrup was a QB? THUNDER AND LIGHTENING! That's too good to not be used again. HDE I hope you are getting this...

A very nice lady that lives close to the site has already said, "Please no Canon!" :lol: There has been Black Bears seen in that area along with plenty of deer, turkey, and coyotes. I however do NOT want the bears running around there. It's a lot different seeing one in a zoo and then finding one in your back yard. They are quite intimidating. Hopefuly our football team will have the same affect on their opponents.

I was raised down the river from that field and I don't recall it ever being flooded. It may have got up on the edge of it in '77, but I was really young then. There's been some adjustments made to the rivers in Harlan County since then and Lord willing, we'll never have a flood like that one again. The river is up some in the pictures. Good fishing there in the Summer when the water is down. Will be a nice place to play football in the Fall.

It's gonna be a beautiful site for the stadium. I can imagine it now on a crisp Fall evening with all the leaves changed and the echo of the horn sounding off of the Pine and Black Mountain..the water trickling from the Poor fork river....the cracking of helments....a sea of cardinal and black in the stands.... :cry: We need a field!

YAY! Pictures! :clap:

You always make valid points with this issue. I believe that kids can excel at more than one sport. We had some football players this year that did well at basketball and will do well on the football field. I know that Jordan wasn't pressured to choose one way or the other, but felt it was in his best interest to beef up for football and follow his heart. He'd like to play football at the next level and felt like his time would best be spent in the off season building his body up for football. It's a tough choice, but one he made. Speaking of basketball players, I saw Eric Miller is out lifting. I believe he can help us this year. He's really quick!

Glad to have you back Bear Paw. I agree with you. Jordan Calton had some phenominal stats this year as a Sophmore. He's only gonna get better. I bet he's packed on over 20 lbs of muscle since last year. I know it was a hard decision for him to not play basketball this year, but I believe it will really pay off for him(and for us fans). He has such a large frame and has a good wing span. I think it was against Fleming Co. last year, he jumped up in the air and blocked 2 or 3 passes like he was blocking a shot in a bball game. He's a beast on defense! I'm gonna guess and say he is 6'3 210. He's solid.

I hope we will get to come up and make the visit! There's alot of work to be done from now till then. I believe this bunch of kids here have their mind's right. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens this year. There's some talented kids here and I believe we have the right coaching staff in place.

The speed in the backfield will be tough to replace but luckily there are some underclassmen who got good experience with their Freshmen and JV games and should be ready to step right in and feel the slots. I have to believe that all this hard work and dedication in the weight room during the off season will produce more than just stronger players. The team chemistry will be vastly improved. The sheer amount of kids participating is exciting and perhaps there's a diamond in the rough that will emerge this Fall. Whoever earns the QB spot should have ample time to do their thing. The O-line is looking good!

Offense Ball LG Austin Short RT Alex Haywood/ George Shoemaker LT James Phillips TE TJ Green TB (split time) Dylon Smith WR Defense Ball DT James Phillips NG Dwight Burgan OLB Jordan Calton DE TJ Green LB Dylon Smith Safety Shaquille Clark DE/DB

:thumb: I think our team will be a lot more physical this year and a lot more confident in what they are doing after having a year under their belt. They'll definitely be a lot stronger. I hear they are wroking really hard right now. I believe us Black Bear fans will have plenty to cheer about this upcoming season. Can't wait!

and Harlan County!

Harlan County has 3 middle school football teams. Cumberland, Evarts, and New Harlan. It's my understanding that New Harlan will be playing Bell County this year. I've missed that match up the past two years. It's always an exciting game for the players and the fans.

There's no comments comparing Rockcastle's vs Harlan County's defense. We appreciate all the "concern" by the Bell faithful about the Black Bear's defense. :thumb: I wished the weather would have cooperated so we could have had the Spring scimmage. I was looking forward to seeing Phillip's at the FB spot. He would be a handful to deal with.

How "sound" was this defense over the years when Rockcastle was playing Bell County? It doesn't bother me that other team's fan base want to "question" or "downgrade" our coaches choice of defense, but the Black Bear fans need to stand behind it and encourage the kids who are playing. The kids have confidence in it and are really learning their assignments. It's the defense that they are playing. Every defense has weaknesses. EVERY defense has weaknesses.

The boys seem to have really enjoyed this Spring practice. I talked to some mommy's who say their boys have "hit the hay" earlier than usual since Spring practice started. The coaches must have been working them hard! The boys seem really excited about the upcoming season. I was hoping that we'd get to go see the intrasquad scrimmage Thursday, but the weather is looking nasty.

Cumberland used to beat up on Laurel County during this time frame as well. :sssh: The point is that we have had some good baseball teams in Harlan County before and with the consolidation we hope to begin a new tradition with the talent that we have and will have in the future. So you can question our tradition, talent and our coach all you like, cards1b21, but I think you're in for a surprise when the Bears take the field. Do the Black Bear play their first game today?

Roberts may not have cared about stats but he sure had some nice stats to show for his efforts. He led the team in tackles, I believe. I've seen Glenn once without pads and a helment on and I couldn't tell much of a difference. The kid's a rock! I really think we've got a strong core group of players out this year. Now that we have the first year behind us, the kids have a better understanding of the system. My hope is that within the team that they will push one another to be better and challenge each other to do whatever it takes to be successful. The coaches will find somebody to play the FB and MLB spots, but they'll be hardpressed to find somebody that will have the immediate success that Roberts had in those postions. They've got the Spring and Summer to develop those kids. We'll be ready.