Rocket20

Let's see St. X has scored 49, 66 and 48 points in their first three playoff games, an average of 54.3 points per game. The last playoff trip to Bowling Green a few years ago they put 62 on the board against Warren Central. I think they hit their average easily. Final score 62 -7 .

I am going to the game and I heard Ed Sears would be in attendance also.

It seats about 1000 but no one has ever brought more than 300- 500 to the visitors side. Maybe tonight SK will fill it.

For those lucky enough to follow St. X and Louisville football for 45-50 years, tonight's game at St. X is noteworthy. Take a moment and appreciate the facilities that St. X. now has. Everyone loved the tradition of Manual Stadium, pre and post game "discussions" at Check's, but it sure is great to have a real home field tonight! X fans are respectful of Simon Kenton and really appreciate the opportunity to host a playoff game of such magnitude. The weather will be great today, so everyone come out and enjoy this game. Thanks to all the coaches and players for putting in so much time and effort. Often times we as fans do not say this enough. It's Game Day - Enjoy!!

What radio station is carrying the game? Also, why haven't most of the Rocks games been on the radio this year?

Another telling key to this game will be whether Simon Kenton's defense can throttle the St. X offense. SK has not faced as varied as an offense as they will see Friday. With Brian Buehner back healthy he and Luke Brohm completed 8-11 passes for 157 yards and 2 touchdowns in only 3 quarters of play. When X passes with this much efficiency they are practically unable to stop. St. X's 4 headed monster running attack of Neal, McMurry, Montano and Hayden rushed for 243 yards. If X approaches 400 yards of total offense it will spell doom for SK. Simon Kenton's defense will be challenged as never before. They have to perform all night to stay in contention for an upset. Now add in the threat of a healthy Buehner running from the spread, plus Hayden from the Wildcat and opposing defensive coordinators will have to game plan for 5-6 differnt offenses. Tough chore!

Why all this obsession about "speed". Football is a contact sport and you can rest assured that St. X. will hit you at every position, on every play. They made it evident last week when they played Ryle to have someone hit #4, #24 and #84 on each snap when X had the ball. The SK stars that go both ways will be challenged every play on defense. This had a huge effect on Ryle as they could not keep their initial momentum for four quarters. I respect SK but they have a huge task in front of them Friday. St. X. is returning 5-6 starters that have been injured. Their replacements over the last month have added tremendous depth to their team. For instance, their best running back Jeremiah Neal was moved to linebacker and performed well there. Daylen Hall was probably one of the best punt returners in Kentucky. However, he was moved to the line and has blocked a few punts off the corner recently. LaMont McMurry filled in as punt returner with 102 yards on three punt returns Friday. Nice problem to have! Not many teams in Kentucky could lose 6 starters for a month and actually get better as a team. Tigers 48 - SK 17.

The fact that St. X has 5-6 starters getting back in the rotation is huge. The past month they have developed more depth than was thought possible early in the season. Prime example: their best runner Jeremiah Neal started playing linebacker with all the injuries. The offense has not missed a beat with McMurry, Montano and Hayden all displaying incredible speed. The offense literally exploded last night with a 49 point outburst after falling behind 10 -7. They even had J. Hayden leading the Wildcat formation. Neal has been fabulous at linebacker! Now he should get more carries. Brohm has improved immensely, he is throwing like his famous cousins. Buehner was stellar last night too. Ryle could not keep up after a very good first quarter. If Simon Kenton has a lot of players going both ways it could be a long ride back to NKY. St. X plays fast and just wears you down!

All this talk all week about "speed". This is not "7 on 7". This game will be won in the trenches by the big uglies. X is more than capable with this aspect of the game. St. X 42 - Ryle 13.

I listen to the call of all of the games. The announcers John Spears and Tony Burke are awesome in their call of the games. They commented Friday that Bob Kennedy has kept the stats for St. X. for 19 years. He said that he had never done a game where St. X. only ran one play in the 1st quarter, yet led 21-0 after one. They said Luke Brohm was 4-7 passing for 76 yards and 2 touchdowns against Boone County.

There have been instances in the past where kids that did not live by the rules did not have to pay real consequences. What is different about this circumstance?

The lower half of the top bracket could pose some very interesting matchups. Very different from the past when the #4 and #1 seeds and the #2 and #3 seeds from the same distrct played each other. In the past some of these games were just a few weeks removed from when they played in the distrcts. Not much drama. Manual got a tough draw. Opening with an 8-2 Conner at home could be difficult if the Manual Field gets more rain this week. Anything can happen on that field given its current condition. In round 2 Manual could possibly have to travel to Simon Kenton. This is where the matchups really get interesting. Should Simon Kenton win, this would force St. X to have to travel to NKY for Round 3. If Manual should upset Simon Kenton on the road, they would probably travel to St. X for a rematch of the highly contested game from a few weeks ago. The past few years the first 2-3 weeks of the 6A playoffs have been predicatble and in many cases boring. There is some intrigue building this year!

St. X was razor sharp on Senior Night as the margin of victory is rather surprising considering the way CovCath has been playing of late. The X offensive playmakers were not hampered by the rainy conditions, as X totalled 455 yards of offense. I think I heard they had 18 first downs in the first half alone. Jeont'a. Hayden - 5 carries for 136 yards and 2 TD's LaMont McMurry - 5 carries for 57 yards and scored 3 TD's Michael Montano - 10 carries for 115 yards and 1 TD Jeremaih Neal mainly played linebacker but had three touches on ofense all resulting in touchdowns. One on a 4 yard rush, a 54 pass reception and he even threw a touchdown pass to McMurry at the end of the first half. They are still dealing with injuries to several key players, many from the defensive side of the ball. The hope is that most can be ready for the second round of the playoffs. Good luck to the Tigers!

The 1969 Tiger state championship team is being honored also. Some people think this might have been the Tigers best team ever. They were St. X's first undefeated team and can claim that they never trailed in a game all season. Don't know how many teams can make that statement. They beat an incredibly talented Butler team 15-0 in the champioship game. Butler walloped Trinity in the championship the next year 20-0.

Daylen Hall had two blocked punts and two pass interceptions, one of which he returned 36 yards for a touchdown. The St. X running attacked featured Lamont McMurray with 9 rushes for 87 yards, Jeont'a Hayden with 8 rushes for 80 yards and Michael Montano contributed with 7 rushes for 72 yards. Jeremiah Neal scored two touchdowns but mainly played linebacker on defense for the Tigers.

St.X 28 - PRP 7 Luke Brohm gets his chance to lay a foundation for next year.

I'll say Fern Creek 34 - Male 27.

The word Friday night in the cafeteria after the game was that the Xrays came back negative. Buehner could possibly be back for the playoffs.

Where is everyone? No repiles yet about this game. My prediction is Rocks 42 Eagles 7.

The absolute best thing of the night was seeing soph Lucas Tutwiler in the end zone waving to his teammates and crowd prior to the game. It was truly remarkable seeing him walk onto the field less than a week after neck surgery from the injury in the Trinity game. Best wishes to Tut and his family from all football fans around the state.

St. X's lines did control the line of scrimmage. Canescat mentioned that Bishop for Trinity gained over 100 yards rushing, which is correct. But in looking at the numbers Bishop had 11 carries in the first half for 20 yards, an average of 1.8 yard per carry. He had 3 carries in the third quarter for 22 more yards giving him 14 carries for 42 yards through 3 quarters. He stayed in the game until the end rushing 5 times for 60 yards in the 4th quarter, including a 41 yard run late againt St. X's second team defense. Trinity controlled the clock in the 1st half with the passing game. The coaches know they must be able to run the ball effectively to take the defensive front pressure on Kragthorpe.

Brian Buehner of St. X added his name to the list last night!

Ox...you outdid yourself on that post. I kept wondering how the 4th point was going to be scored. You explained it simply! I bet the unnamed soph kicker will also wear #6 as X always seems to have two kickers on the squad each year with that number! This year having three #6's will probably be the case! Must be a nightmare for the stats crew!

Can somebody fill me in on running back Xavier Thomas? Has he been injured? I expected him to have a great season following Tim Phillips. I really haven't seen his name much on here or in the newspaper.

Brian Buehner completed 8 out of 8 passes for 188 yards and 3 touchdowns, after being harassed much of last week by Cincy St. X. Maybe after tonight people will relaize how good both the Cincy and Louisville St. X teams are in their respective states.