papagrit

Rockcastle will be anchored by their lineman this next year as well as a senior three year starting quarterback. Secondary concerns on the defensive side will be addressed this next year as the loss of Hayes @ LB , Bullock, Trimble, Smith and Mize, all hard hitters in the secondary will be felt. Between Bullock and Trimble were thirteen picks during the '08 season. Fortunately an excellent group of sophomores as well as a junior with starting experience @ LB (Saylor) should be able to step in and fill those shoes to some degree. The loss of Mason on the line as well as Miracle on defense will be felt as well. The big hearted Mason kid was a leader for the linemen as much as Hayes was to the backs and the team.

The line will now be anchored by two very good future seniors in Thacker (6'5" 280 lbs) and Abney (6'0" 215lbs) who has just broken the team power clean record in the weight room that was held by his brother Tanner, a past RCHS football hall of famer. Future junior "Little" Thacker (6'0" 230lbs) who started much of the season will also be on the line as will Lake (6'2" 215lbs) a future sophmore who started on the line the entire season as a freshman. The only question on the line will be who will fill out the line and be subs. They will probably pull from the pool of this past years freshmen team that went undefeated against a pretty good schedule which included LCA and Bell County. The freshman team is a nasty little group that when infused onto the JV team about midseason took a 2-4 JV team to a 6-5 record to finish runner up to Boyle County's JV in the championship game of a seven team conference. Another likely candidate for offensive line will be future senior Dillingham. This kid makes up for what he lacks in size (5'6 165lbs) with heart (a Rudy sort of kid). He is one of those kids that no matter how big you are and how hard you hit, he is coming at you with everything he has every play with poison.

The offensive backfield will probably include Saylor who saw plenty of starting action and Rowe an excellent hard driving future sophmore who saw some varsity action early in the year against Pulaski and a few other teams. Of course there will be Bishop at QB, who as mentioned before, has started the past three seasons at that position. The boy has a strong arm and a will to win and his leadership will be essential to a successful season.

The schedule for Rockcastle this coming year looks as tough as any they have played in the past years with the flagship games being reigning state champ Bell County, Boyle County (no disrespect to any team, but IMHO Boyle probably would have been state runner up if the bracketing was different) and Whitley who went deep into the bracket in the 5A class. There are several other teams on the schedule that are tough as well, including district rivals as well as some higher class teams (Pulaski and Southwestern). Rockcastle will not see an easy win game this next season and they will have to earn every "W". Hopefully the extra tough schedule will pay off at the end of the regular season. If injuries stay low and the secondary develops under the tutelage of varsity coaches Parkey, Saylor, and Martin, the team should pull out several wins and much experience for coming seasons.:thumb:

The more that I think about this, the more it just sounds wrong. I just can't wrap my mind around it. It feels dirty.

 

That is not even taking in to account the possible improprieties that this will cause. The more I think about it, the more I am sure it would be a bad thing.

I agree with Ram! :thumb:

This is one those cases that could get really messy and would be just another area that would have to be policed. Though it would be good in some cases of getting kids out and exposed to the public and experiencing sports who otherwise don't get the opportunity to, it could get really messy and add just another complicated debate to the status quo. I'm all for kids experencing sports and teamwork, and, I'm aware that some kids aren't allowed to go to public schools for whatever reason (eg...religous concerns). But, to allow non-attending kids to play organized sports for school systems is opening a very LARGE can of worms.

Put your money on Hammond. If she stays out of foul trouble it will be Rockcastle by ten points. Go get 'em kid! :thumb::thumb:

He was fine, just aggravated like the rest of the fans, players, and coaches were.

:thumb: That's good! How is his arm doing where he got hurt during football in that basketball pickup game?

Sounds like a daggone mess to me! Hope Watts was alright after the tumble.

In 96 Bell lost to Higlands 17-14 I think (someone can correct me if I am wrong) on a long field goal. It would have been a tall task to beat Highlands, but I think it would have been very possible for Bell.

I have rarely seen a mountain team be able to stop a multi-dimensional offense. When Bell Co. almost beat HHS in 2004 they were simply a running team. HHS this year could run and throw.. I think the Birds would beat Bell by at least 3 scores..JMO

Now, I know you folks up at Highlands are proud of your team...and with good reason. But we at Rockcastle got a taste of Bell times 2. They were very good and the kicker was a tough cat to clean up after. They (Bell) handled a "multi-dimensional" team in Boyle County, whether by luck or skill. Boyle was the real deal this year as well. Rockcastle scrimmaged them (Boyle) at camp in the summer. Bullitt East was also at the same camp, and no offense to BE, but I never dreamed that I was looking at the state runner up at that camp. They really pulled it together to win out, whether it be by luck or skill. We'll never know who would win a Bell vs. Highlands matchup now and the point is moot. But to say that mountain teams can't stop the multi dimensional offense is a bit of a reach. I'll point out, for example, the 2002 Rockcastle team that beat Highlands at Rockcastle 45-6 as I remember. I was at that game. Highlands was touted for their highly respected passing and running game. They had come off a win at Catholic and things looked pretty bad for Rockcastle. Any team can be beaten at any time. Of course, Boyle applied the boot to the backside of that Rock team in the championship game with the help of the Tamme boy. But, to generalize that mountain teams are limited in dimension seems a bit unfair.

I have seen several passionate arguments on this thread about baseball being the best sport. Certainly to me, Redsfan and Strike3 are very eloquent for their love of the game and I salute both of you for being so positive in sharing your passion of baseball with your own kids as well as others.

My favorite sport is football as I never had the hand-eye coordination to play the sport of baseball other than beating one around with my cousin in the backyard. I was, as a youth however, pretty stout and "farm strong" and I delighted in mashing someone in a game of football. I'll never forget the first time I got to put "real" equipment on. Whether it was tackling or blocking, it was the only game that I was ever good at.

My two sons attend a "football" school. Both boys, (one freshman and one 7th grader) play all sports (football, basketball, baseball and track). I've always said that I will never discourage them from playing a sport to excel in only one sport year around. The older son started on the line for all twelve games of his varsity football team as a freshman. His coaches really like him and we certainly appreciated them this year. His primary love is baseball and he is a pretty good catcher. The little one likes football best and has the makings to be one heckuva player. My wife and I encourage both boys to play their hardest in whatever sport they play and will stand behind them in whatever decision they make in wanting to play a sport or not. I tell them: "get an academic scholarship to college, play sports for fun and then if you get a athletic scholarship, so be it."

I guess what I'm getting around to saying in a roundabout way is there really isn't a "best sport" in my opinion. The best sport is whatever drives a person to succeed and excel. The "best sport" causes an exceptional individual who is passionate about it to rise to the top and succeed at it and subsequently other aspects in life. Ask Josh Anderson (baseball), Shaun Alexander (football), Tyson Gay (track sprinter) or J.B. Holmes (golf) what the best sport in Kentucky is: I'd say you would get four different answers.:thumb:

Best regards and condolences to the Meade County Family from Rockcastle. No parent should outlive their child. God Bless you all.

To letter in Rockcastle, you have to play in 22 quarters or 5 and one half games. At least that is what one player told me. With or without a facemask...:lol:

Did they have facemask back then?:lol:

 

That's funny stuff right there!! :laugh:

Rockcastle boys will scrimmage starting at 12 noon Friday @ Rockcastle against Williamsburg.

When did Rock kick two extra points in the last two years against Bell??? It is totally uncalled for to hit a kicker/punter after the kick, he is unprotected and very vunerable. It was a bush league move to the 900th degree.

 

 

On the fumble recovery the player was clearly down. It is not NFL you can't get off the ground and run. Besides that he was touched while he was down so even in the NFL he was down!!!!!!!! Look at the film it does not lie.

 

Rock played very hard and is still one of the top 5 teams in 4A. I applaude the group of seniors they have very tough kids. #22 has been a tough little nut for a few years. I wish them luck in life. Coach Parkey did a good job in his first year and Rock was Rock. Bell is just better in all phases.

No, that wasn't what I meant. There were two late hits by Bell in the second half that were flagged. Not that we took two late hits to our kicker. I agree that a late hit on a kicker isn't acceptable. One of those late hits was on the kid that was in question on the late kicker hit in the first half.

Don't take me wrong on the post above...Bell is one heck of a team. And I'm certainly glad that I got to see Merrick kick before he left because that kid is the real deal and I really hope he wasn't hurt too badly. I will be back to the mountain several times over the next five or six years and I just hope that I get to see better officiated games than I saw tonight. Bell was better tonight, and there was no doubt about it, but I feel that if the officiating had been better, Rock may have made it much closer. I'm thinking more along the lines of three scores instead of one, possibly two in the first half. I would like to see the stat on penalties for just the first half of the game. Good luck Bell on the rest of the season, hope to see you at Boyle if you get past Knox. :thumb:

We are very proud of the boys at Rockcastle...they played their hearts out, especially in the first half. The seniors have nothing to hang their heads about. I don't know about what was posted about taking out the kicker. I did see a late hit by one of our boys after one extra point and I can't deny that. The favor was returned twice in the second half by Bell. The refereeing in this game was pathetic...and I mean the worst football reffing that I've seen since my boys played peewee football in little league. I've always heard about the "home cooking" on Log Mountain, but I got a taste of it tonight (my first trip there). I played in a game at Lynn Camp when I was a senior (back in the 80's....wayyyyy back) that might be comparable to what I saw tonight. The score with eight minutes to go in the third quarter was 14-7 and Rock had the ball. Five clock minutes later it was 35-7 after two onside kicks. Every time in the first half that Rock would mount a drive, (twice to the red zone) it was stopped by penalties. If I counted right, I think Rock got penalized six straight times in the first half before Bell got one. A few respectable calls, but many botched ones as far as I could tell. At the beginning of the game a touchdown on a fumble recovery was called back and I heard several accounts going both ways about whether the kids knee was down when he recovered it, but I don't know for sure. That would have been a big play at the start of the game. (Rockcastle had more than 250 yards offense) All in all it was a hard hitting game. If the refs would have stayed out of it, the game would have been much closer with Bell probably still winning. But, I wouldn't have left feeling like Rock got cheated...just beaten. Good luck to Bell on the rest of the season, they have a fine team. I hope a Boyle-Bell matchup happens... it would be nice if it could be for the championship. Oh yeah, the refs are the pits on Log Mountain...and it sure is cold up there:eek:.

5 Danville

3 Lone Oak

3 Simon Kenton

1 Middlesboro

1 North Oldham

1 Sheldon Clark

1 Franklin-Simpson

1 Knox Central

1 Hopkinsville

1 Boone County

Tiebreaker 61

Good luck Boys!! Knuckle down and give it your all! ROCK ON!! :thumb:

When I went to EKU...I think I remember them banning the shooting of Eastern's cannon when someone from a frat dropped an empty whiskey bottle into it. Shot it to the thirty yard line from the hill is what I heard.

HEY HEYYYY MACARENA!

Joe Bob Greenslate was the man last night. He played the whole second half with a leg injury, but toughed it out. You cant ask for a better performance from a senior in his last game. Over 2O tackles is amazing, against any team, but to do it in the playoffs against a team of Rockcastles talent was truley one of the best games I have ever seen by a linebacker.

Yep, he played pretty well. I couldn't remember his last name...but the first is pretty easy to remember. He was a tough cat to clean up after.

All I can say is..."Wow", I saw the title to the thread and was shocked, but then to see they've had six head coaches in eight years, that would be a very good reason for a program to have difficulty. I don't keep up with Dunbar football and didn't realize they were having that much trouble. They do have nice facilities though, I was over there during the middle school track championships this last year. All programs need to have roots to ground them, especially in trying years. Good luck in solving your problems.

A note to Ram. I just read back to yesterday's thread on this game that was locked. The stands were fine and plenty of room...just lacked a roof! The only time we got up was during halftime for smoke/bathroom break, because of the rain and cold. The rest of the time me and Mamagrit were piled up under an umbrella under blankets:thumb:, especially in the second half.

Tough loss for the Raiders. I figured it would have been closer with the return of Watts and Roark. My guess is that they were still not at 100% because that kid can play! Good luck to you next year and we'll see you at the Rock in October. Congrats to Boyd, KC is going to be a tough row to hoe, good luck to both. :thumb:

Rockcastle went up early 21-0 and then seemed to lose focus. The harder it rained, the more focus seemed to be lost. The fourth quarter they allowed 14 points to be run up on them and Greenup had the ball with 9 minutes left on the Rockcastle 30 and the game yet to be determined with the score at 28-14. The Rock boys found some backbone and came up with some plays and finally drove the ball down the field to pick up six points (PAT failed). The backup to Hayes turned on in the second half with more than 150 yards rushing and most of those coming up in that fourth quarter when said backbone materialized. The Rockcastle coaches showed some class by taking a knee on the five yard line with a minute to go to prevent running up the score any more. Hayes should be fine, they didn't want to chance hurting him worse from what I hear and it being cold and rainy as it was.

Greenup has a few fine athletes in the quarterback (Kraft or Craft?) and Smith as well as the one they called Joe Bob. (couldn't catch the last name...Slate or Sladesomething) In my opinion there seemed to be some internal troubles with Greenup as a player of the team was heard being pretty loud and ornery toward one of his own coaches. This was heard by several people near the visitors section. Get your house lined out and I think that you all have the makings for a very good team.

Now on to Log Mountain for the Rock, good luck boys and get focused for a tough game.

Good Luck to Greenup as well on next season, hope you get your problems ironed out.

Well folks, it's 10am and we are on our way to Greenup. First to visit family on the way, stop at Greenbo and then on to the game. Hope you have a comfortable visitors section and cya there! Go Rock!

That's some messed up stuff there, like some sort of cornfield spread that mutated. Brings to mind the old saying "messed up like a soup sandwich." (messed not exactly the word used :sssh: )

Of course the clips shown are depicting the great plays of the A11, we don't see the ones where someone doesn't get open quickly enough and quarterback's wheels fall off or the pass gets picked and goes the other way for a TD because everyone is so spread out.