ryanparker

That's a good one! They really are good. I don't see what the weakness is if one exists. I felt like Russell was up against a small college team, strong at every single position on the field.

They really shouldn't get down about it. This truly was the best football team I have seen a Russell team play in many years.

Tough loss for the Rams. I saw on the game update thread where Rister was the QB tonight and Barr still isn't back. I'm sure Raceland will get it together before their district games. On the flip side, maybe Fleming County is pretty good this year?

This is great for Lawrence County football. After enduring being the "best winless team ever" last season, the Bulldogs are back with a vengeance. It's good to see. Congratulations to Lawrence County.

I hope so! I listened to most of this one. It sounded like Varney really put on a show for Belfry but Ashland had a little too much in the end.

Congratulations to Greenup on getting thier first win under the new regime! Hopefully they can build on the win as they move toward district play.

Congratulations to Ashland. It's never easy to win at Belfry. I am just proud that I finally got a prediction correct! My pregame prediction: "This won't be easy for Ashland by any means. I don't think they win it by the margin of their first 2 victories this season, but I do think they win it. From all accounts, this is a down year for Belfry and an up year for Ashland. I say Ashland wins 21-20."

There's not a lot that can be said about this one. This was as thorough of a beating as you'll see on a football field. Russell hung in there in the 1st quarter, trading possessions with the Cleveland Browns...er, I mean, Ironton...a couple of times thanks to a wide open dropped TD pass and a couple of botched plays. It wasn't long, though, before the Tigers opened up the scoring with a 94 yard TD run. From there, it was all downhill. I guess I have to eat my crow on this one because many of you picked Ironton "by as many as they want". I didn't think Russell would get beat that bad. I was wrong. You were right. It's hard to believe a team like this exists just over the bridge! They were big, strong, fast, well-coached, and smart. Russell couldn't get anything going on offense. Ironton had several tacklers in on every play. Russell actually didn't do a bad job on defense. It just took multiple Russell tacklers to haul down the strong running backs that Ironton has. Many guys bounced off of them or were simply dragged for yards. They got worn down and demoralized as the game went on, giving up several big plays. The punt returns didn't help, either. Russell didn't quit, though. They fought hard throughout the whole game. They were simply outmanned. If they want to compete in this series, then they had better start lifting weights right now and not stop until next September when they meet again. OldRambler, you said before the game that Ironton's coach Bob Lutz could "take your players and beat you with them". I beg to differ. Vince Lombardi couldn't have coached this Russell team to a win tonight. Ironton was bigger, stronger, and faster at every position on the field. On another note, Ironton has a great environment for high school football, perhaps the best in our area. They take their football serious! Russell just needs to put this behind them and get ready for Ashland next week.

I never thought I'd see the day!

It is an interesting "round robin" of games over the next 3 weeks: Russell @ Ironton tonight, Ashland @ Russell next week, and Ironton @ Ashland the week after that.

This should be a very good game tonight. I look forward to listening to Dicky Martin tell me about it.

Is Barr back for this evening's game? Is Farley still going to play QB tonight? I expect both questions to go unanswered, but I am looking forward to seeing Raceland at full strength sometime soon.

I agree. I think Boyd County should win this one. They have a pretty decent team this year.

No offense meant. This is what makes the games fun! Besides, I recall several past threads where Raceland and Ashland fans have pulled out quotes and even pieced words together in an effort to prove their point. My point is everyone thinks Russell is going to get clobbered Friday night, so I pulled out a few of the more eloquent ways of putting it that this thread provided. Russell does have a chance to gain some respect locally with a good showing Friday night.

Just a few of the harsher quotes on this thread: "Russell hasn't been willing to play Ironton for many, many years. I think we're going to see why. Ironton by as many as they want." - Graybeard "Ironton will spank the Devils." - SidelineDoc "Smackdown coming to Devils by the way of the I Tigers. Devils will be Tigerbait." - BlueKyBlue "The Rams did trade down in competition...by playing Russell instead of Ironton. Ironton imo will name the score, all depends on if Lutz wants to run it up or not." - OldRambler Amazing that a school with a coach who has won 313 games and 2 state championships over 37 years of coaching has this chance, but Russell has an opportunity to win a lot of respect from area fans by making a game of it on Friday night.

:laugh: Funny post. I think Greenup has just fallen victim to trying to get a new program off the ground against (1) a team that had better players across the board in Ashland and (2) a team that had consistency and execution that can't be replicated in just a few months in Russell. If they stay the course, then they will keep improving because it looks like they have some pretty good athletes on the field. This week may be the start of seeing some results from all of the hard work.

Forgive me for my lack of knowledge about the Ironton football program, but what offensive and defensive schemes do they run? I know everyone says this year's Ironton team is big and powerful, but do they have speed to go along with it?

Here's a post that has something to do with this thread. Why is Ironton so good all the time? Is it the coach? Is it the fact they get the best players from all around their area of Ohio? Is it the weight program? What do they have going over there that teams on this side of the river haven't been able to figure out?

At this point, Mason County deserves the high ranking. They've already navigated the toughest part of their schedule, too, so they could be keeping this ranking for a while.

Well, for comparison's sake, I figure Russell's wins over Estill County and the like were balanced out by Ashland's wins over the likes of Rowan County and Magoffin County. In fact, if you check Ashland's schedule over the years, the "improvement" made after losing to Ironton each year was followed up on an almost yearly basis by a shellacking of Magoffin County. Isn't Ashland, being a 5A school, supposed to be playing significantly harder teams than 3A Russell anyway?

Look, I think our area has three good football programs: Russell, Ashland, and Raceland. On any given year, any of these three programs has the possibility of making some noise on the statewide level. I am a fan of Russell more than the others because it's where I went to school, it's where I live, and it's where my children go to school. However, I am also a fan of the others when they are playing bigger, better teams from outside of our area. I want to see them do well because it brings excitement to our area and because I have all sorts of friends associated with each of the schools. Heck, I'd like to see Greenup County, Boyd County, and Fairview build up their programs to be able to compete with some of the teams that are heralded as statewide powerhouses. Fairview and Boyd County have made progress with their programs lately and Greenup County is certainly trying. I enjoy the lighthearted smack talk, but when it all comes down to it...can't we all just get along? :confused:

If Russell gets destroyed Friday night, it won't be the first time this decade they've been destroyed. Ashland did it to them last year. Simon Kenton did it to them last year. Belfry did it to them last year. However, last year's Russell team seemed to have some "quit" in them that I hadn't seen from a Russell team in a long time, excluding the Raceland game, of course, where they clearly came to play. I just want them to give 4 quarters of all out effort. Combine that with the good game plan that their coaching staff consistently delivers and good things will have a chance to happen.

I won't list a bunch of stats again, but I will simply say that Russell is 4 wins away from their 100th win of this decade (2000-2009). There aren't any other teams in our area even close, so it's not really worth listing. If you need a point of reference, check out the other teams in the state that will have 100 or more wins in this decade: Beechwood, Belfry, Bowling Green, Boyle County, Danville, Highlands, Male, Mayfield, Newport Central Catholic, St. X, and Trinity. Add to that one state championship, one finals appearance, and 2 more times coming within a game of the championship game. If you want to go back further, then check out the 1990's as well. Russell won more games than any other area school in that decade, too. Admittedly, the rivalry against Ashland is a good one. Russell leads that series 6-5 over the last 11 years. Given these results, though, I'm starting to understand why most other area football fans seem to dislike Russell so much. I don't know about what a few fans might have said on this board in the past, but I do know that I have a tremendous amount of respect for the main reason Russell has had this success and that is their head coach, Ivan McGlone. There is clearly something to be said for the consistency he has brought to the Russell football program.

Regarding history (and only since you commented on it), if Russell isn't the "team of the decade" in our area for the 2000's, then who is? Regarding this year (since you seem particularly interested in seeing not only what Russell can do, but in seeing them fail miserably), I know and I am sure the Russell team knows they have their hands full come Friday night. I am sure the coaching staff will have them ready to play, though. In general, may I ask why you dislike Russell so much? I can't imagine it would be because of the coach, because he is one of the nicest guys around. Is it the players? The fans? Just curious.

I, for one, enjoy the support that you Raceland fans give your team. As I have said many times on here, any team would lucky to have such loyal and supportive fans. Use of the big fonts, colors, and slogans does not offend me in the least. I think the addition of Barr to the Raceland backfield will improve them immensely. However, I have always said it isn't right to expect this year's team to be as good as last year's Raceland team. However, I also completely agree that this year's team can and should make the regional championship game. That just means they should be the one or two seed in their district. It's clear who the one seed in their district is likely to be, barring a monumental upset. Although I think Fairview might challenge them a little for the 2 seed, I still think this year's Raceland team should beat them. So yes, I think Raceland will be right there playing LCA again in the regional championship game. Only this year it will be at LCA and against a senior-laden LCA team. That'll be a tall order. But like you guys say, one step at a time. I think this week's Fleming County game will be a good test for the Rams, but I do think Raceland will come out a winner.