ryanparker

I think they'll be fine in the long run as well. However, he was their best at that position, so that has to hurt a little. Since I figured this game was going to be decided by the narrowest of margins anyway, this should be enough to put Raceland over the top. There's only one way this could work against Raceland. That is, if the rest of the Ashland team comes out fighting harder than ever to "make up" for the loss. However, if there are players on the Ashland team who are behind Carter and feel he shouldn't have been kicked off, their attitudes might not be right and it could work against Ashland. Anyways, given this new information, I say the Rams make it four in a row.

Well, if that is the case, I change my prediction. I still say it's a high scoring game, but I say Raceland wins it 42-41. If it's true, there must be turmoil in Tomcat land and I say it leads to their downfall.

How did Ashland get slower, Ram?

Now this is the type of picture that rivalries are made of!!! He looks a lot smaller without all that hair. I have to give you credit for finding that pic...or did you take it yourself after you captured and shaved the animal??? If so, are you going to bring him to the game tonight? Funny stuff.

That game features a lot of former area high school football players including the 2 you mentioned. I don't know how many of these guys are on the active rosters of each school this year, but they are listed on the respective websites for each school: For Georgetown: Nathaniel Dials (SO) / Johnson Central John Kazee (SR) / Boyd County John Carver (FR) / Raceland Seth Harvey (FR) / Russell (graduated from St. X) Ian Welch (FR) / Johnson Central For KCU: Austin Hunter (JR) / Boyd County Jake Hughes (SR) / Boyd County Ron Blume (JR) / Johnson Central Drew Abrams (FR) / Russell Ethan Gullett (JR) / Russell Jake Bolander (FR) / Lewis County Clint Thompson (JR) / Raceland

I think it's good for the area to have all 3 schools be good year in and year out. Since they are in different classes, they never get in each other's way in the playoffs. The good competition and "playoff environments" can only help when the playoffs come around.

From all that I've heard, Ashland feels good about their upcoming classes as well. So does Russell, for that matter. It should make for some good area football rivalries for the next few years and that's a good thing.

You know what I think Raceland needs to get that respect from everyone? They need to at least make it to the title game. This would be the only reason I can think of why many other area fans still wouldn't pay that much attention to the Raceland program. Ashland had their special season in 1990 and hasn't come close since, but we've all heard about the tradition of the Tomcats ever since we were born in this area, so people will always respect them. Russell had their special run in 2005-2006 and has a hall of fame coach that also won it all in 1978. That sort of earns respect that lasts for awhile. Raceland had an incredible chance last year, but it didn't work out. They've been consistently good for a long time now, but I think they need that one time when they rise up and beat LCA or some team they aren't expected to beat in the playoffs. Right now, they're sort of like the Phil Mickelson of area high school football before he broke through and won his majors. No disrespect intended, but I think that's how they are viewed in the eyes of most area fans. Raceland has the coaching staff and the fan support. They just need the breaks to fall their way come November.

Another thing that stood out to me as I went over the results is that Raceland really has proven themselves to be among the top programs in Northeastern Kentucky over the last 20 years. I have sometimes been guilty of questioning the quality of competition they've played, but I now realize they have winning or even records against most all of the area teams and their schedule really hasn't been that different from Ashland or Russell. I mean, for 5 years in a row, Ashland followed up their yearly loss to Ironton with a beatdown of hapless Magoffin County. That seemed like good scheduling. :-) It is clear, though, that Ashland, Russell, and Raceland are the top 3 teams from the Northeastern Kentucky area by a landslide. With the exception of one or two down years, they've stayed consistently good over time, which is difficult to do. I, of course, would be remiss if I didn't mention Russell's 176-63 (74% of games won) record over the same time period. :-) All this being said, I still stick with my 42-41 prediction with Ashland coming out a winner. Even though they're probably going to be out-talented this year, I think Raceland has too much pride and tradition to lay down.

When I look at the results of the Ironton-Ashland series over time, I think I've figured it out...maybe Ashland is just conditioned to be scared to death every time they see a team in orange on the other side of the field! :-) Getting beat 10 straight times by nearly 30 points per game (and I imagine it goes back further than that) might do that to a team.

Here's the comparison between Ashland and Raceland since 1998. That's as far back as the KHSAA site shows individual game stats. Here's how they've fared against common opponents: First, here's how they do against each other. Raceland leads the series in the last 10 years, 4-2, although Ashland has outscored them by an average of 26-14. Ashland is 5-6 against Russell although they outscore them by an average of 23-22. Raceland is 1-1 against Russell while Russell has outscored them by an average of 29-17. Ashland is 4-5 against Johnson Central and gets outscored by an average of 24-21. Raceland has only played Johnson Central once in the time period. They lost 19-8. Ashland is 2-0 against East Carter and outscores them by an average of 58-16. Raceland is 7-4 against East Carter and outscores them by an average of 30-22. Ashland is 9-3 against Boyd County and outscores them by an average of 28-19. Raceland has only played Boyd County once in the time period, last Friday, when they beat them 27-26. Ashland is 6-0 against Rowan County and outscores them by an average of 43-16. Raceland is 2-0 against Rowan County and outscores them by an average 38-8. Ashland is 10-2 against Greenup County and outscores them by an average of 35-14. Raceland is 4-7 against Greenup County and gets outscored 23-18. As you can see, this is the only series that jumps out as being sort of lopsided. Greenup dominated Raceland until the last 4 games. Raceland has won the last 4 against Greenup. Ashland is 6-2 against Lawrence County and has outscored them by an average of 34-25. Raceland is 0-2 against Lawrence County and gets outscored by an average of 48-3. Ashland has only played Fairview once in the time period and beat them 40-6. Raceland leads the series with Fairview 9-4 and by an average score of 24-16. That does it for common opponents. Here's a couple more series totals that are interesting to me. Ashland is 3-0 against Belfry, who they play next week, and has outscored them by an average of 30-21. However, Ashland's worst nightmare is Ironton (OH) who has beat them the last 10 times by average score of 38-9. Ashland gets to play Ironton in a few weeks. Lexington Christian has beaten Raceland 8 out of the 11 times they've played by an average score of 31-24.

Although the avatar conversation is riveting...here's an interesting thing I came up with off of the KHSAA website (I know, I am a statistical geek who loves looking at the numbers). Here's each team's record since 1990 (that's as far back as I could find) going into Friday night's game: Raceland 139-78 (64% of games won) Ashland 138-88 (61% of games won) It's interesting that the 2 teams are so close.

It's been pointed out that Highlands is a 3A school in size, but dominates the 5A class. Does anyone know if the players who play for Highlands all live in the school district or do the top players from other places transfer there to play football? If they are taking students from only within their school district and doing what they are doing, then it truly is impressive how they can maintain such excellence with their size being against them. If they aren't, then it's really more like a college situation in that you can just pick the best players from anywhere and get them to play for your program. In that case, of course size doesn't matter.

I understand his need for comfort. I sat on the Boyd County side at the Raceland game Saturday night only because there was lots of room over there and I basically had about 3 rows all to myself. I'm not a Boyd County fan, but it just looked like the most comfortable place to watch the game. Now if he shows up Saturday with his Red Devil face paint on...that's another matter.

I was just thinking that the running attack has worked well for Russell over the years with teams continually loading the box on them. They generally execute it pretty well, though.

I know what you mean. The question everyone needs to answer in picking this game...is East Carter that bad or is Ashland that good?

Everyone says the Tomcats are going to be ready for this game. Has Ashland not come out fired up and trying to destroy Raceland the previous 2 years? Has it really taken 3 losses in a row at home to the same team to just now get the Tomcats "fired up" for this game? I haven't gotten to see the last 3 Raceland-Ashland games, but I would imagine Ashland would have wanted to beat Raceland pretty badly after the first couple of losses. If so, then Ashland's level of desire to beat Raceland might not even be a factor here. Is this game a "rivalry" in Ashland's eyes yet? I ask this because it is an interesting dynamic you mentioned, Ram. The last few years, Raceland has gotten to be the "little guy" going into the battle with the "big bad" Tomcats. That can be an advantage at times. That's why I wonder if this is still the dynamic in this game?

I am at a disadvantage in the opposite direction since I have seen Russell and haven't seen Greenup. Russell is undersized, but they do have a lot of smart football players on both sides of the ball. They execute the fundamentals well so I'm picking them to win a close one, 14-12.

I just thought it was funny he said he was going to be at Ram Stadium this Friday.

Who do you think will win this matchup on Saturday at Russell?

That's funny because I really was thinking the exact same thing! I thought this must be the amazing Rister player I had heard so much about. Then come to find out it was Farley! If Rister is better than that, then he must be on the level of LCA's QB. No wonder everyone cared so much about what school he played for! Oh...and unless they've officially renamed Putnam Stadium to Ram Stadium due to the beatings Raceland delivers to them on an annual basis now, I hope you show up at Putnam this Friday! :-)

While Mustang did lay out the argument that size doesn't matter better than anyone else on the thread, I still agree more with the Voice Of Reason. I think he laid out the argument that size does matter about as well as it can be stated. Size does matter when comparing the top of each class. Like he said, the top programs in 1A might beat a bad 6A team on occasion, but match them up against the top of 6A and they will get destroyed. So if the coaching and support is equal, size definitely matters.

I originally thought this game would be a blowout in favor of Ashland, but after seeing Raceland last night, I think they can play with the Tomcats. Their coaches must have Ashland's number anyway, having beaten them at Putnam Stadium 3 years in a row. I went ahead and picked Ashland in the poll just because Ashland is "supposed" to beat Raceland and it has to happen one of these years, but I won't be utterly shocked if Raceland puts it on them again. After seeing the Raceland "air raid" offense and how good of a QB Farley is, they just might exploit Ashland's weakness, pass defense, in this game. From what I heard, that's how Campbell County lit up the Tomcats in their scrimmage game, by going to the air. If Ashland doesn't get a major league serious pass rush, then Raceland will likely win. Conversely, if Raceland lets Ashland's backs get loose like they did Boyd County's, Ashland will light up the scoreboard, because Raceland won't be able to run down Ashland's skill players like they did Boyd County's. I look for this to be a high scoring game, though. Since I picked Ashland in the poll, I say Ashland wins 42-41.

Also, even though this was a heartbreaking way to lose, Boyd County looks like they have the potential there to have a decent season. They should be able to compete well against the teams on their schedule with the possible exceptions of Belfry and Ashland.

I agree, OldRambler. Raceland looks to be set at the QB position. I hope these 3 players can make it back soon. While I think Raceland would be OK without them against every other team on their schedule, these 3 guys just might be the difference against Ashland and LCA.