ryanparker

You're right on all accounts. I didn't know who a lot of the Raceland players were because the Boyd County P.A. guy never announced any of their names at all! :confused: I actually thought when I saw the Raceland QB looking poised and zipping the ball all around the field in the 1st half that it must have been this Rister that I've heard so much about. I figured SidelineDoc had worked a pregame miracle with his injury or something. I walked over and asked a friend from Raceland at halftime, though, and found out it was Farley. He really did a great job and would get the player of the game in my book.

I was just glad this one was on a Saturday so I could see it. I don't usually get to see Raceland except for when they play Russell and last year in the playoffs against LCA. Needless to say, every game I see them in is an exciting one, though! :-) Even though there were a lot of mistakes on both sides, this was a fun game to watch.

This was a back and forth game from the beginning. Boyd County came out in the 1st quarter and looked like they were going to dominate. They scored a quick TD and failed the extra point. That would come back to bite them later on. Their control of the game didn't last long, though, as penalties and a bad snap on a punt started a string of mistakes that Raceland capitalized on and started playing well. I had heard that Rister was going to be the Raceland QB this year, but I was really impressed with the play of Farley this evening. Raceland looks like they want to rely on the pass. This might be due to Barr being out for now, but Farley was a very impressive QB putting several long throws right on the money. Raceland took the lead 14-12 and then had some bad mistakes of their own. They botched the final drive of the 1st half and ended up with time expiring unable to call a timeout within the Boyd County 5 yard line. They could have given themselves a comfortable margin at that point, but didn't, so Boyd County came out in the 2nd half and dominated the Rams for awhile. Boyd tore off several long runs all game long and they scored two unanswered TD's in the 2nd half and looked like they were headed for a victory. However, Raceland scored with just about 3 minutes to play and then Boyd County imploded. They fumbled, turning the ball over to the Rams, and then followed that up with a 15 yard personal foul penalty on Raceland's winning drive. Raceland ultimately took advantage of Boyd County's mistakes to eek out the win. That's what winning programs do. They find a way to win. Conversely, it could be argued that Boyd County found a way to lose. All in all, I was impressed with Farley at QB. He had good protection as well, as he was able to stand back almost untouched all night. The Raceland running attack was so-so, but as I said, it looks like it's going to be an air raid offense for now. The Raceland run defense left something to be desired, though. They would stop Boyd County for no gain several times and then give up a huge run out of nowhere. Raceland has a good kicker on the kickoffs as well. Again this year, it looks like they still need a punter, though. Boyd County has several backs that run hard and break tackles. They need to find a pass rush, but they were pretty effective against the Raceland running attack most of the night. Both teams are going to be challenged much more than this next week as Raceland visits Ashland and Boyd County visits Belfry, both very tough games. Congratulations to Raceland on the win. Still undefeated in the regular season for quite awhile!

Here's my opinion. I think size matters. Not the size of the school, but the size of the area the school is located in. The quality of the program matters more than the size of the school when comparing schools within in a particular area or radius. However, the size of the area trumps the quality of the program. To use your school as an example, Ram, the small 1A school Raceland might build itself to be the premiere program in our Northeastern Kentucky area. This would mean they have two things going for them, they have a good feeder program and they are attracting some of the best players from other nearby schools. In this case, size wouldn't matter. They could remain a small school and have the top program in our area. However, when they ran into even mediocre programs from the Cincinnati, Louisville, or Lexington areas, they would still probably lose most every time. That's because size matters! Those areas have such an advantage in numbers on our Northeastern Kentucky area that even the mediocre teams from there always seem to have more quality athletes than the best we can offer. For example, Campbell County, considered by most to be a mediocre Northern Kentucky team this year, demolished Ashland, the best in our area, in a scrimmage last week. We've seen this story repeated over and over throughout time.

The Greenup fans should stay behind their new coach. It sounds like a lot of positive things are happening for their program. I hope no one bails out after one loss to a much better team. If the coaches had switched teams, I imagine Ashland would have still won by 44. The bottom line is they have better players this year. If they stay the course, I bet Greenup will be competitive with most of the teams on their schedule this year. You just watch the type of season Ashland is going to have.

You're probably right. I don't think home field advantage can compensate for a 42 point gap.

It would be good if it were a perfect world and everyone abided by the unwritten rules of "fair play", but with NFL teams using cameras to steal signals, MLB players taking performance enhancing drugs, NBA refs fixing games, colleges doing anything and everything to recruit top athletes, and even some high schools accepting transfer after transfer in order to try to build and maintain high level programs, it seems as if it's more of a "win it all costs" society and mentality we are feeding rather than one of honesty and fair play. For that reason, I don't blame the fan for thinking he should have yelled out the play call. It sounds like his conscience didn't allow him to do it, though. Maybe if it were a playoff game or meant more, then he might have yelled it out. In any case, I still say it's the coaches responsibility to make sure he discreetly calls the plays. I mean, NFL teams send in multiple signals, some being false and some being real, in an effort to disguise the play call. They're always talking with their mouth covered up with a play sheet so lip readers can't see what they're saying. Baseball players constantly talk with their gloves over their mouth. I just think it's part of the game to hide your play calls so I'd cast more blame on the coach than a fan if one play got blown up because someone yelled it out.

http://www.dailyindependent.com/local/local_story_234004003.html?keyword=topstory

This game is at 7:30, right?

I think the coach should have been more discreet about making the call. I also think you, as the fan, should be able to say anything you want to out there that might help your team. Whether the players are actually listening to fans in the end zone, though, is another matter altogether.

Congratulations to Fairview for a good opening win. They may have a pretty good team this year.

...and Russell gets the pleasure of playing both of them! OUCH! Oh...I think we can come to one other conclusion as well...Boyle County is loaded given the beatdown they put on Johnson Central this evening. Anyhow, back to the thread...Mason has been good for several years and has been involved in several tough, close games with Russell for the district and in the playoffs. I do believe they are coming to that period of time, though, when their "window of opportunity" is opening to make some serious noise on a statewide level. Tonight's destruction of Danville surely will make everyone around the state take notice.

Congratulations to Lawrence County on the win. They were so close to breaking through last year. They might just win quite a few this year.

You know your football.

Not to stray from this postgame thread, but I do hope that Raceland has a good showing and shows evidence of fixing the "attitude problems" we've heard about tomorrow night for their sakes. Russell reportedly had some "attitude problems" last year and walked into a buzzsaw at Ashland. That's a bad combination...a team with questionable character and a fired up juggernaut. It led quickly to Russell laying down and nearly visibly quitting because Ashland beat them into submission. Anyhow, even though Greenup took this beating tonight, I still expect them to come to Russell positive next week. It should be a good game.

Good point. Believe me, I'm not trying to argue this is one of Russell's best teams. I just think they are going to be fun to watch as the season goes along as long as they don't get down when they take their lumps, and they will take their lumps. With all the stories about and evidence of the division and infighting on the more talented Russell teams of the last couple of years, it is refreshing to watch a bunch of guys pulling for each other with what seems to be good leadership and attitudes.

Even though I'm a Russell fan, I am happy to see Mason County get off to such a great start. This could be the year that Mason County represents the eastern side of the state in the 3A finals. I thought they'd have a very strong team this year and this validates it even further. Congratulations on the great win to kickoff the season and I just hope Russell can muster enough improvement to give Mason some competition for the district this year.

I was just tallying it up based on the number of drives that Russell killed with the turnovers and penalties. They scored 21. I figure they could have scored a couple more if they cut down on the mistakes, so maybe 35 rather than 42? I will agree, though, and reiterate that this season is going to be one of Ivan McGlone and staff's most challenging. They don't have the standout talent like they did for the most part of this decade. I still think they have some good players, though. We'll see what happens.

I guess the Raceland fans (and throw this Russell fan in with them) knew what they were talking about after all. To me, this isn't an indictment of Greenup's new program. This happened because Ashland is a very solid 5A team this year. The Raceland fans who know football might not say it, but I am sure they know this result could easily be repeated next week. A team as good as Ashland is this year out for revenge is a very dangerous thing.

I agree that East Carter isn't very good. I also agree that Russell doesn't have a Josh Gross, Kasey Clark, or Drew Abrams in the backfield this year or an Ethan Gullett, Toby Hicks, or Mike Dillon on the line. They have been blessed with some very good players this decade. I do think Russell has a bunch of fundamentally solid players, though, who seem to be working as team as well as any Russell team I've seen in the last couple of years. I really think that intangible is going to go a long way. Besides, if Russell cleaned up the holding penalties and turnovers, then this would have turned out to be a 42-0 game like you might have expected.

What did you expect?

Russell played really well and surprised me in a lot of areas. I can tell right away that I am going to really like this team this year. They have two major shortcomings, not a lot of overwhelming size and not a lot of blazing speed. Usually, that would be a recipe for disaster, but this team gives a lot of effort, encourages each other on the sidelines, and looks like they are trying to do what the coaches tell them. They are going to be fun to watch. It is obvious the coaches are putting them in the right places for the best results. Defensively, they played a solid game. Joel Korzep made a lot of nice plays. As expected, Will Rice and Kamron Smith played well. The guys who filled in for them in spots looked good as well. I like the secondary a lot as Patrick Cooper made a nice interception. It is also interesting to see the 2 big sophomores, Logan Dehoff and Justin Davidson back at the safety positions. Having 6-2, 195 lb and 6-5, 220 lb safeties seems like a great idea. Making defense their primary focus is a good idea as well. They could potentially be a real force as the season progresses. East Carter didn't have a lot on offense, but Russell pretty much shut down everything they tried. They did what they were supposed to do. Offensively, Russell surprised me as they started junior Jordan Roark at QB. He did a nice job for the most part. I really like his poise and demeanor on the field. Travis Jones and Will Rice ran very hard all evening. Jesse White-Reed has a good burst and made some nice runs as well. Even sophomore Zach Thompson contributed with some good runs. The line did a good job against a bigger team. That's going to be the story a lot this year, though, so they better get used to it. Kamron Smith made some bruising blocks as the pulling guard. Credit should also go to QB Brandon Sparks for making a nice TD pass to Nathan Taylor. The kicking game was good as Tanner Locey made all 3 extra points and kicked off decently. Nathan Taylor punted well and the coverage was pretty good on both kickoffs and punts. The flaws? A few mishandled snaps, a couple of interceptions, a fumble trying to get extra yards, and a lot of holding penalties. Russell has a lot to work on, but I really think this team will get better as the season progresses. They seem to have the right attitude. They'll need to keep that attitude under adversity as it is surely coming this season because the future holds some very tough teams, but I think they can do it. As for East Carter, they have a lot to work on, but it looks like they have some decent size to work with and they have a tremendous kicker. Overall, good job Red Devils.

I understand what you're saying about it possibly not being "cool" for young people to show that it's important to them. They signed up for the team, so they should be putting their hearts and souls into it and laying their skills on the line in front of everybody. If they win, then they get the feeling of accomplishment that comes with it. If they lose, so what? They'll still know deep down that they left it all on the field, so to speak. The quicker young people figure this out in life the better. You've got to wholeheartedly try at everything you do in life because if you don't, then someone else will. Play with passion. Play like you care. If you do, you'll earn respect and, in the end, that's more "cool" than the alternative. As a fan, I've enjoyed watching losing teams that truly care and play with pride as much as, if not more than, teams who might have won more games but clearly are skating by on talent and little effort.

It looks like the weather is going to be OK for tonight's game. After reading the Independent's preview of each team, I still think Ashland is going to win big this evening. While it does sound like Greenup will be improved, I just don't think they have the personnel to compete with the Tomcats this season. I think Greenup could pull off some surprises in other games on their schedule, though. Looking at Ashland's schedule, if they should happen to lose this game tonight, then it figures to be a long season for them this year.

The weather looks good for tomorrow night's game. After reading the preview for each team in the Independent, I still think it's going to be a close game between these teams that could go either way. It sounds like Boyd County has some decent players while Raceland's best players are injured. I look forward to seeing the game.