ryanparker

It sounds like the success of the Russell team this year hinges around the shooting of Skaggs and Stapleton. Would that be a correct assumption? I didn't make it to the scrimmage last night, but just from looking at the roster and from what I saw last year, it doesn't appear Russell will have any inside game to speak of. Are there any other players who might surprise?

I think you are right that Coach Kidwell will do a great job with what they have to work with. When you have an 8th grader not named O.J. Mayo starting at point guard, though, that should be enough to tell you to keep expectations low! It should be fun to watch this year, though, as long as they hustle, shoot the 3's, and try to play solid defense. I just want to see them compete the best they can. Win or lose, that will at least make it fun and entertaining to watch.

One comment that I saw on another site troubled me a bit. It was that they are weak at ballhandling. Seeing as how they don't have much size or strength, I would think strong ballhandling would be a necessity!

I don't think you can really say that until you see some others play. He might be, I haven't seen him play.

Perhaps I was a bit too demonstrative with my statement. Maybe it might be a little close. :-) When I saw the title of the thread, though, I just figured it would be obvious the name that would immediately come to mind...and that is Fugate. I just say that having seen him play as a sophomore and having seen some of his ridiculous stats from this year. Varney from Belfry is good as well, but I can't see how anyone wouldn't think that Fugate is the "star" running back in the mountains next season.

I don't think this is a contest. It's Fugate from Breathitt County hands down. Not even close.

Well...now that football season is over, we can turn our attention to basketball. Looking at the roster, with no player taller than 6'4" and no player weighing more than 180, my first thought is that I hope this team has been practicing their 3 pointers and up tempo game. :-) I think Coach Kidwell will do an outstanding job. It will take some time as it appears the program is way down right now, but I think everyone should stick behind him and support them. They will get better.

:thumb:

 

With Farley- the future of Raceland football is in good hands if tonight was any indication. I was impressed with how poised he was. He made the reads and the 3rd and 8 he converted in the 3rd quarter knowing he was about to get leveled is a play a Senior makes, not a Sophomore, but he stepped into the throw and got the first down.

 

They will miss these seniors for sure, but the program is reloading already.

It is good to see a sophomore come in and do well at QB...but I think the real key to continued success will be developing replacements for the tremendous line Raceland has this year.

This is a surprising score to me. I thought Mason County would win this one. Congratulations, though, to Mason County on a great season. I think it's just as well you don't have to make the long drive to Belfry the face the buzzsaw that Russell faced tonight anyway. :-)

Depends on who is quarterbacking for Raceland and how well the secondary plays for Raceland. I like the chances with Boyles but I do not know if Farley is ready for a game like this.

I still like Raceland in this one no matter who is quarterbacking. As long as the new guy can hold on to the ball long enough to turn and hand it to Denton and Carver, Raceland will win. If nothing else, I think LCA has shown that they can be run on and that is the strength of this Raceland team. Where they might miss Boyles, though, is on defense in the secondary.

LCA Eagles, remember these numbers:

 

 

37-35

This is what we need. A thread where the opposing team's fans match Raceland's fans in font size and color! It's about time someone stepped up! :-)

This game should be extremely high scoring. Therefore, it will probably end up 7-6.

I say Raceland gets the win, though, thanks to the home field advantage, their line, and their running backs.

Thanks for the kind words Ryan... all tonight means in the scope of the Belfry/Russell rivalry is that the next time these teams play Russell will be out for blood!:thumb:

I really think Russell has some serious offseason work to do if they are going to be able to keep this rivalry ticking. Unless they are hiding some giants in the field house at Henry R. Evans stadium, they look to be pretty small next year. I fear future meetings with Belfry may result in a replay of tonight. Rarely do you see a team obliterated like this in a real "rivalry".

I've gave this some thought, and I can only come to one conclusion:

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CLONES!!!

 

Way to go Belfry, that's one heck of a way to represent eastern Ky.

Good one. :-)

In all reality, congratulations to Belfry. However they get it done, the fact is they get it done. They are truly one of the best programs in the state and clearly the top team this side of Lexington.

Congratulations Raceland. Fairview hung in there a bit longer than expected, but the end result was as predicted. Much credit to Fairview for a good performance. Raceland did it without their QB. Hopefully he can return next week. Regardless, though, the strong line and 2 backs are going to be hard to stop. This sets up the much anticipated Raceland-LCA rematch next week. Raceland is the last team standing for Northeastern Kentucky football this year. I hope they can come through when it counts.

How does Belfry manage to field a team full of such strong players on a yearly basis? They must have a good off-season weightlifting program.

Sounds like Ashland took a physical beating in this one. I hope the injured Tomcats heal up OK. The result was as expected, though.

Wildcat Willy, I believe you and I commented before the Belfry-Johnson Central game that if Belfry could beat Johnson Central, then Russell might as well not board the bus for the ride to Belfry. As the game approached, I tried to fool myself that Russell might have a shot. Reality hit tonight, though. They shouldn't have boarded the bus after all. Belfry is in another league from Russell. Russell rose up and matched Belfry in 2005 and 2006, but now it appears it's back to business as usual.

Thanks for the info on the seating!

I will say this...if Fairview somehow manages to pull this game out this evening, then Coach McPeek should get coach of the year honors in our area. He still may because I think he's done an outstanding job this year getting Fairview to this point, but Raceland is clearly the better team.

I might not get out of work today in time to make it to Belfry so I just wondered what the typical crowd for a Raceland-Fairview playoff game looks like? Is it easy to get seats to watch the game? I know it's probably not easy on the Raceland side but does Fairview bring a lot of fan support? The only game I have ever attended at Raceland was last year's Russell game and it was packed. I had to show up way early to get a seat. Is the same sort of situation expected this evening? Just wondering in case I decide to come see the game.

Be careful, you may be accused of being a Russell fan burping us Raceland fans.

I am a Russell fan...but I really hope Raceland goes to the state title game this year. I hope Raceland wins this week against Fairview because I don't think Fairview can compete with LCA. I also think the Raceland-LCA rematch will be a high school football classic. I hope Raceland gets to play Beechwood to see how a team from our area can stack up against one of northern Kentucky's finest. I'll be pulling for the Rams all the way.

Hey guys, we have to beat Fairview before we worry about next week. Thanks for the confidence!

I agree. Fairview could make this a game with the rivalry and all. Since someone else brought it up, though, I had to comment on how I am looking forward to the next game!

I hate to be so blunt, but does it really matter? Whoever wins this game will get beat next week by LCA. I know the Rams beat them earlier in the year, but I feel they got lucky. There's no way that Raceland can beat LCA twice in one year. LCA is the better team, and will prove it next week. The BGP pollsters had it right at the beginning of the year when they had LCA ranked #1. Well I guess that's enough about next week. There were be plenty of time to talk about it starting late Friday night. My thoughts on this week.

 

 

Raceland 38

 

Fairview 21

I agree that the LCA game next week will be the "season defining" game for Raceland this year. I hope to make it to that game. It should be exciting.

I disagree with your prediction, though. I think Raceland will win.

I think Russell has greatly improved from where they were earlier in the season. The personnel changes on defense have helped immensely. Storm Burgess and Steven Stapleton playing every down on defense has helped a lot. They are both very good. The overall effort on the field appears to have been there the last couple of games as well. The Russell team that played Raceland would have beaten the Russell team that played Ashland earlier in the season by 4 TD's.

That being said, are these improvements good enough to beat Belfry? I think they are at least good enough to make it a game against Belfry. I don't think the game is going to be a blowout. If Belfry is going to advance, I really think Russell is going to make them earn it...so I predict Russell pulls out the win with a recovered short kickoff, a few Belfry penalties, a timely Belfry fumble, and an unexpected aerial assault. 27-21.

You are right, we cannot abandon the pass completely, however I have watched Beechwood in person this year and I felt like we matched up pretty well with them on the OL/DL. Now, we are putting the cart before the horse, we still have to win 3 games to even know if we CAN run against them and so do they. I hope we get the chance to play them......chances for this area to get on the carpet are fairly uncommon.

It is always good to see teams from our area make it to the championship game and I think Raceland is carrying the northeastern Kentucky torch this year. It would shock me if another team from our area makes it further than them.

While I agree with you to a degree, I think that Raceland had better not totally abandon the passing game. They'd better keep that as sharp as possible. I know at this point in the season, you have to keep climbing up the ladder, however, in the grand scheme they may eventually face the likes of Beechwood. And FWIW, I know you said "most teams" in your post, but they will not run over Beechwood in the event they meet, so I think a tune up in the air isn't all bad. Good luck to Coach Hoof and the Rams.

That's a good point. While it is difficult to see them coming out in a spread formation against teams they could easily overpower, I do understand that the passing game will likely be needed against some teams so I guess they have to get some practice in.

I think Fairview will show up with a good game plan and give it their best shot. The problem is their best shot won't be good enough.

I said this before Raceland played Russell and I'll say it again here. The only way this game possibly remains close is if Raceland tries to open it up and go to the air for whatever reason. They started the game against Russell trying to do this and ended up with incompletions and punts. This allowed Russell to take the early lead, gain some confidence, and ultimately turn it into a pretty close game. Raceland's strength is their line and the 2 hard running backs. They can and should simply run over most teams they face.

I say Raceland wins 48-16.

Congrats to the Tomcats on the Win!! :ylsuper::ylsuper:

 

BTW, I tuned into a very little bit of this one on the radio and I must say.....Bartender! I want whatever Dickie Martin is drinking :lol:. That little man was wild tonight.

I listened to most of the game as well. Dickie Martin is far and away the best high school radio play-by-play guy I have ever heard. He lets you know exactly what is going on and exactly what he thinks about what is going on all the time! It really makes for an enjoyable broadcast to listen to.

A couple of highlights for me from Friday night were when he said something to the effect of "Dominic DeMartino comes from a great family, is a great kid off the field, is a fine student in the classroom, but what really counts is that he's heck of a football player". His call of Rashard Carter's 80-something yard run was a classic as well. I can't begin to quote what he said because you couldn't understand the words due to the sheer excitement in his screaming voice. You could definitely tell what was going on, though. :-)

I hope Ashland can make this a game.