ryanparker

It's good for Ashland and Johnson Central that this rivalry gets to continue with the new district alignment. It's bad for both schools that they get paired up in the opposite district from Highlands AGAIN. I look for Ashland and Johnson Central to continue to compete on a yearly basis for the right to play Highlands. I guess it's like they say...to be the best you've got to beat the best. One of these teams will continue to get that chance for the next 4 years.

As for this years game, I agree 100% with Ram's assessment of the game in post #7. However, I'll go ahead and predict that Ashland is going to win in a high scoring affair. The Tomcats have a lot to play for and should have learned a few things about their team after the bad loss at Ironton. Putnam Stadium with the closed in end zone can be a very tough place to play when the team and fans are hungry for a win. I hope a big Ashland crowd turns out for the game because I'm counting on the home field advantage being the difference in my prediction. All signs point to Ashland having trouble stopping the ground game of Johnson Central because as Ram said, they haven't stopped anyone with a decent running attack so far this season. I think Ashland's offense will match Johnson Central, though, and come away with a 34-32 win.

On a side note, I've mentioned several times that I think sophomore Malik Massey needs to get some more touches. According to the stats on the KHSAA site, he's touched the ball 6 times this season (4 rushes and 2 receptions) for a total of 121 yards and 2 TDs. I realize some of these may have come in "garbage time", but he certainly looks like a big time talent who could help the Ashland offense quite a bit if given the opportunity. Granted I don't follow the Ashland program closely, so maybe there is some other reason (like an injury) I don't see him on the stat sheets very much, but I think a lot of his abilities as a player from what I've seen.

I think West Carter wins this game by a healthy margin.

I think this will be a good rivalry as the 2 teams will most likely compete for the top spot in their new district on a yearly basis.

Wow...you miss a thread for a day around here and you miss a lot! Thanks for all the kind words. I've enjoyed posting here for the past few years and I've always enjoyed reading the Raceland posts as well.

As for the game, I don't know where to begin in making a prediction. There are so many unknowns. Fairview is undefeated, but 5 of those 6 wins have come against bad teams. West Carter isn't good, but they're at least respectable...so I would consider that a quality win. Raceland has 5 lopsided wins against bad teams, too, coupled with 2 bad losses against good teams. Combine that with the fact Fairview does supposedly have quite a few newcomers to their team and I just don't see how anyone could tell what's going to happen in this week's game. With it being so late in the season, I doubt that there is another matchup in the state with so many unanswered questions. It should be a fun game to watch, coach, and play in, though, with so much pride, a possible district championship, and home field advantage in the playoffs on the line.

Having to add something else Russell-related to the thread, though, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that both teams are coached by 2 of the best linemen that have ever played at Russell.

Russell moves to 4-3 and 2-0 in their district with the win. A few things stood out to me as I listened to this one:

Russell is largely a junior and sophomore dominated team. The next 2 years for Russell football, particularly next year, look to be the best they've had since their 2005-2006 teams. They'll have a senior and junior class full of solid and experienced players next season.

It's good to see sophomore Googie Hayes doing more and more as the year progresses. He caught a TD, ran for one, and then threw for one as well. I suspect he's going to be a pretty good QB for this team for the next couple of years.

It's also good to see junior Logan Dehoff step up with a couple of TD runs. This guy is a good player who is only a "mean streak" away from being a very good player. He's going to need to be heard from on both sides of the ball because...

Russell played this one without junior starters Luke Bailey and Justin Davidson. In fact, I saw on another site that Davidson may be out for the season. If true, that hurts this Russell team as he was what many would have considered to be their best player. I just hope he's back for basketball as he's the only proven post player they've got.

All in all it seemed like a good win for Russell and a good way to go into the Mason County game. The district title and home field advantage for an extra round of the playoffs will be settled this coming week at Russell. Mason County is good, but a Russell win wouldn't be that far fetched if Russell shows up to play an inspired game.

Congratulations to Raceland on the district win. As OldRambler said, the Paris 12 should be commended for having the guts to even show up and play given the circumstances.

Raceland has won 5 games this season by an average margin of victory of 33 points. Their 2 losses have come by an average margin of defeat of 31 points. Finally the Rams reach the portion of their schedule where some close games might be in store...Fairview, LCA, and Russell. Those should all be exciting games.

I would assume Raceland has brought in the second and third stringers by now...but I agree with you that the quicker they could get to the running clock the better.

I can't argue a whole lot with that.

The silver lining is that it is possible for a program to improve. I remember when Lewis County only brought about 20 players to Russell a few years ago. They've gotten a little better since then.

Teams with so few players, though, are just relying on nothing but the mercy of the other team. I've really never heard of a team with only 12 players. At least they shouldn't ever get called for 12 men in the huddle. :-)

No offense to Raceland or Paris, but it's a shame Raceland has to play a game like this. A team with only 12 players shouldn't be allowed to play.

Another disappointing result for one of our northeastern Kentucky teams when crossing the river. What happened in this one?

Seems like a typical win for Raceland over Nicholas County, a bit of a struggle...perhaps not pretty...but not a nailbiter. Congratulations to the Rams on the win. Raceland has one more week to tune things up before finishing off the season with 3 good ones at Fairview, home against LCA, and at Russell.

I know this is a bit off topic, but something just hit me when looking at Raceland's schedule. Why in the world do they only have 4 home games for the season???

West Carter drove the ball down the field a couple of times in the first half but couldn't finish off their drives with scores. Russell did the same but managed to score a couple of times in the first half to lead 13-0 at the half.

The second half was a defensive struggle with West Carter finally scoring with less than 2 minutes left in the game. Russell recovered the onsides kick and that was the game. Overall, though, it was a pretty evenly matched throughout.

Even though the game could be classified as a bit of a snoozer, it was a good district win for the Devils in a game that will likely decide who gets to fight it out with Mason County for the top spot.

On a side note, I was glad to see Coach Grady Walter be inducted into the Russell High School Hall of Fame among others at halftime. Great honor for a great guy.

Nicholas County last beat Raceland in 2001. Since then, the Rams have won 8 straight by a 28 point average margin of victory. This year's Nicholas County team beat their only common opponent, Fleming County, by 8 and Raceland beat them by 35. So what's all that add up to? I know, I know...Ram or OldRambler will probably be the first to tell me those stats don't mean a thing when it comes to this year's game...but I still go with the trends and say Raceland wins 35-18.

Anyone know what Coal Grove's season results are so far? Who have they beaten and lost to?

I don't know exactly what they have this year, but as other posters have already said, they're usually pretty decent and it's always tough for our northeastern Kentucky teams to win against Ohio schools. I think Greenup has pretty capable personnel this season, though, so I look for them to put up a fight. I say Greenup wins in OT 34-32.

I look for this to be a close game, which is good given what we've seen so far this year from Russell. Russell has lost games by 22, 16, and 54. They've won games by 29 and 21. As a fan, a single digit margin would be nice and probably good for the team as well. I think this one is a tossup, but I say Russell wins by a field goal 17-14.

I heard Wilkes ran wid.

It looks that way. I'm watching it on TV now (Time Warner Channel 24) and he's already gone for two 60-plus yard TD runs. I thought Ashland was a fast team, but they either didn't have anyone who could catch him or the ones who might have had a shot at catching him are getting blocked.

Every time I start thinking one of our teams from northeastern Kentucky is special, something like this brings me back to reality. Seems like Ironton left little doubt. I look forward to watching this one on TV later to see how in the world Ironton did this to Ashland. I assume they just overpowered them up front. Maybe someone who was there can fill us in. I really thought Ashland was better. So much for my football knowledge.

It feels strange to pick against Ironton playing at home against Ashland, but I'm doing it anyway. Something tells me I shouldn't put too much stock in comparing how each team handled Russell, but I think Ashland is just that good this year. I think Ashland wins this one 34-20.

Time to get back to smash mouth football and go to 3-2. I think it is time to rattle off 4 or 5 in a row.

I'm pulling for Raceland to rattle off 5 in a row. Actually, I'm predicting that they will do so. However, the streak must stop there...can't win that 6th one again! ;-)

Ashland is very good this season and will probably be even better in the near future so I'll buy. They are the best team in our area of northeastern Kentucky and I hope they represent our area well come playoff time. It's a good time to be an Ashland fan right now. Look at the exciting games they've got coming up over the next couple of months. Ironton at Tanks Memorial Stadium, Johnson Central at Putnam, and then the possibility of Covington Catholic and then Highlands at home. I don't know about the rest of the area, but I would certainly be there pulling for Ashland if they play those teams in the playoffs. It's time for them to come through against the Northern Kentucky teams.

Oh...and Graybeard...you didn't have to say who the "visitor" was on your scoreboard pic. :-)

In what should be one of the best games of the week, Ashland (4-0) heads to Tanks Memorial Stadium to face the always tough Ironton Tigers (3-0) coached by Ohio's all-time winningest coach, Bob Lutz.

Ashland has a speedy high powered spread offense that can eat up big yardage and put up big points via the air or the ground. Ironton will try to defend it with a little speed of their own in the defensive backfield along with a whole lot of power mixed in along the defensive front. Ironton will be one the hardest hitting teams Ashland will face this season, but can they catch any of the key Tomcats to deliver the big hits?

Ironton will run the T formation with a mix of fast and powerful backs behind a strong offensive line. Ashland will try to defend that by likely bringing extra defenders in the box in an attempt to test the Ironton passing game. Will Ashland be able to force Ironton out of the "3 yards and cloud of dust" game? If so, will Ironton be able to pass enough to keep drives alive and keep the potent Ashland offense off the field?

This is Ironton's home opener and Ashland's first game on the road after playing 3 straight at home. Ashland beat Ironton at Putnam Stadium for the first time in a long time last season so Ironton will be looking for revenge. One thing is certain, it should draw a huge crowd, particularly with several of the other area games shaping up to be yawners.

So...who wins?

Ashland did not bring out the JV for the entire 2nd half. In fact, the starting offense played the 1st series of the 2nd half with what was already a 40 point lead. They also inexplicably went for 2 on the final TD of the game??? I'm not sure what exactly they were trying to prove there. Whatever the case, though, I realize it's Russell's responsibility to stop them and they didn't do it.

Let me clarify again what I was trying to say. Admittedly, I was a bit frustrated at the fact that Russell couldn't compete with Ashland in any way, shape, or form. To be honest, Ashland could have pulled the starters out in the 2nd quarter and been just fine in cruising to a victory. It did surprise me that we didn't see an entire 2nd half of younger players for Ashland. However, I realize the younger players for Ashland are possibly even better than the older players for Ashland. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to see Malik Massey get any more touches. :-) As for the final 2-point conversion, Ashland had already been working on their kicking game by trying a few extra points, so that also suprised me when they decided to go for 2 again on the last TD of the game. I've watched Russell football for many years and am used to Coach McGlone "taking it easy" on other teams almost to a fault. That being said, though, I wanted to make sure you saw my final comment where I admitted that it really was Russell's responsibility to stop them anyway. Maybe it was Ashland teaching Russell a lesson on how you really need to prepare for a football season and game. I hope it was learned.

In no particular order, I think there are several things that have contributed to the perceived "decline" of Russell football over the past 3 years.

1) Players. They don't have as many talented and motivated players as they did during their run between the years of 2002 and 2007. They've had a few like Drew Abrams and Travis Jones, but just not enough of them. This could be attributed to the size of the school, the fact that more and more good athletes choose soccer and/or basketball, or both.

2) Strength of Schedule. Not to take away from what the 2002-2007 teams accomplished, but let's be realistic...the schedule wasn't anything like it is now. For example, the state champion 2005 team plowed through the likes of Greenup County, Ashland, Powell County, Morgan County, West Carter, Lewis County, Estill County, East Carter, and Fleming County on their way to the playoffs that year. Now compare that with having to face vastly improved Greenup and Ashland teams, Ironton, Mason County, and some of the best Raceland teams they've ever had. The strength of schedule has greatly improved. Please don't get me wrong, though. I give all the credit in the world to those 2005 and 2006 teams for doing what no other team from our area seems to ever be able to do...win the big ones. They did it against the likes of Newport, Belfry, Corbin, and Owensboro Catholic.

3) Success of other area teams. I believe the improvement of other area programs has made Russell's decline look a little steeper than it actually is. Ashland has vastly improved their program over the past 3 years. Lest we forget that the Tomcats were 2-8 as recently as 2007 under the same head coach as they have now, Leon Hart, who is now praised for being a great head coach (again proving that it's all about the Jimmys and Joes as SpinDoc said). Russell's main district foe, Mason County, has improved leaps and bounds over the same time period overtaking Russell as the team to beat in district play. Russell added Raceland to their schedule just as Raceland was bringing along the best class they've ever had for their junior and senior seasons. The 2 losses in a row to the smaller intra-county rival Rams adds to the negative perception of the direction of Russell football. At the same time, they added Ironton to the schedule during these last couple of years. Unlike the schools on this side of the river, Ironton doesn't seem to go through too many "bad" seasons...ever. And hey, even Greenup has a good football team this season as well!

4) Complacency. I thought the success of Russell football over those 2002-2007 seasons would carry over to the youth and the community to provide something that could be rallied around and built upon on a yearly basis. That hasn't happened, though. It looks like the teams of the past 3 years don't work out as hard and frankly don't care as much as the teams just a few years ago. Going back to the 'yukking it up on the sidelines' comment made by SpinDoc on the Ashland-Russell game thread, it doesn't look good for the program when some of the players honestly just don't care if they win or lose. Again, there are many who do care and that is evident, but just not enough right now.

This complacency carries over to the fans as well. Sometimes it seems the team is hardly even cheered for when they come on the field. The crowd for the Sheldon Clark playoff game at home last season was terrible. The crowds for both home games this season have been less than I expected. Sitting near the 50 yard line, I had plenty of room to stretch back on the bleachers behind me and put my feet on the bleachers in front of me for the Ironton game. This wasn't the case years ago.

5) Target on their back. Russell made themselves the "team to beat" in the area for a few years by winning the state championship in 2005 and then playing in the title game again in 2006. Very few schools keep that sort of success going because other teams eventually raise their level of focus and play against them. I recall going to the Russell-Ashland game at Ashland in 2008. Ashland had just come off a 2-8 season, was off to a 1-2 start on the 2008 season with losses to Raceland and Ironton, and was a team on the brink of tanking yet another season. However, the atmosphere in Putnam Stadium that night was one of the best I had ever seen. From pregame warmups on, you could tell that Russell was in trouble. From every fan in the stands to every player on the field, Ashland simply wanted it more. They blew Russell off the field 36-10. Since that game, Russell football has an overall record of 11-14.

6) Raceland's Playoff Success. Like it or not, the last team standing in November is considered by most passive fans to be the "top team" in the area because they get the whole spotlight to themselves come playoff time. Out of the Boyd and Greenup County schools, Raceland has been that team over the past couple of seasons. It was Russell for many years prior to that, but not now. Partially due to having good teams and partially due to having a favorable opposing district in rounds 1 and 2 of the playoffs, the Rams will likely be the last team standing again this season. This, too, has contributed to a lesser perception of Russell football.

So was Coach Jones important? I'm sure he was, but I think there are other more important factors like the ones I listed above that are contributing to the perceived decline of Russell football.

Raceland will win this one by a lot. They are a far better football team.

Other than the coaches and players, I don’t believe ANYONE saw this coming…and it may have even surprised some of that group. Coach Hart has mentioned several times that if Ashland can get some aspects of their game tweaked just a tad, they could be very good. Last night, we saw some of that come together.

 

Moving on though…district play is just around the corner for both of these squads and that’s when the W’s and L’s have significantly greater meaning...

Speaking of Ashland's players and coaches seeing this coming...that made me wonder...do you think Ashland's players and coaches are thinking they can win games against the Northern Kentucky teams in the playoffs this year? Ashland looks pretty good to me, but I honestly can't tell if they've made strides on that front or not.