Hoot Gibson

Bryan Station lost two district games. They are not as good as Belfry. Not even close. Hopefully, your assessment of Friday's game is as on target as your prediction that JC was too one-dimensional and had played too weak a schedule to beat Covington Catholic last week.

My point is that when Highlands recently played common opponent Bryan Station, which JC beat at home 35-31, it took a late touchdown for the Birds to pull out a home win. It is totally illogical to boast that Highlands would beat Belfry by four touchdowns. Maybe they would but there is nothing in this season's scores to indicate that would be the case.

If Belfry has been JC's toughest opponent, and they probably were, then Highlands failed to beat JC's second toughest opponent by a single touchdown. Why do you find the need to trash Belfry when Highlands struggled to beat Bryan Station?

The card that Matney can play, which Mueller cannot, is the disrespect card. None of Johnson Central's players, none of their administrators, and none of their fans will enter the stadium expecting an easy win. It will be very easy for Matney to sell everybody on the underdog role and impossible for Highlands to do the same.

I don't think the Massey site has been updated yet to include last week's results. Massey predicted a 34-31 JC win over Covington Catholic last week.

I do not recall many JC fans questioning the call. I recall many others doing so. In any case, Matney will not succumb to fan pressure on any decision and anybody who has met him will attest to that fact. There are not many people more confident in his own ability than Jim Matney, and I mean that as a compliment.

If you let the school know how much space you need in advance, then I am sure that they will reserve plenty of space immediately behind the stadium. They will probably do that anyway, but I would call to make sure that they set aside enough space for your buses.

:thumb: Nobody knows a football team better than a good coach, and Matney is a good coach. Chances are, he would go for two again, but whatever he were to decide, I would not expect many Johnson Central fans to second guess the decision.

You will have no trouble finding the football field once you find the high school. The high school is located immediately off the highway (on your left) and I am unaware of the entrance to the campus having a name. If so, then they have basically named the entrance to a series of parking lots. When you turn off the road, do not turn toward the school until the road forks, with one fork continuing toward the football field on your left. At that point, you will see the football field on your left, the baseball field in front of you, and the middle school parking lot on your right. Everything is close together, so you cannot get lost after you find the high school.

The high school and middle school are on the same campus. The high school is north of the middle school and the football field is east of the high school, between the high school and Paint Creek. The football field is north of the baseball field.

It is behind the school.

Nearly everybody who has predicted a lopsided score appear to be Highlands fans unless I am mistaken. I saw one tongue in cheek prediction of a JC rout. Those of you who are proclaiming that JC has no chance seem to be ignoring reality. Highlands did struggle with Bryan Station - a team that JC beat without its starting quarterback. Last season, JC dominated a Louisville Central team that gave Highlands fits. JC dominated Ashland, as did Highlands and JC dominated CovCath, as did Highlands. The CovCath announcers said that Johnson Central is as good as any team that the Colonels have played this season. They also said that they believe that JC was the second best team in the state in 2006. Highlands may blow out Johnson Central. However, the notion that Highlands plays football on a completely different level than Johnson Central is no longer true. I expect a close, hard fought game.

JC with 236 yards rushing already.

14-0 JC late in 1st. Central has the ball deep in its own territory.

Johnson Central rushed for 684 yards against Woodford County at a time when that game was rated as a toss-up (before the Yellowjackets' late season slump). Johnson Central beat a good Bryan Station team 35-31 with their starting quarterback, Dennis Dillon, sidelined with an injury. The Golden Eagles led Ashland at the half 35-0, a team that beat a Dixie Heights team that gave CovCath all it wanted earlier in the season. Johnson Central should be a solid favorite to beat Covington Catholic in Paintsville but they will need to take care of the football to avoid an upset. I am sure that Coach Matney will convince his players that his team is the underdog and there is no chance that the Golden Eagles will be looking ahead to next week.

Paintsville is about 120 miles east of Lexington.

A 4-6 team can also be better than a 8-2 team. Either one could be 4-0 or 2-2 within the same district. I like Indiana's playoff system, in which every team is in the playoffs. The end result is the same - the best teams in each class win championships. Kentucky just has one or two classes too many.

34-0 JC about 8 min. left in 3rd

The announcers mentioned that he had a minor injury but I did not catch what it was exactly or when it occurred. My impression was it should not be a problem for the playoffs because Ashland has an open date next week.

FINAL JC 41 Ashland 6

Ashland scores on 2 yd. pass. Kick was tipped and no good. JC 41 Ashland 6 6:05 left in the game.

Ashland stops JC for the first time and JC's punt nets 6 yards. Ashland ball on the JC 27 yd. line.

JC 42-0 at the end of the third quarter. JK Hall is in at QB for JC. According to the announcers Richardson has been contained but the other backs have killed the Tomcats.

JC 41-0 2:18 in 3rd.

34-0 JC at the half.