Cover Corner

LOL Ok they beat a very average Raceland team and now would beat one of the favorites of AAAA? Don't get ahead of yourself there friend. Big difference in A and the rest of high school football. Look how close Beechwood and Ironton was vs Ashland and Ironton.

They fumbled the first play from the line of scrimmage. Had numerous fumble opportunities (that JC recovered) that were play killers. Threw a horrible interception and had another interception dropped. Johnson Central played about as poor as they have all season and won. That is laying an egg. I would not count on those breaks if I were Ashland in the rematch. Now don't get me wrong Ashland is more than capable of beating JC if round 2 comes along. Anytime you have Baker you have a chance to big play yourself to a win, but Ashland got a lot of breaks tonight (How many delay of game penalties because Workman did not know the play clock? In the JC offense those are killers) and still came up short. GREAT EFFORT by the Tomcats, but this may have been the best opportunity to get JC and they let it slip away.

Great game. Ashland played well enough to win but couldn't get over the coaching hump. Johnson Central lost the turnover battle, the yardage battle, the penalties battle and still won. The difference in this game is the in game decision making of the coaches IMO. Matney makes 2 huge calls going for 2 and faking a punt. Love is one of the worst decision makers in game I have seen at a high level program. His strategies are solid but he can not adjust on the fly. Tonight it looked like Matney was playing chess and Love checkers. The play calling to end the game came from the Dawson playbook. On the 2 point conversion how many times is Ashland going to fall for tackle eligible? Have they ever defended it against JC? Ashland deserved to win this game but JC has to feel confident about a rematch knowing they laid an egg and still won. Ashland's team speed on defense is out of this world. They closed space like their hair was on fire. Really impressed with the defense. Baker should be Mr. Football. Probably won't win as he and Daniels will split the EKY vote but Baker is the best high school player in the state IMO. Hope we get to see a rematch of these two as tonight was special.

Also with Baker and Daniels both from EKY we can expect they may split some of the EKY vote. Is the award named prior to state championships? If not. If one of both make a run that will allow the entire state to see how talented they are.

Having seen both Russell and West Carter play I think it doesn't matter much for the playoffs who is the 1 seed and who is the 2. I think Belfry beats the 2 seed at home and Lawrence beats the 1 seed on the road. What does matter is the pride the team that wins the tie breaker gets in being district champs, especially if it goes West Carter's way.

Russell has bigger problems than just Conley being out. I have only seen them in person twice and both times I have come away very unimpressed. They lack any kind of toughness. There is a lack of hitting from the defense. A very soft team for Russell. Conley is a huge blow as he seems to be the only constant I have seen. I wish the Red Devils luck but I feel the playoffs will be short lived for them.

A lot of East Carter and West Carter banter going on in this thread that is pretty much pointless. Ashland would beat East and West each as bad as they want. There is no need for West people to stir the pot. West beat East. Congrats. Now act like you have won a few games before. As for this game. Ashland names the score. East will be unable to tackle that running back for Ashland. I hear he is decent. Hopefully both remain injury free. Good luck to both

I heard that Conley for Russell may be out for an extended period of time with a separated shoulder. Any truth? If so Russell could be in for a long remainder of the season.

Cecil is a GREAT guy but not known as a great coach. Lawrence had the game won and ended up getting beat by basic mathematics. Tough to swallow

This one should be a running clock in the first half of not the first quarter. Wouldn't be surprised to see some of JC's backups put up substantial numbers. Good luck to both. Hope everyone stays injury free

West has a stud athlete at QB but the defensive scheme was horrible. Play man across with no help? That will only work if you are hands down better than people and it showed you were not Friday. If West wants to challenge for top spot in the district and have any hope of posing a threat in the region they have to play a legitimate scheme to me. They can keep dong what hey are doing and beat up on the East Carter's of the world but they could have made this one closer. I think West ends up the 2 seed and gets to end their season at Pond Creek in the 2nd week of the playoffs. Russell ends up the 1 seed and gets Lawrence at home. Not sure how I feel about that as I am not impressed with Russell. The play calling leaves a lot to be desired to me. Hopefully the QB being healthy will help that, but I think Maynard gives to much chain to the OC. Some of the calls leave me scratching my head and have so in multiple games.

So I guess Russellville has not taken Mayfield's place just yet.

Anyone have anything?

I think Russellville is legit and more than capable of winning the whole thing, but to say they are Mayfield based on a few games is somewhat of an insult to how great Mayfield was during the run. If Russellville wins a title or two or three then let's talk but till then I prefer to say what I know to be true. Russellville is a good football team that along with a handful of others has a chance to win A.

I am not sure either team will be able to hang with Belfry at home or on the road. Few EKY teams travel like the Pirates. Shoot Belfry could play on the moon and somehow Pond Creek Nation would show up.

East is just not ready. They should consider dropping out of district play for a couple years, getting some wins and then resume district play. All the excitement the program is trying to build will fade with continued losses.

The rest of AAA gets a cold chill up their spine after this score.

A: Beechwood AA: Mayfield AAA: Belfry AAAA: Johnson Central AAAAA: Highlands AAAAAA: Trinity I think the gap between my picks and the next best teams is paper thin in all classes except A & AAAAAA.

Snyder does at GREAT job at the independent. He and his crew cover local high school athletics about as good as you will see. Always like hearing/reading his work.

East is much improved but West is the better team and should win. Watching the East vs Raceland game I was pleased with the passion East played with but they are behind in many when compared to other teams in the area. I am glad to see East move in the right direction but they are still a ways off. Numbers are up and excitement is abuzz in the community. Hope East can continue to improve but Rome was not built in a day.

You can't bring it out in high school unless momentum brings you out. Could be miss by the officials.

Any idea when play will resume?

With Johnson Central's ability to control the line of scrimmage and slow down the flow of the game Lex. Cath. will want to score quick to attempt to make JC play from behind. Hard for a running team to play catch up and take long time consuming drives. This could be the best game in the state and I look for it to be an interesting contest. Pulling for the Eagles. Best of luck to both teams.

This one won't be pretty or close. Sheldon Clark is still way down and Derossett loves to kick people when they are down. I remember him saying in the paper one year that he hoped they could hit 100 against Betsy Lane or Allen Central. I don't think it will be that bad but could be ugly for sure. Good luck to both teams.

i would take the first game of the season with a grain of salt for anyone saying South Warren is going to cake walk through AAAA. A lot can happen from now till Nov. and we are not sure John Hardin is the team we all thought they would be. South could be the best team in the class, but 1 good game or one bad game in Aug. doesn't hold a lot of weight in my book. Could be an entertaining season in AAAA for sure though.