Grizzly33

Don't know much, but what I do know is Bracken supposedly has a solid lineup built around a pair of stellar shooters. Nothing spectacular, but a solid, experienced squad. Can anyone back me up on that?

I don't see how he doesn't retire this year, simply because of his health. I'd put my guess on Coach Wagner as the heir apparent. Pretty sure him and Dave are running most of the show with Bob sidelined from the sidelines. Dave doesn't have the credentials neccessary to be head coach as far as I know of though which would make Wagner the next in line. O, and as long as Bob is listed as the head coach, which he is, he should get all those wins. BTW Hope Coach Schnieder takes care and gets well. Definitely the cream of the crop when it comes to high school coaches, no matter the state or sport.

Turns aside, NewCath took their lumps early, broke in some young talent, and is ready to challenge for dominance again in 2A. Not to overlook Desales, especially in Louisville. I just think I'm sticking with my comparison of this Breds' team to that of 2006 when they struggled early in the season, surged at the end, and had some big suprising wins. Same formula - untested QB(Harris - 06, Hightchew 09), stud RB(Vicars - 07, Kelly 09), QB turned WR(Gardner - 06, Cain - 09), and a dominant lineman leading a huge front on both sides(Kiernan - 06, Smith - 09). History repeats itself.

Disagree, you have teams #2 and #3 from a very strong 9th region this year, teams #1 and #2 from the top heavy 12th along with Male, Scott, Grayson Co., and some other quality squads. Nothing spectacular but given that no Lexington city schools could be in it, the only teams I think would really elevate this tournament past the quality of the field right now would be Scott Co. or Holmes. I think it should be a very interesting tournament.

Now I'll say that West is the big underdog here, by quite a large margin. But whenever I see an article that explicitly mentions the coach referring to a matchup past the playoff game at hand, it makes me raise my eyebrows. If the reporter wants to speculate on why they changed the venue, let them. But if I was the coach I would never ever say this: “We would prefer to have Lexington Catholic at our place if we can get our field back in shape. If we get that far, we would prefer to play them on natural grass, not the turf." I know he dances around it, but it still explicitly states Lexington Catholic. If I were the Colts I would feel incredibly disrespected.

1st Region: Graves Co. 2nd Region: Hopkins Co. Central 3rd Region: Owensboro 4th Region: Warren Central 5th Region: North Hardin 6th Region: Fairdale 7th Region: Jeffersontown 8th Region: Shelby Co. 9th Region: Holmes 10th Region George Rogers Clark 11th Region: Tates Creek 12th Region: West Jessamine 13th Region: South Laurel 14th Region: Knott Co. Central 15th Region: Shelby Co. 16th Region: Ashland State Championship Game: West Jessamine vs. Tates Creek Tates Creek - Runner-Up West Jessamine - Winner

7 Beechwood 5 Ludlow 3 Dayton 2 Dixie Heights 1 Bourbon Co. TB Dixie Heights

Brian Gish - G - great defender, smart kid, ball handling skills improved immensely over his career but thats what hurt him at the HS level

Top Ten Players 1) Ricardo Johnson 2) Elijah Pittman 3) Mitch McLeish 4) Jeremiah Johnson 5) Mikey Gabbard 6) Stephen Kowolonek 7) Andy Earls 8) Grant Pangallo 9) Jake Giesler 10) Casey McDaniel (Which I know will cause you all to be in uproar because I'm not sold on Stauffer) I will give you this, mine is more predictive than anything. On past performance, switch McLeish and JJ. The rest is up for your interpretation. Also I pose this question: if you grade each district top to bottom I'd say you have hard time not going: 1) 33rd 2) 35th/36th 4) 34th This is not that different from last year but is a huge difference historically as the 35th has usually been well ahead of everyone else. With the 33rd having 3 of the probably the best 6 teams in the 9th, who gets out?

7 Holy Cross 5 Campbell Co. 3 Dayton 2 Ryle 1 Newport TB Campbell Co.

7 Tates Creek 5 Lafayette 3 Garrard Co. 2 Marion Co. 1 Western Hills TB Marion Co.

7 Paducah Tilghman 5 Central Hardin 3 Warren Central 2 Heath 1 Reidland TB - Paducah Tilghman

1) Ft. Campbell 2) Desales 3) Corbin 4) NCC 5) Monroe Co. 6) Murray 7) Prestonsburg 8) Shelby Valley

He actually popped in my mind as I made that statement, but we'll have to agree to disagree. No doubt Rice is one of best LBs in NKY, but I think Bowman does more both ways IMO. And yes, both sides were hit by illness so I'm trying to stress the % of sick, the loss of practice time, and the layoff between games more than the actual physical impact.

Remember I wasn't there, but listened to the call on the internet: why do I think Brossart should have beaten Ludlow? Reason 1) KO Return and 94 yard run only scores for Ludlow in the 1st half and that was fairly well into the game after Brossart was up 14. I think with a full week of practice special teams and defense don't let those happen. Reason 2) Brossart falls apart in 2nd half. Ashcraft dominates over a Stang defense that was depleted - recovery from illness, havent played in weeks, lack of a full week of practice, pick your reason. Reason 3) Bowman is best player on that field IMO. From what I could tell from the call he was doing 75% of the work out there it seemed like. Give him more support on both sides, different game. These 3 reasons being said, I know Ludlow was missing some key players but I think you give Brossart just a game and some more practice since that third game of the season and they win this game. Relating this all back to the thread at hand, take those three reasons, multiply their influence by ten because of the short week, and add a better opponent and youre looking at an ugly game.

Highlands 35 - 6. Run, run, run all night no matter who is at QB, which I hope its not Will because this game shouldn't be close enough to risk any further injuries. Heck, through Austin back there at QB and run the wildcat! You've got three high quality running backs to work with. In all seriousness, put Towles back there if you think he's going to start next year, which IMO he will. Let your RBs and your defense be the heart and soul of this game though. Grind it out smashmouth style with a few inevitable huge rushing plays.

I think Bellevue is a 35 point favorite in the best of Mustang circumstances. Saying that, listening to the game last night it was evident the Stangs were exhausted in the second half against a team I think they should have beaten. No way they have the legs to put up a fight on Friday after playing a tough loss Monday, missing a week of practice, and still have players getting their wind back after being ill. Bellevue by whatever amount they choose.

7 KCD 5 Caldwell Co. 3 Union Co. 2 Monroe Co. 1 Edmonson Co. TB - Monroe Co.

7 Scott Co. 5 West Jessamine 3 Central Hardin 2 Henry Clay 1 Anderson Co. TB - West Jessamine

7 Scott 5 Carroll Co. 3 Dayton 2 Gallatin Co. 1 Conner TB - Scott

The only changes I would make to the Top Ten Teams would be Conner jumping to #5 and CovCath being replaced by Campbell at 10. And though I won't do it here in the very preseason, I think youre going to see McLeish be the third best player in NKY this year.

7 Calloway Co. 5 Franklin-Simpson 3 Hancock 2 Reidland 1 Green Co. TB - Calloway Co.

7 Corbin 5 Rowan Co. 3 Allen Central 2 Sheldon Clark 1 Johnson Central TB - Corbin

7 Franklin-Simpson 5 Powell Co. 3 East Jessamine 2 Wayne Co. 1 Lexington Christian TB Powell Co.

Uh, alot. Not because recruiting was involved, because my belief is it doesnt. But thats not for this discussion. But to your point I know plenty of families with one kid at HHS and one kid at NCC, including MINE.