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West will have to have a great game by their bigs; Polson is the team and has the ability to drive the lane when he chooses. Limiting Mercer's second chance points will be key to return back to the sweet 16.

Every fan would've second guessed him when he elected to kick it to Taylor Ratliff, who is a dangerous returner, and ran it back for a game tying TD before the half ended. Great defensive and unstoppable rushing game provailed in the end despite coming from behind to pick up the W. However, Harlan is playing with a different level of energy the past 2 weeks. Andrew Link will need to continue his production against Hazard if Harlan wants to remain competitive in that game.

Logan Johnson's numbers were definetly down; I believe that he only had 3 completed passes. I will be tough test for HCC secondary, who should be up to the task. Will be the closest region 8 game.

Both teams have been playing very well. I agree that it will be a different LCC that will not overlook HCC, however I still pick HCC in a close game. HCC 27 LCC 21

Another question with regard to developing talent is the socioeconomic status of the school district. Parents that have money are able to send their kids to individual camps, personal trainers, ect. Fort Thomas is one of the more prominent cities in Northern Kentucky.

A complaint that is valid when comparing school districts that do vs. those that do not, specifically at the middle school level. In high school, most kids have physically matured to their potential and it becomes irrelevant. HCC does have a chance to win the region this year, but will it have the talent in future years to remain competive in the region.

Participation is great, HOWEVER the talent has to there. It does matter if you have one or 5 middle school, if the overall team talent is not there, then you can not expect to compete for state championships. The question that needs to be examined is does Harlan County lack the talent needed to be competive with the likes of Highlands or are talented kids not developing or participating? If you try to gauge the success of New Harlan, your argument is weak due to the emerge of "hold backs." IMO holding a student back for shear athletics is insane.

Amis could arguably be the best player in the region; he possesses 4.5 speed and will likely play DB in college. Perry Co. Central did beat North Laurel, which beat Pulaski when it had Chris Muse.

I agree that pee wee league is the smartest move yet to get kids introducted to the game. The challenge is to keep kids interested enough through elementary and middle school and then into high school. The hope is that the success of both the county and city schools will trickle down to the younger players, which will inspire them to want to play high school football.

An interesting story has got to be the struggles of Channing Fugate, a kid who committed to Tennessee before the season and was one of the leading candiates for Mr. Football.

Still nowhere near the talent that Knox Central had defensively; which is why good defensive coordinators have seen Harlan's ineffeciency throwing the ball and the overall lack of speed from the receivers that they can play man coverage and cheat up the safety. The offensive scheme against Knox was good, however the inability for the line to create holes handicapped the offense.

The fact of the matter is that the middle school situation will not change, so how do improve upon the present dynamic. It starts with uncovering the lack of participation that has plagued middle school football; only then will you understand the true reason why kids don't play football. You simply can't fix something if you do not know what's broken.

Definetly more supervision is needed by Larkey to ensure kids are taught proper fundamentals, as well as have more guidance from him on the type of offense and defense to run at that level. On the all-star team, kids have routinely left other schools to play for New Harlan. The reason is everyone wants to play for a winning team, when middle school teams such as Evarts have struggled over the years. When Harlan Middle School struggled kids left the city for this same reason.

Harlan did not play Middlesboro, as earlier posted.

Harlan's o-line is not as physical as one might think and it shows when facing more aggressive defensive teams, ie. Hazard and Knox.

Highlands actually has only one middle school.

New Harlan was the worst idea for the overall benefit to the high school; yeah New Harlan sends a message to kids from Evarts and Cumberland that this is our all star middle school and you can join them in 9th grade, especially with the amount of press New Harlan receives. There are tremedous benefits by splitting up New Harlan. First, it levels the playing field for Cumberland and Evarts. Secondly, it makes scheduling much easier for everyone. Lastly, it promotes an increase in football participation because some students and parents do not want to play against the more talented New Harlan.

The problem with 3 middle schools it makes it more difficult for Larkey to oversee the educational facet at that level; having one middle school affords the head couch with a much easier time supervising what is taught at that level. Do not kid yourself in believing that every middle school instructs there players the same, therefore Larkey could make sure the fundamentals are being learned in the manner he wants. The argument is moot because I don't believe Harlan Co. will have one county middle school.

All indications would point to Southwestern with it being a home game, having last week off, and a lop sided loss already to Southwestern; however, HCC's offense has improved over the course of the season and they proven they can beat teams with similar talent went it matters. Coach Larkey has to repair the psyche to it previous state after getting handled by Bell Co and not allowing the earlier loss to play into the game if Southwestern scores first. HCC 28 SW 20

HCC will go back to Southwestern for a rematch with a different and an improved offense than their previous game.

A little surprised by the score and I hope HCC fans recognize that this team is no where near the caliber of Bell County; will HCC be able to contend with Bell Co in future, maybe, but Bell has one middle school team vs. HCC having 3 team. Does it really make a difference, I think it does.

Harlan faces a very winnable game at home vs. Paintsville. Harlan ran into a bigger and more physical team tonight. Knox is still a young team and will be very good next year.

Harlan's only glimmer of hope is Knox Central barely beat Williamsburg, but since then have played solid; I'm afraid that Knox Central is too strong on the D line, which will neutralize Link's effectiveness; Knox D limited McCreary Central speedy backs Roark and Watts to under 50 yds rushing; Knox will win this game easily.

Bell County has too much team speed plus talent; I don't see anyway HC can keep this game close; HC needs to limit TJ's carries because they can not afford him to get injuried with the upcoming and winnable playoff games.

Letcher Central could possibly be the best team in region, despite the losses to HC and Belfry; a Belfry loss due to a lost fumble that resulted in the winning TD late in 4th, not as dramatic but similar to HC.