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ATLCat

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Everything posted by ATLCat

  1. This change does have a potential effect on football though, all jokes aside. Been a lot of disgruntled natives and a handful of defectors that took football players off the team and out of the school because kids actually do care for the other sports they play at Belfry outside of Fall. Hagy doing double duty as the basketball and baseball coach definitely had it's fair share of critics in the Pond Creek community and even caused some to uproot to take their kids to a different school. We will see if he still coaches baseball. The good news for whoever they hire as the basketball coach is there are probably two to three players who did not come out this year that will most likely be on the basketball roster next year with the change at the top.
  2. I don't know what to expect of Belfry. They should have a very good QB in Varney, they have Ace Caudill as a big play threat at HB, and they should have a solid OLine. Jeremiah Austin should do a solid job at FB but Belfry really needs a more physical HB to get the yards between the tackles. JB Woolum is going to be a very good football player so maybe it is him who takes the next step? Cayden Varney coming back after an unfortunate injury ended his season on a cheap shot and he could also see some reps at HB. Defensively Belfry should be ok... but I don't see a Championship caliber defense able to change teams and make them do something uncomfortable. The size and depth simply isn't there. Losing Caden Woolum and Dre Young are big holes. Woolum was not only an excellent RB but he was clearly their biggest receiving threat. You could also argue both were Belfry's best players on the defensive side of the ball as well. Belfry's LB play on the whole has got to improve immensely. They really struggled to get off blocks and struggled to get sideline to sideline against speed. You could see this in their final defeat as Daniel Thomas just grinded them to a pulp 6-8 yards at a time. I don't see Belfry being a legitimate threat for the 3A title with the program CAL has going. I would probably ticket Belfry in the 6-10 range right now.
  3. OCath is my #1... which when you have Beechwood, Mayfield, and LCA is saying something. To return Brady Atwell is one thing all itself, but when they return basically all of their other top offensive weapons... well... if OCath wants to win a title this will be the year they need to do it.
  4. I expect Hart County to take a step back. That was a massive and experienced Senior Class they are losing. Union County also will be hit very hard by graduation. Bell County will be a Top 10 team but losing Daniel Thomas is a killer. He literally carried that team. East Carter is a team I think we need to put a little more respect on their name. That coaching staff has turned them into a viable program. Belfry is a wildcard. If the players who were underclassmen all return they will be a Top 5 team... but it also wouldn't surprise me to see key players go to other schools and the Pirates not be a threat at all. Rockcastle County is also a wildcard. Big and talented Senior Class lost. Lawrence County and Franklin-Simpson both should be in consideration.
  5. They had a 3 year run of Championships, but Pikeville was a powerhouse basically the entirety of the 80's and 90's. They just kept having to face Beechwood in the Semi-Finals. Lots of close games with the Tigers that didn't go their way just to watch Beechwood hoist the trophy a week later. When Hilliard Howard retired Pikeville took a step back as they had to sort through a coaching carousel of sorts in the 2000's that also coincided with the rise of Belfry to prominence. Pikeville then started following the Belfry roadmap. They reinvested heavily in seeking stability and Chris McNamee came home to be the Head Coach for the long haul. They overhauled their feeder program and benefitted from former QB Matt Branham taking a prominent role. They organized their boosters and did a great job of fund-raising. This led to facility upgrades. Pikeville has always been a very strong academic High School... one of the better academic schools in EKY if not the best. Their AD has also done a fantastic job of making them a well balanced athletic program in all sports for both boys and girls. When you combine the academics with the overall athletics the talent pool started to flow their direction with families wanting their kids to be at Pikeville. As the mining economy has slipped in the area, Pikeville as a town has actually still flourished because the town is not nearly as reliant on coal for major industry as other areas around. Lots of professional jobs have kept the population base pretty consistent and whereas most rural schools have seen significant enrollment drops, Pikeville has grown. It also hasn't hurt that the two other monster small school powers, Mayfield and Beechwood, have been out of their class for the moot part. Pikeville probably still would be a monster the past decade (Beechwood was 1A and they clashed with Pikeville a few times), but having those two in other classes has opened a path Pikeville has stormed through. All this led to Pikeville re-emerging as a power in football. What made Pikeville a dynasty was they took their success and doubled down. No program in the State markets better than Pikeville with hype videos, jersey drops, etc. They also built a state of the art training facility and locker room that was miles ahead of any in EKY. Their feeder school is cooking and they are playing a Statewide schedule. If the rich couldn't get richer, as the Pikeville train was already cooking down the tracks.. you have had coaching turnover at other local schools and Belfry has had drama in their athletic program in ancillary sports that has led to multi-sport athletes leaving the school.
  6. Prince Avenue Christian wins their third title in four years and goes back to back defeating Swainsboro 49-32. QB Aaron Philo (Georgia Tech Commit) breaks the Georgia record for career yardage and ties the record for career TDs.
  7. Kid was the epitome of a workhorse back. Well deserved achievement. Think you can make arguments for Hensley and Hodge, but man alive those numbers are just other worldly that Thomas put up, and to lead his team to the Finals as basically the one man show kind of validated it.
  8. Just going to throw out there that if UK does in fact get Brock Vandagriff to transfer as their QB.. his dad is an ELITE level High School Coach at Prince Avenue Christian (GA) with an offense that Highlands fans would remember Dale Mueller while watching. With Brock's sister attending EKU.. maybe they could make an alluring offer to relocate his dad to make it easier to watch his kids plays. Just throwing it out there to stoke the already red hot fires.
  9. LCA I presume! That's a crazy stat. The only similar stat was 2015 Belfry defeated two State Champs and defeated three State Runner-Ups but I am not sure anyone will match that LCA feat.
  10. They tossed the idea around in GA after a huge blown call four or five years ago in the State Finals cost a team a title. It went viral and it was a very clear miss. Nothing ever came of it though. I have seen examples that were less than desirable where a video board showed a replay and despite not being correct protocol or what the rules state.. the referees have huddled and filibustered while eyes peaked at the video board and then suddenly the call on the field changed. The most egregious example of this was a Prince Avenue vs. Athens Academy game at Athens Academy. A Prince Avenue player was fighting for a first down on the sideline and the ball came out late. The officials ruled he was down by contact and it was a key 1sst Down conversion. The home team coach protested on the sidelines and argued with the officials. He then called a timeout to further argue and during the timeout the video screen started showing slow motion replays indicating it was a fumble. After the timeout the officials huddled then chose to reverse their call. Subsequently.. the same game a few minutes later on a crucial 4th Down. The Athens Academy ball carrier appears to be stopped short of the line to gain in the backfield and then lunges from the ground forward but the line judge gives a favorable spot by maybe two yards. This conversion effectively ends the game as Prince Avenue was down to a sole timeout. Having witnessed what played out earlier the Prince Avenue coach employs the same strategy of stalling in hopes the replay is shown and the refs reconsider. Wisely.. the home team Video Crew never show the replay and the call remains as called on the field.
  11. Prince Avenue Christian 49 Bryan County 14 Score was 42-0 at the Half and Bryan County gets some running clock success in the 2nd Half to make it a tad more respectable. Prince Avenue rematches from last year's state Finals against Swainsboro in the GHSA Class 1A Division 1 Finals. Another score of note from the current hometown: Valwood 42 John Milledge Academy 21 GIAA- AAA Championship John Milledge plays in the private only GISA and had the nation's longest winning streak in HS Football at 62 straight games. GHSA is the more widely accepted "tougher" football organization because it combines publics with the privates willing to submit to a multiplier and has a much, much larger pool of teams. As an example, there are (38) Class 1A-Division 1 teams and there are (12) GIAA Class 3A teams in John Milledge's classification. There are a total of (41) GIAA teams in all amongst four classes.
  12. Off hand I cannot think of one... specifically for a larger school. Would think a 1A or 2A team would be the most logical example if there is one. Mayfield or Beechwood for example would probably be the first places I would go Pre-RPI where they would see a "paper champion" undefeated team that had feasted on weak competition in the Regional Finals and then two solid undefeated teams in the Semi's and Finals.
  13. A few general observations that could be made: - Boyle County's success would definitely only strengthen their case on the high end. Danville has fallen off hard as a program which would buffer out success a tad bit, but the high end Boyle success mixed with a generally small population means I would expect them to remain a firm fixture at the top. - I would expect Campbell County to have dipped a little. Highlands and NewCath has had some decent seasons during the past six years, but the lack of Finals and Championships would reflect a significant slowing to the pace this County had a jump start on thanks to Highlands dynasty. The heavy population load would have worked against them. - Breathitt may have dropped a tick or two but probably not far. The low population works to their advantage and the Bobcats did muster a couple deeper playoff runs though the lack of Finals would have hurt them as some other Counties behind saw success. - Pike County probably would have seen significant growth with Belfry and Pikeville combining for six more titles and a runner-up finish. I would anticipate Pike County being #2 or #3 if I had to guess. -Johnson would have probably stayed pretty firm near the top and maybe moved up as well. Johnson Central and Paintsville had a couple titles and a handful of runner-ups combined. - Graves County would most likely stay at #2 as Mayfield had solid continued success. Graves County doesn't have the championship success Pike County has endured during the time, but between the head start in the numbers and the much smaller population it would be tough for Pike County to have caught Graves. -Fayette definitely would have seen benefit after being easily one of the most underachieving Counties. Frederick Douglass and LCA each bolstered the resume and even Bryan Station added contribution. - Bullitt also would have benefitted thanks to the Bullitt East title for a County that was deeply into the underachieving designation. - I would have expected Bell & Greenup to each use some Runner-Up finishes to leapfrog a few smaller Counties ahead of them like Monroe, Rockcastle, and probably Perry. Some ancillary success outside of Bell County and Raceland from teams like Middlesboro and Russell would only help. Pulaski has a decent size population and was a little further down the list, but probably had enough success to make some positive moves as well although I would anticipate it would only be a couple spots. - Simpson would have received a notable bump as well from a nice window Franklin-Simpson had mixed with the low population. - I would anticipate seeing Warren County firmly in the Top 15. South Warren and Bowling Green had no shortage of Finals success and deep runs.
  14. I searched and searched this weekend but unfortunately could not find the original spreadsheet I had compiled. To say my life situation and free time has changed a good bit since this post would be an understatement.. I wish I could dive back into it as there have definitely been some notable changes and also a new 2020 census with more up to date population numbers that could be applied.
  15. You guys are missing a key part of the original post.. data was from 2000 and on when it was applied. Basically it was to give a modern/current snapshot. "Using data from 2000 until the present I have broken down the entire State of Kentucky by County (for those that play football)."
  16. I would say Boyle continues to lap the field unless their population has seen a significant uptick.
  17. Brenden Anthony was the story here. He missed the regular season tilt when Raceland edged the Panthers but he was truly the difference maker today as he was the best player on the field on both sides of the football. Horse. Raceland fought valiantly. They are truly a great small school football program that should probably have a trophy or two in their case if not for their highwater mark as a program coinciding with Pikeville's high water mark. It just is unfortunate that Pikeville's high water mark is a little higher and the Rams have been unable to avoid them or the misfortune of not having their best teams when someone else has been able to actually knock Pikeville off in November. .
  18. Pikeville dynasty rolls on and as a Belfry fan it pains me... but I think this now puts Pikeville on the door step of claiming the King of the Mountains for all-time program supremacy. Pikeville and Belfry now each have (8) State Titles. The lone thread Belfry hangs on to is they have (7) Runner-Ups to Pikeville's (4). With that said, if the Panthers can get one more Championship Trophy you have to give them the overall edge. Side Note: That's also really dang impressive accomplishment for a rural Appalachian County to have (16) titles and a combined 27 Finals Appearances between two programs.
  19. Yep.. Pikeville then reached the semi-finals 6 of the next seven years in the 90's... but Beechwood kept eating their lunch most of those years in some instant classic games mixed with some blowouts.
  20. Worth noting without the mule that is dominating on both sides of the ball though... I mentioned it in the preview thread but getting Anthony is like adding 3 starters that were missing that game.
  21. The Panthers' previous high water mark was the late 80's. it falls short in comparison to the past decade though. It probably could have rivaled it had it carried over during the 90's but Beechwood was to Pikeville under Yeagle as Pikeville is to Raceland now.
  22. I feel bad for Raceland. Pikeville is just on a different stratosphere right now as a program and the Rams path just keeps having to go through the Panthers. Over the last decade Raceland has had a team plenty capable of winning multiple state titles but just can’t avoid Pikeville or having someone else take the Panthers out.
  23. Anthony is a horse. Pikeville is a good small school team without Anthony, but they are a great team with him.
  24. Brenden Anthony being healthy for this game when he didn't play in the regular season game is like adding 3 players to Pikeville. Raceland is well equipped to battle and potentially win, but I expect Anthony to play a key role as Pikeville wins another title.
  25. Seeing this thread title, seeing the the number of pages of discussion, and now knowing the outcome.
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