ATLCat

Raceland should give Belfry a call. They have had numerous scrimmages together over the years including this year and Belfry always needs help filling their schedule, especially with teams from a reasonable drive away.

Maybe.... maybe not. The fumble doesn't necessarily change that if Pikeville doesn't make the same play call once they get the ball again for their next possession that they don't score on the same play as well. Obviously they called a play that caught CovCath in either the right defense or in the wrong position. With that said, it goes to prove that in football you can't control the calls on the field and one missed call may have an effect, but it will never make up for the 100 snaps that happen around it where you just need to try to win more of those snaps than you lose. CovCath won because they won more of those snaps, especially at the start of the game. Pikeville lost because CovCath won more snaps.

Any “All-Time” list at Russell means you are pretty good player.

3A vs. 2A this week... Three big games amongst the top teams in each class.

@Poke the Bird If Highlands had a 3 point loss to Scott County and a 69-0 win over a lesser foe would the natives still be this restless?

Nothing... just a whole lot easier to stand up in than the ocean.

Pikeville goes from swimming in the ocean to swimming in an above ground pool. Playing in Paintsville is never easy, but I will take Pikeville by 3-4 TD's.

I don’t think LCA is quite as dominant as they were last year, but they are still a very good football team. Belfry’s secondary is very young and there are some opportunities to get open against them. If Belfry hangs on to the football they may string a few nice drives of ether and shorten the game, but at the end of the game LCA just has more seasoned experience at more positions. LCA-35 Belfry-21

It’s a good news/bad news scenario for Belfry. The Belfry talent pool and numbers took a big hit for a few years. The economy hit the area hard and some good families had to move away and then as typically the case at a small rural school, Belfry just didn’t have the talent pool. You could see the issue coming as Belfry was losing middle school games to the area teams they used to beat. The COVID year masked it a bit as Dixon came back and carried Belfry to a title, but Belfry had the smallest roster size I have ever seen under Haywood last year with maybe 40 players. Belfry had the cyclical talent return though and the last two years won back to back MS State Championships. Two years ago it was a team loaded with 7th Graders with some key 8th Graders then last year it was a bumper crop of 8th Grade talent that proved they would be a special group. The Sophomores who are playing key roles were those kids from two years ago and now that special bumper crop are Freshmen. Belfry’s roster size reflects this as it is now back in the 50’s where it usually hangs. Not a ton of Senior experience on this team but an absolute load of future stars in the underclass ranks. In other words, if you were going to beat Belfry you needed to do it the last two seasons and during this season while they are still young. The fact Belfry won a title last year and reached the Semis two years ago was a testament to how good Dixon was, how good Haywood is at coaching what he has, and also a testament that 3A has been a pretty weak class. If Belfry can avoid major injuries they could be a Top 7-10 team in KY regardless of class in a couple years like they were in 2015-2016.

Watching Belfry here are my thoughts: 1. The Pirates are still nowhere near the level of the 2015 & 2016 teams, but that is not a fair bar because those were two of the strongest small school teams to come out of KY. They are also a far cry from the 2011-2014 teams who could go toe to toe with essentially most every team in the State. I will even say, where Belfry sits now they aren't nearly as good as the 2019 team.... with that said, they are already a better all around team than last year save having Mr. Football who could will them to victory. With that said, this Belfry team has the potential to grow into something very special over the next few years. I have never seen a Belfry team this young, let alone a Belfry team this young with players who are not necessarily in over their heads. 2. Belfry's starting backfield is two Freshmen (QB, HB) and two Juniors (FB, HB).. one of those Juniors is learning the position as he was forced into being a QB last year (Woolum). The other Junior is Dre Young who looks like a completely different player since having a solid 2021 campaign. Belfry also has a Freshman SE who may end up being one of the best weapons Belfry has had at that spot in quite some time. They also start a Freshman DB who has played pretty well and had his first INT last night. This team is littered with Freshman and Sophomores playing key minutes, and arguably their best defensive player is a Sophomore as well. Long story short, these are kids who still have a lot of growth and development both physically and non-physically left to do. If Belfry can avoid major injuries there may not be another team in the State who will grow from August to November more. I mentioned it in the game thread, but Belfry is about to be a problem the next couple years. 3. With all that said, I fully expect Belfry to once again be a case study in what is wrong with the RPI system. I am going to predict this is the only non-district game they win... their schedule is brutal from here on out: LCA, Central, Pikeville, & Johnson Central. Bourbon County is a solid team with some elite level skill talent, but Bourbon will probably win only 3 or 4 games max. Belfry will be lucky to have a Top 10 RPI in 3A even though they challenge themselves to play the toughest schedule most likely. 4. Will Belfry win the 3A Title this year? No clue... 3A has been the weakest class at the top the past couple years but I think with CAL and Tilghman it will be a good bit better than it has been. Lawrence County is going to be a stiff test for Belfry as well and Glasgow looks to be strong. With such a young team Belfry is a wildcard, but I do know that they have a chance to begina run of doing very special things starting with this year.

Nice bounce-back for Belfry after this game took forever to get started. Pirates' young backfield got everything they wanted and held on to the ball. BELFRY 49 carries, 460 yards Dre Young 19 carries, 184 yards, 2 TD Caden Woolum 8 carries, 111 yards, TD Ace Caudill 8 carries, 91 yards Chase Varney 33 yards, 3 TD, 0/3 passing, INT BOURBON 16 carries, 48 yards Estes 13/24, 90 yards, 2 INT, 2 rushing TD's

FINAL Belfry 42 Bourbon County 14

Estes gets into the endzone on a designed run for his second score. 6:17 ion running clock n 4th 42-14

END OF 3RD QUARTER 42-6 Belfry

Freshman Ace Caudill now doing some heavy lifting this drive. Belfry has to be over 400 rushing yards now. Every Belfry drive has led to a TD aside from the one to end the First Half up against the clock. Belfry trying to finish a 97 yard drive. Young does just that from a yard out. 1:26 in 3rd Belfry 42 Bourbon 6

Another Belfry Freshman making their mark, Cayden Varney with an INT. Belfry takes over inside their own 5.

Second game of a Bowl Game and then right before it was set to start it was delayed for a nasty storm with lightning. Was about a hour and a half to two hour delay.

FB Dre Young pops a 51 yard score. This kid has improved leaps and bounds since having a solid Sophomore campaign. 9:17 in 3rd Belfry 35-6

Belfry gets another nice drive but up against the clock they throw an interception to Santiago trying to get within scoring distance. HALF Belfry 28 Bourbon 6

1:17 in 2nd Belfry 28-6

Estes hits the jets and finds the corner of the end zone himself. Make no doubt about it, Bourbon has some dudes on Offense.

Chase Varney’s third rushing TD as he bounced it outside and found the goal line. 4:46 in 2nd Belfry 28-0

Belfry is going to be a problem the next couple years. Very young but very scary talent at the skill spots. The Varney kid at QB is going to be special.

Interception Belfry Bourbon has some fine talent on offense. Estes is a really dynamic QB, they have some good receivers around him, but it’s kind of playground football. Bourbons oline leaves a lot to be desired and their defense lacks depth and size up front.

Same story as last drive. Young takes it to the one and then Barney sneaks it in. 84 yards in 4 plays 6:23 in 2nd Belfry 21-0