ATLCat

I applaud the kid and his family for doing what they felt was best and it seems their chance is paying off with the amount of attention he is gathering... Now for Boyle fans... EARMUFFS. (I lowkey kind of would have liked to have seen what kind of season and excitement he would be generating if he were at Garrard still. Just think it would have been a sweeter story to watch play out kind of like WanDale at Western Hills)

Problem is, whether argument made or not, the scoreboard shows them losing that game to Perry Central so you have to put PCC ahead of them. Perry Central has a lopsided loss to Lawrence County, who in turn has a loss to Shelby Valley. I think Somerset is in the 11-15 range. Pulaski and Southwestern, to your point, has played big schools and a couple big time schools as well. Clay County is the team I probably question the most. They are 3-0 but have punched way down against three Class A teams with low expectations. Not sure they have proved enough to me to warrant a spot over teams with at least respectable wins. If I were ranking I would have Clay and Pike Central both in that 15-16 range until they can prove their mettle with a quality win. Pike Central might end up going 6-0 before we know if they are legit or not. Clay County may be 8-0 until we know with them, they do have a Rockcastle team that is also a mystery before that though.

I don't know what to make of this Belfry team yet. Their line played very good in the First Half against Johnson Central. QB Chase Varney looks tremendous and the passing threat for Belfry is real. Woolum and Caudill have made plays. That GRC game also was wild because Belfry actually had a two TD lead before a hook and ladder at the very end of the Half. What I can say is Belfry has definitely struggled in the 2nd Half as their depth and amount of two ways players has came on. Southwestern is 0-2, but those are two excellent teams they lost to that they played very tough. They also had no issue moving the ball on those teams which does not bode well for a Belfry defense that still struggles against a balanced offense that can run the ball. I will take the Warriors by 14.

What I Like: 1. This is a luxury that other states don't have. To be able to have game stats, season stats, past seasons, team vs. team history, and the RPI all in one place is really a tremendous thing. 2. I like how easy it is to find as well even on mobile. 3. I like that you can easily navigate to different sports and teams without having to leave. For example in basketball season it makes it easy to check in on both boys and girls teams. It is also nice that if I want to look at a 3A team and then find a 2A team so I can compare RPI of the different classes it takes very little time. What I Don't Like: 1. Nothing... I can only offer suggestions for taking it to the next level. What I Would Love to See Added/Improved: 1. Live score updates. It is asking a lot I know... but if there was a text server where authorized score updates could be sent or authorized school twitter accounts could tweet and tag the scoreboard and the scoreboard updated to reflect, it would be awesome. Don't need time, possession, or down & distance.. Just the most recent Score and Quarter. In Georgia I use this every week. http://www.scoreatl.com/scoreboard/ I also notice that broadcast crews down here keep that scoreboard pulled up at all times so they can do local score updates. This is a great website with great coverage, but you probably only have about 25% of regular season games updated with regularity because there simply aren't fans from most schools posting. 2. A class filter for football would be nice. "Sort By: AA" would only show games involving AA schools. Maybe for other sports you could sort by Region. 3. This is reaching far I know.. but might as well paint the picture of a dream scenario. Assuming live scores could be a thing, I also would love a scenario that takes it a step further where you could essentially choose a stable of schools/sports and get a text notification when the live scoreboard changes.

Wow.. I will take it!

Wow! Color me surprised. I know JC is banged up but didn’t expect this.

Scoring that many combined points in a Freshman game is not easy. Had to be a lot of big plays I presume? Reminds me of a Freshman basketball game I played where we lost 104-86 to Man, WV. I am not sure our varsity even scored 86 points that season in a single game. LOL. How did that happen you may ask? Well apparently WV played varsity length quarters in Freshman games. We also both pressed each other (very ineffectively) leading to lots of layups and wide open 3's in transition in addition to the few times the press did work leading to quick/easy baskets. I remember I scored 22 points that night and it was only the 6th highest point total between the two teams. They had 3 guys score over 25 points each and we had a guy go for 28.

To be fair, I am not sure how much a loss to Boyle says about LCA. I don't see a team outside of the best in 6A that I would expect to beat Boyle head to head right now. If LCA beats Boyle, then watch out... if LCA plays Boyle close then watch out... but if Boyle beats LCA, even by a substantial margin, I don't necessarily think it means LCA is a pretender.

LCA will score. Boyle will score more. Boyle by 2 TD's.

Statement Wins: LCA- That is a huge statement against a 5A contender and proves 2A teams better pack a lunch to defend them. Boyle County- The hype is real and the speed is real. They thoroughly beat down a solid OOS team. Pikeville- Pulaski is a solid 5A school, you don't see 1A schools dominate solid 5A schools like that unless they are special. Highlands- I ain't saying they are back, but I am saying that Bob Sphire has them back playing at a high level at the very least. Trinity- That's a statement to the rest of 6A that you better not get comfortable expecting the Shamrocks to stay down long. Bullitt East- Probably not a one hit wonder. The Chargers are still going to be expected to win a lot of games. Statement Losses: Paintsville- Go ahead and scratch Paintsville off your 1A Contenders card. Hazard- See above. Hopkinsville- Not a good look for the Tigers. Somerset- A different definition of a statement loss. This statement is that we need more and better officials who understand the rules. Freddy D- That's a really good team they played and it doesn't mean that the Broncos are done for... but it does mean that they are not a special team/program that can carry the KY flag like some of the better Trinity teams could. A Little of Both: Lloyd/NCC- I see you Lloyd.... meanwhile NCC probably wishes noone would like at them for a while after that. Ballard/Southwestern- Both teams probably cemented themselves as Top 20 teams regardless of class. Belfry/Breathitt- Belfry looks much improved and looks like a Top 5 3A team... Breathitt looks like a 2A Pretender. Tilghman/McCracken- Tilghman definitely has a good team, but McCracken will once again underperform and watch their program play at a level below expectations.

Line of Scrimmage. Possession. It all comes down to the Line of Scrimmage & Possession. That's how Johnson Central wins, that is how Pikeville wins against larger schools. I think Johnson Central has a size and depth advantage up front, but Pikeville will try to overcome that with speed and quickness. There are not many 1A thru 3A teams who can compete with Johnson Central up front, but Pikeville may be the exception. They key to Pikeville winning will be if they can supplement with an efficient and effective short to intermediate pass game. Keep the sticks moving, keep the clock moving, and force Johnson Central to have to be perfect in their run game with McCoart banged up. If Pikeville's passing game is effective they actually have more margin for error on offense than Johnson Central who may be one holding penalty away from their drive stalling. It will not surprise me in the least to see Pikeville win this game, but based off size, depth, and physicality I will give Johnson Central a TD or less edge.

Whether Pikeville wins this game or not.... Start making the trophy.

I saw some very, very promising performances from Belfry. Three,,, maybe four (depending on definition) TD passes from Belfry. This was a running clock early in the 3rd on the road against a team entering the season with lots of optimism. Belfry staff has put in a ton of effort to enrich the offense and add passing components. They also have made some defensive adjustments I liked a lot. I won’t say I saw a championship caliber Belfry team, but they looked solid and looked improved over last year.

He said Male was also impressive but he thought CAL looked like a better team than Male and played more in sync.

Their HC Greg Vandagriff is a mad genius. His son is former 5* recruit Brock Vandagriff who is at Georgia. Prince's OC is John Richt, son of Mark Richt, who actually had a stint as either OC or QB coach at Miami. Their QB Aaron Philo has a chance to finish his career Top 3 all-time in the State of Georgia in yards and TD's if he stays healthy and they make a deep push. What is crazy is Prince has to replace every starting WR and all but one of their secondary from last season and they still looked that cohesive. Their offense is a thing of beauty and in full pads they play at a fast tempo meant to wear opponents out. If you ever want to see football genius in action watch their State Championship game last year. They played an amazing foe loaded with high end D1 talent and fell behind big early but absolutely wore them out physically. You can hear Vandagriff calling his shot at halftime that they were going to do it. As a bonus, watch one of the gutsiest football performances I have ever seen from Prince Avenue's Bailey Stockton who had a huge game despite playing with a broken collarbone suffered just three weeks earlier. Highlands fans will smile thinking of how Dale Mueller and some of his Championship wins where he did the same thing of just wearing teams out stamina wise.

CAL looked strong at that 7 on 7. That may be one of the best 7 on 7's in the Country and CAL went 6-1 in pool play and lost in the Semi's of their bracket. The team that beat them in the Semi-Finals of their bracket is Walton, GA who may be one of the favorites to win Georgia's largest classification. My nephew's team finished as the runner-up in the other bracket. They never got a chance to play CAL, they did play Highlands, but he watched CAL a little and was super impressed. Said he was surprised CAL's QB isn't being more heavily recruited because he thought he was a super star.

My nephew's team, Prince Avenue Christian, beat Highlands out of the 7 vs. 7 tournament. He said they were really skilled and very competitive with most of the teams they faced. FWIW, Prince Avenue won the Georgia Class A title last year and finished ranked in the Top 100 in Maxpreps. They return a QB going to Wake Forest and should be very good this year. Thinking Highlands should be pretty solid! Prince Avenue ended up reaching the finals of one of the brackets and lost to a very good Gainesville, GA team 26-20 that will be one of the heavy favorites in Georgia 6A and probably a Top 100 team in the country.

The RPI aspect is real, IMHO. Let's take Pikeville and JC aside. I think Southwestern replacing Pulaski is the truest sense of a wash. Trade LCA for Breathitt. Breathitt is a respectable program, but that is definitely a step down from a Top 10-15 overall team in KY to team probably in the Top 40-50 range and you go from underdog to slight favorite. Trade Louisville Central for Letcher Central. Considerable step down but you still get a chance to "play up" against a team who should have 6 or 7 wins. Belfry beating Central was a pretty big upset last year. Once again you go from underdog to favorite. Pike County Bowl is trickier due to the two way agreements... GRC is probably an upgrade over Bourbon County but a step down from the last three teams they have seen in this game. CovCath, LCA, & Huntington(WV). 2015/2016 Belfry is probably 9-1 or most likely 10-0 against this schedule. 2021/2022 Belfry is probably 5-5 or 6-4 against this schedule. I think 7-3 is a good prediction for 2023. That gives them two more quality RPI wins over last season and three more than 2021. Does that get them a top 1 or 2 seed in the Semi-State? Probably not.. but it probably gets them to a 3-seed or 2-seed in the Semi-State if they can win the District and advance to Round 3.

I wasted a lot of time typing that just to realize Belfry is playing JC and not in the Pike County Bowl LOL

It appears that Belfry has significantly scaled their schedule back in general. I present different thoughts/excuses/reasons/pontifications/blah blah blah...😉 The Rose Colored Glasses Response- Belfry has been a prime case study on the negative side effects of the RPI. A small school program that has had to search far and wide and in most cases playing up or across state lines to find teams who will either play them or posses a challenge. Belfry has been penalized for playing a difficult schedule and quality losses to the point it has resulted in a handicap of spending a lot of time on the road in the playoffs travelling to teams who have benefitted from beating weaker teams. Belfry has also seen their historic rival Pikeville elevate their program and what was once a game Belfry was the clear favorite for decades, has since become a toss-up at best and most likely a game Belfry is expected to lose. As such, Belfry probably sees the need to play for the RPI points and to maximize the efficiency of their schedule to make it as competitive as possible, while still offering more opportunities to get victories since the RPI greatly favors winning weak over losing strong. Johnson Central was a casualty of this schedule conundrum. The Silver Lining Response- (Insert the Same RPI Discussion 1st Paragraph Above) In addition to this, Belfry has not been the same team just four or five years ago. The talent pool took a large lull predicated on a number of factors. Sure... Belfry won a title in 2021, but it was a bit of fool's gold. Isaac Dixon carried that team to glory, they also had a favorable path open up in a down Class 3A. That was a 4-6 team entering the playoffs who took it on the chin multiple times and they faced another team who went 4-6 in the regular season in Tilghman. This lull in talent came to a head with a very disappointing 2022 where Belfry failed to win the District for the first time in recent memory and took a massive beatdown to Ashland in the 2nd Round. Things are looking bright for the long term future of Belfry as they have a ton of young talent in the Freshman and Sophomore ranks, but the Pirates are still probably a couple years from being a serious title threat once more in 3A, but the painful truth is right now Belfry is simply not swimming in the same depths of a powerhouse large school like Johnson Central. As fun as those games have been, what made them fun was the fact it was two Top 15 overall programs in the State of Kentucky regardless of class dueling it out most years. Right now Belfry is simply not competitive enough to see benefits facing Johnson Central and they are also simply not physically mature enough with such a young roster that the risk for costly injury to players vital to playoff success is a juice not worth the squeeze. The Realist Response Ignore the RPI, ignore the getting hurt, ignore the reasoning all together. This is pretty bad form. Belfry has complained for a decade plus that no one wants to play them. Belfry has gloated about how Ashland forfeited a Middle School Playoff game because they feared physical injury. Belfry has crowed to the roof top how playing one of the hardest schedules pound for pound in the State prepares them for the playoffs and November wins matter more than September and October wins. You can't beat your chest on these things and then turn around and give up a local rivalry with a program from the same athletic region, that has been an ally and intertwined with your program at the feeder level up for the better part of two decades. You can't cite injuries. If you plan to schedule down for the RPI you have to do it in the Non-District games of teams not called Pikeville & Johnson Central. On top of that, you can't fill the game you were playing Johnson Central with a team from their District and you can't fill the week Johnson Central suggested with a team from a class higher if these are the reasons you are giving. As for the cherry on the top... Johnson Central was your kindred spirit. They knew the pain of having to drive 2.5 hours plus for non-district games, facing the top big school programs in WV, and begging people to play on their home field just to fill a 10 game schedule. By dropping this game you just made their life harder as well when you know how difficult of a hole that is to fill.

HAHA it depends. There are two types of teams you schedule out of District. Most teams schedule the team they think they will beat and there is a value in that... especially with the RPI. On the other hand, some teams schedule to grow their program or schedule to prepare by playing a team who gives them looks that makes them capable of playing specific teams that may be in their way. Prince Avenue is a bear of a team, but they are still a 1A school. For a team like a Corbin or one of these teams trying to get over the Boyle County hump they would be an excellent pick-up because you can prepare for some similar schemes and tempo against a similar level of skill/coaching. For anyone interested they need two games and would be open to travel, here are their open dates to work around: 8/25 9/22 10/6 10/13

As a Belfry fan I honestly have no way to know the answer to this. HAHA

If you have an Open Date and want to play a State Champion team with a good core returning I may be of assistance as well. Please PM me if interested and I can get Prince Avenue Christian School from Georgia needs an opponent for the weekend of October 6th. Chattanooga Baylor was under contract and supposed to return a Home and Home and opted to drop. Baylor won the TN State Championship but was defeated by Prince Avenue. PACS won the Georgia 1A Division 1 Championship going 14-0. They finished as a Top 100 team in the Country in the Calpreps ratings and one of the highest ranked small schools in the Country. They return one of the top QB's in the State of Georgia (one of the Nation's leading passers) and three or four players with D-1 offers, they probably will take a small step back after losing a talented Senior Class but will still be a Championship caliber team. Would be a 2A school in KY. I am sure they would prefer a home game to replace the home game lost, but also would be open to travel and have not been afraid of scheduling or travelling in the past. They were slated to travel to Texas for an ESPN game but it was cancelled due to COVID a couple years ago.

Spelling out “Lloyd Memorial” and “Juggernauts” in the end zones gives me anxiety. That is a whole bunch of letters and they are going to be hard to be spaced congruently. ”Lloyd” and “Juggs” on the other hand… nice, tidy, and bold.

What can you expect? I am not sure... HAHA. Salmons has brought Midland to it's highwater mark as a program and they are usually a strong team who plays strong competition against the other big schools. With that said, Midland has been summitting and regressing his tenure. The Huntington area is traditionally outside of Martinsburg where the best football in WV is played. Usually Midland, Huntington, and Spring Valley are all pretty competitive with each other and alternate beating each other. I don't know enough to know if Midland is back on the come up or not. When they are up they are as good as most 6A schools in KY outside of the Louisville powerhouses, when they are down they are similar to some of the generic Northern Kentucky 6A teams. Salmons prefers playing a ball control offense heavily predicated on their run game. What I have always compared them to in terms of their roster makeup is Simon Kenton. Big numbers, no lack of size or individual talent, but they really need those bumper years with multiple elite players to overcome the fact that they traditionally struggle if you can defend the run. Not usually a ton of elite athletes or D-1 players, but they will produce some guys, especially up front. Should be a competitive series.