Mitch Rapp

Highlands has never needed a reason to run up the score. I get a kick out of watching some Highlands fans defend the many instances where Mueller ran up the score, while never missing an opportunity to demonize Jim Matney for alleged displays of poor sportsmanship. Yes, Highlands runs up scores. Patrick Towles played most of the second half in 2011 when the Birds beat Johnson Central 67-20. As PP92 said, just admit it and stop being hypocritical. :lol2:

The bottom line is that Matney did not run up the score on Ashland, and any fair minded person who looks at the scores of Johnson Central's other games this season would have to admit that he has not run up the score on any of JC's other opponents either. Tyler Pack has not had many opportunities to kick field goals this season, and his leg may be the difference in winning and losing a playoff game. There was nothing wrong with giving him a chance to tune-up for the playoffs. In fact, it was good coaching.

I never said that he was in danger of losing anything - just that nothing he is likely to do during the remainder of this season or next season will improve his stock over what it already is. How is that different than what you are saying?

Baker may be thinking that his stock will never be higher than it is right now. The Tomcats may win a playoff game and then travel to Highlands for another lopsided loss. Baker ended the regular season with a 20 yard on 10 carries performance against Johnson Central and his performance against Highlands will probably not be much better because the Tomcats do not have a strong line and their offense is anemic against teams with a decent defense. Next season promises more of the same for Baker, assuming that he stays in Ashland, so committing to Kentucky now makes perfect sense to me. He has great speed and will shine against weak competition but he will not get the opportunity to show his full potential in high school.

Dear Johnson Central powers that be, Please throw the gauntlet down and challenge Highlands and Covington Catholic to sign two-year home and away contracts. If neither team is willing to go on the road to play a 4A team in eastern Kentucky, then at least it will help put to rest the criticism of your scheduling efforts. In the worst case, the games would be great playoff preparation. In the best case, you could point to a couple of 4A state titles and to wins over the 5A state champions.

I am picking Johnson Central because Belfry is banged up and the game is in Paintsville - but this game is always a difficult one to predict. Since Matney came to JC, I consider this a friendly rivalry. Before that most JC fans probably considered it a less than friendly rivalry, but it was probably just another game for the Pirates. Until recent years, the series and most games were just too lopsided to be considered a rivalry. I hope some of Belfry's injured players are healthy enough to return for this game. The Golden Eagles need a late season challenge before the playoffs begin.

Yes, you can suddenly get better at the high school level. After winning 4 games in a three year period, Matney took over Johnson Central's program and went 7-3 in his first season competing in 5A. Although JC has dominated the series with Ashland since Matney arrived, under former coach, Leon Hart, the Tomcats were very competitive in most of the games that decided the district titles. Jim Matney is one of a handful of coaches in Kentucky that could take over almost any program and turn it into a winner in a two or three year period, with the support and patience of a decent administration. His players love to play for him and the overwhelming majority of parents love having their kids playing for him. Matney is a very confident man and he inspires confidence in his players. Johnson Central lost its entire starting backfield and most of its line from last year's team. They just held one of the top running backs in Kentucky to 20 yards on 10 carries. So what does his legion of critics want to spend the entire game thread discussing? A single play that set up a field goal in the closing minutes where most of the JC players on the field were freshmen. Running the score up does not require liberally subbing with freshmen players, letting the clock run down, and passing up opportunities to score touchdowns in favor of field goals. Really, the hatred of Jim Matney that some of you adults express on this website never ceases to amaze me.

Let's not forget that Henry Clay managed to put up 7 points against a healthy Belfry team to open the season.

7 Greenup County 5 Pikeville 3 Prestonsburg 2 Knox Central 1 Johnson Central TB - Johnson Central

Apparently you don't. Enough with the sour grapes. I am finished with this thread.

Tyler Pack kicked 4 field goals tonight against Ashland. If Matney had wanted to run the score up against the Tomcats, then he could have. The game was not as close as the final score indicates.

...and the Matney hatefest begins...or resumes after a short pause....

:ohbrother:

JC 39 Ashland 0 on Tyler Pack's third FG of the game.

Get used to it. This was Ashland's best chance at beating JC for the next three or four years. Ashland should be much better with the talent that they have in their backfield. Don't blame Matney because they aren't.

Johnson Central recovers a fumble on Ashland's first play from scrimmage.

JC 36 Ashland 0 running clock BTW, Johnson Central had more penalty yardage in the first half than the Tomcats did. Ashland was held to 50 yards rushing and Baker was held to 25 yards.

This game is for the district title and Ashland has two talented running backs. You will see a team run the score up on Ashland if they make it to the second round of the playoffs. Matney will sub liberally when and if Ashland subs for Baker and Long.

Johnson Central recovers an onside kick.

JC 28 Ashland 0 on 36 yd. pass from Workman to Skaggs.

Johnson Central 20 Ashland 0 on a 37 yd. field goal. Halftime

Some very questionable coaching by Ashland. They turned it over on downs on their own 45 yard line. Now the Golden Eagles are already in FG range on a 25 yard run by Workman. 18 secs. left in 1st.

Johnson Central 17 Ashland 0 1:22 left in half

Johnson Central 10 Ashland 0 11:19 2nd quarter.

Could win by 3-4 touchdowns - you seem to be struggling with that phrase. If JC is not 3 touchdowns better than Ashland, then Covington Catholic probably does not need to worry about missing the regional finals. Ashland's best teams have not fared very well in match-ups with JC during the Matney area and this is not one of the top Tomcats teams. I guess that we will soon see whether Johnson Central is overrated at #3.