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Taylor Co. over Knox Central. Coach Hilton has never lost to Knox (25-0) at Bell. I just believe that he will out coach them. Taylor has nothing to lose and Knox has everything to lose. This is a classic. Gotta love an underdog with a chip on their shoulder.

Let me say it Tradition!!!! Desales, Bardstown, Glasgow, Middlesboro, Somerset, Newport Central Catholic and Danville have been down this road many times. The thing about them is they never panic because their players feel like they deserve to be there. Now CAL, Caldwell, Owenesboro Catholic, and my sleeper is Murray because they have also traveled down this road, but not just in recent history. 2A in my opinion from top to bottom is a Super Class in its own because if I am not mistaken has 11 different teams that combined for about 37 Titles. Danville has 10 of those. Fort Knox not mentioned has 3. So if you look at it from that prospective it is very tough to stay on top. Good Luck To all 2A schools.

Murray, they have played a very tough schedule. If they can make it out of that Monster Region, then they would be a sleeper. The remind me of the Desales team a couple of years ago. Not a very solid in-season team but a great playoff team. If Murray is not out of gas or beat up, then I think they have a shot. Best of Luck to all of those in 2A.

Harry, then you know good coaching. Everyone else says that it is talent. Amazes me these old ball coaches come out and smack people around and everyone says that it is just the talent. It seems that in places like Taylor and E-Town that people got fed up with the excuse makers and hired pecoaches that could get the job done.

I have seen both teams play a couple of times this year. I cannot believe that Larue County is that bad. I believe that Campbellsville is a very good 1A team, but Larue is not going in the direction that I thought they would. Two years ago they said they were young, but what is the situation now. I heard last year that they were going to be scary good, and the talent is there. But look at what Brown has done with E-Town in one year. I do not believe that Larue is just another program, because they have always been very competitive.

Called out weak schedule two weeks ago. Sorry if I had offended the people in Caldwell. Like I said sometimes you cannot help this. A wake up call this time of year can be good or bad. The Whistling in the Grave Yard is over now. 2A is for real and the 3 of the best teams appear to be in 1 District. CAL, Desales, and Bardstown. Not downplaying Mayfield, but this type of loss by Caldwell is significant. CAL on lost by 3 scores to the best team in the state with their best player out.

Most of the time these kinda of things never get reported do to the transfer of students from a 7 period day to block scheduling or back and forth. I know of several schools that have gone from 1/2 credits to full credits or year long credits. If you do not work with numbers daily this could catch up to many players. Ex. if you are on a AP track and happen to fail a course for the year, that means that you would have to be passing all 7 classes the next year, all the time. This is very difficult to be kept up with and mistakes happen.

I think the questions that should be asked are the following: 1) Has Mercer had enough time as a consolidated school to build a winning tradition? The answer would be no. (Ex. Bowling Green is IND like Harrodsburg was IND) and both very successful. Years ago when Marion County did this it has really never been consistently successful. 2) Does the Adm support football or do they just do it publicly to stay politically correct? The answer to this is critical, because if they do not have in school weightlifting then they are behind every school in their class that does, and this would be or not supported by administration. 3) The first Coach was successful because of the excitement generated by the consolidation + the great athletes that were at Harrodsburg, and yes Pardue is a good High School Coach. Sometimes you have to look at the external factors not just the record. It is kinda like saying those 10 starters on Defense and that great quarterback Joker Phillips recruited is why UK is Winning. It is a bigger situation than just a record.

Once played on a team that had only won 2 games in 3 years. The next year we won 8. I would have been willing to do anything to go back and have worked harder. The biggest change was the coaching and what was demanded. 35 years later it still bothers me. Does it mean as much today to players, I do not know the answer to that. Highlands may not understand what it is like to only win 2 games in three years, but I can tell you that the hunger you feel from being beaten will make you work harder than you can ever imagine. Just a thought. It is easy to not appreciate what you have when it comes easy. But when you are winning everyone picks everything apart, just as they do when you are losing.

I am glad to hear that Monroe is looking forward to next year, rather than blaming it on talent like everyone else in Central Kentucky, injures are tough to overcome if you are not platooning. I know Coach Pettet and staff will have is guys in the weight room as soon as the season is over getting them ready. Monroe is a place where they make no excuses, blame no one, and does something about getting better. When you are not very good it is up to the coaches to except responsibility to make players better, just look at UK after two season under Stoops. If he goes to Michigan then they will go back to a 3 or 4 WIN team. Last time I checked many of the guys on Defense as well as Towles was recruited by the last staff.

Other than Murray, Ballard Memorial, It looks like everyone else is going through a rebuild to me. Trigg, Fort Campbell, Green, and even Christian County are not going to go 500 which is unusual. Not Caldwells fault, but when it gets playoff time then you will not be playing teams going into a rebuild. That being said CAL, Desales, Bardstown are better right now than Caldwell and I would not be suprised to see Murray or Owensboro Catholic beat them in the playoffs. Glasgow is a year or two away on that side, but CAL and Desales are as good as anyone top to bottom. When I saw Central Hardin at #3, both CAL an Desales could beat them. I think Coach Barnes has done a good job with this team, but when the people you play are on the downswing it gives you a false sense of security. In the words of Mike Tyson "Everyone has a game plan until they get hit"

Hart has great facilities and should be a good starting point in generating some interest from student/athletes, but I was over there in the spring for a baseball game and it looked like someone needed to crank up the weed eater. Campbellsville is continuously improving their facilities and will be moving to the field behind Middle School in future, with them Superintendent, Principal, AD are all in to athletics, and I am sure they will do a great job with these new facilities. Green if I am not mistaken was just recently done by past coaching staff with the help of past players that had not previously had anywhere to lift weights. Larue has a good set-up but needs some retrofitting. I think Taylor is going to build new when new school is built. Adair also has a good set-up and it seems their coaching staff puts in a lot of time with the facilities, field, etc, little league.

I am not dropping Taylor, Hart, and like I said last year that Adair was a sleeping giant. Once again it is leadership. I am for any program that has the potential to get better. It has not been to long since the rise of the Boyles late 90's, Garrards, and even Green County made a run, a program that is similar to those mentioned. I just do not like that we feel non-traditional schools will always suck. That is not fare to those young men that go out there everyday. The comparison comes from the fact that those that go on the field and expect to win like Boyle that may not pass the look test, but when the ball is kicked off then you see who can and cannot play.

Raider, I have not meant to offend. I have said that Taylor can and will be a good job. It like Green/Adair/Garrard all have similar athletes and can compete. When you have a head coach like Hilton he knows what not to do. That in itself makes Taylor a better program. Coach Graves is probably a decent coach, but never won at Adair or Taylor. He as a coach until the last couple of years played dodgeball except for district games. That in itself hurt the players from getting better.

Maybe a job is what you make it. That is why I put personal investment. No program can build a tradition if it does not start at the top. I would say that if you do not like someone being positive when they see something good in a program then you may take up selling ZIJA. I just hate it when the excuse is used no talent, then it is the job of the coach to develop that talent. You can watch Boyle, Garrard, Pulaski, Russellville and many others that may not have talent year in and out, but the coach gets the best out what he has and does not make excuses. That all. And by the way - I made the call last year on ADAIR being a sleeping Giant. Good Luck to the Raiders.

I have seen other games. I hate to say it, because I thought that Caldwell had chances to be better than they were last year, but I have been very disappointed in overall play. I do not think against all opponents they have had the JV in at halftime.

Happy for Leasor. This man has taken a lot of bad with some good. If anyone deserves to go out on top it is him. He never inherited teams that could play and has always been a developer of talent. Most of the guys like him are gone from the game now.

Personal Investment!!! Some of the best athletes in Central Kentucky are at Hart County, matter a fact I would go as far as to say they are similar to Glasgow. However, where everything else is more important to your coaches than getting guys ready to play then this happens. They say they will not play this school because they cannot compete, but know it is because the other staffs just out work them. Time for Jerry Taylor to buy a padlock and put on the gate if this is going to be the commitment level. Nothing to do with talent pool. Year in and out the have the best looking athletes at the Regional Track meet. Sad times for young people.

I have said this for years 2A from Top to bottom is the toughest league. Most of your top 10 2A schools are as good as any school 11 on 11 after that the depth factor hits them. Time after time you see a new 2A team emerge because of scheduling. CAL, Desales, Murray play brutal schedules, and pay for it sometimes this time of year. Caldwell has not played the schedule that CAL has so I give them the nod with Desales #2. Caldwell is a good #3, but cannot compete with Desales physically. Furthermore, when schools like Danville, NewPort Central, and Bardstown, Somerset, Middlesboro that are traditional rich programs do not even exist in this discussion for who is number #1 then maybe the KHSAA ought to look at the level of play and strength of schedule, and go back to 4 classes.

Commander, I am with you. I think Coach Hilton is a great fit for Taylor County. They are very similar in talent to the Bell County teams he had. Coach Hilton knows better than anyone in the state that you have to develop your talent, because if people thought he had talent at Bell, I can tell you that there was much better talent at Middlesboro, he took his time and built them into Winners. He does not worry if a guy can run a 4.6, he cares if a guy can block and tackle and be aggressive. If he stays then lookout Central Kentucky, and as far as Taylor County goes there will be no more dodgeball with the scheduling, he will play the best. Better build more bleachers. Cardinal Hilton

No different than the President or CEO, he is ultimately responsible for everything/everyone in the district. He just has had the nads to execute what most are not willing to do. The superintendent has the power to do what needs to be done when he has the support of the BOE.

Raider, you are the one that brought out Brad Todd, and I was just stating the fact that Hilton had done more in a month than the last coach did in four years. Everyone realizes Taylor County obvious problems. (Parents that do not know football or never played with unrealistic expectations). However, my point is when you put someone in that does not play games, and owe's anyone anything, and can walk away then you have success. Coach Hilton is not a politician and has proven when you play players in the right positions and coach them like they need to be coached then they can be successful. It is evident that after 4 years of losing that the Superintendent made the right decision. I hope nothing but the best for the Cardinals the rest of the year, and to coaches Hilton and Cotton Adams two legends.

Taylor County since 1997-2000, were in a 2A district that saw 3 different champions, with Brad Todd as the coach. And then in the weakest 3A district in the state. In 45 years they only have 8 winning seasons. So take this from someone that has coached and played for over 44 years. Hilton has done more with the program in a month than anyone other than Harry Reif did in the early 80's. Also Bill Lindsey had some success. Good coaches coach what they know, and do what their talent will allow them to do. I have a great deal of respect for coaches that have earned what they have and paved the way for what is here today. Coach Hilton has helped pave the way for 37 years. So it is about doing a good job and making an investment. That's all. It seems to me that if you are a successful coach that you are disliked by losers, and you Raider could learn a lot from Hilton.

Hilton has proven that Taylor County is a sleeping giant. (Superintendent was right!!!) It amazes me that excuse after excuse has been made since Coach Turpin stepped down whom was also a hard nosed coach. You do what your talent can do, and Dudley has proven that this program will be one to recon with in 4A. He has made this position one of the best jobs in Central Kentucky. Also would not be surprised if he stays that the community does not insist upon consolidation. It is very hard to get a great football coach and he has proven it every where he has been. Best of Luck to the Cards.

Lion, Bac2369, I hope all the Eagles show up and play the game of their careers, they will need to just keep the clock from running. I am not saying that they are bad I am just saying Danville is that good. Also I feel like the Dragons talent level has been down played. I do not believe that the Ville will see a better 1A qb than matney, nor a better running back the Brewer. I just hope the Eagles walk away healthy, if not this has been a huge scheduling fiasco. This team could go deep in 1A, but if they lose 1 or 2 then they are way below average according to getting beat by a team at Green that was supposedly way down talent wise. Just an observation from previous post.