nekysportsfan

I keep picking against Fairview and they keep exceeding my expectations every week. Not sure how they are doing it, but Fred Ray must be a heck of a coach. That said, though, I would think Pikeville will win, but it will be closer than expected.

I am almost sold on Raceland being not only the best team in NEKY, but also legit contender for the 1A state title. Past Ram teams not living up to expectations makes me hesitate, though. This will be a good test against a fired up county rival who believes they can win and an ex-coach. A blowout here would be a statement win.

Incidentally, I agree that the QB change is the right move for this Ashland team. Ratliff is a good athlete and I could see him being of value at receiver and on defense. With Brown, Roberts, and Ratliff on offense, Russell is facing a very different Ashland team than Raceland and GW faced. Russell is tough, though, and there is no doubt they will come to play and test what Ashland is made of. This should be a really entertaining game.

This scenario reminds me of 2008 when a 2-loss Tomcat team welcomed an undefeated Russell team to Putnam with then freshman QB Sam Hunter getting his first career start. I recall Ashland coming down the steps that night and thinking that Russell was running into a buzz saw. Ashland went on to win that game and Hunter turned out to be a pretty good QB. History may not repeat itself but it is a very similar situation.

If there is still some pride among the Ironton players, then this should be a really good game. I am not sure it exists with this Ironton team, though. One thing I do know, Russell appears to be playing with pride and I am sure they will bring it on Friday night. If Ironton doesn't, then this could be another blowout loss for the Tigers.

Ohio teams are the best bet for something close and competitive. Raceland has taken full advantage of that over the past few years with teams like Coal Grove, Ironton, West, and Valley. I agree with the poster who mentioned Wheelersburg. That would be good competition. I would have agreed with the notion of scheduling Belfry or Johnson Central 10 years ago, but I would want no part of the current version of these teams. It just wouldn't be competitive enough to justify the travel. Besides, I thought Raceland didn't like playing teams with guys from WV. :-)

Great stuff indeed. I enjoyed all the articles on your blog so far. As for stadiums, I like Putnam the best because of the enclosed end zone and the fact that there is no track between the stands and the field. You are literally right on top of the action. Henry R. Evans Stadium is great when there is a big crowd, but the intensity can drop when the fans don't fill the stands. People can seem a lot more spread out there because of the end zone to end zone stands and the upper level.

Russell is better than most think. Greenup might be improved, but I believe Russell will make a statement with a blowout win in this game.

I, too, miss the days of reading the message boards in anticipation prior to a big game. I think our northeast Ky area high school football rivalries hit their peak during the Raceland-Fairview rivalry right before the Eagles got in trouble and the whole thing fell apart. Those were fun games to anticipate and attend. It's just sort of a down year for high school football around these parts. Raceland has the best shot at making noise in the playoffs. The other local teams, though, don't have a lot of hope for doing anything, so therefore, not as much excitement from their fans. Ashland, Greenup, and/or Boyd will run into Johnson Central. Russell will run into Belfry. End of the road. As for the specifics of this game, Ashland lost 2 D-1 players that can't be replaced and a lot of other experienced players. The only intrigue in this game is if Kurtlen Brown would show up again playing for Ashland on Friday. It would hearken back to the exciting glory days of area high school football rivalries as he played for Fairview against Raceland when he was a freshman. In all reality, Raceland should beat Ashland handily this year. If they don't, then I don't have much hope for the Rams either.

I think Raceland wins on Friday night at Olive Hill. It may not be as easy as some think, but the Rams will walk away 1-0. On a side note, though, this thread is missing an Old Rambler motivational talk for the Ram players...looking forward to it.

I think Raceland wins on Friday night at Olive Hill. It may not be as easy as some think, but the Rams will walk away 1-0. On a side note, though, this thread is missing an Old Rambler motivational talk for the Ram players...looking forward to it.

Poor Greenup...just cannot get over the hump.

This will be a very close and good game. I agree with Old Rambler in that the biggest advantage Russell has over Ashland is coaching. The gap is wide on that front and that can be worth quite a few points. Both teams have star running backs. The consensus would be that Baker is better than Conley and that is true, but it's not by much. Baker obviously has more speed and moves, but Conley runs with far more toughness and will. Everything else about these teams is fairly even. So what matters more? A great coach or a great running back? I just can't see this game not being a nail-biter.

36, 44, 37, 25...that's the margins of victory for Raceland over Chris Mullins led Greenup teams. The last victory Greenup had over Raceland was in 2010 when Mike Copley was the coach. Humiliating Greenup has become an annual fall event in Ram country. It seems to be the general consensus that Greenup is getting better, though. That being said, I think this game is very important to their program. They couldn't get over the hump against Russell even though they actually appeared to have the ability to win the game. It's hard to overcome the disease of losing when the teams you're playing expect to win. Now here is another opportunity to get a statement win. What will they do? Continue to be the 4A whipping boys to the 1A Rams or will they actually compete? Lots of intrigue to this game.

On the topic of radio broadcasts of the game, someone needs to tell Dickie Martin that Kurtlen Brown isn't from Huntington High. He kept referring to him as the "transfer from Huntington High" and that isn't true.