generaldowns

Holy Cross played its best football against a pretty decent 5A squad in Bullitt Central, against Paris and Kentucky Country Day. And it played some of its weakest games against Frankfort and Providence, Indiana. When they play well, they either run the ball consistently using RB Mario Convenuto or get their fair share of passing yards and success with a scrambling Jaren McDonald. McDonald hasn't put been needed much lately as the run game's been very effective...he had his best game against KCD which stuffed the Cougar's ground attack. Holy Cross is a little in and out in terms of it's overall record the season....some big time performances and some inexplicable disappointments. I think that home field advantage has meant a lot to the Cougars. On the road in the environment at Ludlow, I think it'll be a good game, but Ludlow holds the advantage.

Like a number of first round games, this looks to be a mismatch.

The one that stands out is the Ludlow/Holy Cross battle up in Northern KY. Ludlow will have a home field advantage and the spectacular play of “does it all” Justin Blackburn. Holy Cross has been an up and down squad this season..played Bullitt Central tough, beat Paris who just beat Ludlow and played KCD to within five points with a huge 4th quarter comeback. Yet they lose to Frankfort and Providence, IN...in games that weren’t as close on video as they look on paper...tough to decipher. HC has some momentum coming off two blowout wins, Ludlow lost two of its last three, but the defeats came against a monster in Beechwood and a high quality and surging Paris squad. This one looks like a great game ahead. Calpreps has this as a one point win for HC.

KCD sat three starters including TE Josh Lifson...all three should be back for the first round of the playoffs. Waggener was short handed as well. And the weather turned this into a trenches battle...KCD did a nice job of stuffing the run game for Waggener for much of the night. As an aside, a wonderfully officiated game with great sportsmanship...the kind of atmosphere you hope for on Senior Night. A good tune up for the playoffs.

Final 27 6 KCD

KCD scores again...27 6

10 minutes left in the game...KCD hanging on, Waggener has energy and momentum...Still 20 6

Waggener scored on its first drive of 2nd half...drove the field. 20 6 KCD

Tahj Rice is playing...Brents is not...for KCD Josh Lifson and Blake Caldwell and Hunter Bates are not playing.

KCD 20 0 at halftime...very tough weather to play anything but power football.

The good news for the Panthers may be that despite the illnesses and players banged up a bit, they're a pretty strong squad and look to be at least a touchdown or two better at this stage than Owen County. Good luck to them.

A couple of days delayed, but with no less enthusiasm: Great and detailed work VOR! You do your homework and you know this group inside and out.

Waggener at KCD figures to be a head scratcher. Waggener is a lot better than its record would project. They played Danville within 3 points and hung with Central for a good part of that game. The schedule is filled with top ranked teams and bigger schools. According to the Courier-Journal preview story, Jason Frakes reports that Waggener is playing its fifth string QB due to injuries and disciplinary issues with the young man who was the signal caller against Henry County. KCD doesn't have a third string QB if they wanted to sit the first two! So it's going to be a big mystery as to how the game is played and by whom. Waggener has a lot of kids on the roster and number of athletes on the field if you view the game video versus Henry County and Thomas Nelson(those are the last two games and probably more representative of what Waggener will bring Friday). Bottom line, they still have D1 Duke Commit and a number of kids who can play at a high level...could very well make for a close game.

I think it was time to make the switch (re KCD). They've swapped places in the CalPreps rankings as well these past two weeks. While KCD has had a record breaking, history making, wonderful year thus far....Paintsville looks a little better in a number of comparison categories. Obviously a win over an athletic and explosive 3A Waggener squad would be a nice way to cap off the regular season for KCD. As stated before, not sure who all of the big guns for both schools are suiting up Friday. KCD is largely injury free with a few dings here and there. Waggener lost the talented Manny Harper several weeks ago, but still can bring superstars like Jarius Brents and Tahj Rice to Springdale Road this week. Stay tuned till kickoff.

This looked like a marquee match up earlier in the year. You had the likes of Duke Commit Tahj Rice, Jarius Brents and UK commit Manny Harper( All three headed for D1 FBS programs next year) on Waggener's side of the ball, and KCD's Air Force commit Josh Lifson, plus Gianni Minor, Ashton Robinson and QB Jackson Diaz all expected to play at the next level. Now, we're not sure who all will be playing on Friday. Manny Harper is hurt and we wish him nothing but the speediest recovery. Jarius Brents didn't play against Thomas Nelson, and don't know if he played against Henry County last Friday. If he suits up against KCD it's always worth the price of admission...electric, exciting, talented football player! Waggener was down seven starters vs Henry County....here's to all or most of them returning for the game against the Bearcats. Then it's back to being an intriguing battle. KCD did not play it's best game to clinch the district championship at Frankfort, but it was an historic win--the first time ever the Bearcats have clinched back to back district championships. This senior class has a lot to be proud of and look back on fondly in the years to come. There's special talent and character and work ethic in the KCD class of 2018. And Frankfort played hard to the final whistle. Depleted but still dangerous with some kids in the skill positions especially who can do damage at any time. Good luck to them on the Beechwood side of the regional 1A bracket....they'll be a challenge for Bellevue in the first round. Back to the Waggener/KCD tilt. Both teams have taken on strong opponents, Waggener played an unreal game against Danville, KCD beat a super strong Walton Verona squad and led Lexington Christian for more than two quarters. Will the Wildcats and Bearcats play to the level of those games?....if so, should be a very entertaining night.

Always tough to hear about teams losing players,especially in the heart of the season, especially smaller school squads. I expect Frankfort to draw on its big time athletes at the skill positions and Coach Foley to rally his team as only he can. Good luck and safe night for everyone.

42-21...off by a safety

Calpreps has it 44-21 KCD. Gut feel is that it will be closer.

I did a virtual double take and smiled broadly after reading a key phrase in oldercoach's terrific post. Do "only the playoffs matter?" Is the blood, sweat, tears and brotherhood over many months from so many wonderful young men across the commonwealth reduced to--"yeah, but Beechwood will put a running clock on them in the 2nd quarter?" As a regular reader of 1A posts in particular, I get it...Beechwood is an outstanding football team that is the prohibitive favorite not only to win the 1A title but to do so in devastating style. And I respect what they've done, who they are this year and how this powerhouse program has rinsed and repeated for so long a period. It's noteworthy, admirable and factual. And they schedule to continue the domination. And yet tomorrow night under those magical lights, and in front of friends and family, a bunch of hard working kids in small towns and big cities, extraordinary kids who've sacrificed and dreamed will become district champions. Maybe they played up, maybe they played largely similar teams to themselves. I love the conversation and the analysis of how they do it. It keeps the mind active and the heart beating between Friday nights. But in the end, what counts truly is the game and the young men. In the end, it's the way the lights shine off your teammates helmets in the waning seconds of a championship game steam rising collectively from your late October huddle and what it is like to experience that moment. In the end, it's the trust and love you build in this sport above all others that matters when you're blessed to win a championship...any championship. That's what seniors especially think about. When you've played the game many Fridays ago, maybe you remember it. That's what senior parents get emotional about. Because in mid to late October, you can see the end of the pathway and the bittersweet conclusion to an incredible journey no matter how far in the playoffs you'll go.

Flattering appraisal of KCD. At their best,the Bearcats might hang with BW for a bit(one can interpret'for a bit' however one sees fit). On the subject of playing up in competition, aside from District play(and I'm including the blowout over Rock Creek as it was a last minute replacement for Eminence who left the district), KCD has faced a 5A team, two ranked 2A squads, another 2A team with six wins, in total 5 of 6 non district games playing up in class. And they'll face 3A Waggener after the final district game this coming Friday. Beechwood's non district schedule has been super, super tough, Hazard, Paintsville and Russellville tough too. None of those schools including KCD have avoided playing decent to superior higher classification teams. And they play those teams week in and week out.

So maybe I've got a little too much stardust in my ears here, but I thought the idea of this thread was to speak enthusiastically about your own team, maybe point out some of the studs or the unsung heroes. It's one of the things I enjoy most--learning about the teams and the kids that aren't playing right around the corner. And I'm still eager to learn more. Why did the thread take a negative turn?

I know this goes slightly against the theme of the thread....but allow me to comment on the Hazard Bulldogs (not the team I follow). I've watched a number of games of Hazard's on hudl....I'm really impressed by how hard they play, the ferocity of this squad....they just don't appear to take plays off and that's a great credit to the character of the kids and the coaching staff. The injury demon attacked Hazard earlier in the year with no mercy. And the Bulldogs moved ahead with no fear or regret. Impressive team.

You have opened up the floodgates Bac! Prepare the boats!

Beechwood, Ludlow, Williamsburg and Russellville all look like wins. Paintsville and Raceland should be a dandy. KCD and Frankfort? If the Bearcat team that gave Lexington Christian a scare into the 3rd quarter shows up, they will be tough. If the team that struggled late against Holy Cross shows up, it'll be a nail biter. Case in point--basically this same group of kids played a tight game with Frankfort last year to win the District during the regular season. Three weeks later, they overwhelmed Frankfort in a lopsided affair. Which KCD team shows up this year?

Have been wondering about the Frankfort/Holy Cross tilt from last Friday, seeing if that district game helps in analyzing the game coming up....probably doesn't explain everything, but should be noted that Holy Cross did not have its starting QB in for much of the second half against the Panthers. Whether he was injured or the Cougars coaches wanted to go with a different look after being down at halftime, that's unclear. But Jaren McDonald was replaced by Chaz Garaghty in the second half. Looks like everyone was at full strength for the first half of that game, which Frankfort dominated...looked like McDonald took a big hit at some point early in the 2nd half.