Nathaniel Bryan

Not from EKY at all ... but no Ashland Blazer? I know they lost Hensley, but still. And not sure Green is better than an E'town team that returns most everything. Not only did E'town beat Green last year, but heard it got a decent pitcher to transfer in. Meade will be solid. Ayer, Whelan (top pitcher), Honaker and the Wilsons are all back. New coach, but they have the tools (good pitcher and a power hitter). I figure AC-S would be in the mix somewhere, too.

You want Central Hardin and Male -- separated by a mere 40 miles straight down I-65 -- to drive to Murray? And LexCath to drive PAST E'town (to play at Murray), you know, the team it's playing? And the travel buddies concept goes out the window when you force the buddies to play on separate days. You'll have plenty of travel time, sure. You'll also have plenty of people staying home because of said travel, too.

A Fort Campbell kid (didn't remember his name) made a one-handed catch in traffic in the loss to E'town. Haven't seen video of it (I was in the press box), but color me impressed. Yowza.

Well said (seriously).

Runaway at JUST LINEBACKER? Um, no. Even Dawson and Johnson played offense (and weren't too shabby). It is awfully, awfully hard (and extremely rare) for a defensive only player to be a "runaway" Mr. Football. Big school or big media base be darned. I think playing offense HELPS Daniels' cause, not hurts it. If your theory was correct, you'd think we'd be hearing about someone from Male, since they're a big-time school in a big city that platoons (plus Male played a tougher schedule and statistically has allowed the fewest points in 6-A). ... But I don't think a defensive only player from Male (or Trinity) is even in the running (forget running, try jogging or speedwalking).

You're comparing Gronk's past to JFF's? Really? You think Gronk is similar (or worse)? In that little of a timeframe? Plus, Gronk is NOT paid near as much (I don't think) and he performs (time and time again). That alone earns him a pass (plus having Kraft, Hoodie and Captain Tom vouch for him). No one in power is really backing giving JFF even more chances to screw up.

If he DOES have a WKU offer ... why didn't he sign when Boley/Warden/Faulkner/Goodin signed earlier this month. What's the point of waiting? Sure, he MIGHT be able to land somebody better (but it's doubtful this late in the game). However, he could still lose it. Plus, how many scholarships does WKU still have out there?

I've heard of several obscure holidays, but never national SING-ING date. ... That being said: What is college recruiting's National Letter of Intent? - SBNation.com "When can football players sign their letters of intent? Currently, a football player cannot sign their letters of intent until the first Wednesday in February following their senior season. This is part of why there is so much committing and decommitting in recruiting news. While most athletes commit to schools long before February, each can only give a school a verbal commitment, which is non-binding. Per NCAA rules, schools are not allowed to talk about athletes who have not yet signed letters of intent or scholarship agreements." I'm not sure a NLI can ALREADY be signed when you CAN'T sign until February. Even JUCO players CAN'T sign until at least December.

Scott County didn't destroy Highlands (pretty sure most of Highlands' points came AFTER SC already had the running clock on the Birds)? Yup. Found it. Scott County led Highlands 40-0 before calling off the dogs. Highlands blown out by Scott County - Story

Highlands also scored about as many points (45-42) on Dixie as SK did. Highlands also scored as many points (13) against Cooper as SK did (in both teams' most recent meeting against Cooper ... I know SK scored 26 on Cooper the first time). But I doubt you're going to tell me that the Birds are on SK's level this year. Based on those numbers, if you're not sold on Scott County or Highlands, you have evidence to NOT be sold on ... your own team. Both CovCath and Highlands scored at least 28 on Scott County ... and both still lost by 20-plus. Not sure why scoring XX points when you lose by three touchdowns is a good thing, though.

I have ZERO doubt SK can score. I'm not a SK hater. I was just merely pointing out that Lafayette's defense ain't exactly swiss cheese like some claim. They obviously found a way to slow down Scott County the second time around. Point is ANYBODY playing Trinity and Scott County (twice) will see their defensive numbers suddenly skyrocket. Maybe not Male. Trinity didn't light them up either meeting. And when SK played NOBODY near Trinity's and Scott County's level, SK doesn't have much room to talk. Of course your defensive numbers should be better when you play an easier schedule. Why on earth wouldn't they be?

I'm NOT trying to negate ANYTHING. Central played one of its toughest schedules ever (maybe ONLY the year Mike Lewis scheduled Montgomery Bell out of Nashville would be tougher. But that's it.). And made it to three straight region finals. After years upon years of hibernation, the Bruins are building something. I'm glad to see it. They definitely were NOT like this before I got there, when I was there, or any time soon after I left. There's a lot to be proud of, win or lose Friday night. LOTS of teams would like to switch places with Central. HOWEVER, pointing out CH's schedule in no way, shape or form resembles Male's elite schedule does NOT make one a hater with sour grapes ... It makes one a realist. I've pointed out E'town's regular season schedule wasn't that great several times ... yet you don't see "The Home of State Champions" supporters jumping all over me. I just mentioned CH's schedule was not as tough as Male's. I really do NOT think people are bothered by what I say (when others echo the same thing without the same vitriol and venom from CH fans) ... they're bothered by the fact that I was the one who said it (and not somebody/anybody else). You're killing the messenger even though the message might be right/accurate. Not sure that makes any sense. And unlike many posters on here - Jason Frakes EXCLUDED - I post under my real name. I've got nothing to hide -- or a handle/poster name to hide behind.

Lafayette's numbers are also skewed because it gave up 165 combined points in two games with Scott plus the one with Trinity ... three games against opponents that would be ranked 1-2-3 on SK's strength of schedule (SK's best opponent is Cooper, which would rank fourth on Lafayette's schedule). Take Trinity and Scott County -- two of the best offenses in the state -- out of the mix and Lafayette's defense is allowing 20.5 PPG (just one TD and an XP more than SK, which played a weaker sked).

He said three on Friday (1-A, 3-A, 5-A) and three on Saturday (2-A, 4-A, 6-A). He said three per day, not six in one day. (He was hinting to a West neutral and and East neutral, without saying/posting it). So Trinity/X for the west and Georgetown for the east. However, based on what the matchups are, there is NOT a good "neutral" site which would be best for six West games and six East games. - Male and Central Hardin are just 40 miles apart. Unless you moved that game to Nelson County (turf), no where else you could really go without making it extremely close for Male (X, T, PJCS, new Bellarmine field, whoever) or extremely close for Central Hardin (E'town High School, E'town Sports Park if it put in more bleachers). Campbellsville and Lindsey Wilson are too far out of the way for both schools. Maybe E'town and LexCath could play at Nelson, but other than that, hard to split the difference. Based on the six West semis, Elizabethtown High School (turf, decent amount of seating, video board, HD lights, plenty of parking, access to restaurants and I-65/BG Parkway/WK Parkway) would be a great midpoint host for 4-of-6 games. But E'town would be at home. And Central Hardin would get to play right down the street (literally -- EHS and Central Hardin are on the same street). Although CH has never played a game at EHS' turf field. Picking the neutral site before the regionals are played would be a disaster. However, having neutral site has its advantages: - Possibly more overall crowd (but I doubt it when you add up six separate games at separate sites compared to just two sessions of games) - Maybe you save some teams/neutral fans some mileage - Helps for media (Courier-Journal, Bowling Green Daily News, Louisville TV stations, Hardin County radio in this instance) to have their teams at the same site (easier to broadcast, take pictures, etc).

Yes, heaven forbid I throw facts and figures and numbers into a good (biased and completely fact-less) rant. For it as a program, Central Hardin played a GREAT schedule in the regular season. Boyle, South Warren and Bowling Green are prime-time programs. John Hardin is usually solid (but had issues this year). Meade is usually solid (but we KNEW Meade would struggle this year ... and they did). Bullitt East is usually better than this. Collins is OK (but was solid in previous few years). Woodford is Woodford, and North Hardin still needs to get its defense worked out (pretty sure we said that last year too). HOWEVER: - Central Hardin's scheduled was NOT even the toughest in its own county. North Hardin's schedule currently ranks tougher on CalPreps (that will change after CH plays Male, though). - If you put Central Hardin's and Elizabethtown's wins side by side, both CH and EHS would have four wins each in the top 8 (CH with McCracken, John, Tilghman, NH ... E'town with Caldwell, PT, North, Adair). Both CH and E claim PT and NH in their top-four wins and NOBODY claims E'town has played a good overall schedule (and frankly, they haven't. It rates a 3.6). Has Central Hardin played a good schedule? Yes, better than 75 percent (probably higher) of most teams. At one point in the regular season, Central Hardin had a top-20 schedule out of 220-ish teams in the state. But is Central Hardin's schedule on Male's level? No. Nooooooo. NO. Claim that I'm biased all you wish, but I'd LOVE to see data/facts/figures/notes/WHATEVER to back that ludicrous claim up.

Even if the pass was out of the end zone or batted down (and the clock operator was a bit "slow" to stop it) ... E'town HAD to go end zone there. There's no rational thought E'town could have gone 10-15-20 downfield and gotten out of bounds and then tried for a shorter final pass. End zone was it. Caldwell should have known that. And I like the courage to stick with freshmen there ... but like Harry Doyle said, freshmen don't always do what they're coached (especially in big-time situations). For E'town, it was senior-to-senior (with another senior, Sullivan, in the front part of the end zone in case of a short pass/tip/deflection chance). If Caldwell had any timeouts there, they should have used one. I do NOT think it would have helped E'town more to draw up a play (most teams already have that in the book should it come down to last-chance scenario), but based on the result, Caldwell had MORE to gain from it.

Outside of Boyle (gone), South Warren, Bowling Green and McCracken (which got beat by Tilghman, who E'town and Caldwell and Central Hardin all throttled) ... Central Hardin's opponents are lacking compared to Male (Trinity twice, Manual twice, X ... heck, Male crushed PRP. PRP whipped John Hardin, which was Central Hardin's best win prior to escaping McCracken (which has lost at home in the playoffs three straight years and got beat by Tilghman ... which Elizabethtown and Caldwell also routed just like Central Hardin). calpreps.com Male strength of schedule: 24.2 Central Hardin SOS: 17.1 Male wins: #44 Trinity (Louisville, KY) (42-13), #44 Trinity (Louisville, KY) (20-19), #389 St. Xavier (Louisville, KY) (27-24), #925 DuPont Manual (Louisville, KY) (43-7), #925 DuPont Manual (Louisville, KY) (36-0), #2000 Pleasure Ridge Park (Louisville, KY) (44-0), #2903 Ballard (Louisville, KY) (45-7), #4089 Fairdale (KY) (64-6), #6302 Butler (Louisville, KY) (57-0), #6735 Floyd Central (Floyds Knobs, IN) (41-0), #8490 Western (Louisville, KY) (56-0), #10383 Jeffersontown (Louisville, KY) (49-3), #12810 Seneca (Louisville, KY) (63-0) Central Hardin wins #1762 McCracken County (Paducah, KY) (10-7), #2105 Hardin [John] (Elizabethtown, KY) (28-21), #3351 Paducah Tilghman (Paducah, KY) (48-25), #3858 North Hardin (Radcliff, KY) (28-21), #4158 Collins [Martha Layne] (Shelbyville, KY) (40-6), #6547 Meade County (Brandenburg, KY) (29-0), #6547 Meade County (Brandenburg, KY) (41-21), #7508 Bullitt East (Mt. Washington, KY) (35-13), #8630 Woodford County (Versailles, KY) (43-7), #9641 Ohio County (Hartford, KY) (36-7), LOSSES: #303 Bowling Green (KY) (42-6), #513 South Warren (Bowling Green, KY) (24-3), #1294 Boyle County (Danville, KY) (21-19) Central Hardin 0-3 against the top 1500, Male is 5-0 against the top 1500. Male has FIVE wins better than Central Hardin's best win. Until Friday night, Male had FOUR wins better than anybody Central Hardin had beaten.

Winning district (regular season champs) means NOTHING in round 4 (state semis) already. In odd years, the odd region hosts. In even years, the even region hosts. Has NOTHING to do with who won what district. Both E'town and Central Hardin won their districts and had to play AWAY in round 3 (Elizabethtown won at Caldwell, Central won at McCracken).

He ended up there, but he (or another player) should have been there the entire time. Plus, Caldwell could have had more players in the end zone (unless they really thought E'town would throw short and then try to run it/lateral it in). Hail Mary was about E'town's ONLY option there and obviously CC didn't defend it great. Payne was NOT wide open, per se, but he wasn't draped by four defenders and catching a tipped ball, either. He had SOME space (and "any" space in this instance is an issue). Not that it makes that much of a difference, but: - 37 yards is a good pass, but Wilson can throw longer - Had it been batted down, E'town still would have had one more shot (might have had another anyway had CC committed pass interference. NOT saying it happened here, but I've seen it happen before when a team gets a P.I. call on what should have been the last play of the game).

Keon Williams, former John Hardin player, is at St. Francis Brooklyn (NY). Williams gets a homecoming of sorts Tuesday as SFB plays at Louisville. And Curtis Washington (John Hardin/Elizabethtown) is at Georgia State.

Todd Griffin took a photo the E'town paper used. Shows Payne (the E'town player who caught the Hail Mary) in front of two Caldwell defenders. Why: - Are two guys behind him? - Why do you not, at all times, have at least one guy in front of E'town's main receiving threat? Hail Mary, yes. But caught by a good receiver and thrown by a QB that's been on fire all year. And defense could have been better based on the photo(s) and video. http://www.thenewsenterprise.com/sites/www.thenewsenterprise.com/files/imagecache/slide-600/elizabethtown_3.jpg

Breck is decent, but the 3rd is expected to be way way down this year. Meade is the BGP preseason favorite in the third, and that might not be saying much considering Meade was 0-4 against the 17th District last year. Nelson might be around the 5-10 range in the 5th Region this year, but there is a huge dropoff from Taylor-North-Bardstown-John to whoever (LaRue no interior play, Central Hardin has to deal without Nichols for awhile, E'town will have its youngest and weakest team in forever, Caverna is a one-man team).

Don't know about that. Having to rent the ballpark for back-to-back weekends and having the Legends have to be away back-to-back weekends can't be cheap. Especially in the summer. I'm sure the Legends would have liked to have one of those weekends -- and the prime time crowds that go with them -- back. Minor-league baseball teams need weekend games just as much, if not moreso, than the KHSAA (or else soccer first-round wouldn't be at 8 sites, soccer semis on a weeknight, volleyball first round on a Friday morning, golf opening round on a weekday morning, wrestling all day starting on a Friday morning, etc.).

Why would you stay Saturday night either time? I'm guessing a lot of folks leave Saturday after the game is over (even if you get home at 3 in the morning). Looks this way that a team in the finals spends TWO (2) nights in a hotel total (first Friday, second Friday). There is NO need to spend both Saturdays as well. I'm guessing here, but I'm assuming state tourney teams were already spending two nights in a hotel in the former/old format.