BigRedDiesel

Very good analysis Zoneblitz. You are spot on about stopping the run for 3 qts last year. I think that will be the major difference this time around. MF should and will be able to run against the 3-3 and the 4-2 is just asking for Arnett to have a big game. This MF offense is so much more balanced than last season. To me, the game will hinge on MF's ability to stop OCath from running the ball. Nothing against the young qb, he's going to be great, but I just don't see him beating MF with his arm.

Is #9 the converted LB? That young man is going to be a good one.

MF has the kind of offense this year that makes teams feel like they need 'to keep up'. Start taking chances or pressing and your just playing into their hands. I agree with earlier post that the best strategy for OCath would be to grind it out and eat clock, but I just don't see them being built for that. Not enough o-line up front to run and too much speed on MF's defense to play dink and dunk. Film can be a funny thing and mislead you at times, but to my eyes, I'm seeing a major disparity in speed all over the field between these teams. I'll take MF 35-14, reserving my right to update my prediction subject to the weather forecast.

May come as a surprise to some, but Arnett is one of the fastest kids on MF's team and is an incredible runner. He does a great job with his legs when asked to use them. You can ask DeSales for verification of that fact as well.

Anyone know the average margin of victory through the first two rounds?

I feel real good neither OCath nor Mayfield will be given any points this Fri night for what they did or didn't do against Murray in previous weeks.

Mayfield is loaded with a full arsenal of weapons at QB, RB, and WR. Last night, watching Butler County’s backs continually stuffed at the line of scrimmage and King Rex scramble for his life, I was reminded that a good offensive line is the engine that makes the shiny wheels turn. I would begin my list of reasons why MF gets the win over OCath with these five really good ones:

Odd/even district/year system is much better system than doing coin flips when two #1s meet.

There's no doubt BG was the favorite in that game, but I'm not sure it was the monumental upset of epic proportions that some make it out to be. GC caught lightening in a bottle that year and had a tremendous team. Several kids from that squad went on to play football on Saturdays and several others earned scholarships in other sports. GC struggled at the qb spot early that year, but once they moved Reed from WR to QB, they were really solid and good enough to hang with most teams in the state.

Was the OCath / Butler County game as lopsided as the score would suggest? Not to look ahead too far, but what, if anything, can we learn about the potential MF/OCath matchup from this week's contest? How does BC's passing game stack up relative to OCath's?

You serious Clark?

We had 7th graders that played up in that game that still talk about it. When you've only lost a handful of games your entire life, you tend to remember them.

Perhaps MC's coach should spend more time watching film and less time polishing his resume. Few teams do less with more talent than McCracken County.

Mayfield: Brady Smith, Quortarrious Cherry (kid may be unblockable by the time he's done), and Kent Trey Matthews. I know you asked about Sophs, but you can add freshmen Markeacio Dunbar, Travon Halliburton, Alonzo Daniel, and Jayden Stinson to the list of future stars.

Some notes on MF’s defense. 1. Against Corbin, there was a blocked punt for a touchdown, a pick-6, and a touchdown from a snap over the punter’s head. I don’t think those points can be fairly debited to the defense’s side of the ledger. 2. McCracken County’s offense is better than any offense MF will face over the course of the 2A playoffs. 3. Special teams: MF’s special teams struggled at times this season, especially early in the year. Starting field position at the 20 versus the 40/midfield area makes a huge difference and with the way the offense was rolling, MF was kicking off and giving away free yardage a bunch. 4. Kryptonite. Don’t discount the fact that Superman, Trajon Bright, plays both ways and his injury had at least some impact on MF’s defense. 5. Going conservative. Being restrained with a lead is not a phenomenon reserved to offensive play calling and there were times this season MF’s defense appeared to be reined in a bit when ahead by a few scores. MF’s defense is built around speed and is most effective, particularly the thunder ‘n lightning combination of Arnett and Hurt, when being aggressive, attacking, dictating, and disrupting as opposed to vanilla reading and reacting. The demise of MF’s defense has been greatly exaggerated and I predict they will prove themselves very formidable over the next five weeks.

Hancock County, aka Hanclocked County, has some nice size up front. Biggest offensive line I can remember MF seeing this early in the playoffs in a long time. I'm anxious to see how the MF defense responds to the wing-t stuff they don't see very often. Hopefully, MF's JV sees the field early and the game is injury free.

So what is the real reason so many teams make the playoffs? Is it money, i.e. another week of that many teams with gates? Is it so Jr. can say his team made the playoffs? Is there a legitimate reason I'm overlooking? I just don't see the rationale for a weekend when only a handful of games will not end with running clocks. For those in favor of the current format, what is the basis of their arguement?

I'm not the Mayfield historian others on here are, but I'm wondering if the best Mayfield team may be prevented from being remembered that way due to injuries and some disciplinary problems. You start looking back and thinking about guys like Jonathan Jackson, Xavier Shelton, LaBront Scott, Shane Ross, the Guy brothers, on and on and you realize there have been some really great players come through the MF program since 2002. I believe there was a team in there somewhere that put many of those pieces on the field together at the same time that would otherwise be considered the best, but didn't ultimately finish the year with everyone healthy and still on the team. That 2010 team was amazing, but this current bunch is a pretty focused group and I wouldn't put much past them. Best ever talk is reserved for champions, so let's see how they do over these next five (if they get to play that many).

Are you being sarcastic with this? There were some bad calls and a terrible no call (horse collar) but they all went against MF. Only way officiating 'hurt' CC was if they had aspirations of getting running clocked. Call those obvious pass interferences and take away the fictitious holden calls and clocked may very well have been the outcome of this one.

2 catches for 140 yards...wow, that efficient.

I believe I heard Cash Jones left the game with an injury. Anyone have details?

Are you talking about the size of the school or the physical size of the players (height & weight) or both?

MF looking fat from their Murray/Ballard/Webster cupcake diet. Credit to CC for being the more aggressive, more physical team in the first half. Going to be a slobber knocker 2nd half.