TnCatFan

Personally, I think both teams were pretty evenly matched. Mayfield had 4 turnovers to 1 for Danville and that was a big factor. Plus, I think Danville won the special teams battle.. While Van Cleave is getting all the press and he deserves it with the big plays he made, I thought the Ads QB and the other RB were just as big a key to there win as anything else. There QB got out of several sure sacks with his elusiveness and ended up turning them into positive plays and Harris #23, was hard to bring down. That kid ran low to the ground and was stronger than he looked. MVC had 2 or 3 huge plays in the game, but, those 2 had 4-5 key plays, as well, that may not have been flashy or as big a plays, but, just as key as Van Cleaves were. I don't think Danville's DL is getting enough credit either. Mayfield was able to move the ball between the 20s pretty well, but, when they got into the red zone, it was tough sledding and that DL made it tough to run it all day long, forcing the Cards to have to move the chains thru the air. While Danville ran the ball effectively, the Mayfield D did a pretty good job for the most part, getting several negative plays and didn't make it easy, but, to the Ads credit, they did what they had to do in key situations to keep the chains moving..

Congratulations to The Mayfield Cardinals on another great season.

Great Job 2017 State champion Danville Admirals. All of Danville/Boyle County is proud of you guys.

Title Town is back.

And well deserved, AA.. 2a and 3a had some very stout teams this year which makes that accomplishment that much more impressive..

Congrats to the Admirals on a terrific game. You guys earned that title. Still proud of my Cardinals for yet another great season. Nothing to hang your heads over. The ball just didn't bounce your way today and it took a great team to take you out. Lot's of great talent returning next year, so, get in the weight room in the off season and be ready to give it another shot in 2018..

If we are going to compare games and how we think various matchups might play out, then Danville fans should feel very confident since Mayfield lost to Corbin.

You should know better than to play that game. Comparing scores can be twisted all sorts of ways. You could say CAL beat E'Town by 15 and Boyle beat E'Town by 7 and Mayfield beat CAL by 7, so, that would make Mayfield 15 points better than Boyle, right? See how easy that is.

The play in the end zone wouldn't have changed the outcome IMO

I agree with you, but, from a momentum standpoint, it could have been huge. At the very least, they would have been within a score of taking the lead and in a one possession game, anything can happen.. I do think Boyle's offense was to strong and over the course of 4 quarters, were going to make more big plays and outscore them, but, iy would have been interesting to see how things would have played out with a different call here or there.

Congrats Rebels. Very impressive offensive team. Really impressed with there RBs. They're all very patient and then hit the holes with a burst, plus they all have good balance and run low to the ground. Hard to bring down. There soph. QB is really going to be a good one these next couple of years. He's already very good, but, wow, great future ahead for that kid. Throw in a couple of speedy, sure handed WRs and a solid OL and that's what you get..

As for Corbin. Solid, hard-nosed team with some really nice athletes. I do question some of there play calling. In the 3rd qtr, they got there running game going and then when they get inside the 20s, they start passing it and go away from what was working. I do feel they got a couple of bad calls that really took them out of the game. The 1st was when they called an incompletion. It sure looked like a completion inside the 1 where they surely would have scored or would have on that play had the fumble stood up. The 2nd was when they had the ball on 4th down and went for it at about the 14. They threw an incompletion, but, the Boyle defender was there about a second too early and should have been a pass interference, imo.. The 3rd was the int. that was called an incompletion. When you're playing a team as potent offensively as Boyle is, plays like that have to go your way or you're in trouble. These didn't and this is the result.

The better team won tonight, but, it could have and should have been a little closer.

Congrats Tigers.. The Rams played hard and was very solid against the run, but, the Tigers ability to throw the ball and keep the chains moving was the difference. That and a stout run D by the Tigers, who completely shut down the Ram offense, who was simply too one dimensional to pose much of a threat to the Tiger D.

Final. Congratulations to the Golden Tornado for bring home the title this morning in Cookeville.. They ended the season with a 13-2 record.. Tyner ended the season at 12-3..

Rams really struggling on offense. The D can't afford to stay on field all day long. They need to pull out a bag of tricks and hope for some special team help..

Terrible break for the Rams. They need to get some offense going or there D is going to be gassed in the 2nd half.

Let's all be honest here.. I doubt anyone on this board has seen all 12 QBs in action this year and if they have, it may have been for 1 game or a part of 1 game. Most fans of there team are partial and will promote there guy and say I wouldn't trade him for anyone else. Also, most of these teams had plenty of blowout wins where the starting QB didn't play but maybe 2 or 3 quarters and under a running clock where coaches don't typically pad stats and run up the scores. Lastly, surrounding cast does make a difference. All of these teams are good or wouldn't be where they are, but, does a 1a team's QB have the surrounding cast of a Trinity or St X QB? Of course not, so, that has to factor in to some degree.. The bigger question I'd have in rating them is this, would your team be where they are right now with there back up QB. If not, then those are the ones I'd be leaning too as most valuable to there team..

I really like Jaden Stinson of Mayfield.. He's only a sophomore and a 1st year starter, but, I think he has a chance to play at the next level.. He's already over 6'2 and 190ish, throws a great ball, strong arm, has good pocket presence, smart kid.. I think by the time he's a Sr, he'll likely be in the 6'3 to 6'4 range and in the 200-215 range.. I have no idea how he compares with the other 11 qbs playing at state, but, he's one to keep an eye on in the next couple of years..

UK not at least speaking to AJ is why they will never have sustained success. Are u telling me he couldn’t do better than Barker down there? UK will always be a doormat when they let premiere talent in KY go somewhere else

It sounds like he's more a 2nd tier level QB.. I'm sure he's a great HS QB, but, why aren't other D1 major programs offering him.. Why should UK be the only D1 team that should go after this kid.. Sounds like if they did, that would be more a reason why they don't move up the food chain than if they don't go after him..

Q. Cherry, DE - Mayfield - 6'3 245 - 4.4 40 time... This kid has all the tools in the world and when he is mentally into the game, dominates it, more times than not... The problem is that he sometimes gets lazy and takes plays off... Sometimes, not just plays but a whole quarter or half... Disappears... Then, all of a sudden, he decides it's time to play and dominance again.. I've heard more than a few Cardinal faithful getting frustrated with him this year.. If you put Kyle Hurts heart into Q.Cherry's body and you'd have a D-1 All-American type prospect... As is, he'll likely end up at a Murray St type program..

Hey, that VanCleave kid for Danville is really fast. Did y'all know that?

I have heard Cardinals fans talk about their lack of success versus Danville. I think this is a legitimate question to ask, especially since Cardinals fans have claimed many times in the past there is a psychological edge. If nothing else, we will find out if they really believe that or not.

So, you're basically saying if Mayfield loses, it'll be due to Danville being in there heads. I'm sure the Ads faithful would prefer to believe it's because they had the better team, just like Mayfield had all those years against Beechwood.

Or maybe, the Danville kids will hear all week about how much success they've had against Mayfield and think this will be a piece of cake and come in overconfident. It could go either way.

The difference in this scenario and the Beechwood scenario is because it was recent history. Many of those kids that took those losses for Beechwood, took it 3 or 4 years in a row and thus, a chance it could get in there heads. None of these kids on Mayfield have ever played Danville, while at the same time building confidence by winning championships. Thus, no mental edge in this case..

Not at all. They got that monkey off there back 14 years ago. Some of the older fans who played back in the 80s or 90s may feel that way, but, the players on the team now weren't even born back then. Mayfield won there fair share of championships when Danville was in there class. Danville was a load back in those days and Mayfield typically played them as well as anyone else did. Recent history says Mayfield has been the better program over the past 10-12 years, as it's been several years since the Ads have won a championship, while Mayfield will be making its 8th title appearance in the last 9 years, having won it all 6 times. While the Ads have been down for there standards in this same time period, they do have there best team in a long, long time, so, they may well win again, but, it won't be due to any past history, but, just that they played better or outscored them. I'm expecting a terrific game that could go either way, but, when you get to this stage of the game, that's the way it's supposed to be. It's not supposed to be easy..

11/24 Gridiron Glory

Hers highlights from last nights game

I think I pretty much picked every other game correctly tonight. This one was a surprise. Congrats to Corbin on a great win!

Wrong, you picked CAL to beat Mayfield, too.

As a Mayfield fan, I've always followed the Rams from a distance and really respect the tradition they have and there fanbase are class acts.. Really glad to see you break through and make it to state. Good luck against the Tigers next week..

Final... Union City Golden Tornado make it back to the Tn 2A State Title game where they'll face Tyner Academy for the Championship.. They're 12-2 on the season with one of those losses at the hands of the Mayfield Cardinals in the season opener, 41-0...

Great job, Red Hounds.. I was pulling for you.. Looking forward to seeing you play next week in Lexington.

Danville has dominated the overall series, but, several of those games were classics and could have gone either way. Those games were mainly in the late 80s and 90s, as these 2 teams have only played a couple of times in the 2000's with the last one either in 02 or 03, can't remember exactly, so, I wouldn't put much stock in the history, as most of these kids were in diapers the last time they played.. Both teams are high powered offensively and both teams play solid D.. Speed on both sides. Should be another classic battle.

Mayfield played a little tight early in this one and I thought we may be in for a long night, but, after they made a few plays and came back and tied it up, it just looked like they got there confidence and swagger back and really outplayed the Centurions from about the half way point of the 2nd quarter on.. What really surprised me in this game was despite being outsized in the trenches, the Cards OL and DL seemed to get stronger as the game wore on and they really wore down CALs line, especially in the 4th quarter.

Just in from the game. Hats off to both teams for bringing it for all 4 quarters. Neither team dominated the other, but, Mayfield's D came up big numerous times. The Cardinals running game really surprised me tonight against a very, very formidable front 7 of CAL.. The Cards had 35 carries for 236 rushing yards on the night and only 95 thru the air. CAL rushed for 122 yards on 38 carries and passed for 108. Mayfield's safety Conner Guthrie shadowed CALs all state WR Milton Wright all night long and really took him out of the game except for a few decent KO and punt returns.. I thought I was going to have a heart attack every time that kid touched the bal on special teams, but, the Cards did a great job stopping him most of the night. Mayfield RB Kentrae Matthews had a huge game with 157 yards rushing. Special Team play was big in this one.. l