Unrivaled97

Just looking at this game for what it is, I think Jacob Savage has to have a HUGE game for Ryle to win. That's just my opinion. He'll have to have his best game year-to-date. Nathan Verax will need to step it up as well. He's only completing about 42% of his passes this year and if that continues on Friday night, that will put an even bigger strain on the Ryle running game. In addition, I agree with @StraightShooterthat Ryle must win the TO battle and I think they have to win it by at least +2. CAL has only created 1 TO on defense and has only turned the ball over 1 time on offense, so turnovers have not been a factor in any of their games thus far this year. Ryle must change that on Friday. If I had my way, I would have much preferred for Ryle to win last Friday against Cooper, hoping that maybe they would look past CAL and towards Highlands the following week, but as it is now, you know they'll be dialed in for this one. I know it sounds crazy that someone would "overlook" CAL, but with CAL being sandwiched in between 2 rivalry games and these being high school kids, it can happen. This should be a great game between what is 2 top 10 teams in the state. I said a few months back that in the 1st 6 games for CAL, I thought they would finish anywhere from 3-3 to 5-1, leaning towards 5-1. This was the 1 I thought they might lose. As it stands now, I feel good about their chances heading into Friday, but they'll have to earn it.

CAL travels to Ryle on Friday for a highly anticipated showdown. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CAL comes into the matchup with a record of 3-0, which includes 3 running clock victories over traditional powers Pikeville, Owensboro & LCA. Ryle heads into the matchup with a record of 2-1 with a big victory over Covington Catholic to start out the year, followed by a running clock victory over Conner and a 7-point defeat to rival Cooper. CAL is led by QBs JR Brodie Pfeiffer and SO Jackson Burke. To this point, the QBs have split reps evenly, alternating series, which has worked out well for CAL. In the backfield CAL has SR Jeffrey Vezzana and SR Tyree Stoner share the workload, while WRs JR Ja'Hyde Brown and JR Gaines Howard lead the way on the outside. On the defensive side of the ball, CAL is led by their LB duo of SR Jackson Settle and JR Micah Newsome with SR Brody Cherry and SR Jason Hilliard anchoring the DL. SO Kellan Hall and SR Stone Perkins have yet to play this year, but that could change come Friday, which would be a huge boost to CAL's chances in this contest. For Ryle, they are led by Mr. Football candidate and IU commit SR Jacob Savage. Savage has been a dynamic player for Ryle for 4 years and impacts the game on both sides of the ball. At QB is SR Nathan Verax and although he has not been as accurate this season as last, he is capable of making a big impact on this contest with his main targets being SR Dylan Lee and Gavin Lyons. This will be the 3rd meeting between the two schools with each school winning on the other team's home field (2023 at Ryle - CAL 34 Ryle 22 & 2024 at CAL - Ryle 28 CAL 24). Last season, CAL had a sizable lead of 24-7 with 10 minutes left to go in the game before Ryle made a huge comeback to win 28-24. Does CAL exact revenge for last season's defeat? Does Ryle get back to their winning ways as they try to make a repeat trip to Kroger Field in December? Let's hear it BGP....who wins this matchup Friday and why?

I’ve been fortunate enough to see both of these teams this year & IMO, LCA is the better team. I’ll take LCA 34-21.

He went over 100 again & I know it was 2 TDs but might have been 3. I'm not ? on that though.

LCA is a good team. The score doesn’t do the game justice. They were able to move the ball & had some nice plays defensively as well. Anyway, hoping to finally get Stone Perkins (Ball St commit) & Kellan Hall (#7 ranked player nationally in 2028) back for the Ryle game. They have yet to play in the regular season & that would be a really huge boost for CAL’s chances against Ryle next week.

47-7 CAL final

47-7 CAL with 4:56 left in the 4th. We have a running clock.

40-7 CAL with 7:10 left in the 4th quarter.

34-7 CAL at the start of the 4th quarter.

20-0 CAL at halftime LCA to receive the 2nd half kickoff.

That has been the biggest key. Most of the JCPS programs struggle b/c of consistent coaching turnover. You see it often. When you get a coach that will last longer than 2 or 3 years, you typically see that JCPS program start to turn the corner and win some games instead of being a consistent doormat. Nino White has been with Atherton for 6 or 7 years now and they have improved just about every year. He's been able to retain quite a few assistant coaches as well, which never hurts either. As far as getting top talent to transfer into Atherton, there is another connection and a reason why kids are choosing Atherton whereas before, they wouldn't have even consider transferring there.

There is no penalty for cancelling JV games other than if you do it too often, some teams won’t schedule you going forward. Overall, it’s not hard to fill a JV game because there is no contract signed like out of district varsity games. I will say that most of the state plays JV games on Mondays for the most part, so Saturday JV games in Kentucky limits your pool of teams.

Yes, they do. I literally sit right next to them in the press box & they do an excellent job gathering their research beforehand in addition to calling the game.

Yes they are https://livesportscaster.com/video/10290/khsaa-football-cal-vs-lca/

I feel pretty good about Murray & notice I said “if RPI doesn’t spoil it”. I think there’s a good chance Murray goes undefeated in the regular season & potentially finishes up top of 3A on RPI, which keeps them away from CAL & Lex Cath in the 3rd round. Anyway, I remember the same thing being said in 2022 about Bullitt East & how their schedule didn’t prepare them for the postseason. I think that worked out ok. I could be completely wrong about Murray. They could lose Friday night & blow my theory up. We shall see.

As long as RPI doesn't spoil it, I think it's a CAL vs. Murray state final game and yes, I think CAL wins by 2 or 3 scores in that one, I've never been one to mail in the trophy. I would agree this is about as close as one could come to saying that, but I also thought it was a forgone conclusion that Boyle County was going to win 4A last year, especially after they beat St. Ed's on the road.

Pikeville Bowling Green Johnson Central Manual Moeller 60

This is the 17th meeting between the 2 teams. LCA holds a 10-6 advantage in the series & has won the last 2 and won 3 of the last 4 meetings. LCA always plays CAL tough & I suspect this will be no different. I do believe CAL wins this one, but it will be close. I’ll go with a CAL win by 7.

Honestly, I thought CAL would win, but with a few of the players that were out tonight, I didn’t think it would be by a running clock. No other way to put it other than Owensboro’s O-line & even D-line aren’t very good right now. It does you no good to have a D1 RB with 4.4 speed if he gets hit within a yard or two of getting the ball & can’t get going. It does you no good have a WR playmaker if the QB has zero time to get him the ball. I really believe the Pikeville team CAL played last week is better than this Owensboro team & that surprises me. Offensively, CAL probably could have named their score. The only thing that stopped CAL was CAL. Early on Owensboro tried to stop the run with 6 in the box & they were getting mauled. CAL RBs were gaining 5 yards before being even touched. Owensboro then eventually started putting 8 in the box & were getting torched with the pass. It was basically pick your poison for the Red Devils, but either way, they weren’t stopping CAL.

35-0 CAL with 7:01 left in the 3rd.

They are already

First half yardage: CAL - 249 Owensbori - -18 yes, that’s -18.

The OL play for Owensboro will need to improve greatly if they have any hope of playing on Thanksgiving weekend or beyond.

28-0 CAL at halftime. Owensboro will receive the 2nd half kickoff. I’m very shocked by the result thus far. CAL is without 2 starting OL, a D1 commit & a top 10 player in the nation & is doing as they please to this point.

21-0 CAL with 30 seconds left in the 1st quarter.