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Audio interview with Ashland Tomcats quarterback LaBryant Strader! Over the course of the season the senior has thrown for 21 touchdowns and is completing 69% of his passes while scoring three more on the ground. A starter since his sophomore season, LaBryant has thrown for over 5,000 yards, completing 60 touchdown passes while rushing for over 1,000 yards in his career. We discuss LaBryant's performance on the field but more important off the field, both in leadership and his many academic accomplishments.

That is an unreal stat. Should be a great game between the two programs. Both have the goal of winning a state championship and I'm sure playing against each other will provide ample opportunity to get experience against a state championship caliber team.

Going a different route this week. After some help from former WCW wrestler Diamond Dallas Page, I'm beginning to attack areas I haven't emphasized as much. I'm still going to drink my pop (for now) but I'm going to see what happens after eliminated (1) gluten, and (2) dairy. Any support is appreciated and I'll definitely provide the same back!

I'm a bit late to the topic on this one, but there is so much running through my mind on this. This is probably my favorite regular season game each year and I was so glad to see the two teams reunited in the same district a year ago. thinking of the situations with both coaches first off. Chad Tackett comes into Ashland spending 15 years as an assistant when he likely could have taken head coaching jobs (and likely be successful) elsewhere but was determined to learn under Ashland coaches Leon Hart in the 2000's and Tony Love in the 2010's. In the 2000's Coach Tackett actually spent nearly a half decade at Fairview prior to joining Ashland, winning two district titles. Many think that he had future NFL player Chris Jennings for both district title runs. That is correct for the first, but the year after he didn't have Jennings and would finish the season 8-2 after an 0-2 start with losses to Ashland and Frankfort. Fast forward to 2022 from 2004. Tackett takes over at Ashland and leads them to only their second state semifinal appearance since 1990 with a sophomore dominated team and continues to have success in his position. Then on Johnson Central's side, Jesse Peck had to rally a fan base that just lost an amazing head coach and human being in Jim Matney - and with Coach Peck having been on staff for 10 years prior to that, you know how that had to impact him. Yet he stepped in, provided strong leadership for not just the players but a hurt community and has kept Johnson Central in contention. There is the saying that "injuries are a part of the game," but Coach Peck had to deal an inordinate amount of injuries his first two seasons. Yet in 2023 his game plan (the onside kick to start the second half Johnson Central recovered, bringing back the formerly injured Logan Music against a worn out Ashland defense in the fourth) was widely credited with the three point victory to win in a much improved district from the last time Johnson Central was in it. This is the first time he has been able to field a reasonably healthy team at this point in the season. This was, like last year, another great game between these two programs. For Ashland, it's amazing to think about how far their offensive line has come looking back to how they struggled against Raceland, West Jessamine, and especially Harvest Prep. I don't think LaBryant Strader was sacked one time against Johnson Central, who is amongst the leaders in 4A in sacks. The line did a good job picking up the blitzes and Strader showed poise in the pocket, especially after starting the game 0-3 throwing the ball when #3 Seth Davis (14 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks on season) batted down a couple of passes at the line of scrimmage. Then you have the superstar play of Braxton Jennings. On 4th down 5 at the Johnson Central 34 yard line, his team trailing 28-26, Braxton Jennings made a catch surrounded by Johnson Central players in the backfield only to find some way to break loose and score. Ashland would convert the two to go up 34-28. Then you have the kick return at the end where Jennings told his teammates to pitch him the ball on the return, that he would make a big play - and that he did, getting to the Johnson Central 27 yard line with around 14 seconds to go and Ashland having one timeout left. After an 11 yard first down pass conversion to Cam Davis which he got out of bounds followed by an incompletion, Ashland would line up Braxton Jennings and Dylan Duckwyler next to each other and since the Johnson Central defense heavily keyed on Jennings they were hoping that would set somebody up for a big play, which it did and Dylan Duckwyler would catch what would be the game winning touchdown pass. Defensively, Ashland keyed heavily on Zack McCoart as he had 65 yards on 15 attempts - which is an outstanding job considering how dominant McCoart is. This is a back that carried the ball 40 times against Corbin and JC has no hesitancy going to him early and often. But since Ashland keyed on him so heavily and JC has such a great stable of backs, Logan Music would get loose running for 182, including a 33 yard run on the first drive for a score. Backs Christian Barnes and Logan Morrow would finish with 44 yards apiece and I think that number of yards drastically understates the impact they had. Multiple times during the game Barnes or Morrow would continue to churn their feet against an Ashland defense that was swarming them when they touched the ball, earning tough yardage and picking up first downs. Johnson Central had a great strategy at the end to try to run the clock out and give Ashland little time to work with, especially knowing they only had one timeout. With a long return by Logan Music and just over six minutes remaining they took their time moving the ball, relying on the powerful runs of Morrow and Barnes to pick up four yards at a time before QB Austin Slone would make an excellent fake to take a six yard run for the score to tie it up. At this point I am unsure if Johnson Central watched the Harvest Prep game, but they came out in a formation for the two point conversion that was the exact same one that Harvest Prep came out in that Ashland had problems defending. Two blocking backs were placed behind one of the tight ends and Zack McCoart ran in on a sweep. Johnson Central had three two point conversions in the game on that play, the last (that they ran to the left side instead of the right like the other two) put them up 36-34. This was a Johnson Central team that while their pass defense struggled at times, offensively their rushing game is just so dominant. This is a team that can pass, but they don't often and didn't have to throw a single time against Ashland. The athletes are there defensively and I'm sure Johnson Central will spend their off week coming up tooling the pass defense and I feel confident they will be a tough out in the playoffs for anybody they are matched up against. Congratulations to both teams for a hard fought game that will be talked about for years. What a thriller this was.

Dylan Duckwyler had a memorable performance against district foe Johnson Central this week with three touchdown receptions, including the game winning catch, a sixteen yard reception with four seconds remaining. Dylan was due a breakout game at some point this season and it came at a big time, the district championship game against a fantastic Johnson Central team. There is much more to Dylan than his football play, however. The junior shows tremendous determination in the classroom and also juggles working a job on the side.

It's always exciting when these two teams go at it. Going back to 2001 when Lexington Christian won 24-22, this series has always been intriguing. One of my favorite matchups in the series was a classic in the 2008 playoffs. Raceland would win a 37-35 thriller in the regular season and would build a 20-3 lead over Lexington Christian in the playoffs before the Eagles would mount an incredible comeback to win 27-20, preventing what would have been Raceland's first ever trip to the state semifinals. The Eagles have taken on anybody and everybody this season, with three of the teams (Boyle County, Pikeville, and CAL) being multi-time defending state champions. LCA has been hungry to get back to winning that state championship after some coming close multiple times since 2009. Between 2018 and 2021, they lost their four playoff games (Two being in the state finals) by a combined nine points in that stretch and the past two seasons have been looking to overcome Mayfield, showing confidence in their chances this season. Wins over Pikeville, CAL, and a Lexington Catholic team that is 3-6 but has played a gauntlet of a schedule have helped to express that confidence. Howard is an impressive QB that is a threat both through the air and on the ground and this seems to be a team that enjoys utilizing the running game, although they are a threat when they throw. Raceland has hit their stride having won 5 in a row and have also played a tough schedule losing to 4A Ashland who just picked up a big win against rival Johnson Central, a 3 point loss to multi-time defending state champion Pikeville, and a loss to Highlands who is 8-2 with an overtime loss to Ryle and three point loss to Cooper away from being 10-0 as they look to be in contention in 5A. Early in the year the Raceland passing game struggled but that has improved, and it hasn't helped matters that they have had a couple key injuries with their RBs that have been the strength of the offense. The defense has been the anchor for the rams this season, especially with the injuries at RB. The defense is ranked #4 in 1A in points allowed and are top 10 in rushing defense while being ranked #5 in sacks. It will take a strong defensive performance from Raceland to pull this out. This should be a good matchup and will be great preparation for both teams as they look to make a run in the playoffs.

Belfry comes in having won their district and a secured #1 seed in the playoffs. However, they're playing up in class against 4A Letcher County Central and have the chance to earn some RPI points that may help them. Belfry has racked up over 1,000 yards through the air and is over 2,000 on the ground, putting them toward the upper-middle of the pack in 3A in passing and pushing the top 10 in rushing. Defensively they are top 15 in interceptions, forced fumbles, and fumble recoveries. As usual, it seems like Belfry is clicking at the right time and will be a threat to anybody they come across in 3A. Thomas Varney is a clean, accurate passer who hits his receivers in stride and Jeremiah Austin is one of 3A's rushing leaders as he's pushing 1,000 yards. The defense for Belfry has improved, allowing only 25 points in their past four games. Letcher County Central comes in the middle of the back in 4A district 8 with a record of 5-4. But that comes with a TOUGH schedule they have played. Losses comes to Raceland who has been red hot lately having won 5 in a row and is a contender in 1A, Bell County tops the RPI in 3A and they lost by two scores, and the other key loss is 35-0 to Corbin who is one of 4A's best. Letcher County Central is still looking for that signature win, however, and a win over Belfry would certainly provide that for them. The QB is Gunner Holbrook who lives up to his name having completed just over 57% of his passes and thrown for 13 touchdowns on the season, and is in the top 10 in 4A in passing. Gavin Brown in my opinion is an underrated receiver despite being ranked #11 in receiving in 4A, averages 19.5 yards per reception and has scored four touchdowns. On the defensive end Dawson Kincer and Garrett Howard are both in the top 10 in tackles in 4A. Should make for an exciting matchup! What are your thoughts on the game?

I'm still recovering from the Johnson Central game last night ?but will post what I note about this series. I think each school has "that one school" that gives them problems and they struggle with. Although basketball is a different sport, on that end Simon Kenton is something like 10-1 or 11-1 against Ashland and beat them during some of their best years, including the 2021 season when Ashland made the final four. I feel like every time Ashland plays Simon Kenton, they tend to have problems. Ashland comes into this game having to completely switch gears after going against a Johnson Central team that did not pass a single time against Ashland. Simon Kenton does a great job moving the ball through the air as other posters have indicated. Ashland has a LOT of speed on both sides of the ball and is one of the leaders in 4A in sacks, but Simon Kenton will present a lot of problems via the air. Simon Kenton fans can expect to see a more balanced type team from Ashland, against Johnson Central it was the pass that Ashland won with but against Greenup County it was the run. Last season they were #6 in 4A in rushing, and they were #13 coming in against Johnson Central. Their leading rusher last season had 800 yards - so they like to give the ball to a lot of people. The leading receivers coming into the Johnson Central game had 23, 21, and 20 receptions respectively. On the defensive end they'll rush four at times and then at times they'll rush six as they tend to mix it up. Simon Kenton has a great decision maker in Brady Lee that has a nice arm but can also tuck it and run. Receivers are rock solid, Harris and Weaver can make the possession play or they can stretch the field. Ashland has the speed to cause them some problems, but to do that is much easier said than actually accomplished. This game should be a fun one. It's HUGE for Ashland in the sense that this is a chance to get some solid RPI points against a 6A opponent and I'm personally excited for the matchup as a whole. Always enjoy the opportunity to see Simon Kenton play regardless of sports. Coach Lucas is first class! Last year I had the opportunity to meet one of his coordinators and my apologies that his name escapes me at the moment, he has been at the school for a number of years and was a part of the Highlands 1992 state championship team. Prior to the game he took time and was helpful with names, pronunciations, accomplishments, etc. for the broadcast and that meant a lot. I'm sure this game will bring a lot of entertainment! Two good teams going at it.

Thankful that you're quoting me an holding me accountable! I'm hanging around that 350 range. Had a couple of good days eating this week, at least have had a salad every day. I'd like to do better though. I had it, honestly. This summer, I had it. I was on a great path. Down to 330 from 363 and didn't expect anything to change until losing my coworker and I take responsibility for letting that throw me out of rhythm. It was instant I found out - I was going to announce games at DeMatha Catholic. Finding that out, I instantly went to Olive Garden and gorged on the way up and drank a ton of pop and haven't looked back since unfortunately. We upped the dosage of the Wellbutrin, my dosage being quadrupled, hoping that would help as I thought it was the basic dose that helped get me to where I was and burn this appetite but unfortunately at this point it hasn't.

This is a real statement victory for Russell and congratulations to them. This is a senior class that had a tremendous amount of challenges from the first time I saw them in middle school as they struggled to pull out wins, getting beat badly at times. But during that struggle they clawed and fought and never gave up. The result, to go out with a district championship and a potential nice playoff run, is a real honor and T.J. Maynard did an excellent job keeping this group focused especially after a couple of stumbles early in the season. Beating East Carter is a big deal. This is a team that came just two points from the state semifinals last season and as I mentioned in another thread, under Coach Champlin a down year for East Carter is 5-5 and being a tough out for the playoffs and East Carter is far from down. East has a chance next week to pick up their seventh win of the season. All the best to both in the playoffs!

Watch live and for free! Pregame tailgate show then the game.

A great win for Ashland and a tough loss for Boyd County, but putting it into deeper perspective both sides can take a lot of positives from it. Ashland was typical Ashland - ran the spread offense, and they have a variety of backs that are capable of breaking loose for the big play. One freshman that played in the prior games that contributed a significant role at linebacker was hurt while the other one didn't play due to the high amount of varsity minutes he has contributed recently. The Tomcats have a lot to be excited about with this class. This group has been highly thought of for a while and Coach Tackett has earned quite a reputation for how his players develop. Then you look at Ashland taking their success to another level in recent years compared to the prior quarter century. After their 1990 state championship Ashland would not have a ten win season until 2017. Since then they have had 5 seasons where they have won at least 10 games, two final fours, and a state championship. While yes, they were in 3A in 2020 compared to the daunting and deep 4A class, three of those ten win seasons come when Ashland was in 4A with state power Johnson Central in their district and they could another one is not out of the question this season. Boyd County is disappointed with this loss, but the optimism has to be high as this is a class that has a TON of potential. The size that Boyd possessed across the line really impressed me. It reminded me of the size of the lines of teams like Belfry or Johnson Central. With their varsity win over Rowan County last week Boyd picked up their 25th win of the decade - tying their win total for the entire 2010's. The coaching at Boyd County has been outstanding with Evan Ferguson and I anticipate that he sees the high potential in this class with their size and build. Once they get a couple runs through the off season program, they'll be in a nice position and I am excited to see what this group will be able to accomplish. Their instincts will develop, and under Coach Ferguson they will come a long way. If this district stays the way it does, it will be a difficult one to win for anybody. You have Ashland and Johnson Central who have a combined three state championships over the last decade. Then Boyd County and Greenup County (Who also has a fantastic coach in Travis Jones), who are no longer the easy victories they were in the prior years and will be consistent threats to be ranked in the top 10 of 4A. In 2020 Rowan County had their strongest finish since the early 1980's under Kelly Ford and they have a nice young group coming up.

Ashland’s freshman team coming into the game with a record of 3-1 while Boyd County is 3-5. Watch live!

It was a wild atmosphere and maybe the highest attended game since Putnam Stadium re-opened in 2014. That place was packed end to end, there was hardly any breathing room for the crowd. Johnson Central had a great line as usual. Ashland had, on their end, one of the best lines they had in years and arguably a more talented overall team than even the 2020 state championship team. @DevilMayCare pulled out the statistic of Ashland holding Johnson Central to 122 rushing yards that night. In that game Ashland's linebackers came out in a completely different alignment from what they normally did. Division I prospect Drew O'Bryan shot through on the first play and hit the Johnson Central running back right when he touched the ball, forcing a fumble that Ashland recovered which set the tone for the game. Ashland would drive to the goal line but the Johnson Central defense held. Ashland actually ran for 300 yards on the night and the Johnson Central defense bent but didn't break. Like you mentioned, there were a lot of jarring hits on both sides that night. It's going to fun atmosphere Friday night and a hard fought game. Can't wait to see it!

Notable matchups in series history. Johnson Central leads the series 17-7. 1975: Ashland wins 47-14 in the first matchup between the two schools after Johnson Central, a consolidation of four schools, opened up in 1968. Ashland, behind their "Jaws" defense, would win the 1975 at-large state championship. 1986: Johnson Central would defeat Ashland 18-14. This was against a young Ashland team that finished 1-9 but had many players that would be a key part of their state semifinal team two seasons later that would play a classic against Covington Catholic in a 6-0 loss in overtime. 1998: Ashland would win 26-20 in a tight matchup at Putnam Stadium. I know little of this matchup but it's in a year that the two teams weren't in the same district. Ashland would go 7-4 with a 36-32 loss to Greenup County determining the district champion. 2005: The first year Johnson Central and Ashland played in the same district. In a muddy game at Putnam Stadium, Ashland would build a 13-3 lead holding 2,000+ yard rusher Ron Blume in the negatives UNTIL the fourth quarter when Coach Matney adjusted his formations. Ron Blume would run for a long touchdown to cut the lead to 13-10 and after Ashland unsuccessfully tried to run the clock out JC would get the ball back, with Blume breaking another one loose and Drew McDavid shoving him out of bounds at the 10 yard line. After a couple more plays JC would go for a field goal that they thought was good but it was ruled missed - which secured the district championship for Ashland and ignited the rivalry. Both teams were expected to meet again in the regional final, but Madison Southern upset Johnson Central in the first round and Rockcastle would defeat Ashland in the second. 2006: Johnson Central would get their revenge 35-7 in the regular season, but after a rule change the KHSAA re-aligned the playoffs to where teams would play through their districts. In the second round Johnson Central would win this battle 28-21 on a reverse pass in the final seconds of the game. Interestingly, Ashland almost completely shut down the Johnson Central running game led by superstar back Shawn Grimm. Three of Johnson Central's touchdowns game through the air and the first was on a recovered fumble in Ashland's end zone. Johnson Central had a big goal line stand early and Ashland also turned the ball over up 21-14 in Johnson Central territory. 2007: Johnson Central would win 67-33 in the highest scoring game in the series, a game in which the score was 20-14 halfway through the first quarter. 2009: First off, before I go into this one note that Ashland did not use a kicker this season and went for two point conversions, so Johnson Central played along. Johnson Central came in as huge underdogs to an Ashland team that was undefeated but also injury-plagued. After going up 8-0, Johnson Central would recover an onside kick to score again and go up 16-0. The lead would be 22-6 at half before Ashland would go on a 22-0 run to take the lead at 28-22. Most of Johnson Central's scoring came on big plays - EXCEPT on their last drive which was consistent. With a 4th and goal from around the 15 yard line, backup QB Ross Sanor came in and threw a fade to starting QB J.K. Hall, who caught it barely hanging one foot in bounds. It was a great catch that I happened to have a great view of, like if Hall caught that two inches away he would have been out of bounds. Instead of going for two, Johnson Central would attempt the extra point to go ahead 29-28. Ashland had the ball with two minutes left, although they were out of timeouts and would be stopped on downs. 2011: Ashland defeats JC for the first time since 2005 to win the district 22-6. Star back J.J. Jude who finished with over 3,000 rushing yards on the season, was held to 83 yards. 2012: A great back and forth battle for the district championship. Missing Quinton Baker really hurt Ashland. Johnson Central did a great job controlling the clock and the game would go to overtime. Ashland would score first and get an extra point to take a 21-14 lead. Johnson Central would score on 4th and goal from around the 20 yard line on a pass and would win on a run for 2. 2015: Mentioned in the prior post, the score was 0-0 at half. To start the second Quinton Baker carried the ball out of the backfield for Ashland. A couple of Johnson Central defenders tackled him, yet he would somehow land on his feet and run it the distance to put Ashland ahead 7-0. Johnson Central responded strongly and rifled a pass downfield to Geordan Blanton, who got the ball to the 1 and JC would score. JC would go for 2 and convert to go up 8-7. The teams would trade possessions the rest of the way with Ashland moving the ball and sometimes threatening, but they would miss a last chance to win the game with the ball on the Johnson Central 35. 2016: Johnson Central would win 51-0 in the regional finals - the first of three straight games they would shut out their opponents by a combined score of 150-0 on the way to Jim Matney's first state championship. 2017: Ashland wins 21-18 at home to win the district title. Johnson Central had nearly 500 yards of offense compared to around 300 for Ashland but turned the ball over multiple times and a missed extra point early threw them off. Ashland had the ball late in the game around midfield and on 4th and 3, ran a play action fake and threw deep to Aroq Coburn who scored as he would have nearly 150 yards receiving for the game. That put Ashland up 21-18 and Johnson Central would drive to the Ashland 20 but run out of time. During the game Johnson Central would keep trying to run a toss play but fumbled the pitch almost every time they tried it. The two teams would meet again in the regional final and this time Johnson Central would not repeat their mistakes on the pitch, utilizing that to defeat Ashland 54-27 (In a game much closer than the final score showed) in the second of three consecutive regional final meetings. 2023: After a 5 year hiatus of the series (although the teams scrimmaged in 2021) the two teams didn't disappoint in their first match since 2018 where Johnson Central would control the clock and run the ball 70 times in the game and win 36-33. Ashland scored with several big plays. Starting the second half Ashland would receive the ball trailing 20-19 in a game they never led in. An onside kick was called by Johnson Central that they would recover which caught Ashland off guard. in the fourth quarter Logan Music, who was expected to return from injury, played and picked up 63 yards on 9 carries, including a touchdown run late against the worn out Ashland defense to seal the district championship victory.

Belfry comes into this game hitting their stride, as they have won five games in a row scoring no less than 35 points in that stretch. Last night the Pirates picked up a 42-6 victory against a solid Estill County team. This week, they look to cap off a district championship against Powell County. Both Powell and Estill have the same Record of 4-5 and are just a few notches away from each other on the RPI rankings and not to mention, played an exciting thriller earlier this year that Estill won 40-35. However, these are two entirely different teams. Estill prefers to utilize the running game, while the Pirates of Powell County (Who comes in having lost 48-13 to Lawrence County this week) prefer to go to the air. Belfry is the #1 team in 3A in scoring averaging 43.2 points per game. Defensively, they're toward the middle of the pack giving up 22.8 points per game. Belfry has struggled against the run giving up over 1,305 yards on the season but some of that could be due to the strong quality of their schedule early in the season. Against the pass they rank at #8, allowing 83 yards per game which makes this matchup all the more interesting. Powell County comes into the game ranked #4 in offense in their class averaging 36.2 points per game. Led by star freshman quarterback Brady Skidmore, he is ranked #3 in passing in 3A having thrown for 14 touchdowns on the season while rushing for another 7. The duo of Brady along with Jacob Green have rushed for around 500 yards each on the season and each are in the top 30 in 3A in rushing. Aden Larrison and Tristan West-Mckinney are both ranked in the top 10 in 3A in receiving with a combined 48 receptions, 1,056 yards, and 15 touchdowns. Defensively, Powell County has struggled allowing 38.4 points per game while being toward the bottom of the 3A pack in both rushing and passing defense. The pass rush especially has struggled this season, only generating three sacks so far as a team. It will be interesting to see how the two teams match up as Belfry looks to win the district and Powell County comes in looking to face their biggest challenge to date this season. What are your thoughts on the game?

Both teams come into this game having just played Paris. Raceland would pick up a 28-14 win on the road against Paris last night while Nicholas County lost 45-18 to Paris on October 11. Although score comparisons are one thing, I think this could be a trap game for Raceland. Nicholas County comes into the game in the middle of the pack in 1A at 4-4 and not to mention, they are looking for that big signature win on their schedule. The combined record of the teams that have defeated Nicholas County turns is 25-7 and Paris holds four of those losses. Raceland, on the other hand, has a big matchup next week with 2A power Lexington Christian, a school Raceland didn't win against even with their strong squad last year and last defeated in 2008 and the Blue Jackets of Nicholas County are hoping to catch the Rams looking ahead. Raceland has shuffled Jacob Waller and Parker Ison in the QB position this season, both of whom have their respective strengths and have made steady improvements. This, along with Raceland's tough schedule in the beginning, is starting to show as Raceland has won their last four, averaging nearly 39 points per game in that stretch. While the passing game has improved, it has still been the power running game and a strong defense (Ranked #4 in 1A) that has propelled the Rams this season and I expect that to be the case against a rock solid Nicholas County squad. Nicholas County, the #2 rushing team in 1A, comes in with two of the top 10 rushers in the class. Wyatt Simons and Colby Gray will get close to the same amount of touches (Each carried the ball 21 times against Paris) and have combined for a total of 1,873 yards and 24 touchdowns. While the rushing game is strong, the passing game has struggled and I anticipate Raceland trying to force Nicholas County into long yardage situations. Overall Nicholas' offense has been toward the upper-middle of the pack, averaging 29.5 points per game but defensively, they have been near the bottom giving up 35.1 points per game. What are your thoughts on the game?

Wow! I take it they had a great night on the ground. Central has averaged 379 rushing yards per game over their last three, prior to the game against CAL.

Both teams have fended off three improved programs in Boyd, Greenup, and Rowan this season and will again be competing for a district championship. From 2005 - 2024, the only years these two teams were not in the same district was 2019 - 2022. Other than those seasons, with the exception of 2007 when Ashland went 2-8 they have competed for a district championship 14 times out of 15 those seasons where Johnson Central emerged victorious in 11 of the 14 matchups while also winning all four times (06, 16, 17, 18) the teams met in the playoffs. While Ashland has put together teams with a lot of speed, they have struggled at times against teams like Johnson Central that boast a power running game. Last season the two teams met in an offensive battle (Or a defensive struggle, depending on how you look at it) where Johnson Central would win the district championship 33-36. This season Ashland comes in with one loss, 26-10 to Ohio power Harvest Prep who has reached the state semifinals four times in the past decade. That game marks the only time to this point over the past two seasons (20 games) where Ashland has been held below 28 points and they have averaged 50.6 points per game over the last five games. LaBryant Strader continues his impressive accuracy, completing 67% of his passes while throwing for 15 touchdowns. Ashland will spread the ball around as Sam Lyons, Cam Davis, and Braxton Jennings have 23, 21, and 20 receptions respectively. Braxton Jennings leads the rushing attack with 524 yards on the ground and 12 touchdowns. The next three rushers are LaBryant Strader, Cam Davis, and Maverick Ashby who have a combined 49, 46, and 44 carries respectively. Defensively, Ashland ranks #8 against the run allowing 98 yards per game (Although Harvest Prep is the only team they encountered that plays more of the power running style Johnson Central does) and they rank 7th in pass defense. Ashland certainly has the speed to make plays on both ends, although the lines have been a question mark at times. Johnson Central comes in ranked #1 in 4A in rushing, averaging 422 yards per game. While I am yet to see their stat totals from Greenup, they are on pace to run for 5,486 yards should they play 13 games like last season when they ran for 4,164. The big difference is having key player Zack McCoart back, who was hurt last year. Zack nearly has 2,000 yards on the season and (not counting the first game in which he was injured last season) has scored a touchdown in every single game but three he has played in going back to his freshman season when he led a state finalist Johnson Central team in rushing. After scoring only 14 points against a tough Madison Central team in their first game, Johnson Central has not scored less than 37 since, including a 67 point game against Greenup County this week. Defensively, they are ranked 34th in 4A in passing allowing 178 yards per game but have played some strong quarterbacks like Kade Elam, Chase Varney, and Rhett Holbrook in that stretch. Against the run Johnson Central has been in the middle of the pack in 4A, allowing nearly 125 rushing yards per game. One area that is a major strength for both teams is that Ashland ranks #5 in sacks in 4A and Johnson Central #6, but that has to favor Johnson Central more since they have only thrown the ball 23 times going into the Greenup County game compared to Ashland having thrown 109 times. Johnson Central also leads 4A in fumbles forced along with John Hardin, having forced 10 on the season. This game features two football programs that have differing styles of play. Ashland will run more of a spread offense while Johnson Central is known for running the wishbone. Last season the game was decided by three points and it's shaping up to be a great one this year! What are your thoughts on the game?

Belfry comes into this game after their off week. So far this year the Pirates have gone with a balanced attack behind the powerful running of Jeremiah Austin (774 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns) and the passing game featuring Chase Varney (795 passing yards, 7 touchdowns) with JB Woolum and Cayden Varney both ranked in the top 50 receivers in 3A. Defensively, Belfry has struggled against the run (Ranked 27 in 3A) and they will be going against Jax Niece of Estill County, one of 3A's top rushers who is a few yards short of 1,000 on the ground along with 12 touchdowns. QB Brody Mainous has also kept rushing defenses honest, running for 455 yards on 84 carries. While their ground game has been solid, Estill County, who comes into the game with a record of 4-3, has only one game where they scored above 24 points this season and that came this week against Powell County. Right now they are ranked 31 in 3A in points per game averaging 20.1. Jax Niece ran for 244 yards and 5 touchdowns against Powell County while also having a receiving touchdown and Brody Mainous ran for 105 yards. For Estill, to win coming in as underdogs they will need to have a strong performance running the ball and controlling the clock. What are your thoughts on this game?

Raceland picks up a big 56-6 win over local rival Fairview this week, taking care of business against a Fairview team that has come a long, long way this season compared to prior years. I'm hoping that in the future Fairview will continue to grow and that will be a competitive series again. Next up Raceland has Paris. Raceland's passing game has improved over the course of the season and they continued that improvement against Fairview. Raceland has averaged 42 points per game over their last three games. The lessons learned in the early losses to Ashland, Highlands, and Pikeville are starting to pay off. Raceland looks to continue that improvement against Paris. The defense continues to impress and has anchored the Rams this season. Paris, ranked #8 on the RPI in 1A, comes into the game with a 4-3 record having just ending a two game losing skid with a 45-18 victory against Nicholas County. Their only big loss comes to Hazard, who beat them 58-34 earlier this season. Rockcastle, who was handed their first loss this week at Bell County, defeated Paris 13-12 and their other loss is a 21-14 game against Bishop Brossart, ranked #4 in 1A on the RPI. QB Julius Gregory scored three passing touchdowns in the win last week against Nicholas County, a big step for the sophomore who had to step in for QB Kaden Fredrick who has been injured. Paris has some solid athletes like Elijah Webb who are versatile. Defensively, Paris has five tacklers who are in the top 25 in 1A. On a side note, Paris has pulled out their new orange turf field this year and that has generated excitement amongst the fan base. What are your thoughts on this game?

Congratulations to Frederick Douglass on the win. Hate that (at least on the surface) it looked like it ended in a controversial call. Always liked rooting for Frederick Douglass with Coach McPeek and it was awesome that he got inducted into the Marshall University Hall of Fame this year. Looks like Madison Central narrowed the gap quite a bit compared to last year. Was Madison Central expected to be as competitive as they have been? I could be wrong as I have limited knowledge on both teams in terms of personnel, injuries, etc. but I don't think many expected Madison Central to beat Johnson Central in week one after coming off a 4-8 season and they started out winning that one and have picked up some good wins since.

East Carter has so much to be proud of with what they accomplished and that's an incredible statistic to share. Coach Tim Champlin has taken that program to another level. Just to show the win totals and how they improved over his first few seasons: 2016: 2-8 2017: 4-6 2018: 5-5 2019: 7-4 2020: 4-3 (COVID year) 2021: 10-3 (East Carter's first ever state semi appearance) 2022: 6-5 (Lost a lot from that 2021 team, still was competitive with Ashland who made final 4) 2023: 9-3 (Regional finalist, 2 points in OT away from beating state finalist Bell County) 2024: 5-2 (As 16thBBall Fan mentioned, 8 straight district wins and counting) East Carter has come a long, long way under Tim Champlin. A down year for them now is 5-5 and them being a serious threat to whoever they play in the first round of the state tournament. Having been on a Fleming County game this season, they are 1-6 but not a bad 1-6 team that is only four years removed from back-to-back regional final appearances. The capability is there for them to surprise somebody as they have a couple of quick, shifty backs and that big fullback, Aiden Johnson, is a load to handle up the middle. Good win for East Carter and as long as they respect and don't overlook a scrappy Lewis County team while Russell does the same against a Bath County team that can put up points, we could have an exciting 3A district 6 final coming up in a couple of weeks.

A good win for Ashland. A trap game against a rival and one that has made great strides over the years. To put it into perspective, Boyd County has 24 wins in this decade so far. In the 2010's they had 25 wins - 2.5 per season. This also has to be one of 4A's deepest districts in terms of the quality of teams. Just like against Johnson Central, the Lions of Boyd came in focused and scored on their first possession. Although they tied the game against Johnson Central at 7, they were up 7-0 on Ashland. The play that caused a significant momentum shift was when Ashland, who would score two consecutive touchdowns, got the ball at their own 30 and Cam Davis would bust loose on a 70 yard touchdown reception from LaBryant Strader. That put Ashland up 21-7 at half and while the Tomcats would score on their first drive of the second half to go up 28-7, the teams would trade scores with Boyd cutting it to 28-14 but Ashland pushing it back out to 35-14. Rhett Holbrook, as LRCW mentioned, showcased his incredible agility. I thought, for sure, that he was going to be tackled at some point on that kick return and he did an amazing job keeping his feet inbounds when Ashland tried to shove him out. Boyd cuts it to 35-21, and goes for an onside kick that lands in a pile of guys. The ruling was that Ashland recovered, and they went on to put the game away. Both teams showed some strong signs. For Ashland, that offense is so explosive. And this is without one of their key players in Tay Thomas who is out for the season. I also thought Ashland's resilience was impressive as they didn't get phased when Boyd came in and scored on an early touchdown drive. As for Boyd, my highest compliments to them on the tremendous strides they have made under Evan Ferguson. A fantastic coach, and even better person that has put his heart into developing that program from the grade school up. Offensive players of the game Ashland: Cam Davis Boyd: Rhett holbrook Defensive Players of the game Ashland: Adam Frame Boyd: Erik Germann MVP: Braxton Jennings of Ashland

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