Bert

1. Trinity (2-0) – Trinity gets another win over an Indiana power by inching past Warren Central High School 42-41. Things do not get any easier for the Rocks as they will contend with Cincinnati Catholic power, Archbishop Moeller High School. 2. St. Xavier (1-0) – The Tigers had the week off to prepare for their trip down I65 to visit Bowling Green High School. The Purples are coming off a shocking loss, could this make them even more dangerous? Or does this make them vulnerable to St. X who Bowling Green has had success with lately. Many will be looking for answers in this game. 3. Male (2-0) – The Bulldogs handled the Bruins of Ballard rather thoroughly but how will they do with the very talented Dragons of Doss High School? Male will be favored in the game but win or lose, Doss should put up a formidable fight. 4. Christian Academy of Louisville (2-0) – 2A CAL is making a habit of easily beating larger class foes with their victory over Eastern High School. Next week will be a stronger opponent in Central Hardin but the Centurions should be favored still. 5. Pleasure Ridge Park (2-0) – When it comes to Preseason rankings, some times you make some dumb predictions, ranking PRP #10 was without question a dumb one. The Panthers played outstanding sending the Purples back to Bowling Green shocked. The competition will be a much easier this week as PRP visits Louisville Eastern High School. 6. DeSales (2-0) – The Colts had a close one last week against always solid 6A Butler. DeSales should be a solid favorite against fellow South End Catholic High School, Louisville Holy Cross. 7. Fern Creek (2-0) – The Creek is rising in Fern Creek as the Tigers beat traditionally strong Manual High School but the competition gets better next week as the Tigers visit the Central Yellow Jackets who are having a strong season also making this the game of the week. 8. Central (2-0) – The Yellow Jackets squeaked by Western last week. Central better be ready this week as a Fern Creek team playing great football will be visiting. 9. Shelby County (2-0) Shelby County has two wins over weaker opponents, next week should be more difficult playing Meade County. 10. South Oldham (1-1) South recovers from the loss to CAL with a convincing win over talented Doss High School. Next week should be an easier opponent in North Oldham. Honorable Mention - Manual (0-2) – Despite losing back to back, I still believe Manual can beat most of the teams in Louisville and will work its way back into the Power Rankings. Collins (2-0) - With two nice wins, the titans are a team to watch. Teams on the Rise – Without question, PRP Teams on the Decline – Without question, Manual Featured Game of the Week – Fern Creek vs Central

Doug Strothman who was named DeSales president 10 years ago. He was definitely not your traditional pick for president, he was never a teacher. However, he has a strong background in the business community in successfully leading people, problem solving and strategic planning, all of which he used very effectively in turning DeSales from a struggling school some wondered if would exist in 10 years to a thriving small school in those 10 years.

Back when Redman coached at Male, due to his friendship with the with the superintendent, Redman was able to arrange talent to come to Male that should have gone to other schools in Jefferson Co.. When that superintendent retired, Redman also left for Jeffersonville, IN High School and the talent went where it normally would, Central benefited from this the most by far.

1. Trinity (1-0) – Trinity powerfully defended its top ranking with a strong showing against Indiana’s defending 6A champion. The Shamrocks will face another Hoosier opponent when they travel up to Indianapolis this Friday to face always strong Warren Central. 2. St. Xavier (1-0) – Not to be outdone by its archrival Trinity, the Tigers beat an Indy opponent also in Cathedral High School. With a week off, the following week X will face a fellow Bluegrass opponent but a mighty one in Bowling Green who the past several years has had an edge against St. X in their annual match up. Looks to be a great game to see in two weeks. 3. Male (1-0) – Male just couldn’t let #1 and #2 have all the fun beating Hoosier opponents, the Bulldogs pounded Floyd Central, IN 35-10. Next week H travels to the East side of Jefferson County to face Ballard where Male will be a favorite but should not be a blow out. 4. Christian Academy of Louisville (1-0) – CAL must have heard some of the doubts of a 2A school being ranked #4 and decided to prove their worth by beating 5A South Oldham 35-10. Next week the Centurions face 6A Eastern which could get ugly quick. 5. DeSales (1-0) – The Colts were not intimidated at all being a 2A school going up against the big boys in 6A of Ballard as the Colts beat the Bruins by 15. 6A Butler will probably DeSales' next victim this Friday. 6. Fern Creek (1-0) – The Tigers let Seneca have it winning 52-0. This week's opponent being Manual should provide a much better game for Fern Creek. 7. Central (1-0) – The Yellow Jackets are continuing the competitive play of last year's play offs by stinging Manual 7-0. Central is a heavy favorite this week against Western 8. Pleasure Ridge Park (1-0) – PRP climbs two spots as higher ranked teams faltered last Friday. Many will say the Panthers are more accurately ranked now and their pounding of Valley 41-6 doesn't hurt either. Things change drastically this week as PRP will host Bowling Green. A win is highly unlikely, let's just hope PRP keeps it competitive. 9. Manual (0-1) – Manual comes out of the gate this season and stumbles, being beaten by smaller class Central. Redemption is possible as the Crimsons will visit very good Fern Creek. 10. Shelby County (1-0) Welcome to the Louisville Power Rankings Rockets with a solid win over Fairdale. This week should be another win with Atherton. Honorable Mention - Spencer County (1-0) Spencer achieved revenge on Bardstown from last year's defeat. This week is Bullitt Central. Doss (1-0) - Doss had a nice beat down of J-town but the real test is coming this week as the travel to South Oldham. Teams on the Rise – Central for its nice win over Manual Teams on the Decline – Manual for the reason mentioned above. Featured Game of the Week – There will be two again this week. Trinity will again be defending Kentucky's reputation as the Shamrocks travel to Indianapolis to face Warren Central. In terms of two Kentucky teams, PRP hosting Bowling Green would seem to be the highlight.

Trinity D that good or is the Carmel O making mistakes?

Still 17-0?

I have a habit of ranking teams with new coaches too low, I guess it is the uncertainty of how quickly a coach can implement his system.

@Jason Frakes and @Jim Schue, would love the two of you to give your input into this throughout the season as Sports Writers in the Louisville Region.

Prior year regular season records in parentheses. 1. Trinity (10-0) – I normally don't automatically assign the preseason #1 ranking to the prior year #1 but so far Trinity has earned that right. Trinity's match up against mighty Carmel, IN High School should be a great match up but at the same time will be difficult to determine how strong Trinity really is. 2. St. Xavier (7-4) – The Tiger's prior year season may not have looked ideal with four losses but those four losses all came from eventual state champions (Trinity reg season, Bowling Green, Cincy St. X and Trinity playoffs). X starts the year by welcoming Indy Cathedral to Poplar Level Road. Another case where win or lose it will be difficult to determine how strong St. X is after the game. 3. Male (8-2) – Male will round out the Big 3. Last year their only losses came from Trinity and X so they will occupy the 3 spot for now. Male opens the season with Floyd County (IN) High School which should be competitive but Male should pull out the victor. 4. Christian Academy of Louisville (9-1) – Reigning 2A state champs CAL begins the year at #4 but starts the year off tough with South Oldham who had a fine season in 2016. 5. Dupont Manual (8-2) – As much as Manual tries, the Crimsons cannot seem to break into the Louisville 6A top 3. This season there is a chance with Manual having two fine opening opponents in Central in Week 1 and Fern Creek in Week 2. Can Manual get some luck with one of the big three taking an early loss and convincingly beating Central and Fern Creek to crack the Big 3? We shall see. 6. St. Francis DeSales (8-2) – The Colts are not enjoying being the #2 Louisville 2A school and certainly have CAL on their radar but for now, DeSales needs to worry about always competitive Ballard. 7. Fern Creek (8-2) – It took mighty Bowling Green last year to stop the Creekers from taking state, can the Tigers have similar success this year? They open with struggling Seneca which will not tell us much but then follow up with Manual which will really tell us what Fern Creek is made of. 8. Central (5-5) – Something must have happened to Central after the 39 point loss to PRP because after a lack luster regular season, the Yellow Jackets surged through the playoffs stopping short of another state championship due to Mighty Belfry. 9. South Oldham (9-1) – A close loss to Shelby Co. ruined S. Oldham's perfect regular season. South isn't holding back this year starting the season with CAL in week 1. 10. Pleasure Ridge Park (6-4) – PRP has the same issue as St. X, fine team, BRUTAL schedule. Their opening game against Valley should be pretty lopsided but then the arguably #2 team state wide over all classes visits PRP. If the panthers can keep the game respectable, that would say loads about their progam. A win is probably out of the question. Honorable Mention - Ballard (7-3) – Ballard is a good Louisville school that just can't take Manual's place as #4 6A in Louisville, granted last year and this year preseason they are #5 behind PRP also. A win over DeSales to start the season would say they are under rated here. But then have to defend that argument the following week against Male. Bardstown (9-1) – Bardstown was a single score away from a perfect regular season last year. They will open the season against a fine program in Spencer Co.. Doss (5-5) - Doss has great speed and talent this year. Can that translate into a strong season? We will keep an eye on the Dragons to find out. Teams on the Rise – n/a obviously in the preseason Teams on the Decline – n/a obviously in the preseason Featured Game of the Week – There will be two this week. When it comes to defending the pride of Kentucky Football (a KY team playing an out of stater), KY Defending 6A State Champ Trinity versus Indiana power house and also defending state champ, Carmel, IN would have to fit the bill. In terms of two Louisville area teams, CAL versus S. Oldham should be fun.

Has anyone heard the latest?

Worked with Joe and helped run Trinity's bass fishing tournament with him. Goof ball and a great guy.

In the past 9 months or so, 5 or so JCPS coaches have stepped down, one stepping down for an assistant job. Is this indicative of JCPS not providing a good environment for coaches? As far as the resigning to spend more time with family, I generally take that to mean, "I am quitting and the reasons are personal so please respect my privacy." Kinda like when an announcement comes out at companies that John Doe is leaving the company to persue other opportunities.

The next game doesn't get much easier for McCracken does it?

Anyone on here know how many kids on offense are returning?

While it is difficult to guess what Haywood, Smith or Wallace would have done we can look at two Hall of Fame Coaches who did coach at Trinity, Jim Kennedy and Dennis Lampley (I think Kennedy is in the Hall of Fame, correct me if wrong). Both coaches did incredible jobs while at Trinity but what Beatty has accomplished has been just hard to fathom. In a more than 15 year period, Beatty has not only won numerous state championships, he has made NOT winning a state championship seem almost absurd. Ohio, Indiana and other state's powerhouses used to clobber all KY schools, even the powerhouses, Beatty has a collective winning record against them. I really don't see anyone else accomplishing that when he leaves unless Trinity finds another gem like him if that coach is even out there. No doubt Trinity's next head coach will win States, but at the same rate as Beatty and will he beat surrounding powers like Beatty has? Odds are, no.

With Nashville a short distance away, the possibility is there. BG's biggest problem with power scheduling is probably the fact that outside of KY, BG doesn't have the name it deserves like Trinity does despite BG being solidly the 2nd strongest team in the state the past several years. The Nashville schools pride can handle a loss from Trinity but a loss from BG is probably more than they are willing to accept even though a loss to BG is really nothing to be embarrassed by.

There are some who believe if Bob Beatty had never come to Trinity, Mike Glaser would still be X's head coach because most likely the series would be closer and Trinity would not be winning state championships like they have the past decade and a half so X would have grabbed a few of those and X crowd would be satisfied with Mike. Not sure if that is true but, that was one X alumnus's view. Also, someone mentioned the Will Wolford experiment to end. I think Will leaves when he wants to. I am told Will and many of his fellow X friends are top donors and X does not want to lose them. Again, what I was told, if any Xavierans on here disagree, no big deal to me.

And you would know this how? Have you ever managed the finances and accounting of a "Big school like Trinity" before?

So a little bit of both I believe. Would love to see your take on Pleasure Ridge Park. Their schedules in 15 and 16 were brutal but I think they are a consistent 6A Top 10 team despite their number of losses.

Is your grading based upon how a team did compared to expectations going into the season or soley how the season went? IE Team A was expected to have the best season ever with a state championship but lost 1 in the reg season and was state runner up. According to expectations that would probably be a C or D but not considering expectations that would probably be B+ or A-.

A- sounds about right.

Have any of the major rating places rated him yet? Ie is he 4 star or better? If so, is he rated high enough that he can feel confident that he would start a few years at Ohio State or Alabama? There is nothing I hate more than to see good players go to big time schools and rarely ever see the field when had they gone to a level lower and would have gotten much more playing time.

If an away game, would be a nice long weekend trip. Taking a football team that distance would be rather expensive, surprised they are doing this.

A coaching change at Trinity would not make any difference, the AD makes the schedule not the coach, at least as of only a few years ago and I have not heard anything about that changing.

A coaching change at Trinity would make any difference, the AD makes the schedule not the coach, at least as of only a few years ago and I have not heard anything about that changing.