gchs_uk9

I was at the game and was not overly pleased as I am sure the coaching staff is not either. Bell gave up way too many yards and played bend don't break defense. They did not tackle very well. Zachary looked good. He made a very athletic play when he threw for a deep TD just to keep from getting sacked.

Also Matt Simpson was back and made his presence felt. He had a great INT retun for a TD early in the 2nd qtr. It was good to see him back.

The interception return really took the wind out of Garrard's sails. Bell was solid, but they have much more improving to do before they can compete with Lexington Catholic. It's early, though, and I suspect they will round into shape as the years were on (I guess it's tough to make that statement when they won 50-6;)). My biggest disappoint with Bell tonight was that they didn't get to try a field goal!

As for Garrard, the score got a little out of hand late. I thought the Lions played pretty well, especially in the first half. The defense tackled okay early and the offense had some movement. Too many costly first half penalties kept the chains from moving. In the second half the size of Bell really began to wear down the Garrard kids. I left disappointed that the score wasn't closer, but confident that there can be improvement with this team.

I was once again impressed with Tyler Ray (#1) from Garrard. He pours out absolutely everything he has on every play. The backfield looked capable with Fred Hayes (#7) again showing quickness, while Jamarious Merritt (#2) and Jansen Penman (#32) running hard up the middle. Hopefully the young men will look beyond an early loss to a Top 20 state-wide team and realize that the schedule gets much more manageable and there are many potential wins to be had.

Bell runs away with it you have a state powerhouse in Bell and you have a team who is trying to establish something who hasn't really been that good since Perry left from over there. Bell's jv in by the middle of the 3rd quater.

Hard to believe this is the twelfth season at Garrard since Perry left. Where does the time go?!

I'm pretty sure both teams signed a 2 year contract.

Understood. Usually you see four teams in bowl games. Year 1 pits Montgomery/Clark and Harrison/Fleming. Year 2 pits Montgomery/Harrison and Clark/Fleming, or some form of switch up. It's rare to see the same teams play each other two years in a row during a bowl. Nothing wrong with it; just unique.

Hazard wants to prove something this year and it starts with Green Co., I think.

I suspect Green County wants to prove something this year, too. Like Hazard, the Dragons were undefeated in the regular season. Unlike Hazard, who made it to the 1A state semifinals before losing to Lexington Christian, Green County was knocked out by Metcalfe County in the 2A second round.

Like previous posters have said, it should be a great game.

Is this the Recreation Bowl? Didn't they play each other in the opener last year as well? Why no switch in opponents?

I've never been to PRP. Are the soccer field and football practice location that close? Is it realistic to think people at the soccer field with a game going on could hear what happened with football practice?

Tommy Bowden consistently has some of the best talent in the land but always finds a way to screw Clemson out of a national title picture. It will happen again.

 

Alabama 28

Clemson 27

Does a loss to Alabama put in firmly on the hot seat? He probably already is a little bit, but they are expecting big things this season. An early loss to Alabama (good team, not great) might be the loss that finally sends Bowden out.

Garrard should have a pretty good team this year, but this opener might be more than they can handle. It will take a really strong effort from a defense that hasn't always been strong and a controlled offensive game plan. Offensively for Garrard quarterback is a toss-up position. There just isn't any experience at the position so no one is completely sure what to expect. They do have good running backs and receivers.

Basically, I think they have to hold Bell and then hold the ball. If they can do that, it could be a respectable game. If they can't somewhat control the line of scrimmage or keep Bell County from executing their game plan, then it will be a long night.

I noticed in ESPN The Magazine's college football preview that UL has the lowest percentage of total tickets allotted to the students in the Big East at only 8%. By contrast WVU has 21% of their tickets allotted to students. That would mean that less than 3400 of the fans at a sellout are UL students. That has to hurt the enthusiasm of the crowd. What is the reason for this? Is UL a "suitcase" college full of commuters or can they not afford to make those tickets available with their low seating capacity?

Might have something to do with the size of the stadium, large number of alumni, large town that normally has a quality team...basically, just not enough seats to go around.

We always have played Pineville up until the new realignment. Played for decades. Class A, District 7.

Scheduling conflicts, I think, kept them off the last 2 years. Look for them on the next schedule, though. We have had Harlan on the schedule from the old district and W'burg is in our new district. S'set and M'boro moved up and Evarts and Cumberland are gone, but we do have the new Harlan County school on the schedule. That about covers the old district. We have everyone in some form or fashion with the exception of S'set and Pineville. (I do miss the Somerset/LC battles, though. They were fun.)

Thanks! I didn't go back an research it. Just seemed odd the two weren't playing. Good to see the rivalry is back on tap for next year.

I haven't watched 1 practice or even heard too much about them DC. Just going from last year, like everyone else, I would think they will not be to competitive. I do know that Coach Koogler will squeeze every last drop of talent out of the players he has. Their 2 top players should be QB, Jimmy Jo Morgan & Wide Receiver, Ashton Lewis. Other than those 2, I'm not to sure about the player personnel.

 

BTW, for the past several years Leslie Co has had a team camp the week before school starts back. This is the first year that they have not had the camp since I can remember. If that's any indication on how they feel they will compete then they will have a long season.

What has happened to the Leslie County program the last couple of years? It seems like they have really fallen off. Is it a numbers problem?

Remember the name, Randen Collett. Because you'll be asking, " WHo in the world was number 61 for Leslie Co.?" And then you can say, " OH, his name is Randen Collett."

:lol:

I have heard that they will be worse. I was told that that don't look very good at all this year.

I was a little disappointed last season. I really thought they were turning the corner, but the never seemed to gel and in fact were handled easily several times last year. Maybe this year will be different; but I don't think they should play too close with Lincoln.

Same here, gchs. I can't see Whitley "destroying" Johnson Cent. or Breathitt to take the 4th spot, anyway.

If they can destroy everyone in their district this year, that will be another story. I like the top 10, but some are high and some are low. Most everyone in it deserves to be.

 

(Disclaimer Alert!: IF we are going to reconsider the BGP poll based on scrimmages, I demand LC be moved over Pineville. They were ahead of us and we beat them!)

1) Agree about not destroying Johnson Central or Breathitt. I do think it will be interesting to see if Whitley closes the gap between themselves and Letcher/Perry/Clay.

2) Why don't Lynn Camp and Pineville play during the regular season? They are in the same area/basketball district, same size school, LC is usually better but I wouldn't expect them to annually dominate Pineville. Just something I've always wondered.

Patriots will win by 21 points in this game. LC too much for WC.

Can you tell anything to expect from Washington County? Similar to last season; better; worse?

Whitley county should be in the 4TH position' date=' they destoyed Pulaski County.[/quote']

 

Scrimmages don't count.

 

If Whitley County is ranked #4 in this poll at any time this year you can call me the most surprised person in the world!

Anderson as bad as they want.

Agreed. Southern should be better, but Anderson is going to have another nice team.

I don't think I have ever seen a Washington County football team. What can we expect from them?

Just speaking for last year, they were quick, but a little disappointing. When Garrard played them they were trying two quarterbacks and didn't seem very settled. Garrard was able to stop them pretty well. Defensively I was unimpressed. Turnovers cost the Lions the game in the final minutes....

With that being said, it's a new year. Supposedly they have ONE quarterback this year; he was the running QB from last year. But you just never know.

In my opinion, this game should be a win for Lincoln. The Pats never seem to win their opener, but they should be too much for Washington County. It probably won't be pretty, but I'll say:

Lincoln County 28

Washington County 14

Rock too high, they are there on past performance IMHO.

Preseason polls tend to be that way. High school teams can rise and fall quickly and many "non-name" schools are unrankable because you never know what to expect. The best polls always come out 3-4 weeks into the year. But preseason polls sure are fun!

It would be like UK having a blue-out

We've had those for fifty years!:cry:

Man I could have gone all year without that reminder.

Hey, you guys are in an elite club with Boone County!:thumb:

Seriously though, Somerset has so many near misses. They always have good teams. Hopefully one of these years (preferably one where they don't play Garrard;)) they'll leave that group.

The black outs have been/are cool. The white out for the G-town basketball game was call. A red out is dorky, and nothing special.

 

To be fair, UofL was one of the first schools to start this ____(insert color) out stuff. One black out a year is fine, this is overboard.

They kind of started it against West Virginia a couple years ago, right? It is pretty cool. In their stadium, though, red just doesn't really seem that intimidating.

So in 1965 Lloyd Memorial went to the State Championship Game because they had more 1st downs then Fleming-Neon? What a bummer. Bet that made alot of fans mad.

Actually, in 1965 Lloyd Memorial made it all the way to the state finals without actually winning a game. Both the first round "win" and semifinal "win" were based on the tiebreaker rule. The soundly defeated Old Kentucky Home (27-0) to cement the title.

I agree it is alot but if im correct he averages around 3 per game over his career at SLHS. Plus the coaches really want to get this too. So we may see alot of play action in the red zone, instead of pounding it with the run.

Oh, I think you're right, it's certainly attainable. The problem with averages like this is that you CANNOT have a bad night. With schools like Corbin, Lincoln, Mercer, etc. on their schedule, there might be some bad nights mixed in. He'll have to be really, really on in their "win" games to build in some wiggle room.

38 is quite a few. If South Laurel advanced to the state finals he would have to average 2.5 touchdown passes per game. That's reasonable. But realistically, South Laurel might play two playoff games. That means he would need to throw for at least 3 in each game and a couple games with more. The strength of South's schedule might make that too difficult. He'll be close, though.