Watusi

The Pirates definitely played it close to the vest with the playbook. Almost an entirely new line and a new Soph QB will limit your options a bit this early on. Plus they return a ton of experience in the backfield, so I am sure they did the comfortable thing and kept it mainly on the ground in a game that they really never were challenged. Throwing the ball successfully was a luxury that most of us were not used to, lol.

By the way, that is Coach Scroggins’ coat and beanie in this pic next to my Belfry coat. I had the pleasure of having a great conversation with him at WKU one year at the football finals between games. He was so nice and very interesting to talk with. I’m thankful for that day.

2A Belfry (1-0) and 3A Central (0-1) meeting up at the beginning of the season, rather than deep in the playoffs just does not seem natural. These two teams have a rich history, even though you really could not call them enemies. They rarely play in the regular season, but over the past two decades, starting in 2007 I can't think of two teams a with a richer history, than Belfry and Central. The head coaches have changed, and they are in different classes, so there are no playoff considerations, however there is a mutual respect between them and I would still call this a rivalry game, because of the history and the high stakes of so many of those games. I know the fire is still burning and these two proud programs really want to win against each other. Central's dominance early in the relationship definitely pushed Belfry to elevate their game. Coach Scroggins once said when people ask him about Central's natural rivalries within Louisville, he said, "The only rivalry we have is Belfry" Central makes the long drive to Pond Creek for the 2nd year in a row to play in the Pike County Bowl.. This one is scheduled for the late game Friday night, which could kickoff anytime between 8:30 and Midnight. (Pike County Bowl history suggest kickoff times are all over the map due to heat or weather) Last Week: Belfry 57, 3A East Carter 12 - 6A DuPont Manual 37, Central 6 Head to Head: Central leads the all-time series 6-4 as follows: Semifinals: Central 1, Belfry 0, State Championships: Central 4, Belfry 2, Regular Season: Central 1, Belfry 2. Click Here 2025 Results: Belfry claimed the victory 28-0 2025 Records: Belfry 12-2, lost to LCA 34-29 in the 2A semifinals. Central 5-7, lost to Lex Cath 27-14 in the 3A 2nd round.

Score?

44-12 at the half

That general scoreboard page is tough to navigate after being spoiled by the Riherds version for so long. If you are wanting to see info on a particular team, you have to click on the "By School" button at the top of the page. That will take you here... https://khsaa.org/khsaa-member-directory-of-arbiterlive-pages/ Then you can select the team you want to view, which will bring up a landing place for that school for all sports. From there you can select the sport you want to see, for instance, here is Belfry's page for Varsity Football. That includes schedule, roster, coaches list, etc. https://www.arbiterlive.com/Teams/Schedule/5466928?activeEntityId=1439 It is cumbersome , but much better than that home scoreboard page if you want more than this week's overall schedule

Announced yesterday that game time has been pushed back to 8:00 pm for this game.

Woolum is a weapon. With Eli Caudill, Tristan Chapman, Jameson Chafin, Kane Caudill and Dante Davis also in the offensive bag of tricks they have options for sure. No pun intended. Like last year this will be a very fast Pirate team across the board.

East Carter opens up 2026 by traveling to Haywood Stadium to face the host, Belfry in a rematch of the opening tilt from last season. Belfry traveled to the Raiders home turf in that game and came away winners by a score of 55-28 East Carter is coming back from a strong 2025 season where they rebounded from the Belfry loss and won their next 7 games. Their season ultimately ended in the first round of the 3A playoffs against Henry County. The Raiders are always a tough, hard nosed program and you have to expect they will be ready to go at it for all 4 quarters against Belfry. Belfry looks to make another run deep in 2026. They lost a close one with LCA in the semifinals of the 2A playoffs. They have a lot of players to replace from the prior year, notably breaking in a new QB in Gabe Varney. An experienced backfield should ease that burden. Head to Head: Belfry has a 4-0 record vs East Carter. A couple of big wins in 2007 and 2008, a hotly contested game in 2021 in the semifinals that the Pirates finally pulled out 48-26 victory on their way to the State Title, and then last year’s 55-28 victory. 2024 Records: East Carter 7-4, lost to Henry Co 13-12 in 1st round of the 3A playoffs. Belfry 12-2, lost to LCA 34-29 in the 2A semifinals Last 5-Year Records: East Carter 40-21, Belfry 46-21

I out kicked my coverage too, Coach. ?

I need one of those shirts

This whole body of work is amazing. Thanks for the efforts @Colonels_Wear_Blue I can’t help but to believe coaching stability is a MAJOR factor in building a winning program. This data could be the proving ground for that theory. Belfry appears on the list twice, and only one was a coaching change in the traditional sense. The last one was forced after Coach Haywood’s death and had nothing to do with lack of success. If anyone ever creates a comprehensive database of the data, It would be interesting to see a list of all teams from least to most coaching changes.

@Hearsay Thank you!! On your recommendation I bought a few Arturo Fuente Hemingway cigars a few months ago and put them in the humidor. This evening I thought about them and decided to enjoy one. It is a fantastic cigar for a quiet, reflective hour. It will not be my last.

The Matt Varney era at the helm of the Pirate ship began with a success. After the untimely passing of Coach Philip Haywood, there was naturally some concern of how the program would carry on in his absence. Those questions were answered with a universal approval on Pond Creek as the Pirates completed a 12-2 season and a narrow loss in the semifinals 34-29 to eventual champs Lexington Christian. Along the way, Belfry won an impressive 9 games in a row, including a couple playoff wins, via the running clock. What lies ahead in 2026 for the Belfry program? The Pirates were hit really hard by graduation, losing 15 seniors, many of whom were 3 or 4 year starters. Replacing that type of experience and leadership will be a tough task. They do return a lot of production in the backfield as Eli Caudill, JB Woolum and Dante Davis all return, as well as a lot of underclassmen who saw lots of action in the blowout wins last season. Sophomore QB Gabe Varney is expected to replace 4 year starter Chase Varney running the offense. One thing you can always count on with Belfry is they will be fundamentally sound, they will play with physicality and toughness, and they will be well coached. This coaching staff remained in tact after Coach Haywood's passing, many of whom have coached at Belfry for 20 years or more. That continuity is really tough to find. There will be some growing pains expected for 2026 as this team will be young, but the Pirates have a knack for being well seasoned by playoff time and everybody on Pond Creek will be expecting a competitive effort from the Big Red.

And here is a local media guy with a direct quote from Matt Varney, Belfry’s head coach…

For those saying "Belfry maybe (or probably) chose to stay out instead of taking the long walk... I had those initial thoughts as well. I wondered if it was a time management decision where they felt they needed all the halftime to coach 'em up. I wondered if it was forced or if it just was bad optics. Today I have been told they were flat denied the opportunity to leave the field and walk to the locker room. This was posted on facebook by Belfry's head coach's adult son in response to that type of speculation, so it is a pretty good source " they was denied entry by LCA officials and Lexington PD. The team was exiting the field when Lexington PD blocked the exit and denied entry. When asked for a reason on why Belfry couldn’t go back to there assigned locker room LCA assistant AD responded “that’s just the way we do it” . The pirates was then escorted off by Lexington PD to concrete bleachers on a soccer field ."

Me too.

I’m hearing from good sources it’s true. Belfry players took turns going in restroom to warm hands using hand dryers. Spent the entire halftime outside in bleachers at adjacent field No excuse for that

It appears so, and temps were in the 20’s. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1DV6QwJpsf/?mibextid=wwXIfr

That’s is disgraceful. I can’t imagine that happening.

4 pretty good football teams playing in 2 A tonight. Would’ve liked to just have a 2A round robin tourney

That’ll do it. What a great game. Good luck to LCA moving forward.

Time?

Belfry has had very few turnovers on the year and this one comes at the worst possible time. need to play some D

Hell of a game