Watusi

42-0 halftime

35-0 9:20 2nd

28-0 11:32 2nd Q

They were definitely on an incredible run. They played in 10 title games during that stretch. From 2003-2024 (22 seasons) they won 8 titles, 4 runner ups and played in 17 semifinals

Belfry is 27-5 all-time vs Sheldon Clark. Of course the Cardinals go by a new name now, changing to Martin County, but it is still the same program. The two programs haven't played since 2018. The 5 wins for Sheldon Clark came in 1982, 1998, 2006, 2009, 2010 The 98 and 09 wins were playoff wins for the Cardinals coming after Belfry had beaten them handily each of those years in the regular season.

Coach is really missed by so many and for many many different reasons, of which football is not on the top of the list. That was a good game to see in 2010. We drove down there from Jackson Ohio and back that night and Allen Levay broke bread with me and my crew at DeShay's pregame. I still remember how good the deep fried banana peppers were. I think Mason was the better team in 2010. That Belfry team had been through a lot and took their lumps, and then caught some breaks in the playoffs. Pawsat leaving that game was one of them. I remember Harris was a beast for Mason on both sides of the ball and you had another really good kid on D that I think wore #55 We are getting side-tracked but I love to reminisce

Thanks for posting this @ChiefSmoke I am printing this off and will be reading and pondering on these as part of my daily devotion.

Martin County (9-2) makes the short trip from Inez to Pond Creek to take on Belfry (10-1). The Cardinals are not strangers to knocking the Pirates out of the playoffs as there have been a couple of very painful early exits in the past. Coach Muncy seems to have the Martin County team running like a finely tuned machine. Belfry is hitting their stride too but have not been tested in a while having had 7 or 8 consecutive running clock games in a row. Will this be another painful upset for the Pirates or will they send the Cardinals back to Inez looking for basketball season?

Appreciate the perspective. Just want to clarify, obviously not advocating for playing in lightning/storms, just the cold, wet weather that may be more prevalent down the road.

Here is a funny anecdote regarding this series. Back in 1991, Leslie County had a pretty darn good quarterback named Couch. He was mobile, had a good arm and was a good athlete. His first name was Greg. Tim's older brother. Greg graduated that spring and I for one was thinking, I am kind of glad he is gone, lol. Now LC was starting his freshman kid brother in the fall of 92 and the Eagles came to Belfry. Belfry built up a good lead, something like 34-7 or 34-14. Early in the 2nd half if memory serves, there was an altercation on the field while Leslie was on offense and it escalated into something bad. At the conclusion of that there were multiple ejections which included Belfry's entire secondary (one of them was current Belfry head coach Matt Varney). Tim Couch threw the ball all over the Pirates, just about led Leslie back to victory and the final score ended up being 47-30. My joy in seeing Greg graduate was short lived and Tim just continued to wow everyone for the next 4 years.

One last thought, and it revolves around the contribution that Mike Whittaker made to the evolution of football in KY. He came back to Leslie County to coach and it was his system and his guidance that let to Tim Couch setting national records. This was one of the catalysts towards that movement away from the running game and into a more open, passing philosophy. Mike Holcolm was doing the same things at the same time at Breathitt County and they were having incredible success at it. These guys changed the game and this is probably a topic for another thread, maybe an offseason discussion.

Lots of games were moved to Thursday night, understandably. It is a better experience, good for the fans and the gate receipts to play in good weather vs. bad. But if you are a team that hopes to make a playoff run, is it perhaps a good decision to keep the game on Friday night and give your team a little November weather experience?

I would say slim. Bevins is a really popular name in EKY and I am not aware of any of Jimmy's family that settled up there, but it is possible.

1980 - Belfry won the regular season game with Leslie 33-2 and looked poised to win the playoff matchup later in November but fate had other plans. This game was back and forth and when Belfry scored midway through the 4th quarter to take a 21-14 lead, the Pirates coaches decided to go for a 2 point conversion in hopes of putting the game out of reach for good. The conversion failed, and Leslie County's Wendell Maggard returned the kickoff for a 90 yd TD and Whittaker hit Wells for a 2 pt conversion of their own to take the 22-21 lead that would hold the rest of the way. According to the game writeup in the paper the next day Belfry outgained Leslie 422 yards to 143 but the only number that really mattered was the 22 on the board.

1979-80 The Mike Whittaker years Although Belfry and Leslie played a couple of times in the early 70's it really didn't take on any emotional component until 1979. Leslie's offense was run by the first real gunslinger in KY HS Football that I ever heard about, Mike Whittaker. He was really something to see and would throw in any situation in any position on the field. 4th and 7 from his own end zone? Come out throwing, lol. In the 3 yds and a cloud of dust era, Mike was throwing the ball 30 times a game and doing a great job of it. 1979 - Belfry was undefeated and ranked #1 in 3A. Had beaten Leslie 20-16 just 3 weeks earlier and came rolling into Hyden in the regional championship game on a mission. It was a torrential rain that evening (like every Friday that year) and the field was muddy and messy. Fields in that day were overused and undermaintained, and a rainy game in November was going to be a mud bath. No doubt it affected the passing game, but Whittaker was a threat from anywhere on the field. The Pirates defeated the Eagles 16-0 and moved on to face Ft Thomas the following week where they would win and earn their first ever trip to the state title game. They lost 33-0 to a Joker Phillips led Franklin Simpson team in the title game.

There has been a lot of very good, tough football played over the years between Belfry and Leslie County going back to 1972, and the rivalry really reached it's zenith in 1995. For a few years there from '91-'96 This was one of the best rivalries in Eastern Kentucky and I know both squads had those dates circled on the calendar. I want to discuss a few of those story lines and should have posted earlier in the week. Overall the record stands with Belfry having a 13-5 advantage in the win/loss column. Four of those wins for Leslie came in Tim Couch's junior and senior seasons of 1994-1995. The Eagles got the Pirates pretty good in 1994, winning 30-7 and then 32-13 in the playoffs. But in Couch's senior year of 1995 it was two real battles. Leslie won the regular season game 18-15 and then won the playoff matchup in the record-breaking game 28-20. The two teams have only played 3 times since 1994 as Leslie and Belfry were no longer in the same district starting in 1997, with Belfry winning all 3 of those games. More to come...

Here is a video about Couch's 1995 season/record. Too many highlights against Belfry, but that was a special moment when he broke the record. I think he broke the national completion record against Belfry in October of that year, and then the yardage record in this playoff game in November. Notice about the 1:25 mark when Couch broke the record

Belfry jumped out to a 20-0 lead in that game in Hyden. One of the wildest atmospheres ever. Huge crowd, ESPN on hand, just electric. Couch brought the Eagles back and won 28-20. A cool moment came when he broke the record and the game was stopped for the celebration. Reminded me of the Pete Rose moment when he broke Cobb's hit record. It was something to see. I remember all of Belfry's coaching staff came across the field to shake his hand and everybody in the house knew we were watching greatness play out in one of his final games.

2A Belfry, (8-1) at 3A Letcher County Central (6-3) Hard to believe we have reached the final week of the regular season. This week the Belfry big yellow busses will take the Halloween trek down US 119 South over towards Whitesburg to take on the Letcher County Central Cougars. Both these teams will host home playoff games in the first week of the season and are hoping to maintain or improve their RPI numbers to gain any favor in the 3rd or 4th round re-seeding of the brackets. Coach Charles Matthews' Cougars come into the contest with a 6-3 record and finished 2nd place in the 3A District 8 behind Lawrence County. They will be looking forward to hosting Knox Central in round 1 of the playoffs in two weeks and will no-doubt be using a tough game with Belfry as a final chance to get battle tested. LCC's losses have come to good teams, Johnson Central, Breathitt Co and Lawrence Co. Coach Matt Varney's Pirates are 8-1 and winners of their 2A District 8. Their playoff path begins at home against Leslie County and after a month of games that were not competitive, they are expecting a tough battle with Letcher on Friday. Belfry's lone loss came to Johnson Central. These teams are not strangers, but at the same time not rivals either. They have played 4 times, with Belfry winning all 4, however a couple of those games were really close including a very exciting 35-34 win last season at Belfry. Two things for certain about playing at Letcher... 1. It is a beautiful stadium and a great place to play; and 2. Be sure to eat at Pine Mountain Grill before the game ? As for the contest, I'm not sure what LCC will have cooked up for the Pirates on Halloween night at home, but these games are typically competitive. Will Belfry make the trip and get a trick or a treat?

VOR is right. Brackets are only good for 2 rounds, then they shake it up again. If these RPI numbers were to hold, and if the first two rounds go fairly chalk, then the 3rd round would look something like this... WEST: Somerset or Danville at O'Cath and Mayfield at LCA EAST: Breathitt or Bracken at Belfry and Prestonsburg at Beechwood Then Thanksgiving weekend is going to be a lot of fun!!

2A RPI - Sat Oct 25 Compiled on October 25, '25 8:02 AM

That’s fair but it was definitely lit.

We need another Belfry / Somerset playoff game. Was a great atmosphere a couple of previous games

District Play Wraps Up in 2A, District 8 Belfry (7-1), (3-0) hosting Shelby Valley (4-4), (3-0) Another all Pike County game this week as Shelby Valley make the short trip to Philip Haywood Stadium with the District 8 championship on the line as both teams sit undefeated at 3-0 in district play. The two teams have not played one another since 2008 after spending some time in the same district prior to that. Both offenses are run-heavy and like to establish control of the ground game to find success. Belfry will throw it around a little more than they maybe have in the past, but they still butter their bread with the running game. The series has been very one-sided with Belfry winning all 12 meetings between the two programs. The average score of those games has been 46.6 to 8.2. As a matter of fact, Belfry has an all-time record of 64-0 against their 4 current district opponents. (Belfry did lose a couple times to Elkhorn City, one of the schools that consolidated into what is now East Ridge) Maybe this is the week one of them ends that streak?