Watusi

A very nice look at the passing of the torch to Coach Varney. I think most everyone on Pond Creek knows the Pirates are in good hands. This was produced for the team football follies, so there is a few minutes of bloopers and such at the end lol.

This hire is as expected and is the right one. I can't say enough good things about Matt Varney and his qualifications for the job. He will keep this staff intact, and the staff is full of guys who have been there 20-30 years or more. Here is a really well written article from the local paper, Williamson Daily News... You can just see Coach Haywood's influence oozing out of Coach Varney and the other coaches interviewed. https://www.williamsondailynews.com/sports/varney-chosen-to-succeed-haywood-as-belfry-football-coach/article_c50c3efe-003b-11f0-b927-efccde9ab9dc.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawJASE1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHVnF1BAtk7nU9ypwavKWfUZGxPR0r-EtzqH4jeB5TFVQUAXOlAQMxqAA-g_aem_w3TUvUOzHoSvBkiSG4TVYQ

Exactly, if the new HC can keep the current staff in tact, it will help the transition immensely. A hire from within would help with that and that's what is expected.

Expect an announcement very soon.

Thank you for sharing that Coach. Although I just talked with Coach Haywood a few days before his accident, it is really good to hear his voice and listen to him talk about life and the humanistic side of coaching. He is going to leave a really big void.

Absolutely 100% true.

This has been a really hard day on Pond Creek. There is no way to quantify what Philip Haywood meant to Belfry, Kentucky and to Belfry High School. And to High School Football in this state. He was a great man and I am proud to have called him a friend and mentor. Thanks for any prayers you may offer up for his family especially and for our community. There are a lot of heartbroken people here tonight. This is a good report from WYMT, especially the parts at the end where he talks about how he wanted to be remembered. https://www.wymt.com/2025/01/22/legendary-football-coach-dies-injuries-sustained-crash/

Wow that’s a statement win. Gotta feel great for the Colonels. I hope to get to see them again at Kroger Field in a couple weeks.

I am a self appointed Golden Lions fan. Go Garrard!!

Belfry is obviously the favorite, but John Derossett can coach and the Hornets have been playing well. The Pirates should win with ease, but the game still has to be played. Plenty of distractions this week with Homecoming on Pond Creek, a disruptive weather week and the game being moved to Saturday. Coach Derossett and Coach Haywood know each other very well. John also played at Prestonsburg for Coach Haywood in the early 80's in addition to coaching with him at Belfry. Then when John was coaching at Prestonsburg, they had some battles. He knows how to prepare for the Pirates.

It is a testament to both for sure. Scheduling is tough enough, last minute scheduling is near impossible. There are too many boxes to check for each school. Chirico and McNamee are both top notch men and coaches. Glad this one worked out.

This post came back up for me because theguru just liked it. Must have been digging really deep into the archives LOL. Every word I wrote 10 years ago is still 100% true, and I still wear that same shirt on Fridays ?

Great win for the Golden Lions, and I am super happy to see this for my good friends from Lancaster.

I think both teams have a lot of work to do defensively. And Belfry’s special teams are not good. Otherwise, as a Pirate fan, I like a lot of things about this team. They have heart and the never ever quit. The game had its ups and downs, and was absolutely entertaining. Several moments you could point to for each team and call it a turning point. Tough for Belfry to lose late in consecutive weeks but this one feels better than last week.

This made my head hurt, ATL ? Everything else you said, spot on as usual. It would be a good sign to see Belfry come out with intensity. It has been a few years since they have really had that swagger. A solid game here (even if they lose) would be really good for their mentality I think moving forward.

Belfry widens that decided advantage on Breathitt to 2 games LOL. I seriously thought they held a wider margin. Geez I make about 5 posts a year and you have to call me out on my first one. Ha, thanks DMC. Breathitt has some nice athletes and they are young. They had a lot of fight in them but the Pirates just too much for them and widened the gap as the game wore on. Belfry looked pretty good for this early in the year which is an anomaly. They shook off the rust, made some mistakes that they can work on, but hard not to be happy with the results. The road gets tougher ahead as Belfry enters the "iron sharpens iron" portion of the schedule. The Pirates face George Rogers Clark at home in the Pike County Bowl, then they travel to Johnson Central, Southwestern and Pikeville. That's a pretty tough 4 game stretch that will challenge them, make them tougher and will expose their weaknesses. That's how you get better.

This is just the latest version of a very long history of games between the Bobcats and Pirates. Belfry holds a deciding edge against Breathitt, especially in recent years. I think the Pond Creek faithful are excited about this team and rightfully so. Looking forward to seeing how the game in the trenches plays out, and that’s where most of the expectations are very high for the Pirates . The matchup between these two teams may have lost a little of its luster over the years, but anytime Belfry and Breathitt knock heads on the gridiron it’s of big interest to football fans, especially in Eastern Kentucky. When it happens on the night that the Pirates kick off a season of celebration of the 100th anniversary of Belfry football then you have to know it’s gonna be big time atmosphere on Pond Creek Go Big Red! ???‍☠️

If Belfry can get by Bell and Rockcastle can take care of Lawrence the looks like the Pirates will make a trip to Rocketland in 2 weeks. That would be a fun trip imo

Belfry dominated the game, especially on offense but they played a little sloppy on defense, missing tackles and committing undisciplined penalties. Halftime score was 56-20 and it was a strange half that took about 1 hour and 40 minutes to complete. The entire 2nd half Belfry played reserves and Clay played their 1's. Nothing wrong with it, it was a running clock game and Clay added 2 scores. It was a good thing for the young guys to go against starters and get in some good work.

On my way to work, heard on the radio about the first plane. After I settled in at work, heard about the 2nd plane. Pretty much just had the TV on the rest of the day in shock as it all unfolded.

THREE FRIENDS GET MARRIED... Three friends got married on the same weekend, and they all married girls from different parts of Kentucky. The first guy married a woman from Fayette County in central KY. He told her that she was to do the dishes and house cleaning. It took a couple of days, but on the third day, he cam home to see a clean house and dishes washed and put away. And he saw that it was good. The second man married a woman from Graves County in western KY. He gave his wife orders that she was to do all the house cleaning, dishes, and do all the cooking. The first day he didn’t see any results, but the next day he saw it was a little better. By the third day, he saw his house was clean, the dishes were done, and there was a big home-cooked meal on the table. And he saw that it was good. The third man married a girl from Pike County in eastern KY. He ordered her to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn’t see anything, the second day he didn’t see anything, but by the third day the swelling wend down and he could see a little bit out of his left eye, and his arm was healed enough that he could make himself a sandwich and load the dishwasher. He still has some difficulty when he pees.

I don't see how anyone from Belfry could be disappointed with the performance tonight. Not everything went right, turnovers were a problem and I think our youth showed a little. But, I paid attention to body language and intensity. Belfry got down by 2 scores early, and they dusted themselves off and played their way back into it, going in at the half down 14-13. Then later in the game, a returned fumble for a TD on a play where it appeared Belfry's RB was down before the fumble, and then a nice pounding drive by SW put the Pirates down 27-13. Without several starters, running a watered down version of their offence and down 2 scores late in the game, it would have been easy to just dial it in, but the boys came back again, scoring with about 4 min to go and cut the lead to 7. They lost the onside kick and SW was able to run out the clock to close it. I really like the grit. I like the attitude. I believe when everyone heals up, this is going to be a dangerous team in 3A.

I would think SW is a favorite in this one. Belfry kids are playing extremely hard and looking good in spurts. They haven’t put together a complete game yet but coming along. Playing without a major piece of the puzzle tonight won’t help. I’ll be interested in how the defense plays against another power football team. The change up on the DL was impressive last week.