ballbrain

Not talking smack here but, if the Rams drop punts and make many miscues this Friday it could be bad for them. Ashland's front is bigger and all of them can run to the ball.

A Lot of players looked good for Ashland. Prichard and Mcleod ran the ball well and, I thought that really messed up Lawrence Co's game prep, I would guess they were expecting a lot more passing. Speaking of passing, add another good reciever, Ford, to a group of guys that may be as diverse and deep as anybody, east of Lexington at least. A good ground game will help balance the already able passing attack. Some young linemen came through too and were difference makers on both sides of the ball. Good to get the first game jitters out of the way with an opponent that played a physical game that I felt like Ashland was able to match in intensity. Lawrence Co's Tyler Combs had leg cramps early and often that seemed to really bother his performance.

I bit down a little hard huh?

Yeah, you know how it seems to run. You'll have a good run of lineman several years running then, you might be blessed with skill players for a while. Sometimes a really good stud QB will come along, know anybody like that? LOL

I don't think they're small. Actually they have good size and the way I've heard it the team overall is one of the strongest in the weight room in recent years.

Very accurate post. I was at the Ashland/JC game last year at Ashland. With like 9 seconds left to play, JC was up a couple TDs and had driven the ball down to about the Ashland 37 yard line. Matney calls a TO to set up the next play. I beleve as a team you never say die but down two scores with only 9 seconds left Ashland had given it their all, time was gone and they were ready to call in the dogs. Fully expecting JC to take a sportsman's knee Ashland gets set for the last play, the ball is snapped and next thing you know JJ gets to the edge and its addios muchachos. I know JJ and I gotta say you have to love him. Matney was the daddy of that one. I usually give a coach the benefit of the doubt but this time he had to set up a slap in the face TD so he could leave laughing, I guess. In a word, I thought it was classless. The Ashland players didn't deserve it, and even commented after the game that the JC players were respectful during the game. No way was that a fitting end for two teams that had up to that point shown respect for each other in a hard hitting and hard fought game.

Another negative that is even worse is allowing the offense to go way past the 4 count. Defenses sometimes do a good job for about 6 seconds then things start to break down and they wind up getting scored on. One out of 5 recievers is going to get open if they delay the count.

Who's to say? I do know Ashland's ranking in the top 20 is from more than one source.

Once again I must correct the record, Dixie won their matchup with Ashland 87 - 77 as can be seen on Riherds scoreboards. I thought Dixie played better than Ashland did in that game.

Ashland lost to Dixie 77 to 87, not that I could solve Fermat's last theorem, but that's more like close to 10, no offense.

Best team lost

Heard that he is going through rehab and for now will not be having any kind of surgery. Haven't heard how long he will be out. His leg looked nasty from our angle, the big lump on the side of his upper calf was his kneecap.

Thanks for clearing that up and I agree with what you're saying, when Jude is on the ground is when he's done. Most of the time when the linebacker I mentioned above hits someone he expects to see them go down, this time it didn't happen that way.

Well, I'm sorry to have to disagree with you but you're both wrong. Jude took the handoff and got some pressure behind the line of scrimmage, he jumped over a defender and was met about a yard past the line of scrimmage by the line backer # 53. Then like he always does he tried to break the tackle (this time by a spinning out of 53's grasp) just at that moment he was met by # 30 the safety. Now you can say he was on the ground if you want to, but one thing is for sure, he was on his feet when he got hit and he would have gained substantially more yardage, if not score, had the safety not sealed the deal. I'm sure JJ would agree with my analysis. Anyway, I've seen the game film and we ran it back in slow motion time after time just to make acid sure before I posted this. It was a good clean, hard hit. You know, the kind that you J. Central fans are proud of? The ball was knocked out and #80 picked it up and ran it back up field.

Supposed fumble? Enlighten the rest of us.

Without a doubt

Thanks for the insight Doc. IMO When Ashland straps it on against Ironton this week they will be glad for every 'rep' so far this year. Should be a good game to watch!

Just wondering, I've heard a lot of people saying something like "enjoy this while you can Tomcats cause the likes of Ironton, Johnson Central and Highlands are waiting for you down the road" (of course that was a paraphrased compilation of posts). I've also heard that Ashland has "so many weapons" (that's not a paraphrase). Since Ashland plays Ironton this Friday and Johnson Central in three weeks if you're the coach when are you going to get these guys some work? It's really a hard spot to be in, the players want to compete and the team needs to be developed. If it's a sportsmanship matter I'm sure apologies should be offered. If I'm missing something here forgive me. How do you all deal with this down your way?

Ashland's defense will show up this week. The result, Tomcats win by 3 TD's

Very well said, and I couldn't agree more. What a tremendous honor it is to recieve an offer from a solid institution! If you're at a college and responsible for awarding scholarships that means the college in question is getting ready to invest certain thousands in a 'kid' of whom not that much is reallly known. Will he party his opportunity away? Will he even be able to tolerate the college life away from girlfriends and parents and the like? It's a crapshoot from their perspective and a golden opportunity for the student athlete.

I thought Varney had a lot to do with keeping it close last year. Ashland by two TDs sounds about right.

If he does get to play one would think he will need a lot of rehab on the court, even with summer ball it will be a challenge. Hope it happens for him. :thumb:

You did buzz the tower YNot but, nobody was home--sick. LOL!

Two calls that drive me up the wall are the blown jump stop call and calling a walk when a player catches the pass and initates the dribble. Both feet are on the ground when the ball is caught but the walking violation is called. Once in a while you can actually see a shuffle but most of the time one would need an electron microscope to see if the atoms are sliding over each other at the sub atomic level or something! Other times a player actually takes off, making a stride or even a step plus and nothing gets called. I think a lot of it is just the ally ally home free, safe ground, type of call they can make because they have seen other refs doing the same thing.

Scott Co should be able to bang with GRC at the post so that will take some wind out of their sails, inside game should be almost a wash. Jackson and Guyn will win the guard show down. If Jackson has an above average game he could make the difference. Scott Co by +8