EKU_05

I would love to see another 9,000 people CRAM the CAM. Belfry feels as if they were a flinch away (literally, and it was the right call) from a Three Peat last year,,, but it's goinna be a hard row to hoe for the Pirates. If seeding holds true then Belfry will have to knock off the #7, #4, #3, and then either the #1 or #2 Team in successive weeks to win the title. Russell is the epitome of a class program.

:scared: Additionally on Russell: With the new playoff system, in the regional finals the Devils are set to take on the winner of the Corbin district. If all holds true to form then that would set up a Russell vs. Corbin game, Corbin will enter the game 7-5! Thus, it is plausible to say that Russell may make it to the 2A semi-finals with their best win coming against Boyd County.:scared: Meanwhile, in 2A District 8... Belfry's path to Louisville if all held true to form would feature: Round 1: vs. 5-5 Shelby Valley once ranked 11th in the AP Poll Round 2: vs. 10-1 Sheldon Clark, #7 Round 3: vs. 11-1 Middlesboro, #4 Round 4: vs. 12-1 Russell, #3, Defending State Champs Round 5: vs. 14-0 Mercer or Western, #1 or #2 Now that is a warpath to the top!

Pikeville is easily the most sporadic team in the state in my opinion. There have been times that they have looked like an elite team that can compete for a state title...then there are times that they struggle with Jenkins and Phelps....

I am intrigued to see what happens in Round 3 for Mercer...until then they continue to be the most dominant mystery in the state of Kentucky IMO. As of right now, Mercer's signature wins are against a Top 10 1A LCA, a very underachieving 3A Boyle County, a weak 4A South Laurel, and an average 2A Newport. Western has beat ranked 2A Breathitt and 2A Larue (I am not sold on Breathitt though and Larue's calling card is John Hardin). They also have wins over 4A North laurel and 4A Butler. Without a doubt, Western has the best resume of any team in 2A. Belfry has beat defending champion, yet 5 loss 1A NCC, a sporadic 1A Pikeville, and a subpar 3A Lawrence Co and dominated 2A average Prestonsburg (equal to Newport). The Pirates have also lost in OT to a borderline Top 10 3A Ashland and blew a 22 point lead to a top 5 2A Sheldon Clark. Belfry has played the schedule, just have been less than convincing with the results. Middlesboro has beat a mysterious 2A Corbin and a decent 1A Harlan and an average 1A Lynn Camp. Their loss was a blowout but to a very good 4A Knoxville Central. Russell, has a win over an average 3A Boyd County and below average 3A Greenup. They lost in OT to 3A Ashland as well. Russell, in all honesty, is in the same boat as Mercer. It is really hard to tell how good they really are and their weak district really hurts their resume. Sheldon Clark has beat 2A Belfry, 3A Boyd Co., 2A below average Knott Central, a very weak Fairland, OH, and a subpar 3A Lawrence. The Cards lost surprisingly to 2A Pburg which really hurts their case or else they could easily be considered the #2 or #3 team right now.

Belfry vs. Shelby Valley.. barring a Belfry victory. What's crazy is, if Valley pulls the upset then Belfry drops from the 1 seed all the way to a 4 seed!

What do they do? First, they watch film from the Frankfort game til they are blue in the face and can tell each coach every single assignment that was missed and how to correct it. Then, with their knowledge of missed assignments, they hit the field to get drilled over and over on how not to make the same mistake. Once the assignment becomes a HABIT, then they start focusing on their next game (this will come next Monday) and the coaches continue to prepare the Ads not just for their upcoming challenge, but by working in challenges that double over on those same missed assignments from the Frankfort game. Then come Wednesday or Thursday the ads relax and refocus their attention on the fact that they are one of the elite programs in all of Kentucky and Frankfort may have done them the biggest favor possible.

GO BETHLEHEM! I honestly think the Tigers will win this one going away, but I would love nothing more than to see Bethlehem knock off Bardstown in this one just for the shear value the victory would mean to the Eagle's program. Bardstown 34 Bethlehem 14 Hope I am wrong..

First of what should be successive games between the two. Interesting note, IF Valley can shock Belfry. Then the Pirates fall from the #1 seed to the #4 seed and somehow Prestonsburg (who lost to the Pirates by 5 TD) would be the #1 seed! That being said, not a good week to catch Belfry following an upset loss and a bye week. Belfry shold win this won by 40+, but I have a feeling you will see a limited playbook and multiple substitutions in this one. Belfry 35 Valley 0

The infamous crawling two point conversion by Moe Spradlin.... I remember it well. I had never been so irritated watching a sports overtime highlight in my life! The saddest part was that I felt we had the potential to play Highlands alot closer than anyone else had in the playoffs the next week.

Mercer is a no-brainer decision to predict to win the state title.... but.. IMO there are about 6 or 7 teams who may have the ability to "upset" them. 1. Western 2. Russell 3. Middlesboro 4. Sheldon Clark 5. Belfry 6. Breathitt 7. Larue Co.

Potential Rematches of Interest in 2A Alone: -Sheldon Clark vs. Pburg, Pburg won first time -Belfry vs. SC, SC won first game -Breathitt vs. Middlesboro, Middlesboro won first in shootout -Larue County vs. Western, Western won first game -Corbin vs. Wayne Co., Corbin won close game -Fort Campbell vs. Monroe County

Negatory,, SC's loss came to Pburg who is also 4-1..thus three way tie. Belfry will win the #1 seed barring miracle and then host the playoffs

Now if Valley pulls the miracle of miracles against Belfry next week, and now this is crazy, the Belfry will fall to a 4 seed! Setting up: 4 Belfry @ 1 Sheldon CLark 3 Valley @ 2 Pburg A stretch...definately.... still a possibility of course.

Actually, it was pretty pivotal for Belfry as it now breaks it froma 4-way tie down to a three way tie.... had Valley defeated Pburg...and Belfry beat Valley ...then SC would be your "regular season champs". Now, Belfry is on path for the district's number 1 seed barring a miracle.

Come regional finals a trackmeet like this WILL not work. This is the second time that M-boro has relied on a shootout to prevail.... without defense the Jackets will get beat by Belfry or SC.

There's your problem... as stated earlier... to have the successful program you have to have all the things I listed. Without that cohesion in the feeder system you are handicapped. The dicension between the closes will also play a role... who is going to be excited to play at the HS level when you hear the middle school coach dog him? IMO, step 1 to fixing the problem comes right there. Even if it means changes,, the HS and MS coach HAS to be on the same page.

I never considered Mason to take 2A by storm either. They competed on the regional basis but never truly established themselves as a state power IMO.

Thanks for the input. It really sounds like a sad situation. How is the feeder system set up in Breck. Co.? The fatal flaw which dooms a number of programs is the lack of a feeder program to generate interest and develop fundamentals at a grassroot level. Secondly, what would you guess to be the average home attendance at games? Simply put, if the program can show signs of generating revenue then board support doesn't become an issue.. for every action that a school system takes to turn their head to a program their is the opportunity for the community to balance it out with their support. Personally, I feel as if Rockcastle County is the blueprint for an athletic program in a rural area. The rock school board took pride in athletics from the start and it has paid off. Rockcastle has been successful and competed on the statewide basis in Football, Mens and Womens Basketball, Softball, Baseball, and now in volleyball. The catalyst for change...a committment by community and a committment by the coaches to devote their time and energy to turning the program around. Example 2: My alma mater Belfry. Belfry has had one of KY's top football programs for years and the success can be directly accredited to Phillip Haywoods role in the feeder systems (and within the past five years a newfound push in the feeder systems has put Belfry into an even higher tier I feel), the communities role in improving facilities (namely a weight complex that really knocked the program up a notch), and administrative support both on the secondary school and BOE level. The results... football, as well as a good run of mens and womens basketball teams in the 90's, generated the fuel and now Belfry has seen success in other athletic programs which had not been there before. My point is, in rural areas, success truly does breed success. The only stipulation is that success has to be earned through a committment of coaches, administration, and community alike. And we already see the flaws in admin committment. If the community isn't supporting this program and if the coaches aren't making an effort to instill the program at the grassroots level then this success will not be visible.

Matt Quinn is the hardest hitter I have watched, on both sides of the ball. Not only could he punish you as a linebacker but he would flat out clean your clock running the ball too. Belfry has had some hard hitters, Tyler Bostic stands out to me. On that 2003 State Championship season he gave at least 3 people concussions. The two hardest hits that come to mind for me are: -Belfry vs. Russell 2004... Josh Gross gets introduced to David Jones at the goalline. The usually sure handed gross got hit so hard the ball rolled off his fingers. -2001 2A Title Game, Bardstown vs. Pburg- BGP's very own gish28 got absolutely blown up on a punt return. On the offensive side of the ball... In all my years of watching football at all levels I have never seen a more devastating stiffarm than what Doug Howard threw on Joe Blackburn of Pburg. It was so fierce that there even was an entire thread started on it a couple times and three weeks later when Blackburn was the WYMT Player of the Week... his stardom was actually dulled because WYMT asked him about that hit and proceeded to show the replay about 5 times HAHA Howard literally knocked Blackburn at least 5-6 yards.

The new school and field is at a completely different location about 2.5 miles down the road. The new location used to be a gravel pit. The old school, with stadium, gym, and athletic complex, has been converted into a middle school. It may very well have some of the nicest facilities for a middles school in East KY now.

One thing that may need to be noted is Matney coached teams have had a history of being "TOO FIRED UP". He is possibly the best motivator in the state of Kentucky and there is no secret that Matney and Asland have a long history, which is being brought to a head by the outcome of last season's game. Emotionally JC has everything working for them they could want: Revenge, Statewide Respect, Rivalry, Homefield Advantage, Playoff Seeding, and weeks of waiting for this game to come around. I can remember a couple times when Matney's SC teams came into Belfry and played extremely tight because they were so fired up emotionally, the end result was turnovers and once Belfry broke a big play it really affected them mentally for the rest of the game.

To the topic at hand, I will agree with Mercer County or Western as the favorites to get the monkey off their back.

I will agree with this, it is my mistake for looking at the arguement the wrong way. In fact I will now totally agree that in terms of competition the greatest disparity woluld be Russell's... but, IMO if you want to simply say which 2A district is the weakest from top to bottom then it would be Corbin's.

True... but the fact that Corbin is the leader and IMO nowhere near the team as Russell is what makes this district so weak.

Alright, well I retract the previous statement. I feel that Corbin's district may be the weakest in the state. If you put the Redhounds into either Region 4 District 7 or 8 they would be the 3rd best team in both districts, maybe even the # 4 team.