EKU_05

Mercer will blow out Newport IMO.... the first time around the Wildcats kept it respectable and this will give Mercer the opportunity to make a statement to the rest of the state. IMO, no doubt Mercer should be the favorite to get to the Carpet and win the thing.

The passes have been there every game,,, the catches on the other hand haven't. Elkins is far from perfect with his passing ability, but it is more of an exception than an expectation, when he misfires. Against SC for example Belfry had a couple passes that were easily going to be huge gains (30+ yards) or touchdowns that ended up resulting in dropped passes.

It was a three year process actually.. it started with the Lanham/Bernard team in 2003, continued through their loss to Belfry in 2004, and culminated with Russell taking care of the Aces last year.

This is truly a trap game for Belfry. Belfry's execution in the first matchup was nearly flawless, and Pburg really didn't get a chance to show much. One thing I can guarantee in this game is I don't see pburg having the opportunity to throw another bomb against the JV or kick an onside kick against them in the closing seconds. I honestly feel Pburg will move the ball more effectively than last game where probably 70% of their offense came off the afforementioned pass and a broken play in the first half... from watching the SC/Pburg replay the offensive line looked like a completely different unit and the running backs ran with a renewed sense of urgency. That being said, Pburg's offensive scheme will still allow Belfry to remain in their 5-2 and IMO will not pose a lot of midmatches. I see Pburg having the ability to move the ball and the clock, and defensively I see the Blackcats having success at slowing the Belfry ground game. With that said, I honestly feel Belfry has too much overall team speed, and just too many options in their backfield to be shut down for 4 quarters. Belfry 21 Pburg 10 With either 7 or 14 of Belfry's points coming at the end of the game. The key to this game for Belfry IMO will be Elkins at QB. He is going to get hit ALOT and get hit HARD... and with Pburg stacking the box like they always do against Belfry, the opportunity to make some huge plays passing will be there if he can capitalize.

:thumb: It is marked....

Since Mr. Phillips kept the game updated after every score it took a little shock value off of it.. but nonetheless a 35-6 score definatelty was surprising. Pburg definately should have the mental advantage coming into the next matchup with Belfry. In meeting #1 Belfry absolutely and positively controlled every aspect of the game.. and the consensus amongst the Pond Creek Nation was an expected revenge game against SC.... Belfry has not only now got to avoid the mental roadblock of having to play Pburg a team they dominated.. but now must overcome the obvious disparity of emotional levels from Belfry coasting past Shelby Valley and Pburg beign at the height of their emotions. This game scares me as it is a true "trap game" for the Pirates. Talent-wise I feel Belfry is 4-5 TD better than Pburg this year... but... that may not mean a hill of beans come Friday. A little advice for Pburg.... you have the mental edge.. DO NOT PROVOKE BELFRY... those "Blitz Belfry" shirts? Bad idea IMO... I would avoid all trash talk and try not to wake the sleepign giant.:thumb:

modok, You do realize I am a Belfry fan don't ya? You can take my word that tonight was a "ho-hum" performance by Belfry.. the Pirates didn't play with emotion, they didn't execute well, and if Belfry takes the same approach next week they will get beat..

Trends that can't be ignored: -Each year listed the favorite didn't even make Louisville. -Each favorite was based upon their superior athleticism and/or speed.... combined D-1 players from past three state championship teams (Russell/Belfry) = 1... David Jones - In the past five years Region 4 has produced 4 teams in the state championship game and have went 3-1. - The #1 team in the final Cantrell Ratings/Lit Ratings in 2A has not won the state title since Bardstown in 2001.

2003- Owensboro Catholic with Craig Lanham running and Zach Bernard passing couldn't be stopped... Belfry wins championship (OC missed championship game) 2004- Elizabethtown returned 4 or 5 D-1 prospects from their state runner-up team and defending champ Belfry "lost too much talent"... Belfry wins championship. (Etown missed championship game) 2005- Fort Campbell was unstoppable with their superior athletes... Russell wins championship (FC missed championship game) 2006- Mercer County will only be beat when the other team scores 30 points.... let's see what happens.

It was a very ho-hum victory. Seemed like Belfry approached the game with more of a practice mentality instead of a playoff mentality. I felt as if Ivan Lee looked really good tonight on both sides of the ball... the series where we ran May at HB and Lee at FB was a promising preview of next year IMO.

I think Pburg matches up really well with Sheldon Clark and will be fully capable of -pulling an upset,,, but, SC and Belfry in my opinion are on a collision course and the Cards honestly feel this is their year and their chance to make a push to Louisville. I think that the game is neck and neck til about 2 minutes to go in the 3rd when SC kicks it up a notch. SC 30 Pburg 21

http://news-expressky.com/articles/2006/11/03/sports/02rick.txt From today's Appalachian News-Express on the issue. Interesting commentary by Pburg's John Derossett and Belfry's Phillip Haywood.

For those talking about money as a factor let me give you this situation. Last week Belfry played Shelby Valley in the middle of a monsoon. The rain, coupled with Belfry's perennial dominance of Valley, coupled to produce one of the smallest home crowds in recent history. Belfry then proceeded to jump to a 42-0 halftime lead before winning with a running clock 49-6. In the game, Belfry completely dominated and at halftime had over 300 ttoal yards as opposed to 30 for Valley. Tonight, they play again. If you are a fan who missed last game and saw the outcome would you go? Why should you? This, coupled with the fact that many fans of both sides who were at the game last week and witnessed the blowout, will result in probably the smallest attendence for a Belfry home game in recent memory. Meanwhile, with the old system. Even though Belfry was usually the clear favorite in the first round in year's past, usually the staidum was either 3/4 full or full for the first tilt. The new playoff system is going to take money away from Belfry tonight.

15? 5 lost? I don't know about everyone else but as a coach if I have 7-8 fumbles/botches then I am finding some way to correct the problem whether it be a new center, whether it be a different snap style, whether it be throwing a clean ball to the field every play, giving everyone a towell...the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Madison Southern would be a suprise to me. Coach Carter has had some down years, but he has also brought some successful years to that program that they had not seen before. His players really like him and he is well known throughout that community.

I think that SAFETY and not STRATEGY is the reason this game has been moved...

HAHA... hey pipe down or else I will post that favorite thread of yours, "Which Class is the Weakest" and let you get your own dose.... At least when dicussing issues with westsider you are going to get intellectual and strategically placed comments,,, that is refreshing although sometimes it is like putting on a helmet and ramming a wall. HAHA Stubborness... a virtue or a curse? :argue:

Watusi, correct me if I am wrong... but since Belfry has went to the Fieldturf Ican't recall a single ligament tear of the knee? In fact... the past two years has been the healthiest Belfry teams I can remember going into playoffs.. very few ankle sprains. Of the players who are injured most were either caused by off the field situations or on the actual contact of the hit.

To be honest though the mountains really don't produce many players with the pure numbers (not stats, but size, speed, strength) to warrant very many D-1 offers. It is a sad fact, but if you take some of the best football players to ever come out of East KY and go to an NAIA school they typically quit before their senior season. That being said, May definately has the overall size to play on the small D-1 level,, but he needs to cntinue to work on his speed and overall strength to have a chance. I would project may to best be served on the defensive side of the ball as an outside linebacker or a safety. Either way, in order to garner D-1 looks for those positions he will need to trim his 40 to the 4.5-4.65 range,, I would say he is in the 4.7-4.8 range right now. Dustin definately has the instincts needed to be successful and the kid is continuing to grow.

This will come out of left field,,, but what the heck. How about each district champion automatically gets in to the playoffs. Then, based on a computer ranking system similar to Ohio you determine 8 more "At-Large" teams... you then subdivide the remaining 16 teams into 4 regions like we already have with and seed those 4 teams 1-4 according to the same computer system. Thus, district champions get a deserved automatic spot in the playoffs, yet teams who may have missed the cut but earned their laurels through their regular season play and scheduling still can continue their season. Just tossing it out there...

Junior FB/LB Dustin May- Belfry 6'2 200+ lbs Over 1000 rushing yards as a Fullback Possibly the best LB in the mountains He also punts and returns punts.

Never have been a fan of the Lit Ratings and will continue not to be. I wish someone had the time and energy to research what the Lit ratings were at the end of the regular season for 2A the past five years. It's been funny how usually the two best teams in the class when it is all said and done are usually in spots 6-10 in the Lit Ratings.

I am a Belfry fan but do know that Russell's QB Jones has passed for nearly 1000 yards this year and has been a very viable option running the ball. As with every Russell team of the past their forte' is run til you stop us.

I think that the CURRENT Russell team is considerably better than the CURRENT Bell County and equal or not as good as the CURRENT Rock team. Corbin's 2-0 loss to Rockcastle came very early in the season before Rock established their current offensive prowess. Since that game I feel that Corbin has not improved very much, especially not comparable to the improvement in Rockcastle. The evidence of this is the fact that the Redhounds were far from convincing in most of their games and they continued to lose football games to Oldham, South Laurel, Middlesboro, and Bell County. I can't think of any team in the top 5 of 2A that would have lost at any point in the season to South Laurel.. in fact Mercer County beat them by a score of 53-6 the week before the Corbin game. I think it's funny that he asked if I thought Russell was better than Bell, Middlesboro, and Rock..but left off Oldham and South Laurel. Do I feel Corbin can play with Russell? Sure.. the Hounds have a great tradition and some excellent young talent. But,,, the Corbin who has struggled down the stretch with Wayne County and Casey County has no shot.

I think they are a couple TD better than Middlesboro, who was the last team to beat Corbin, and who won by 20... and they are at least 3-4 TD better than Wayne Co. who the Redhounds beat by 9 points, and 5-6 TD better than Casey County who Corbin defeated by 16.