Darkwing

They still have a shot against Bryan Station regardless for the last playoff spot in the district.

Grim had in the neighborhood of 170 yards on around 25 carries and one touchdown. JC was 1-8 passing. They held Wheelersburg to 24 yards of rushing offense, I think. I believe Ian Welch had 3 INTs and Grim had 2 INTs.

The question is, did Station put up those 19 points against Woodford's varsity o did they keep padding stats against the JV like they did against Central? If Station scored three TDs on the Woodford varsity, that does not bode well for the Woodford D...expect the Versailles boys to be ready for The Nest. Or as ready as any visiting team can be for The Nest. Looking forward to JC-Woodford in seven days. Barring an upset of JC by Montgomery County, that is potentially the district championship game.

Hats off to Wheelersburg. That's a well-coached team, with not much size but a good amount of speed and a whole lot of heart. I don't think many mountain teams could go up there into Southern Ohio and win a game like that one tonight. I particularly loved their fake punt play - had the kid not accidentally taken a knee trying to scoop up the bad handoff, that would've been a touchdown at a critical time.

You did! It's the usual "Shawn Grim just did something else amazing" sound clip. And those cannons make a little noise with the smoke.

The music guy was in mid-season form tonight. Particularly enjoyed the appearance of "The Distance" by Cake for the long touchdown runs. The cannon sounds louder too. I think it's the echo off the turf.

#18 Nick West. I imagine he threw for some decent yardage tonight. And the kicking game for JCHS that some thought might be an Achilles heel actually isn't so bad. How about Josh Leckrone? 8 for 8 on XP kicks so far on the season. Grim also was punting the ball well tonight and he's doing a better job this season so far in fielding punts as well.

South Point? Marginal. Lost a D-I quarterback last year, probably rebuilding, think they have a new coach. Contractual obligation to play them. Wheelersburg? Typically a powerful Southern Ohio team, usually on a similar level to Ironton (sometimes better, sometimes worse).

Just one hole left in the schedule now. District: Bryan Station, Ashland, Montgomery County, Woodford County. Non-district: Paintsville, South Point (OH), Wheelersburg (OH), Belfry, and Conner. Open date in week 6. Still looking for an opponent, last I heard today.

Johnson Central is fulfilling the second year of a two-year contract with South Point, Ohio. South Point was originally going to buy out of the contract, so Central was exploring other options, and then South Point decided they would play the game after all, so Central fulfilled its original contractual obligation.

Central had a two-year contract to play South Point (OH) in 2006 and 2007. Those two teams playing at JCHS last season. South Point had been contemplating backing out of the contract, which was going to allow Central to play Lexington Catholic in the first week, but apparently South Point changed their minds and actually signed the contract, so the game appears to now be back on as originally contracted. Not as quality a game as Catholic, I agree, but we're honoring the contract we originally signed. As it now stands, we have our four district games, Belfry, Conner, Paintsville, South Point, possibly Wheelersburg (OH), and still an opening for a tenth game.

Before one assumes that he was fired, I think the full details should be known. It may be that he quit of his own free will to pursue another opportunity. Nobody knows for sure yet.

I don't know that it's terribly surprising. Magoffin County had a decent team last year, they were just putting things together at the end of the season. They have a good scorer in Devin Rice, and they play hard. They are probably a not too distant third in the 57th District right now, and probably right behind Paintsville, JC, and SV in the region.

Also, let me throw in from the KHSAA web site the posted third round playoff pairings for the regional championships. In 2007 in the third round in 5A, it'll be D1 vs. D4 (D1 home, for Region 1 champs), D2 vs. D3 (D3 home, for Region 2 champs), D5 vs D8 (D5 home, for Region 3 champs), and D6 vs D7 (D7 home, for Region 4 champs). The semi-states are to be Region 1 at home vs. Region 2 and Region 3 at home vs. Region 4, per the same web site. BTW, the third round alignment changes in 2008, and presumably each year afterward if they decide not to scrap the new system.

Rub some dirt on it! (Trust me. I read a medical book once. And stayed at a Holiday Inn Express, even though I had to drive to Pikeville to find one.)

I am hoping a Central win tomorrow night turns into the beginning of a run like Boyle County had. Public school, in a relatively rural part of the state, doing it with good athletes and great coaching...it could happen.

I am almost certain that Belfry will be on it. Beyond that, I think it is still a work in progress.

Before my PM box fills with comments from offended abstaining Catholics, that was merely a joke. (And a warning, for anybody who comes expecting a drink with their dinner at any local dining establishment.) There are many local Protestants who are just as upset about the arrangement, as well.

And one more important thing to consider: for all the true Catholics out there coming to the game (and this would've mattered a lot to all the ones I've known in my life), Johnson County is a dry county. Talk about culture shock, eh?

I think if Central doesn't get shocked in the first couple of possessions and gets some good stops and settles in, this has the potential to be a fantastic ballgame. We'll have to play our best game of the year, especially on the defensive side of the football - make tackles, win the battle on the line, and carefully pick our spots to blitz so we don't leave guys one on one against tall and fast receivers. That being said, we do have some experience against passing teams - played against a top Ohio quarterback and D-1 signee with great success, and defended a couple of tall and fast Bryan Station receivers well, and I think this game experience has made our pass defense atypically good for an Eastern Kentucky team. Furthermore, I think any team which can successfully and consistently run on our run defense will cakewalk to the 3A state championship from here if they can do that. Central also has its share of speed, which may be being overlooked here. We may not be in the GCL, but then again, CCH didn't win those games, either, so I don't think us not being Colerain, Elder, St. X, or Bishop Watterson makes this game necessarily unwinnable. I hope for a classic for the ages, and if we have to lose, we have nothing to be ashamed about losing in the state semifinals against a program like CCH. But we really, really, really don't WANT to lose, either.

For whomever asked earlier in the thread and anybody else, I believe gates open at 5:30. Get here early, if for nothing else but the game food. Eagle Grill = best hamburgers in world. Had one last week for dinner. It was maybe the culinary highlight of my week.

They'll be helpful to avoid the line, but probably not a must. I would suggest getting there kinda early though, if you're not interested in SRO, because the bleacher seats will fill up quickly.

No problem here. Looking forward to the Biggest Game Ever At The Nest. Win or lose, I'll be happy to have been a small part of it. Hope the CCH fans enjoy the trip out east...it's not such a bad place to visit. Somebody bring me some Montgomery Inn ribs? It has been too long for me.

I vote for watering down...er, modifying the field between the hash marks to try and cut down on any 50+ yard field goal attempts from what is apparently an outstanding CCH kicker. Will CCH bring a large fan section all the way from NKY? Am looking forward to hearing some of these famous clever chants they apparently come up with.

Actually, I was just thinking about this - I don't believe we've ever played a Catholic school in football, period. I know I can't remember playing any in the last sixteen years I've personally been watching. So I think this'll be a first for us. I know we've played Lexington Catholic before in basketball at a tournament somewhere, but never one in football. (But don't say it's the Protestants versus the Catholics out here, because people will just ask you what kind of Baptist a Catholic is.) Fantastic game tonight. The defense was incredible.