Darkwing

Entertained in a good way, or bad?

Was that the Memphis Tigers? I mean, they almost beat Ole Miss the other night on TV, you can't expect Hopkinsville to do much better, can you? (I kid, I kid. It was Memphis Ridgeway, right?)

Bryan Station's skill players, especially the WRs (Miller-Hughes and Dawson), are great athletes and must be accounted for on every play. Their QB has a credible arm, but their line doesn't give him much time to throw when the pressure comes. Their running backs are so-so (the big starting TB wore down visibly toward the end of the game). The defensive team effort was fantastic tonight. I thought Trey Belhasen especially did a great job covering the giant Miller-Hughes. He gave up several inches in height, but stayed with him, had several break-ups (one big one which probably saved a touchdown), and a big interception toward the end of the game. Great game by Central's # 23 tonight. Craig Hampton also looked good covering on the other side, and Tommy Taylor had a crucial pick and a couple of break-ups. The secondary has been the difference in the defense this year - I don't remember JCHS EVER being strong against the pass, but we've played three straight passing teams and basically shut down all three. Was also good to see Cody Lowe back out there. Can't wait to get Ousley and Richardson and Ratliff all back out there with their teammates at the same time.

Don't look now, but the Herald-Leader's Cantrall Ratings have Central at #5 in Class 3A and at #19 overall in Kentucky, all classes. That's easily the highest the Golden Eagles have ever been in that rating system. Even in 2000 when the AP Poll had us at #4 in Class 4A, I still don't think we cracked the top ten in those ratings. It's a very sudden paradigm shift for Mr. Cantrall's numerical opinion of Eagle football.

Honestly, I think it is becoming a serious enough problem that mandatory measures will need to be entertained. I wonder if perhaps the local health departments in each county could become involved and provide direction and assistance the same way in the locker rooms that they do in the school cafeterias. Our district would likely have the same problem with lack of access to laundry facilities for a lot of players' families, as would a lot of districts in both rural and urban areas. I don't think it's paranoia at all; I think it's probably one of the most significant problems we're facing in high school athletics currently. There are probably as many players sitting out games this week for infections like this in Kentucky as there are for any other kind of injury.

These bacteria are naturally present on everyone's skin and often in the blood of infected carriers. They don't come from any kind of dirt or creek water. MRSA is the bacterium that is causing the great majority of these abscesses; there has been a huge upswing of community-acquired MRSA over the last few years, likely from the overuse of antibiotics and germicidal products creating resistance. I personally see several patients per week coming in for "insect bites" that are actually large MRSA-containing abscesses. Keflex, which is the first antibiotic most docs prescribe for cellulitis, won't work on these infections. First-line drugs are Bactrim and clindamycin, and in my practice, I will often combine the two for double-coverage for what appear to be serious MRSA infections. It is quite contagious. The only solution is immaculate hygiene - uniform washing every day, wiping down the locker room, covering open sores. It's a problem that's only going to get worse until coaches, trainers, and, most importantly, players take increasing responsibility for infection control in their locker rooms and on their practice fields. You can't always stop it, but you can take measures to prevent its spread.

I respectfully disagree with this assessment for the following reasons: Belfry had already missed an extra point, and their chances of hitting the one were probably not much better than their chances of hitting the two. If the kicker is a sure thing, I'd go for the tie then, but when you've got May and you've already run for over three hundred yards in the game...why try the kick, which only gives you a chance to tie and is by no means assured, when you can try for the win from three yards out when you've been pounding them all night long? Only my humble opinion. Feel free to disregard it.

How do you think that game would've turned out anywhere except Putnam Stadium? That's all I've got to say about that. And that game this year is NOT at Putnam Stadium.

I thought so too. I think the staff were debating it heavily. If they'd had a time out left, I suspect you would've seen it teed up after some further discussion. However, they didn't have much time to talk, so they just let it roll with J.K. I think Barrett would've been good from 42 yards (I know he's got the leg, from watching warm-ups; of course, game situations are always different), but with not much time to consider, it's a tough call to make in less than 25 seconds.

And one more thing - how about James Barrett's kicking? Perfect on extra points, and almost every kickoff down to the five yard line of South Point. That's the kind of weapon Central needs on the special teams to be a legitimate contender. It's good to see him doing so well!

Actually, I think that game we sacked Couch seven times and intercepted him four (and if I remember correctly, Coach Estep had two of those picks). Chris Smith is a legitimate player. He never had time to breathe tonight. I was amazed by how many tackles he slipped out of, and the most amazing one was late in the game, where he somehow dodged what would've been the kill shot on most other quarterbacks from Michael Tackett streaking toward him down the sideline. Marshall may have gotten a steal with this guy. If you put him behind some people who could pick up a blitz... That being said. there are still some things to work on. Central put the ball on the ground WAY too many times tonight - killed a couple of big drives that way. The running into the punter penalty hurt. Several holding calls at crucial moments on the receivers hurt us as well. It was probably a B or B+ kind of game. There's still plenty of room for improvement, but we gave a credible performance, from what I saw. Was especially impressed with Nathan Dillon carrying the ball (after already playing a full JV game earlier in the night). He has an incredible upside.

That game was something like 48-0 at South Point. It was their homecoming. I remember it because they had a big float come through with an eagle in a stew pot and their announcer during the halftime ceremonies proclaimed something like, "And now we're making our Eagle Stew!" It was about 34-0 Central at the time.

That's absolutely the correct score. One of the better games I ever saw.

It happened in the 1994 Apple Bowl, when Paintsville was driving and close to the endzone and the QB spiked the ball. Was ruled a penalty - I think they called it grounding, actually - and Paintsville ended up missing what would've been the game-winning field goal. That may be the game you're thinking of.

Way to respond, Eagles. Proud of you guys.

The most unfortunate part is that the KHSAA saw fit to make the David School part of a three team district, while making the 57th District a five team district.

The last Eastern (or Southeastern) Kentucky 3A champ, I think, was Bell County, 1991.

It's quirky. Gives the field some character, ya know?