Darkwing

We'll be a GOOD team even if we lose. But as far as being a TOP team, well... As a wise gentleman and scholar once said, "To be The Man, you have to BEAT The Man." (Woo!)

Central's schedule this year, very atypically for a mountain team, was chock full of balanced and pass-happy offenses: Breathitt County, Bryan Station, Shelby County, Woodford County, Paintsville, Hazard, Covington Catholic. That's not to say that any of those offenses run as well as the Bluebirds' offense, but each of them were balanced or even pass-oriented unlike the usual slate of running teams one encounters in the mountain schedules, so the Golden Eagle defense has seen plenty of the football in the air this year.

No more than we'd confuse Highlands and CCH fans. And they probably would be happy to let you set up your cannon on their hillside. They'd probably want to shoot it themselves.

And WC probably thought they'd be playing Mercer County this week too. I wouldn't count out LCC until they actually lose. They're wiry, as we like to say in the mountains.

If it's a chance to beat Highlands at home in the playoffs, you bet your bottom dollar it's a two-point conversion attempt. The odds of converting the one point aren't that much better than the odds of converting the two, and all you are rewarded with is the opportunity to play more football if you do make the one. I say, if the chance arises to put 'em away at any point, you take it and you take it with enthusiasm and gratefulness.

I could not agree with this more. Johnson Central is not the only team in 5A that wouldn't be given a chance against Highlands by fans across the state. I think the mere fact that we can even draw the attention of Highlands fans now makes a huge statement for how far this program has come in the last five years. Beating Covington Catholic, especially in the fashion we did, was a profound expression of how legitimate this program has become. That's not some run-of-the-mill mountain team; that's a private school program with state championship trophies in the case. Just because we don't win a state championship does not make us a bad team, nor one to be lightly dismissed. The second-best team in the state isn't always the one that loses in the state finals.

Stands? Large metal bleachers with reserved chairbacks in the middle, home side, smaller metal visitor bleachers on the other side. Field is turf, so weather shouldn't be much of a factor there. Around the area? Immediately next to the stadium, the usual array of fast foods (McD's, Long John Silver's, Wendy's, Pizza Hut, Arby's, Sonic, Taco Bell, Hardee's, Fazoli's, Burger King). Also for sit-down dining, Bob Evans, Fiesta Place (a pretty decent Mexican restaurant), Ponderosa Steakhouse are in the vicinity. If you have a little more time and venture downtown, the Dairy Queen is a special treat - it's very different from the usual franchises. It is entirely walk-up, they call your ticket number over a loudspeaker, and they have perhaps the finest hot dogs and chili sauce in the known universe.

Since not many of us have seen HHS in person, I think it's hard to agree or disagree. The only thing HHS and JCHS have in common this year is that both teams walloped both Ashland and Covington Catholic and both teams squeaked by Bryan Station. With HHS's tradition and talent, they'll always be a tough out. Hopefully, the Golden Eagles will be able to provide a suitable foil with the ball-control and hard-hitting defense. Hard to know what to expect until Friday night.

If you mean the Big Sandy river...they already have.

It did get ugly in the first half, but Sheldon Clark made it respectable in the second half. Really, the only thing I recall about that game was Lorenzen running around behind his o-line forever without being pressured in the least, then chucking bombs to Smith downfield for huge gains. If only the UK line had given him that kind of protection. But still, I think SC gave HHS more of a game that year than anybody else in the playoffs managed to?

I remember some low, low points, even before the Humphrey/Ross debacle. Just thinking about them seems like another lifetime. From the last game of the 1992 season, losing by a point to Boyd County at home in the freezing cold to finish an 0-10 season...the false-start penalty that killed what could've been the game winning drive in the '92 Apple Bowl...the 7-0 overtime loss at Jessamine County in '93 where Chris Bowlin ran his heart out but just couldn't get into the end zone...and then the OTHER moments...the first home playoff game (and win) against Whitley County in '97 and the next game after that, the classic on Log Mountain against Bell County...Scott Salyer's touchdown in the final minutes at Boyd County to give us our first district championship in 2000...the halfback pass to Tommy Taylor against Ashland in 2006...some great, great moments. What an unbelievable ride it's been the last 15 years for Golden Eagle fans.

As a 1995 graduate and long, loooong time supporter of Central football, I am only happy that our program has reached a point where even one or two people outside of Johnson County would give us a snowball's chance against Highlands. Having watched the football team in my four years of HS go 2-8, 0-10, 4-6, and 3-7 and miss the playoffs for four straight years, I dreamed that one day it might be on this level, where you could actually put "Johnson Central" and "state contenders" in the same sentence without laughing. It didn't seem possible then. It doesn't even seem real now. It's like some kind of surrealistic dream. I'd just like to thank Coach Matney, the staff, the players, and the fans for helping get Golden Eagle to the level it occupies today. For a program that never ever made a playoff game in its first quarter century of football, I'd like to think we've come a tremendously long way in the last five years, whether we win or lose against Highlands Friday night. It's been a tremendous source of pride for everyone like me who ever bled black and gold. This Eagle will always be there in spirit, even if it only involves listening to the games on internet radio here in Orlando. GO EAGLES!

Central with 541 yards rushing in the game, I think I just heard?

That's T. Davis. I believe that's the first field goal we've made since at least two years ago, and maybe longer than that.

Did we really kick a FG? Did I hear that correctly??!? That's less than an annual event. Go Eagles!

Should Central win this week and Highlands come to the hills next weekend, there'll be a few Paintsville fans on the hill with bonfire lit and fireworks in hand yet again ready to celebrate each Bluebird touchdown, just like there were for the CCH game two years ago. It's always good to enjoy the support of our fellow Johnson Countians in the big games like that.

In all fairness to the Golden Eagles, Central put the football on the ground six or seven times that game (only losing two, perhaps, but fumbles you recover yourself still lose yardage and kill drives) and played the whole way with the sophomore backup quarterback.

It will look vaguely similar to what you saw in 2006, but there will be noticeable differences. This team doesn't pass as well as in 2006, but the backs are bigger and run harder on the average and the QB is more mobile, although there is nothing like Blake Johnson at FB (who was the big fullback CCH couldn't stop in the 2006 game until he went out with a second-half injury). The offensive lines are comparable, I think. The defense is not quite as strong against the run as in 2006, and the big-hit linebackers like Michael Tackett aren't there. The defensive backs are probably a little better against the pass, and the defensive team speed is better across the board. You're probably better off running up the middle than to the corners on this Central defense, which is the reverse of 2006, where CCH wore us out with the pass in the first half and then rushing toward the corners in the second half. Our place kicking game is not quite as strong as in it was in 2006. Barrett could put kickoffs near the endzone then, and now our kickoffs are generally squibs or onside. Welch is a decent mountain high school mountain punter. Welch and Hall are solid kick returners and could make some plays if the defense can make some stops. Our freshman kicker is accurate on PATs, but don't expect any FG attempts. This team probably has a better turnover margin than in 2006. The fumbles have been greatly reduced with Dillon handling the football, and the defense has come through with quite a few recoveries and interceptions this season. All in all, probably the two years' teams are within a touchdown of each other ability-wise. That's my humble opinion, having seen both years' teams play (although not nearly as much this year as I'd like).

Sniff. I think I just teared up a little bit there. :thumb: There's about thirteen or fourteen times a year I really miss Johnson County, and just about all of them are autumn Friday nights. But the new guy does a good job too on the mic. :thumb:

'Bout an hour and 40 minutes, depending on Mountain Parkway traffic. And CCH in a bad season would likely still be a Mountain Top Five team. It is true Woodford County pretty much packed it up and mailed in the last three weeks or so of their season. My hope is the Eagles can dominate the line of scrimmage enough to keep the CCH offense off the field. This will require turnovers, specifically fumbles, to be kept to a minimum, and throwing of the football will need to be much more efficient than in the Belfry game.

They don't. Because nobody else in 5A is nearly that good.

With the addition of Adams, Shelby Valley this year has the one thing that mountain teams almost never have: true size. Mountain teams usually have great guards at state and shoot the ball well and have solid coaching, but get killed on the boards by bigger, more athletic urban teams and that's the difference. The last mountain team to go to Rupp with that kind of size was Paintsville. They did okay.

I'd take competing. Probably more than anyone else in 5A will do this year with the 'Birds.

Wow. That's another new high for the Golden Eagle program under Coach Matney. Cantrall's Rating The State also has Central as the seventh-best team in the state, regardless of class. Not sure I believe all the hype, but the attention is nice. Good news is, doesn't matter whether or not I believe the hype; it only matters if Coach Matney and the boys fall for the hype. Somehow, I don't think they will. He'll keeps their heads on straight. Just like the Ashland field goal game got Central's attention in 2005 and we spent the whole off-season thinking about the return match...Belfry got our attention in 2007, and Central players, coaches, and fans have been waiting for this game all year. I agree that the team last year is quite a bit faster than last year's, btw. Adding Harlow and Brown on the line adds speed and strength. D. Dillon is much quicker than Ratliff at QB and you have to account for him now on every play as well as the backs. Richardson and N. Dillon have broken numerous long runs this year, and they can create their own yards, which Grim couldn't do. Ian Welch remains fast; no more be said there. J. Bratton at end is also a new upgrade in speed. There are several players who didn't take part in last year's game who are making a HUGE difference this year in terms of team speed and offensive results. But all the talking in the world won't change anything. Answers will become clear Friday night at Eagle Field. In the meantime, everybody GET OUT AND VOTE TODAY!!! Yes we can!