westsider

Who has Murray beaten to earn a spot in the top 10? And Holy Cross has that bad loss to Beechwood on their resume.

7 ... Oldham County 5 ... Doss 3 ... Moore 2 ... Bullitt Central 1 ... Collins Oldham County

Jeffersontown lost to Holy Cross, and someone thinks they could beat John Hardin?

Frankly, I like to see teams that think they have a chance to do something play good teams. Edmonson hasn't been tested and hasn't played anyone that would test Fort Campbell, either.

Class A in that time was Mayfield, Crittenden County, Ballard Memorial, Fulton City and Fulton County. Class 2A at the time was Murray, Caldwell County, Trigg County, Heath and Reidland. Very little difference in terms of travel. Actually, Crittenden is probably a longer trip for Mayfield than anyone in that 2A district, except maybe for Trigg.

You don't know that it would've been rejected. Mayfield was in a five-team district from 2007-10, so it wouldn't have created a problem in Class A. Bottom line ... Mayfield never inquired. Period.

No, I didn't make a blanket statement about every program. I'm simply referring to Mayfield and Beechwood ... from all indications, neither has ever expressed a desire to "play up" in the last 15 years.

There was no indication that either program even inquired about the possibility. What is the evidence that the coaches and administrators at the schools named would want to move up? I'm not talking about fans. I'm talking about the people that matter.

It only matters if someone in an official capacity in Mayfield's program considers moving up ... and no one in that capacity has uttered a peep about it. I suspect a lot of Mayfield fans, and those in charge of the program, like winning Class A state titles too much to move up. If Mayfield had an interest in moving up, they could have easily asked to do so in 2006, but they didn't.

You assure us? Based on whose word? Mayfield never asked to move back up to 2A before the six-class format was instituted, and didn't again in 2006, so why would they decide to move up now?

McLean County was in 3A, with Paducah Tilghman, Union County, Muhlenberg South and Webster County. I believe McLean played up at the time.

That's just it ... schools rarely, if ever, just want to "move up" for competitive reasons. I don't know why teams such as Mayfield and Beechwood would ask to. Mayfield "played up" in Class 2A for several years before dropping down to Class A in 1995, the first year they beat Beechwood in the state championship game. I've never heard anyone from Mayfield, inside and outside of the program, suggest doing it again.

I'm referring to 2007, the first year of the six-class format. Several schools asked to be moved up and were granted those moves, including Russellville and Somerset, as I recall. Mayfield and Beechwood didn't ask to move up.

Neither school asked to move up in 2007, when the six-class format was passed, so why would they now? Mayfield and Beechwood can still play those teams and compete for a state championship in Class A.

The Litratings are usually the least reliable of the rating systems. Plus, we're barely halfway through the season, and the computer-generated numbers tend to get more reliable as the season moves along.

For a decade or so, Illininois has put a 1.65 multiplier on "non-boundaried" schools, which include private schools and public schools in open enrollment districts (primarily Chicago), because private schools have an inordinate amount of success in football and some of the so-called "money sports" ... golf, tennis, soccer, etc. Last spring, the IHSA instituted a waiver for programs who hadn't experienced a certain level of success over the last six years ... in football, that meant no playoff wins, and in other sports, it was winning no regional titles (equivalent to our district titles). As soon as those programs achieve that level of success, the multiplier goes back into effect. It's easier to implement that system because the IHSA doesn't use districts, as we do in football. Teams get into the postseason based on winning their conference or their regular-season record.

7 ... Murray 5 ... Butler County 3 ... Owensboro 2 ... Ballard Memorial 1 ... Graves County Owensboro

7 ... Dixie Heights 5 ... Ludlow 3 ... Boone County 2 ... South Oldham 1 ... Grant County Dixie Heights

If he was "glassy eyed and not totally coherent" he shouldn't have been playing, period. And something tells me that Tilghman wouldn't have started him if that was the case.

If I recall, it was five players, and a couple of those guys play on both sides of the ball even if they don't necessarily start.

Smalls 1. Mayfield 2. Owensboro Catholic 3. Paducah Tilghman 4. Fort Campbell 5. Edmonson County 6. Monroe County 7. Caldwell County 8. Murray 9. Trigg County 10. Russellville Bigs 1. Bowling Green 2. Warren Central 3. Christian County 4. Franklin-Simpson 5. Madisonville 6. Lone Oak 7. Henderson County 8. Ohio County 9. Graves County 10. Greenwood

In most years, Beechwood-Elizabethtown would be a pretty good matchup. This just happens to be Elizabethtown's worst team in years.

A minor correction ... it was actually the third quarter. According to the Paducah Sun, Presnell was 8-9 for 102 yards in the third quarter.

That isn't what I said ...

Which, in reality, has little to do with the question at hand ...