strongopenyon

Lexington Catholic players learn the press from the time they are in elementary school until the time they are in high school. The young Lexington Catholic AAU teams run the exact presses and offenses as they will as varsity players. Former player/coach at Lexington Catholic Danny Haney put the system in many years ago. It is fun for the kids to play and fun to watch. Lexington Catholic succeeds because they are trained in the same system for many years and it is very effective and difficult to play against.

Vinny Miller is a similar size/weight to Jerry Williams. My guess would be 5'10" maybe 5'10 1/2" and 165 lbs.

I hate to see it happen again, but that is two straight years that controversial calls might have decided games in the 11th Region tournament. Misfortunate. http://www.bluegrasspreps.com/showthread.php?201243-Henry-Clay-44-Franklin-County-43&p=3750966&highlight=#post3750966

Jerry Williams is a good athlete. Good quickness and good speed. Jerry is probably a bit under 6'0" and might weigh about 165 lbs. He will attempt to play either a defensive back position or a receiver. My guess will be that UK will try Jerry on the defensive side of the football.

Tates Creek jumped out to a 26-4 lead. The Commodores held Henry Clay to 10 points in the first half. The Creekers play a little "D" for Coach Breeden.

Henry Clay retires James Lee's jersey and then losses second half lead to Scott County.

Congratulations to Henry Clay's Ryan Smith. He will have a great opportunity in football and even better training for the game of life! Best of luck!

This year's Henry Clay squad has a nice mix of players. Point guard Wesley Kimble (Junior) can get anywhere on the floor he desires and has a great knack for distributing the basketball. Daniel Kiesling (Senior) is listed at 6'6" and is at least 6'5". He is long, has excellent footwork, and plays very hard. He is a very nice high school player and he could develop into a good college player as well. He has already committed to Emory Riddle to study aerospace engineering. He is an excellent student as well. Brandon Nichols (Senior) is a 6 footish athlete. He is the state's defending champion in the 400 meters. He runs like a gazelle and loves to play defense. He can play that shut down defender role for the Blue Devils which makes him invaluable. He has already accepted a track scholarship to UK. He can also shoot the three, but his strength is defense and tough play. Kendrick Prewitt (Senior) is the slasher. He is a very active player and will take the ball in transition right to the glass. He has a scorer's mentality in that if he misses a shot or two, he will keep on shooting. He has been scoring at a high clip than one would have thought prior to the season beginning. Trae Stewart (Senior) is a veteran varsity player who brings a nice all-around game to the floor. Although undersized to play inside (might be 6'1") he is an active rebounder and has very strong hands when going to get a ball. His father, Prince Stewart, played at Lafayette and then UTEP, and his brother, Prince, Jr. just finished up a nice career at Henry Clay. The real x-factor this season for Henry Clay has been the two freshman, Trey Grundy and Jordan Green. Both these fine young players are in the 6'4 range, long, and both have excellent ballhandling skill. A world of potential, but they are freshmen. Jordan Green has played a lot and very well and Trey Grundy has missed some action due to injury. I see Henry Clay having a very nice mix of a lot of different style ball players that have good chemistry. They could beat anyone on a given night, but can also throw in some clunkers. An example is the fact they can beat an outstanding Clark County team, but lose to Buckhorn. Coach Daniel Brown gets a lot of talented players at Henry Clay and this might potentially be his best team. If they continue to improve and stay healthy, I could see them making a deep run in the tournament in March. For what it is worth, I don't see them winning the Republic Bank Tournament next week at Lexington Catholic. Coach Brown will need to focus his team after the big upset of Clark County and their Fayette County Invitational championship. Go Devils!

Having two or three officials calling a high school game makes no difference, in my opinion. The official was in good position to make the call, it just appears he made a call that should have not been made. Crowds in games in Lexington have been very disappointing in recent years for both football and basketball. I see no reason for the KHSAA to not go back to two officials per contest during our current economic time.

Could the young Blue Devils be the best team in the 11th region this season? Coach Brown is playing a lot of young players and should improve as the season progresses. Great win versus a very strong GRC team for Henry Clay.

My guess is that Ryle did not schedule George Rogers Clark, but rather, accepted an invitation to the Fayette County Invitational tournament and drew GRC in a random draw. Nonetheless, playing a tough opponent will do nothing but help a team come tournament time.

I have seen Conner at a quarterback camp. I am not surprised by a Kentucky high school quarterback not being taught to read coverages. I know the Trinity system is that advanced, but would be surprised if many others are. I would think a Highlands quarterback under Jared Lorenzen would read defenses.

I could not have said it better myself.

Might be too big a culture shock for our friend from the north!

With little or no doubt!

Being from Ohio, you have seen some outstanding players and teams. Make no mistake, Ohio football is a notch or so above what you will see Friday night south of the Ohio River. But......you will not see a team better coached and drilled than the Trinity Shamrocks. I do not wish to minimize their talent because they also have some talented players. You will not be "Wowed" by the talent. You will be "WOWED" by the schemes, by the aggressiveness, and by the attacking offense and defense they will have on the field. I think Trinity is a young ballclub and that alone is a plus for Ryle's attempt to pull the upset. But it would very much be an upset to beat the 'Rocks in this contest. My guess is that Trinity will win this one comfortably. You will be impressed with the preparation, the discipline, and attention to detail of Kentucky's best team! They maximize what they have each and every season.

I would love to see this one and might just venture on down to Middlesboro on my way to Knoxville. I see the homestanding Bobcats prevailing in this one. It is ashame this is not for the state championship because I think both of these teams are deserving of playing for the big trophy.

I am with you on this one, BIGDAWG11. Scott County has played mostly Lexington teams and Lexington football was the worst I have seen it in 30 years this season. Scott County has always had some success on offense. At the same time, their defense has been suspect. I look for Male to score enough to beat the Cardinals at Toyota Stadium on Friday night.

The home team will be very tough to beat.

Some thoughts on tonight's game.... It will be a beautiful night at Heber Field. Henry Clay's speed at the skilled positions will be an extra fast tonight. The speed and quickness will very much challenge the Simon Kenton defense. Henry Clay is capable of scoring and scoring quickly. Sometimes they score too quickly and their defense has to come right back on the field. Simon Kenton has already defeated Henry Clay at Henry Clay this season, so they obviously have a winning formula. Quarterback Chad Lawrence poses real problems for the Henry Clay defense. His dual threat ability of throwing and running from the quarterback position will give Henry Clay fits. Henry Clay will greatly miss defensive tackle Ryan Smith (#6). I understand he will be out indefinitely with a knee injury. Big loss for the Blue Devils. I honestly see the game as a toss up. Simon Kenton greatly challenged in boxing in the Henry Clay skilled speed, and Henry Clay challenged in keeping Simon Kenton's dual threat quarterback in check. Should be a good one. I can see a one score difference again when the clock strikes 0:00. Go Devils!

With many teams now playing on an artificial surface (Henry Clay's field), rain has little affect on a passing game. Mud is what affects a passing game and there will be no mud at Henry Clay tonight. Conner needs to mix run and pass to be effective against Henry Clay's defense. Balance is the key.

I agree. And, from what I have seen, the turnover bug as well. The Tates Creek team who will play Simon Kenton on Friday couldn't stay on the field with the Tates Creek team I saw play in August. The Creekers have gotten progressively worse this season due to all of the above mentioned reasons.

I agree the Blue Devils are a very explosive team, but I will not yet say they are a very good team. Their skilled position speed and quickness is most impressive, but their defense needs a lot of improvement. The defense is giving up an average of 27 points per game this season and a whopping 39 points per game in the last three contests versus Clark County, Madison Central, and Tates Creek. This is not the recipe to beat teams like Simon Kenton, Ryle, and Trinity in order to go deep into the playoffs.

I have not seen a team that can stay on the field with the Rocks this season. In past seasons, I thought I saw some teams who could give them a contest and I was mistaken. I say Trinity easily adds another state championship to their trophy case.

I saw Tates Creek in their first two games of the season and thought they would be the team to beat in Lexington in 2010. Since then, something has happened to the Creekers because they have lost three of their last four ballgames and stopped scoring points like they did at the start of the season. What is going on over at Tates Creek to cause them to go into a tailspin?