Dino

Take a camcorder with you to the next game and you will be ready to field those tough questions.:lol:

The beatings will continue until morale your memory improves.:lol:

Your post begs the question. How does one distinguish between what one knows and what one thinks one knows?:confused: It seems that people tried to answer your questions to the best of their recollection. Maybe you need to go to the next game and buy a program if that is not good enough for you.

I am not sure whether this set of stats is official, but the Ashland Daily Independent reported that Shawn Grim rushed for 303 yards on 25 attempts for 4 touchdowns. Grim's touchdowns came on rushes of 53, 75, 49 and 2 yards. The 53-yarder came only 18 seconds into the game, on the first play from scrimmage. A Grim Picture (Ashland Daily Independent)

I meant to say Bell and corrected it - my point being that Miller had a big night in the district's biggest game of the year and Grim had a big night in his district's marquee match-up. Both Rockcastle and Johnson Central had played suspect schedules up to that point, but both Grim and Miller responded in a big way against a quality team.

The Golden Eagles already have several top 5 rankings. The BGP rankings have been behind the curve all season (and preseason) where this team is concerned. I am sure that your input into those rankings has contributed to BGP's slow recognition that Johnson Central is one of the top 3A teams in the state. If this young Johnson Central team gets upset in the playoffs this season, they may well be a no-show in the preseason rankings again next year. Oh well, c'est la vie! BTW, if I had a chip on my shoulder, I would criticize ad nauseum the schedule of some randomly chosen western Kentucky team to whom I have no personal affiliation.:fire: Besides, I enjoy watching eastern Kentucky teams like this year's Johnson Central team and the Chris Jennings vintage Fairview team prove critics like you wrong more than I want to see them ranked where they belong.:lol:

:thumb: I agree with you that there is no longer any argument to be made for Thomas being better than Grim.

Did you see Miller's game against Bell? Both backs have now had big games against good teams. To say that there is no comparison, when the two young men have similar stats against schedules of comparable strength is ridiculous, IMO.

Either that, or Coach Matney is going to be pleasently surprised when Shawn shows up for spring practice next year!:lol: Maybe Johnson Central did not include the classes in its football program to avoid depressing Mr. Martin any further. He may not realize that Grim, Ratliff, the Dillons, Welch, and Richardson will all be back next season. Johnson Central should be well represented near the top of the state's individual rushing leaders for the next few years. It's amazing how many people assumed that the loss of Ron Blume would take a bite out of Johnson Central's rushing game this season. The only thing that will do that would be Coach Matney deciding to air it out more next season.

I am a realist, Oldbird. Nobody can deny that both Covington Catholic and Highlands have elite football programs by Kentucky standards. They are the type of programs that similazr sized schools like Johnson Central hope to build. Highlands has been the most impressive of the two teams so far, and I think that it will be a mild upset if the Colonels win next Friday.

Take it however you want to take it. I believe that the injury to 4-4 Elder's quarterback has been used as an excuse before by fans of the teams who lost to the Panthers. The wheels do not simply fall off of an elite football program that has more than 1,000 boys from which to pick. The main reason that Elder has been losing lately is that they have been playing much better teams than they played early in the season.

I didn't question anybody's strength of schedule - you did. What I am questioning is whether Watterson and DeSales are the world-beaters that some want to portray them and whether those losses should be totally dismissed when considering whether either the 'Birds or the Colonels should be the state's top-ranked 3A team. I don't think that a good case can be made for either team regardless of who wins on Friday, barring an extremely unlikely loss by Bowling Green to Franklin-Simpson. I also don't think that the Desales-Watterson game offers any insight into the Highlands-CovCath game. Either team is capable of winning, but Highlands is clearly the favorite to do so.

Johnson Central (9-0) at Mason County (7-2) The winner gets home field advantage - possibly through the regional title game. A Johnson Central loss would drop them to a 3rd place finish in the district. Mason County has beaten Frankfort and Montgomery County this season and lost to undefeated Lafayette 21-6. Johnson Central is coming off an emotional home win over Ashland and the Royals will be the best team that they have faced on the road.

:lol: Are there not enough threads to satisy your need to bash the Golden Eagles? A weak schedule does make it hard to gauge a team's strength. My point, which is on topic and on target, is that the Watterson, DeSales, and Elder games are not necessarily good measuring sticks for Covington Catholic and Highlands, because it is really not that clear just how good those three Ohio teams are this season. Those fans who suggest that the winner of next week's HHS-CCH game should leapfrog over BGH in the rankings, in part, because the two teams have combined to lose 5 games to good Ohio teams is laughable.:lol: Highlands and Covington Catholic both have excellent teams, but this is not one of Highlands best teams and it is not one of CovCath's best teams, past state championships notwithstanding.

We'll just have to agree to disagree. If an announcer does a poor job of painting a mental image of the game play and fails to identify who is making plays for both teams, then I feel cheated. I can tolerate a certain lack of class, particularly when "my" team is winning, but there is no point in listenting to a game if the guy in front of the mike cannot make you see the action. It is nice when an announcer can do so with class, but those announcers generally don't announce high school games for very long. (Doug Ormay used to call Johnson Central's game and his predecessor also did a great job with the play by play, IMO. Both moved on after a short while and we were lucky to have them as long as we did.) I also enjoy listening to Paintsville's games with former coach Walter Brugh providing the color commentary. The game is not called without some "homerism," but Coach Brugh recognizes good plays and good players, regardless of the color of their uniform. If there is a rematch between Ashland and Johnson Central, I will probably attend the game in person. I would hate to listen to Dicky Martin call the game in the event that Ashland is able to turn the tables on the Golden Eagles in a couple of weeks. However, I will take a radio with me so that I can catch Dicky's comments in the event the Golden Eagles dominate the rematch. I have listened to Coach Leon Hart's post game comments the past two seasons, and I have been equally impressed with him both times. The man is a gracious winner and does not make excuses when he loses. He is a class act and Ashland is lucky to have him on the sidelines.:thumb:

Is Elder not a Division I school with an enrollment of 1,035 boys? Is your point that the loss of one key player explains why Elder beat two of the elite high school football teams in the commonwealth of Kentucky but was shutout by 3A Bishop Chatard, which has a boys enrollment of less than half that of Elder? Is your point that had Elder not lost one key player from the team that beat CCH and HHS that Chatard would have fallen as well? If so, I am not convinced. A top notch program should not be decimated by the loss of any one player - at least not beyond the game in which that player was lost. Teams like Watterson, Elder, and DeSales schedule Kentucky teams because they look down upon them as easy wins that will pad their playoff rankings. Like it or not, in most cases the Ohio teams are right in that regard and like it or not, getting thumped nearly every year by Ohio teams does not change the fact that CCH and HHS are still Kentucky teams. I have no idea whether Highlands and CovCath are among the top three 3A teams in the state and the losses to Watterson and DeSales provide no clues. IMO, it is wrong to simply dismiss the losses to Ohio teams each year as if they did not happen. If Watterson, DeSales, Bishop Chatard, Cathedral, and Roncalli are all better than either Covington Catholic or Highlands this season, then maybe, just maybe, this is the season when Lexington Catholic, Franklin County, Louisville Central, and/or (gasp!) Johnson Central are too. That being said, I would also rank Highlands and CCH in the top 3, but if one of those teams beats the other convincingly next week, then I would slide them down several places. The gap between NKY football and non-NKY football is not the gulf that some NKY fans imagine - at least not this season. However, I hope I am wrong and neither team is a top 5 team this season:D Parity would be a welcome change in Kentucky football.

After South Floyd's loss to Allen Central, I did not expect this game to be close. I predicted that the Paintsville program would decline after Johnson Central hired Jim Matney, but it is sad to see the Tigers fall on such hard times so quickly. I hope that Paintsville fans will show some patience with the current coaching staff. It is not easy for a team to deal with three coaches in three seasons and if I recall correctly, Coach Lemaster won only one or two games in his first season. I feel bad for the Paintsville players who currently live (or lived) in the Johnson County school district and transferred to Paintsville when Johnson Central's football program looked so hopeless a few years ago. Unlike many people, I believe that those players made the right decision at the time and I would have done exactly the same thing had I been in their shoes (or their parents' shoes). The grass not only looke greener on the other side of the creek a few years ago, it was in fact greener. Good luck to Paintsville next week and in the playoffs. You have some talented players and things will get better if your fans and parents continue to support the team as they have in the past. It would be nice to see more Paintsville BGP members here online encouraging the team each week. I would like to see both Johnson County schools field strong football teams in the coming years, and the Tigers need better fan support for that to happen.

I only listened to Marting during the second half and he didn't have anything bad to say about the team, but he did complain about the Johnson Central program not having the players' classes listed and he also found time to make fun of Johnson Central's small marching band. The man does do an outstanding job with the play-by-play, which is about all one can hope for at the high school level.

Thanks for the kind words about the team and Shawn Grim, Graybeard. Good luck next week against Boyd County.

This is the most dangerous game on Johnson Central's schedule. I hope that the Golden Eagle players do not get caught up in the over confidence that will afflict many of their fans. The game will be played in Maysville - not Paintsville. Mason County can win the top seed and send JC on the road to Ashland with a win next week. Mason County played the same Lafayette team tough that is undefeated and fresh off a win over higly regarded Henry Clay. Mason County defeated a very athletic Frankfort team that dominated Danville last night. Last season, Mason County narrowly missed upsetting Rockcastle County on the road in the regional championship game, despite losing regular season games to both Ashland and Johnson Central on the road. Dave Buchanan is an excellent coach and seems to have the same kind of knack for motivating teams to play their best in big games that Jim Matney possesses. This is Mason County's biggest game of the season and it is also Johnson Central's biggest game of the season. If Johnson Central's players and fans travel to Maysville next week expecting a cakewalk, they likely will be very disappointed. Johnson Central may be held to its lowest point total of the season next week and the team might need a halftime wake-up call from Coach Matney before pulling this one out: 20 Johnson Central 7 Mason County

To expand on your point, 4A Indianapolis Roncalli, which last week defeated Watterson 21-10, lost 28-0 last night to Cathedral in the first round of the Indiana playoffs. Last week, 3A Indy Bishop Chatard shutout Elder 24-0. Maybe Bishop Watterson and DeSales are not quite as good as NKY fans believe they are. Maybe CovCath and HHS are not quite as good as generally believed either.:eek:

:lol: In other words, Johnson Central soundly defeated Ashland, therefore Ashland must be a weak team because Johnson Central had played a weak schedule. You certainly are straining to find a silver lining in the dark cloud hanging over your assessment of the Golden Eagle football program. Of course, there is another explanation. Ashland, with its wins over Russell and Belfry, may just be the top 10 that many believed them to be. Johnson Central may simply be much better than westsider gave them credit for being. The Golden Eagles may even be playing on a level near that being played by some of those teams that are ranked above them. Next week, Johnson Central plays a 7-2 Mason County team on the road, which has beaten Frankfort (which dominated highly touted Danville last night) and a respectable 4A Montgomery County team, and which played a respectable game against Lafayette (which defeated a highly touted Henry Clay team last night). By the way, did I mention that one of the Mason County losses was at home to the Ashland team that you believe was proven unworthy of a top 10 ranking because it lost last night to Johnson Central? Ashland has a solid team, and deserves serious consideration for a top ten ranking, even after losing to Johnson Central. The road game at Mason County next week is a very dangerous one for Johnson Central. The potential for an emotional letdown by this young Golden Eagle team is very real and Mason County has proven that they have the talent to play up to the level of their competition. A Johnson Central loss next week would probably send them on the road to Ashland for the first round playoff game, while Mason County would probably earn the top seed. Coach Buchanan will have his team well prepared next week and I hope that Johnson Central is up to the challenge. Your reaction to Johnson Central's big win is exactly what I expected and if the Golden Eagles post a convincing win at Mason County, then I expect many of you flatlanders to shift your focus to Johnson Central's past playoff performances, as if it has anything to do with this team's chances. Johnson Central faces an uphill battle to win the 3A championship, and most likely will fall short along with almost every other team in the state. However, nothing is going to extinguish the fire that Jim Matney and his staff has ignited under the Golden Eagles' football program and the future is looking very bright from my vantage point. Maybe it is time for you to take a road trip and see first hand the team whose accomplishments you seem determined to marginalize.

Anybody who wants to get a good feel of the low regard that you have had for the Johnson Central team can use the forum's search feature. A good starting place would be the 19 instances in which you have used the words "Johnson Central" and "schedule" in the same post. You have shown a keen interest in the Golden Eagles fortunes and only recently have had anything good to say about the program. Have you ever seen any Johnson Central footbal team play, either since Jim Matney began coaching the team or before he arrived three years ago? I am just trying to get a handle on why you have been so doggedly determined to diminish the accomplishments of this team and its coaching staff (not to mention last year's team). Despite Johnson Central's schedule, the Golden Eagles have been ranked in the top 10 of all of the major computer ranking systems' top 10 for quite awhile (these systems do take SOS into account, BTW). I believe that BGP was the last of the polls/rankings to acknowledge the strength of this team. The team was deep last season and returned 14 starters. Everybody close to the program knew that the Golden Eagles were blessed with a stable of talented young running backs and would not miss Ron Blume this season at all (not to take anything away from Ron, who was an outstanding back). Are you on the panel that prepares the BGP rankings? If so, that would explain your unusual interest in a team's fortunes so far removed from your home in western Kentucky. Now, do you have anything to add to this topic? I am finished discussing last season with you in this thread - this is a new season and a new team.

You brought up last season and I responded. Let's get back on topic, shall we?

This should be a very good game. The game is at Greenup, so I give them a slight edge. 24 Greenup Co. 20 Boyd Co.