3sports

1. Use your time-outs, you can't take them with you. 2. It's called a zone. Use it when you can. 3. Liggins is 21 years old, young is not his excuse. 4. The fans in Rupp are doing all they can. Maybe these guys can't be motivated. 5. The game is 40 minutes long, which means you have to play for 40 minutes. 6. Aren't assistant coaches supposed to do something? 7. The smile is starting to get on my nerves. 8. Somebody block out, Please! 9. Somebody rebound, Please! 10. This too, shall pass.

The 12th didn't play last night due to Danville's graduation. Danville/West Jessamine 5:30 and Boyle Co./Mercer Co. at 8:00 tonite.

Since you have umpired before, wouldn't that have been a wonderful opportunity to serve the community as a volunteer?

Here's another idea. (and I've seen this happen on numerous occasions) If the umpires don't stay for the JV game, or leave early, ask for a couple of volunteers out of the stands to call the game. That way, the kids get to play, and a few people can see what a "fun" job umpiring really is.

Just wondering if anyone passes the hat to pay the umpires more for extra innings? Umbrella in the pouring rain? Gas money for travel to the field and back home? Uniform and equipment allowance? We all want to see kids get in a full game, but remember to put yourself in the other person's shoes every once in a while.

Thad Claunch and Josh Carey combined for the win. Carey homered and Matthew McCloud had two homeruns.

What preseason rankings are you talking about?

"Trying" to let fans know that there is no exit on the visitors side of the track doesn't make it any less inconvenient. Somerset's football program might need to think about getting it's act together. This isn't the first issue that they've had this year.

http://www.amnews.com/public_html/?module=displaystory&story_id=33213&format=html ...to be continued.

http://www.amnews.com/public_html/?module=displaystory&story_id=33083&format=html Sounds like Somerset just left Mercer hanging.

Is there another team in the state that has to travel as far as Somerset? Does Ryle play on this field on a regular basis?

Where in the world is all of this whining and pouting during other major sports seasons where there are NO class divisions? For pete's sake people, get real. You don't think big schools have an advantage over small schools in baseball and basketball! It seems the all mighty football divisions have a magical way of separating "good" teams from "bad" teams. Sometimes, it just might be a talent situation, a coaching situation, a recruiting situation (if you are talking about private schools), or just plain luck. I don't have a dog in this fight, but my goodness, let 22 kids play on the field at a time, and may the best team win.

If Mercer's past teams were so soft on defense I wonder how it is that last year's team still managed to stop the combined efforts of Ford and Jackson when they were at Harrodsburg? I'm starting to believe that coaching has a little to do with it.

So, let's see. Jaggers takes a team that was a game over .500 last year, the best running back in the history of the school has graduated, and he wins a playoff game with a MC football team for the first time since 1988, all in his first year with the program. Pardue takes a team that he has been an assistant on, and for the first time in what, 6 or 7 years, they don't make it to the championship game. Just doesn't seem to add up.

I think Boyle County/Danville have a pretty good argument for the Central Ky Area, too. We just don't have any BIG schools around these parts.

You do realize that it is a 3 hour drive between Russell and Harrodsburg, right? Congratulations to Russell on the victory. Experience in playoff situations was key in this game. That being said, the hospitality was a little "iffy". I don't think I have ever seen the fans and cheerleaders yelling at the 50 during the coin toss. What's up with that? I'm also a little worried about people letting their small children on the field to run along side the opposing team screaming vulgarities and booing. That's irresponsible and extremely dangerous, not to mention rude. And my favorite part of the night was listening the the Russell drum line behine the visiting bleachers for the entire second quarter. My headache thanks you. Good luck next week, and see ya next year.

This is what the Danville Advocate-Messenger has to say about the game :thumb: Wednesday November 9, 2005 Mercer will test Russell By MARTY WARREN marty@amnews.com HARRODSBURG - Now that Mercer County has made it through the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 1988, the Scotties will travel to northeastern Kentucky to face Russell, a team that has dominated the Class AA, Region 3 playoffs for several years. "Coach (Ivan) McGlone has been at Russell for about 30 years and has over 200 victories," Mercer coach Marty Jaggers said. "They have had a solid program for a long time and have a long winning streak on their home field. However, our kids believe we have a chance at winning." Junior Kasey Clark rushed for over 1,000 yards as a sophomore and leads the Red Devils, who returned only three players on offense from last year. Clark has rushed for 993 yards and 20 touchdowns this season and has contributed in every way possible. He also has three touchdowns as a receiver, has returned interceptions and fumbles for scores, and has tallied twice on special teams. "They are a physical team and similar to us in a lot of ways," Jaggers said. "They will run out of a Wing-T set and they will line up and just knock people off the ball. It will probably be a long bus ride up there, but it could easily be a very short game. Both teams like to run the football and take time off of the clock." Russell returns seven starters on the defensive side of the ball from last year. "They have tons of experience and their linebackers are as good as anyone we have seen all year," the Mercer coach said. "They are fundamentally sound. They won't make many mistakes. When they do, we will need to capitalize." Linebacker Derek Timberlake anchors the defense that also has a pair of big tackles in Tim Smith and Cameron Perry. Clark, Michael Horn (6-1,175) and Jacob Sizemore (6-2, 180) make up the secondary. 10th win ties school record Mercer (10-1) tied a school record with its 10th win - the 1988 playoff team finished 10-2 - last week when it beat Morgan County to advance to the second round. The Scotties trailed at one point 21-6 in the first half, but dominated the second half offensively and shut down the Cougars completely in the second half. Donald Walker, who leads the Scotties in rushing with 1,330 yards and 23 scores, returned a pair of kickoffs for touchdowns and scored five times during Mercer's come-from-behind win last week. "He's really hard to tackle and proved that last week against Morgan," Jaggers said. "But he not only had a good game offensively, but he was solid on defense, too. Nathan (Griffith) had a nice second half and our offensive linemen just dominated the game after halftime." "I didn't think (Morgan) could stop us from scoring last week. My only doubt was whether we could stop them. Russell will be a lot more physical than Morgan was. It will be a war. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will probably win the game." Jaggers said the playoff win helped his team's morale and created a great atmosphere. "There were a lot of happy kids and happy adults," Jaggers said. The thing that was so neat was the fans stayed in the stands after the game. You would have thought we had won the state championship. "I talked with the kids for a while after the game and then they went over and thanked (the fans) for sticking around. It's been a long time since they won a playoff game, and hopefully we'll extend our season a little longer this week." Copyright The Advocate-Messenger 2005

Nets, You keep saying that Morgan County beat themselves. How about those fumbles? Weren't they caused by the defense? Don't you think all those hits on the QB possibly contributed to the "errant pitches"? And while we're talking about horrific calls, how about that phantom pass interference call that set up a Morgan TD? Evidently you were watching a game the rest of us didn't see from the home stands.