Hearsay

It’s a high-integrity move. I spoke with him about it this morning, and he is energized by the opportunity. David is a no-nonsense, nose-to-the-grindstone quiet motivator who squeezes every ounce of effort out of what he has. From personal experience, I can tell you that 1) if there are bad eggs or primma donnas, they will be given a fair opportunity to reform, but if they don’t they will be gone. David would rather lose every single game than tolerate a player causing dissension in the ranks; 2) he will not be beholden to booster clubs. I tried to get him to start one at Bardstown for years and he refused. If you are a volunteer genuinely there for the good of the program he will value you, but it will not garner your child anymore playing time if they would not otherwise deserve it; 3) he is there to build men, not showcase players; 4) he is a moral man. Religious (Catholic). Good husband. Good father. No vices, unless you count pulled pork nachos. Very intelligent, can easily teach some AP courses. No Daddy Ball. He can’t be bought. Bardstown was a constant struggle every day due to the realities posed by our demographic. I have always wondered what Dave could do with a different demographic and better resources. He managed to build a consistent winner without those things. Now we shall find out. Now I’m just a ham-and-egger that’s been around him since we were in college, so my opinions don’t carry much water. But there are a lot of very successful coaches around this state that I would think echo my sentiments. Ask Chuck Smith, for example. If you’re looking for the high polish shiny flashy TV-ready coach, this is not your guy. If, however, you’re looking for the blue-collar man’s man that values effort and merit and gives every kid a fair shake and will restore a moral compass to a program, this is your guy. Just my .02 from bourbon country.

I agree that this job is attractive from most metrics. Only show in town; 6A; brand new stadium/field; its own radio station; pretty good wrestling program to send kids from/to; not really competing with another dominant sport; growing county population due to DoD transfers at nearby Ft. Knox; favorable district; relatively low land cost; good access to outdoor recreation on the river and Otter Creek; supportive fanbase. You can tell good community support by the number of small business that pay $250 or whatever to put a sign up at the game and Meade has a ton.

That surprises me. FC’s kicker is exceptional.

Franklin can be vulnerable to the deep ball. They intentionally keep their corners and safeties walked up and ready to fly, so with good protection and deep separation there is potential. I don’t think the game plan can be to run on them. They set the edge too well and are too good up the middle to run it consistently. I think Franklin will struggle to score, so I’ll take PT.

One play

Every yard in this game is an absolute struggle. Also, if I haven’t said it, CWB gets my vote for best play-by-play on BGP.

There are rarely chunk plays vs. Franklin so not enough time to get it back and score.

Perhaps, but the Franklin defense is very good. Delayed draw is a good option as hard as they go upfield.

The Flyers’ run defense is legit and special teams units are elite. Cov Cath will have to find a way to get Cottrell blocked and Franklin moves him all over the box. The freshmen QB made a lot of mistakes. He will be a good player and has a live arm but he was confused on some coverages and the pick 6 before halftime against Bardstown simply can’t happen. Franklin, get your scoreboard fixed.

Congratulations to Franklin County. That run defense is something else. Another good season at Bardstown now in the books.

I know nothing personally about the culture at CAL, just rumors, but I’ve personally spent a bunch of time inside the walls at Central High School and would challenge anyone to find a school that is more the lifeblood of the community/neighborhood than them. So much going on. The most impressive school in the state IMO.

I’m bringing that to the Tiger Feed tonight. That’s awesome.

I may be the only person who casts my vote for Bardstown here. I may be labled a "homer" and I'm fine with that. I was mildly surprised at the number of people whom favored Allen County-Scottsville in the 2nd round, as Bardstown had beaten ACS 43-0 last year and both teams' personnel were essentially the same. My conclusion is that my various frustrations and rantings on thisw site over the course of this season about my favorite team (I'm really one of the only people on here who posts about Bardstown) has perhaps coerced others into believing that the Tigers were down this season from last year. I take full responsibility for that. The Tigers are NOT down from last year when you consider their product as a whole. Last year they lost to Cooper, Ashland, Taylor County, and Meade County and beat everybody else soundly until the 3rd round. This year they were one better, losing to Cooper, Taylor and Meade (still think that game was an anomaly). Last year they beat Logan County and ACS in the playoffs before losing to Franklin County at Franklin. This year they beat Logan County and ACS in the playoffs and will travel to Franklin County again. Last year they relied heavily upon one star player and had a different head coach and offensive coordinator. But the TEAM is better. Last year, we really could not pass the ball. This year, once we made the full switch to Carson Riley at QB, teams were unable to put 8 in the box. That same move also put our best and fastest player, Amonti Marshall, running the ball where his skills are most useful. But there are other runners, namely Kenyin Calhoun and Sevyn Hamilton, who keep a defense honest, and we now have a fullback, Kaden Stone, who is an effective runner, whereas last year we did not. We have two receivers who are threats, Riley Hatfield and Tykeem Taul-Williams, and Taul-Williams is 6'6" and the state high jump champion and he simply high-ends the ball and takes it from you. Last year, the only receiver was Hatfield. Finally, the offensive line, in my opinion the best unit on the team, has become quite aggressive and significantly improved, including pass blocking. Similarly on defense, last year the Tigers simply could not defend the pass. It is what killed us in the first half against Franklin County last season. There are still lapses, but overall we are much more competetive against the pass, with the emergence of newcomers Jaden Lamkin and Javen Montgomery covering out of the backfield and Tylan Spalding at safety, we at least for the most part keep receivers in front of us and make the tackle. Additionally, Marshall could not play defense last year due to playing QB, but this season with the midseason switch at QB he is back to playing his best spot at OLB, where he has small-college level ability. Finally, we graduated the entire very talented DL from last season, which was a liability in the early games against Cooper and Ashland. Those guys (Tristan Taylor, Tyler Harmon, and Chad Hughes) played the best I have ever seen them play the last two games, which restores the already talented linebacking corps with Stone and Caden Farrell to a very good run defense. Last season, everyone predicted a running clock and runaway Franklin County victory, and for a half it looked like they might be right (they led 30-6 at halftime). But in the second half the Tigers totally dominated, and had the ball driving to score as time expired, losing 37-29. Post-op, everyone said the Flyers simply "lost focus," but I don't think so. Don't get me wrong. On HUDL the Flyers look very strong again, and they should be favored. Bardstown was 2-3 on the road this year away from the friendly confines of Garnis Martin Field, and they still commit too many downfield holding penalties and make other nagging mistakes. But this is a group of 15 seniors who saw a lot of time in that 2022 state championship game run, and they've got a bit of a chip on their shoulder.

Always tough to watch seniors’ last game. I thought Adams worked his behind off, running for his life most of the night. His receivers sure didn’t do him a lot of favors. My son had to block #8 and called him a “unit” and very sportsmanlike. Great season for the Patriots. The American flag entry is one of the better traditions in Kentucky high school football.

Complete and total domination by the Tigers. Offensive and defensive lines were extremely physical, best I have ever seen several of those kids play. Jumped out to a 21-0 1st quarter lead. Let up a kickoff return TD and slowed a bit 2nd quarter, led 28-7 at half. Got the stop on ACS 3rd quarter 1st drive, took it down and scored. Running clock late 3rd quarter. Even better news, a lot of Tigers to spread the wealth to, not just Marshall who played but was battling illness. Shout out Kenyin Calhoun, Sevyn Hamilton, Kaden Stone, Jayven Montgomery. Statement game from some kids playing with a chip on their shoulder.

ACS is clearly better. I don’t think Bardstown is down, they are just different. Run defense adjusted to account for some DL graduations, that took a little time, but is quite good. Pass defense was the Achilles heal last season, it’s better this year, especially keeping deep receivers in front. As a unit, the OL is better. Bardstown can pass this year, and has two good receivers instead of one. The big change was going to sophomore Riley at QB and moving Marshall to RB. Riley throws better, though he’s afraid to get intercepted and occasionally will T-Rex his throws. Marshall can be electric. Special teams is better, good coverage teams, solid kicker and punter, kick to their returners at your peril. All in all, I actually think Bardstown is more versatile than they were last year.

I will confess to being mildly surprised that ACS is the favored team here in the voting. Both teams are basically the same personnel from last season, save that both teams graduated their top running back. Bardstown won this game 43-0 last season. Adams is an admittedly talented dual threat QB, and I like Jackson at LB, but they were there last season. Has there really been that big a swing?

Cavalli Pittman is a very good running back. But he does not have 2,940 yards rushing. His stats are massively inflated. We ran 3 of his game films and he was being credited for yards called back on penalties and other things. To the tune of an extra 15-20% each game. AITA?

Businesslike and methodical meets explosive and chaotic when Allen-County Scottsville (9-2) visits Bardstown (8-3) in the 2nd round Friday night. The Patriots, led by star RB Chase Ross, appear on film to do few things but do them well, including sound penetration defense behind LB’s Jackson Morris (129 tackles) and Edy Chavez (107) that have recorded 20 turnovers and 22 sacks on the year. Ross has run for over 1230 yards on the year and QB Braylon Adams has thrown for 1200 to lead a team that has taken care of business against the teams they were expected to beat and lost to teams they were expected to lose to. Friday night, ACS was down early to Nelson County but stayed the course, eventually pulling away and winning 56-34. The Tigers are like that chaotic girlfriend, all at once a combination of explosive ecstasy and maddening lack of common sense. On one play, a breakaway 60 yard TD run from Amonti Marshall or a 45 yard TD catch from 6’5” WR Tykeem Taul-Williams, the next play a fumble returned for 6, a blown coverage on a wheel route resulting in another score, or an emotion-penalty on 4th down resulting in a first down. More of the latter nearly resulted in a loss in the first round to Coach Todd Adler and his trick-play circus against Logan County, but the Tigers righted the ship behind some explosive second-half plays and stout defense from star LB’s Caden Farrell and Kaden Stone, resulting in a great come-from-behind 28-20 victory. Will fortune favor the consistency of the Patriots or the Tiger shooting stars on Friday night?

Bardstown did not play well. 1st quarter fumble returned for a TD after getting a 4th down stop. 4th quarter interception on a badly under thrown ball when the team was driving for go ahead score. Breakdown in coverage by a senior covering a wheel route that goes for long TD. A missed field goal. Surrendered an easy fake punt conversion. Multiple costly penalties on 3rd down when we otherwise would have had a stop. We were fortunate to win. Logan County played well . . . for a half. Coach Adler’s game plan was milk the clock, run trick plays, and try to get the ball to freshmen TreSean Thomasczek, and the plan nearly worked. He is a nice player. I also liked senior linebacker Derek White. Tenacious. Lined up all over and was effective shooting the gap. Run game was non-existent and ultimately the Tiger defense was up to the challenge on all the trickeration. A win is a win. On to the 2nd round.

Fighting Marksburys take care of bidness.

Bethlehem loses to good teams and bears mediocre and bad teams. I think District 2 completes the sweep again.

Warren East is soft against the run. I think JH can get in it’s power run game and WE will never really have the time to play offense.

Poole is a good athlete, but this game should not be played.