knightsdad

A lot will depend on how quickly LexCath heals. Burke and others were walking gingerly after the game. It's not easy beating Bell County at Log Mountain especially blanking them like Rockcastle did. They have come a long way since the beginning of the season.

It sure is great to be still posting on football boards after three weeks!

Needless to say this was an atypical LexCath game. We played more close to the chest than usual which created fewer opportunities for our offense as well as Highlands offense. LexCath seemed to have field position all night long but we threw very few long balls. Part of this was because Burke injured his back leg on the first play from scrimmage and this seemed to hurt his throwing more than running. He showed a lot of grit I thought. The offense did an excellent job of controlling the football by running and using a short passing game. The Highlands scouts must have thrown their report away early.

Highlands had the best defense I've seen this year. Holding Justin and company to 17 points is incredible. I followed the matchup between Gu... and Revere all night and the result was what I expected. Revere has just about shutout some excellent receivers this year. I'd give him the gameball except the defense wouldn't give it up. I also want to say that I really like the Highlands stadium atmosphere probably the best I've experienced.

There wasn't enough parking. The burgers were cold. I couldn't see the scoreboard. They let the clock run too long. They forgot to stop the clock. Their fans were .... The field was in horrible condition. They have too many advantages. The playing field needs to be level. How do they get all those recruits? Somebody stop me.

LexCath generally doesn't do well in the cold. Although more likely it is the competition.

All this hot air is making me sleepy. One more day. :sleep:

I'm betting Revere can cover Gu.... The running game is what concerns me.

For what it's worth, LexCath's fastest starter wasn't mentioned in the above note.

If you have been following my posts regarding Henry Clay you would know that I was on their bandwagon until the Dunbar game. At least that was my first negative post about them. I don't like Dunbar as much but don't see why you would consider my post sarcastic. LexCath has played 4A teams; Trinity (scrimmage) St. X. and Scott County each of the past three years and collectively these have been our toughest games along with the playoff games against NKy teams ( no sarcasm). As for Scott County, I think they played Dunbar pretty well this year also despite their fourth place finish. Last year they were a little better than this I believe (this is sarcasm- they were great). I don't like nor do I root for all the Lexington teams only Lafayette, Bryan Station and LCA.

To be honest, I thought LexCath was lucky to play X as close as we did. X had us on the ropes and except for allowing the second td before the half would probably have blown us out also. But the halftime score of 28-14 with LexCath getting the ball first in the second half gave our guys a boost in confidence considering how badly outplayed we had been the entire first half. Getting back to Highlands, I think they need to win big. LexCath can make up a deficit very quickly.

Just indulging in the luxury of knowing we (LexCath) don't have to play either of these powerhouse teams. But Henry Clay just seems more explosive whereas Dunbars margin for victory is very small. Dunbar has a running back and a receiver while HC has a bigger running back and more receivers as well as a better passing quarterback. The lines are about even but HC also has an edge in the special teams I think. HC also had blown out some pretty good teams earlier in the year but seemed to tighten up as their winning streak built. HC will have to have miscues for Dunbar to have a chance.

Thanks. So it sounds like there will be some kickoff return opportunities for LexCath? LexCath kicks it into the endzone about half the time unless the kicker is really on. We also have a pretty decent return game.

I suspect this game will come down to turnovers and special teams. How does the Highlands kicker and return game compare to CovCath?

Dunbar caught Henry Clay at their lowpoint toward the end of the season. Since then, HC has righted their ship and seems to be playing better again. HC by 3 tds.

I guess the most encouraging thing for me about last week's game for LexCath was that when they got down by ten, they went to the run game to get their confidence back. I think this was when the tailback finished the drive with a fifty yard td on a screen pass on fourth down. I've said it before and I'll say it again, LexCath needs to go to the run game to keep teams honest especially this Friday. We may not score as quickly at first but it seems to give the linemen confidence. Takes mental pressure off Burke too. The last time these two played, Highlands got a big lead by running student body left and right on seemingly every play. The tackles did an excellent job of taking advantage of the gray area of what constitutes holding versus a legitimate block. I hope our guys prepare for this. It's my biggest concern.

Will Highlands hold the score under forty if LexCath gets a two td lead early?

Bell County Henry Clay Ft. Campbell Boyle County LexCath Warren Central Western Danville LCA Somerset TP: 62

Looking forward to this week's picks.

Defense? Hope all Boyle Countians enjoy watching Bowling Green playing on the Carpet then.

Ft. Campbell is in both Ky and Tn but the bigger portion of the land area is in Tn. Much of the housing and barracks as well as the Post Office are in Ky I believe.

Ben Revere #9 for LexCath shadowed #1 for CovCath all night long. Revere is actually the quickest player Lexcath has and not many players have done well against him. If there is a better man cover guy in the state I haven't seen him.

If past years are an indicator, it is better to run directly at Highlands rather than try to go wide. Is that the case this year? As for defending LexCath, you probably are better off playing straight up instead of trying to pressure Burke as CovCath did, hence the many big plays. LexCath has never been good at being patient in years past and also present.

I haven't seen the stats for the FC-Highlands game but am willing to bet the stats were closer than the final score. FC moved the ball all over the field against LexCath but struggled in the redzone. Was this the case in the Highlands FC game? LexCath usually scores if they get the ball to the redzone.

I would be very surprised if Highlands can hold LexCath to under thirty points and vice versa. I think LexCath's big plays hurt their defense because they had to spend more time on the field because CovCath had longer drives. If LexCath is to continue to advance, they will need to emphasize the ground game more than they did last night. They ran the ball much better against St. X and Scott County than they did last night. Part of this is due to a lack of repetition in the last four or five district games while trying to get to the running clock as quickly as possible. You can only advance from here on with a balanced attack in my opinion.