TigerDude13

I know in the louisville area the all district teams came out last week and for R2D4, I was glad to see that many players from Iroquois made it on. For a team that struggled to play in this district, it was nice to see some players finally make it on there, not just the usual overload of X & Male players. It was also nice to see the coaches voted Head Coach Shawn Thompson (Iroquois) as coach of the year. Despite an 0-5 district record, the job he did was outstanding, going 4-1 to start the season. Iroquois Players who finally received some recognition: Nate Anderson-DE Raydell Williams-LB Marquis Mcaffee-WR/KR John Montgomery-P Shawn Thompson- Coach of the Year Congrats Raiders! Congrats to all other players who made all district as well

As many have stated, this is an award that goes to the player who is the best "FOOTBALL" player...and that probably encompasses a player that best portrays the qualities of a complete player, if there is such a thing. In this day an age, with so many schools having quality player that can play a single position, the Mr. Football award should probably go to the guy who is the absolute best on the field at any given time. Having said that, I think that Beaumont gets the nod because of his abilities both offensively, defensively (how many interceptions and tackles did he have, I wonder. Betting it was a lot). Not to mention the fact that he is also an excellent returner. Fact remains, you have to look at the player that has the ability to take over a game and I think one could argue that both Petrino and and Beaumont had these abilities. If you dont think so, just look at the way they both lead their teams, especially in the head to head game. But this should not be an award based on one game...but their entire season. I just dont see any player who dominated a game on either side of the ball as Beaumont did. If he didnt have a great offensive game, he stood out on defense and vice versa. He is a playmaker, a leader and can win games. I am with H on this...I totally think Redman botched the T-Male game by not giving the ball to Beaumont and let him win or lose the game. I bet many would agree that IF (and its a big if to think about what coulda, woulda, shoulda), Beaumont had gotten the ball and scored to win that game, most would say hands down that Beaumont would win the award. But alas, we will never know because of a coaching decision. Be that as it may, having watched so many great players, I just dont think anyone has dominated the game the way Beaumont did this year (and in all other of his years). And as if he didnt do enough on offense, he was a wrecking ball on defense too. So, with that in mind, I think the best overall "football player" is Beaumont. Dont think we are going to see too many players of his caliber, potential and game changing abilities on both sides of the ball for many years to come. This kid could beat you in so many ways (receiver, RB, def back, returner). He might not have one the state championship, but that doesnt mean he isnt the best football player in Kentucky for 2006.

Look for the roster/-all-district winners to be posted in the CJ sometime this week. I know that the players found out last week from their respective coaches so naturally, I would expect the list to be out this week. Then again, the way the CJ works, I wouldnt be surprised if it came out on Friday along with all of the other 1-page HS Football "hoopla" that it prints on Fridays. No offense, but i still think the CJ still hasnt gotten it when it comes to HS coverage.

COngratulations Rocks and Male on a fine season and I certainly, though most of the time I probably wouldnt, will root for Trinity to win it all. I got to go to the game and my buddy let me stay in the press box (while everyone else was getting cold in the stand (HA HA) so I got to listen to him talk to Redman on the headsets. Some interesting things I got to hear: 1. Williams suggested to Redman to kick the field goal near the end of the 1st half but Redman decided against it. He decided to go with the momentum. 2. I rarely say this but I truly believe that Redman got out-coached Friday night. Sometimes (personally) I think you have to let go of your pride and made decisions based on the smart thing to do and I have and probably will never understand the mentality of playing straight Man to Man defense with little use of safeties against a pass oriented teams. When you have a team that has an accurate QB and receivers who run disciplined routes, Man to Man is hard to play 100% of the time. Yes, Male did play 2 safeties on occasions but nevertheless, they never got to practice it that much. As one coach once told me a long time ago...sometimes what you do best can come back to kill you if you arent ready to allow some adjustments and I think this is one game that clearly shows that what Male does best got them killed. Petrino simply picked Male apart and that is to his credit. 3. I thought Gainey made some major mistakes early. QB draws should be set up by first showing pass. But instead, Gainey ran staright ahead on the QB draws and the Rock LBs were waiting for him. Gainey tries too hard (as he had all year long) to go for the TD pass instead of throwing for the 1st down. I can think of 3 to 4 times when he overlooked wide open receivers for 1st downs to throw in double coverage in the endzone (that came away with nothing). 4. I felt that with .06 seconds left and 2 yards away, the game should have been put in Beaumont's hands. You have a great athlete like him, you should win or lose with him, not let Gainey make that decision. Even if it was a run play, Beaumont is either going to score or get stopped short, but Trinity had a hard time bringing Beaumont down all night long. Give the ball to your Mr. Football candidate and let him decide the game, not anyone else. Tough call to make. 5. You could actually hear the frustration level with the coaches in the press box about many things. The defense, the offensive play calling. etc. I know its hard sometimes when the electricity is running high and your heart is racing, but thats why you have other people there. I think there will be a lot of 2nd guessing on the part of the Male staff. By no means am I trying to take away anything that Male did or Trinity did. I thought it was a great game and was disappointed that Male came up short. Nevertheless, no matter how good Male is, I still believe that as long as Redman continues to believe in his defense (and it works against teams that run well) against pass oriented teams, he will be exposed against teams like Trinity. I had a feeling that this game was going to be won by the team that was able to adjust better and clearly Trinity did that. Perhaps the most gut-wrenching stat that sticks out in my mind is now Redman is 1-3 against Beatty. I think that speaks volumes from a coaching point of view. Ironically, Coach Redman said earlier this year that a hapless 4-6 team did more to expose their weaknesses then any other team they played (Iroquois). Iroquois spread Male out and threw deep and Redman said that concerned him. Shockingly, Redman didnt seem to prepare to play against that type of team again. Nice job by Trinity to take advantage it. As I said before...interesting that what Male does well turned out to be what doomed them in the end. Good luck Trinity and congrats Male on a great season, however bittersweet it may now be.

I think X will return some good players and remain as competitve as they have always been. Despite the loss of Anderson, I think they will find another good running back to assist them. I have always felt that if you lose a marquee player you actually may do better because you tend to do more with your offense than focus on that player (plus defenses have a tougher time preparing for more than one athlete). Some schools make the mistake of relying too much on the marquee player which can limit their effectiveness. Having said that, Male loses a lot of talent this year. I think they will be rebuilding next year but will dominate their district with Southern, Fern Creek and Bullitt Central in the mix just through shear talent. Additionally, a lot remains to be seen as to whether or not Justin Green is able to play. He has gone back and forth being cleared and not-cleared by doctors and the state after his concussion in 2005. If he is there, he has a year to make up to get back into the swing of things for football, though some athletes can miss a year and not lose a step. If he is back, Male will be tougher. IF not, Im sure they have some Sophomores and Juniors who can step and be effective. I dont think Male will see another Beaumont for a while though Green could have been pretty close. Then again, with Male, it seems like every time a big time player leaves, someone always manages to step up. Just look at their line (Chris Redman, Ibn Green, Tony Driver, Montrell Jones, Chris Barclay, Michael Bush, Doug Beaumont). Year after year..they always find that "guy". In order, I look at like this Trinity, St. X, then Male.

Courier Journal reported this morning that Christian Academy (Louisville) Head Coach Dennis Stafford has resigned from both Football and Baseball

I am not a graduate of either X or T, but I thought this to be an interesting and thought provoking thread. I think you could (as some have) argue this several ways. You could use the private/public or catholic/non-catholic approaches. But the way I would see it is this....year in and year out, Male & X have beaten each other to death (usually twice a year) and I think those games are far more competitive and mean a lot more (with usually something other than pride on the line....district spot and then playoff progression). In the end, I would think, though I could be wrong, that X folks would love to see Male progress because of shear competitiveness. I know that my firend at Male pulls for X if they beat Male and advance because he comes from the old school "you root for your in-house" opponents. He is a grad of Manual (Go figure) and always said "after the Male/Manual game, you always looked to see if Male won...thats just the way it was". Having said that...I think whoever you root for and for whatever reason you do it, it should be done out of love and respect for that school and not out of pure hatred for another. Good luck Male...good job X for a fine season. And good luck to both in 07 with their new districts. The district battles will be missed by this R2D4 fan.

Based on KHSAA site, he has been there 2 years. Although, when I look at the last 2 years, here is what I found 2006: Record 3-7 Avg Points scored: 17 Avg. Points Allowed:54 2005: Record 2-8 Avg Points scored: 17 Avg. Points Allowed: 32 Avg. Margin of loss for 2006 was 49-3 and for 2005 it was 30-10 In the last 5 years, Bullitt Central's record is 13-38 So I guess I could see where it would be frustrating to coach with that kind of results each year. But surely they could be competitive in their new district for 07 with Southern & Fern Creek (although add Male in there, and it aint great) but at least they would play in the district tourney and compete for the 2 spot. Seems like it would be a good place to start for someone to try and build. Anyone have any ideas as to why this school struggles? Are all the athletes going to North & East?

:laugh: So much for the balloon ball theory. Thats funny

wasn't he just hired not too long ago??? Has Central become the Atherton/Shawnee of Bullitt Co? Seems to me that they dont keep coaches around very long dont compete all that well. Or am I mistaken on all these points?

It is "official". KHSAA website has this position advertised.

As I recall, several years ago (I think prior to requiring the refs to check the balls), there was a team (Of course, i dont recall exactly who was involved since it has been a while, but I remember reading about it), who was accused by the opposing team of putting helium in footballs to give the ball an extra "OOOMPH" if you will. Likewise, many kickers (and QBs) like to use balls that are not inflated at full capacity to help with grip and supposedly they are easier to kick. For those reasons, I think is why refs were mandated to check ALL balls being used in the game, to prevent any unfair advantage to another team. I remember Coach Williams (Male) saying that in the year they won their first State title (1993), the refs wouldnt let them use 2 balls because they werent filled to capacity with air. Apparently, it was something that Chris Redman preferred because it gave him a better grip on the ball. Im not sure how much of that is true, but it would make since as to why the refs have to check ALL balls being used for the game.

I think it does go without saying that an online publication may be better suited, especially since so many colleges and recruiters get a lot of their information from the net anyway. Depending on certain sites, you could probably host a website for a reasonable amount (in some cases, I guess you could even get people to sign up for it a very reasonable fee. As I was thinking more about this, I would think the most difficult part would be finding people out in the state who could set aside their "preference" teams and be fair about reporting on all teams in their areas. But I do believe that it would be nice for the following reasons: 1. Its a great way to get some comprehensive insights to teams all over the state 2. Its a good way to assist and promote athletes who otherwise might not get much exposure 3. It can assist with getting recruiters (even from small colleges) to notice players through out the state. 4. It would be a good way to promote and highlight teams that usually get slighted in other publications because they are consistently "non-performing" teams that routinely go 1-9, 0-10, 2-8, etc. Surely these teams have something to promote. I think it would be important to do all we (we being fans and followers of Kentucky HS Football) to get our athletes an opportunity to play college ball somewhere. We have a lot of talent that goes unnoticed and too many good players are getting overlooked. Plus (not to slight Lafayette by any means) but I would think a 1st round playoff loss to a 4 seed would be worth reporting on, but all you saw in Louisville was the score. If you didnt know any better, you probably wouldnt know that Lafayette was 10-0 going into the playoffs. To me...THATS WORTHY NEWS at least for the little guys. Likewise, there are far to many unknown programs that have some success out there that never get reported (except maybe by the local county pubs.) Since I follow R2D4, I give you an example....take Iroquois. Here is a team that went 4-6 this year but started out the year 4-1. There were some great highlights that went un-noticed for this team despite a 5 game slide against a tough district. For example, DB Marquise MacAffey had an interception return for a TD against Butler that went for what had to be about 104 yards (I know he intercepted it in the back of the end zone and ran it all the way back). There was no mention of this anywhere and surely this has to be some type of state record or at least up there. These are the types of things that get missed across the entire state. Good highlights and performances from mid to sub par performing teams that never get recognized unless they are in a "powerhouse" program. They were also ranked in the top 10 in the state after the 1st 5 games in scoring defense, scoring offense, rushing and QB/RB Raydale Williams was one of the states leading scorers at one time. Sure they finished 4-6 after district play, but it would have been nice if their accomplishments before-hand had been spotlighted. At least this would be my thoughts for the pub. Dont make it just about the usual top teams and players...make it for EVERYONE!

My initial feeling was that the Male/PRP game would have brought a ton of PRP fans to see a rematch with the starting QB back. I was very surprised to see only about 80 people there for PRP. Male had a decent showing but not what I would call a great showing. Im sure there are many reasons for the low attendance, but my first thought was that most 3 & 4 seed teams would have larger crowds simply for "rematch" with District powerhouses. I was wrong, apparently. I dont know what the reasons are except to say that I think there is some interest lost from the fans when you are playing someone you already played just a few weeks before (or even the week before). Im sure the 2nd round involving Male & X will bring some good numbers but for some reason, I just have a feeling that many fans are just waiting to see how far their teams go before they decide to venture out in the cold weather. I also ask this: How bad will attendance be next year when a potential 10-0 team takes on an 0-10 team because the 0-10 team only had 4 teams in the district and qualified automatically??? My vote: Eliminate the 3 & 4 seeds and establish "Bowl" games for bowl eligible teams, let them play an 11th game and then call it a season. Meanwhile...let the 1 & 2 seeds battle it out against each other in the "playoffs". Im sure a 6-4 team would much rather play another 6-4 team for a bowl trophy then get saddled against a team that is 10-0 and will probably blast them 64-0 in the 1st round. (OOOPS....lest we forget Lafayette's early exit....maybe the current system isnt so bad once in a while)

I thought I would throw this out to all BGPers out there... Has anyone ever thought about or tried to start a weekly publication covering high school football in the state of KY? It seems to me with the growing popularity of high school football that someone would step up and make this kind of thing happen. I, for one, believe that it could be done. Personally, Im not happy with the coverage the Courier-Journal gives to HS football. You only see a page per week spotlighting high school teams and accomplishments and usually the predictions are very limited to the games that involve X, Male, Trinity and occassionally Ballard, Central and and a few others. I would think that there would be a big interest in a publication (either paper or online) that people would love to read spotlighting each district with even just snippets of information from each team and each week, a different team could be highlighted from each district. Yes, it would take some time to do this, but surely there are enough people out there who could provide some information on schools out the state. I do not like that each week, you have to wait until Thursday to find out whats going on. Im sure there is some format that could be used to keep it entertaining and informative, especially when it comes to recruiting. I find that if I want to find out whats going on out in the state, I have to come here (not that this is entirely a bad thing) to get insight and input on state & county schools. Anyone else have some thoughts on this idea?

I expect the PRP game was a wake up call for Male. No doubt Male has a lot of work to do but when I was watching the game against PRP, I noticed that Male didnt look like they had all year. Then again, as I have said all year long, I think the lack of competition except game 1 vs X really hurts Male. Glaser is perhaps the best when it comes to adjustments and I feel that Finch will be more of a factor in this game than Anderson. Vs. PRP, I noticed that Gainey had to scramble a lot and the receivers just werent on the same page with him or each other, with many receivers "adjusting" their routes to a point where 2 or 3 were in the same area when the ball was thrown. Gainey isnt throwing as well as he needs to to be as efficient. The days of just throwing it up and letting your athletes go get it are OVER. Where PRP failed to get interceptions, X will certainly get them. I think for Male to be successful, they need to do a lot of play action to Beaumont and let other receivers make catches. IMO, Male tries to hard to make big TD plays instead of getting 10-12 yards and moving on (Hence all of the deep passes). My thinking would be to try and keep X's offense off the field as long as possible and win the possession battle. Male needs to get rid of the "trick plays" and go back to basic, fundamental football. Let Beaumont set up everything else. Run him, use him as a receiver, use him as a decoy. Yes he is a playmaker, but he cant beat X by himself. X doesnt usually make the same mistake twice and I feel that if this game comes down to special teams, X will be focusing on that area a lot this week. At this point, its hard to predict becuase you just dont know what either team is going to do. But I think this game comes down to the following keys: For Male to win: 1. Sustain long drives and dont try to get the homerun play every time you pass the ball, keep X's offense off the field. Force the X defense to win the game 2. Win field position battle 3. Eliminate or keep turnovers down to no more than 1. For X to win: 1. Use both Anderson & Finch. Keep Male's defense guessing. 2. Make key catches against one on one coverage. 3. Win the special teams game. Good punting, convert FGs & XPs and dont let Male's Returners get more than 20 yards on all returns. Prediction St. X 34 Male 30

I wondered about this myself and lo and behold...there was no mystery to it...I talked to Asst. Coach Williams and asked him about this....Male apparently had "packages" of personnel for certain situations on both offense and defense they had put in this week and Williams stated that there was poor communication on the sidelines between position coaches about who was supposed to be in and when. Williams said that during halftime and after the game Coach Redman was livid at his players for not paying attention to the game so when a "package" was supposed to be in...players were on the bench, at the other end of the sideline, etc. It was obvious during the 1st half their minds were not in the game. A couple of things I also noted about the game: QB is having trouble throwing deep passes (usually they were way short). Defense played NO safeties for the most of the game and PRP took advantage of the one on ones they had at receiver. #44 of PRP made some good catches but just not enough when they needed it. Despite jumping up 21-0 in the 1st Qtr, Male obviously lost their focus and composure when things started going PRPs way. It didnt appear to me that any adjustments were really made at halftime...but a butt chewing from Redman just got their focus back. Lord knows their focus had better be there this Friday or X will take advantage early. Look for the 2nd match up to be even more of a barn burner than the 1st game.

This is true...but then again, one could also make the same argument for Male since their game vs. Owensboro was canceled. Could have been higher, could have been lower....or about the same. Its too bad...that would have been a good game to see

I think central wins this one by a couple of TDs on a fast track. Im gonna say 35-20. I just dont think North has the speed to keep up. I will also say that Doss hasnt done too well against teams that run the ball well and Joe Raleigh is tough to bring down. Plus, Valley's defense does pretty well against teams that are run oriented. Valley 28-Doss 20

Since Trinity, Lincoln & Male have mentioned thus far, I thought I would take a look at the KHSAA website for stats...here is what I found Male is ranked in the top 10 in the state with 198.7 yards passing, 235.1 yards rushing, #1 in points scored (avg) with 51.8 and avg margin of victory with 41.2 Lincoln does not have a top 20 passing game, but they are averaging 287.1 yards rushing (for a total of 438 yards per game) scoring 42 points per game and avg margin of victory is 27.6 Trinity does not have a top 20 rushing game, averaging 195.7 yards passing, scoring 40.6 points per game and average margin of victory is 28.3. So I would have to say Male is the top offense followed by Lincoln and then Trinity based on the stats alone. Then again...it should be noted that I dont think Male really played anyone close to their level of competition except St. X in which it was a nailbiter at 28-27. No doubt that a Male/X game and a Male/Trinity playoff game should produce some interesting fireworks. Not sure what Lincoln would do but im sure they will dominate whoever they play.

I think just about any coach that comes out of Mike Glaser's camp at X would be good somewhere. The same is true for assistant coaches at Male. The good news for Redman is that so many of his coaches are loyal to him but I also know that many good coaches that have previously worked under Redman have gone on to good careers as Head Coaches (I can think of two at least...Curtis Higgins @ Trigg Co and the Former Western High coach, Brian "Red" (cant think of his last name). Having said that (and I am a little biased because of my affiliation to his father), I think that Larry Williams at Iroquois would be a good head coach somewhere. A former Assistant coach under Redman and current offensive coordinator at Iroquois, I've seen what he can put together. Players seem to love to play in his Spread style offense, and despite playing in a district where they were overmatched, they had a lot of success against non-district opponents, going 4-1 and outscoring their opponents 147-32. Good kid, good coach and I would love to see his offense somewhere he has some talent to work with.

Wow, that is surprising. This would be a good job....nice support, nice facilities, the only issue is competing for athletes with the likes of John Hardin & North Hardin. Nervertheless, I think it would be a great job for someone who has been an assistant somewhere looking to move up

to my knowledge, Western-E'Town is the only game being played on this field. IF Western wins, dont know if they will use it again or just wait until their field dries up

I think one should also remember that Iroquois replaced their grass this year. They put down bermuda grass which has made the field a lot nicer to play on and if it is dry, it makes for a pretty fast track. As I recall, DeSales usually played their home games on Iroquois' field until last season (2005) but after Iroquois put down the new grass, they came back for the 2006 season. If the field is dry and not sloppy, I think the advantage tends to go towards the team with the better speed. But its the playoffs, so YOU NEVER KNOW!

Didnt know if anyone saw this or even cares...but the Western-Elizabethtown game has been moved to Iroquois High School friday night. Western states that their field is an "unplayable condition". Which leads one to wonder...is Iroquois' field any better? Although Iroquois didnt play at home last week....so I guess it wouldnt be as torn up as others. I guess since Iroquois didnt make the playoffs, its a good way to get some money out of the playoffs, though Im sure they wont get any gate money but probably keep the concession. GET THE HOT CHOCOLATE READY!!!!