UKCATSFAN

You are correct, they will have to sit out next weeks game.

Everyone was talking about how bad Ironton was but Ironton has played 2 very very good teams to start the season. Two very good football teams.

I'll say this........ Russell will not have a let down next week. They want to play Ashland so bad it hurts. It's all they've been talking about since last year. "Can't wait to play Ashland".......blah blah blah. They will be fired up to have the Tomcats in town, whether they are 0-3 or 3-0. It doesn't matter to them, it's Ashland. I'm not predicting an outcome, i'm just saying that they will be fired up for the game.

Does anyone remember that they did the same thing the past 2 years. They'll get things fixed and they'll be fine come playoff time.

I don't think common opponents mean much of anything around this area. It doesn't bare any significance with me what-so-ever.

I completely agree about Matt. He's terrific kid and an outstanding athlete. I hate to see his senior year start like this. On the other note, No offense to Ashland but they haven't been in the elite class with Trinity, Highland, Bowling Green, Lex Cath, ect in a quite some time. You'd have to go back to the 1990 team to put Ashland in that category. That's not saying that they haven't had very good teams since then because they have but not any teams that could play with those schools.

I doubt it very seriously. The road would have ended in Bowling Green and possibly before that.

Kasey Clark has to be mentioned. He was an all around football player. He could play offense and he could play defense just as well. He needs to be mentioned.

End of conversation right there!!!

Last year's team was good but they also played in a smaller class then what they should have. I'm not trying to start anything, I'm just saying that if you're talking about that as the "dream team" because of the results, you must look at the whole picture. That team should have been competing in 3A at least.

I think if Coach Hart had a choice I think he would like to have Matt elsewhere so that he could get him the ball in the open field. I don't think they have much of a choice becuase of 1 question.......If not Matt, then who? Coach Hart will do what he believes will give him the best chance to win and from what I heard, they have a pretty good RB back there. I think the major issue is the O-line. They need to get that fixed before they do anything. Coach Hart and his staff will find the right mix and they'll be successful. Remember last year after the Raceland game? There was panic and doubt in Hart in Tomcat land, then he made some changes and they had a very good year and almost turned into a great one. They will be fine.....I think.

I think alot of people were taught the very same thing but times are changing. They no longer want it taught that way. Everything is shoulder driven now, they want the shoulder to be the focus in football. I have heard so many coaches at the lower levels teaching their kids the INCORRECT ways of the past. And it starts in the JFL leagues, they must start teaching the correct ways of fundamentals. The schools need to get involved with these JFL programs to ensure that these coaches know the right and wrong , correct and incorrect methods in football. it all starts with those kids. The bad habits start at that age.

I think you may be misunderstanding the explanations of the illegal helmet contact emphasis this year. If not I think their explanation may not be thorough enough because it's a tough thing to explain to other. At the rules clinic this year, the Assistant Commisioner of the KHSAA Mr. Julian Takett spent almost 20 minutes and showed a video on this particular subject. The new emphasis this year is meant to penalize the offender who uses his head to "punish" the other player. It is not meant to penalize a player just for lowering his head. It's one thing for a player to lower his head to absorb a hit and it's another thing for a player to lower his head when trying to punish another player and using his helmet as a weapon. As an official myself, I tend to think of a few things when judging a play like this..... I think to myself "who is initiating the contact" and " is he trying to 'punish' the other player by lowering his head". I am not going to flag a kid simply for lowering his head when trying to absorb a hit nor am I going to flag a kid because his facemask made contact first. The facemask in some cases is going to make contact first because of the design of the helmet BUT if the player tries to "face tackle" or "butt block" then it should be penalized. We have talked and talked about this issue at our association meeting and it is something that WILL be called this year. To me, it's not too difficult to tell when a kid is trying to punish another player. If a RB is running and lowers his head to absorb the hit coming then that is OK BUT if that RB turns and lowers his head and steps toward the defender then more than likely you will see a flag on that play. You shouldn't worry about constant flags everytime a player lowers his head. It's only meant to penalize the player who lowers his head to "punish" the other player. It's a hard thing to explain but this is my best explanation of the issue of illegal helmet contact.

I spoke with Coach Evans and he said Belfry looked impressive. He said they are a typical Belfry team who will stuff the ball down your throat. He was very impressed with them. I quote " They must have a machine down there that manufactures 6'4 230 pd kids "

1. Kentucky 2. yes 3. Kasey Clark 4. Beaumont 5. Kasey Clark TB- 56 points

Darryl Smith is the new Assigning Secretary in the 16th Region. I just got a letter from him this morning. I think it's a great choice. I think Billman would have done a great job also. Either one would have been fine with me. I'm glad to see that officiating will be Darryl's main focus.

I'm pretty sure it's Matthew Young. Matthew Young is the president of the Northern Kentucky Officials Association and this year's winner of Official of the Year in football awarded by the KHSAA. I believe he officiated the 3A State Championship this past year at Papa John's Stadium. He and his association run an officials clinic every year at Simon Kenton (which I attended last year) and he's very capable of teaching a class on officiating.

I don't think I'd give the same advice myself. How can you officiate if you don't know the rules. I would say to learn the mechanics of officiating before you jump into the rules but you need to have some understanding of the rules to start officiating. Most importantly in learning mechanics first though.

Kasey Clark of Russell will be practicing in Lexington for the Ky/Tenn All-Star game that week. I wish they would consider changing the date in the future so that it doesn't conflict with other All-Star game and most importantly the KY/Tenn All-Star Game. I'm sure Kasey would really like to play in the NEKY game with his teammates and peers from other schools but won't be able to because of the dates conflicting. They should really consider this when setting a date in the future.

Corbin should definately be a top contender next year and a favorite as well. With everything they have returning, they will be tough to deal with. I still say that Corbin was the best team that Russell played all last year. I really can't see how they lost 5 games last year.

Talk about Bling Bling!!!!! Nice lookin rings Titans!!

Has everyone forgot about Russell? Russell should be on that list somewhere between 5-10. JMO.

Does anyone know what's going on with Russell Babe Ruth? Are they going to have a league this year or not?

Congrats Matt!!! Went to a great camp at Simon Kenton held by Matt and the NKY association. Quality association.

Agreed