mountainmutt

Westsider Posted " In all honesty, will Whitley County really be in "the state championship hunt" in a class with such established programs as Christian County, Hopkinsville, Bowling Green, Warren Central, John Hardin, Dixie Heights, Ashland and Southwestern, among others? " Westsider, You must not know much about Whitley Football, Whitley and Southwestern were in the same district with Southwestern prior to the last realignment. I would say they were very similar in terms of talent and wins against each other. Nobody on list you provided would intimidate Whitley most of these teams would lost to Whitley (at least at Whitley) in the typical year. Whitley was a perinial top 10 3A team before the last realignment. To answer your question the larger mountain schools like Whitley will be much more competitive on the state level than are with the current alignment.

Hand timed 40's are meaningless. Human reflexes just are not good enough to distinguish tenths of a second.

The only arguable reasons for complaining about the realignment, that I could think of, are listed below. Like any change, there is going to be some pain but, as my listing demonstrates, most of the argued issues have two or more sides. 1) Some coaches/fans will complain because the realignment actually made their schedule tougher and their road to a state championship harder. It is all about, who, ended up in your district and region. Since the realignment attempted to level the field with regard to number of male students versus traditional program quality, there is some truth to these arguments. Personally, I think the state did the right thing, or at least made a step in the right direction. 2) In some cases, traditionally heated rivalries, that always result in a good gate, tremendous community interest, and good ball games have been made more difficult to schedule due to rearranged districts. In truth, with fewer teams, in most districts, coaches and athletic directors have more control of their schedule than they did before the realignment. 3) In some cases, more travel will be required to play district ball games. Again, whether or not this affects a particular school, reallly depends on where they were placed. Many schools will actually travel less for district games. In my area, here in Southeastern Kentucky, most schools are going to be traveling less. Another point with regard to travel, since most districts will have fewer teams, fewer district road trips are required, thus reducing over all travel. 4) This one got me suspended. 5) Watered down competition. This argument really has no merit, if anything actual competition will be better because teams should be better matched. When you look around the state, at the past few years, the only divisions with any real competion have been the smaller divisions with no powerhouse private schools.

I have to respectfully disagree with your analysis. The best thing for football, is to have as many people interested in the sport, as possible. Having more teams in the playoffs and having more opportuities for a state championship, will create interest. I think an even more important point, that many people are overlooking, is that the new format, encourages teams to improve the entire season. The players know that a new season or a new lease on life will begin with the playoffs. For example: lets say a team (maybe due to injury or youth) starts the season very poorly and basically eliminates themselves from the playoffs, under the old format, with 3 or 4 games to go. The typical thing for kids to do, under this situation, is to give it up till next season. Under the new system, they would know, that they had a chance to redeem themselves in the playoffs. As for making the regular season unimportant, I do not buy that argument for a moment. Kids want to win their district championships and they know that positioning in the playoffs is critical. In summary, the new format should increase over all interest and make improvement every week of the season more important than it was before.

Like any change, this change is going to be positive for some schools/coaches and negative for others. Obviously, one of the most positive changes is that there will more teams in the "State Championship" hunt every year which will increase interest in high school football all over the state. Here in Eastern Kentucky, the change is really going to be positive for the larger (previously 4A) schools since these rural 4A schools have been unable to compete with the larger urban based schools and would probably never be competitive on the stae 4A level. I am a Whitley County Fan. This change will literally propel Whitley back into the "State Championship" hunt for the first time since the last realignment. Further, at least, for Whitley and the other teams in their district, travel times have been reduced and some of the more natural mountain rivalries are going to be reinstated. This change is very good for Whitley and I am very pleased with it.

Sounds great, when will it take effect?

This matchup has traditionally been a bloodbath. I think this years game will be no different. Rock should have one of their best teams but, Corbin will (as always) be tough. My guess is that the Rockcastle power game will tire the Redhounds especially this early in the season with the summer heat. Rock 24 Corbin 12

LC99 I was under the impression Root was playing Full Back but you may be correct. I know that i have seen him play full back in the past and he was a load.

Actually, the backs that I listed are from Bell County, Whitley County, and Knox County. I think they are the best that I have seen from among the folowing counties: McCreary, Whitley, Knox, Bell, Laurel, and Harlan Counties. Speaking of fresh faces, I should have mentioned Arron Watts from McCreary County. Arron is going to be freshman but, he is probably going to be the quickest back in the area. Watts is already a division 1 type athlete.

In the extreme southeast corner of the state, I would rate returning backs that I have seen in this order: 1:Christopher (Corbin) 2:Earls (Middlesboro) 3:Roskopft (Lynn Camp) 4:Jeffries (Whitley County) 5:Root (Williamsburg) All of these kids are good high school backs with both speed and power. I agree with some of the posters regarding fresh faces this season. Mike Campbell will be an outstanding sophmore at Corbin if he can stay healthy. Cambell is big, fast and loves contact. He is a prototype Corbin power back cut from Archy Powers, Cotton Adams mold. Corbin's backfield is going to very good. Spencer Greer at Bell County is also going to make some noise. Spencer see's the field very well, is an excellent cut back runner, follows his blockers well and is developing into a Division 1 type athlete physically. Spencer will do fine as the featured runner in the Bell County attack.

I think Arron Root is a very good NAIA prospect. He does everything well and he plays with extreme intensity. If he were larger, he has the mindset and skill to play Div. 1 football.

I would probably give Whitley's new offense a "B" in the summer passing drills. McCumbers was outstanding in both making decisions and throwing the ball. He has a very good arm. The problem Whitley had this summer was catching the ball. Most of the kids in the Whitley system have been in 99%+ running offenses since they were in 2nd or 3rd grade. These kids are just not accustomed to running pass patterns and catching the ball in traffic. Hopefully, they will improve in this area as practice proceeds. McCumbers can certainly put the ball in their hands. Of course the other big adjustment (the offensive line) has not even begun. The fact that spring practice was a total waste of time is certain to hurt this team early. I expect them to improve all season long and be a lot of fun to watch by playoff time.

I think Whitley County should be in the classic every year. This would create a great football atmosphere in the city and the stands would be over flowing.

At Whitley, Seniors Cody Jeffries and Shaun Monhollan will have to play up to their potential for Whitley to be good. These two veterans are the meanest, strongest players on the Colonel Roster and they will be expected to lead the squad this season. Both should be playing college football next year. Juniors Jordan McCumbers and Shawn Baird are expected to be very good. McCumbers will direct the Franklin Offense in his second season as a starter. He has a terrific arm and should excel in this offense. Baird has division 1 size (6-5, 250) and talent. If he applies himself, he could be the best to ever suit-up at Whitley. It appears as though injuries are going to haunt the Colonels next season as two expected starters have been out of the passing drills all summer due to injury. Cody Jones broke his leg in an auto accident and is not expected to play this season. Cody is one of 2 or 3 fastest players on the roster and he will be sorely missed on both sides of the ball. Perhaps the only kid on the team faster than Jones is Mark Teague who has also been out all summer due to an ATV accident. Teague is expected back in August, but he will most likely miss all of summer practice. Replacing either of these kids is going to be tough.

Cody is out for the season but, thank God he is going to fully recover.

The wreck involved two of Whitley's finest players Jamie Labanion and Cody Jones. Cody's sister was also in the accident. Labanion has a severe concussion and spent the night in the hospital. He was released this morning and is expected to be fine. Cody's sister Jade (a fine ball player as well) sustained a broken wrist and several cuts and bruises. She also spent the night in the hospital and was released. Cody Jones (a 3 sport star and a very fine young man) sustained what is described as very bad multiple compoud fractures in his leg between his knee and ankle. I have no details as to the true extent of the injuries but he remains in the Trauma Unit at the University of Tenn. Hospital in Knoxville. I have no reliable information on the passengers of the other vehicle although I have heard they sustained substantial injuries and were transported to Knoxville as Cody was. Your prayers are needed and will be appreciated.

Congrats to Ty. I expect to see him at West Virginia. Kentucky has a glut at the guard positions and Ty is good enough to start at West Virginia as a freshman or sophmore.

This is a waste of time and an invasion of personal privacy. No entity should have the right to investigate a person's bloodstream. This is Big Brother at his best.

I do not see how Coach P can keep Wilson off the floor. I thought he was one the best 2 or 3 point guards in the region last year. The Mann kid is also going to push for a starting spot. His touch in the paint is as good as anyone's in the region and he is very strong for his age. I am surprised that French and Campbell are not going to play basketball. Both are fine basketball players and would contribute to any team in the region. I talked to Campbell a couple of weeks ago and he said he would like to play but he was afraid the hardwood would agravate his ankle.

4chs Jones will be playing split end along with Mark Teague. McCumbers is the QB.

Mastermind, I was not knocking the Christopher kid. He is a good player. I do however, believe the Greer kid is a better all around back. You are also correct that he would not have started in the backfield at Whitley this season. Whitley is going to employ the Franklin Offense which utilizes one back and two split ends. Cody Jeffries has the back spot at Whitley tied down.

Are both Bargo and Craig sophmores to be? The Bargo kid looks like he is probably 6-5, is he young enough to continue growing? Both of these kids have some athletic ability but, truthfully unless they made some quick improvement, I cannot see either of them playing much at Corbin. The Corbin 9th and 10th grades are simply loaded. I think there is a very good chance that Corbin starts two freshman and two sophmores this season.

Greer is a better all around athlete than Christopher. Bell county will not miss a beat. Greer would have been starting in front of him by the end of the season anyway. Bell County also has a very good incoming freshman back. I cannot recall his name but he was dynamite last season.

How is Corbin looking this summer? Who are next years projected starters? Will Corbin start 1 or 2 freshmen, if so this may be the youngest district in the state.

Ryan has the ability to be starter at Union by his junior year if he remains focussed on basketball. He has decent touch around the basket, he is intelligent and he is competitive. He needs to get stronger and he needs to learn how to gain and maintain position under the board. I think he is a good catch for Union. Congratulations Ryan.