REDDEVILMVP'06

GC is the sleeping giant in this county .... Just need to right spark to wake up. Present Coach can do this took Portsmouth West to state title game in a football state .... Let's go GC .. I still remember getting run over by Jimmy Dunaway ....

Good from last night .... Offense Line 62,55 .. rest where just big .. no one really fired out ... Ends ..66 was impressive , let's throw him the ball ... Backs .. obvious Beekman , Clark , Sizemore at QB ... Devils have to have some balance for playoffs ... Defense .... Safeties .... Clark and Sizemore Corners ... ? Linebackers .... didn't see anyone step up .. looks to me Wills and Jones will be inside backers... Line .... deliver a blow ... 55 and 62 again ... rest just big ... Overall , Devils looked good ... 74 and 75 have big potential upside , hit the weights and run .... 32 ,44 ,25, 5 , 60 , the Abrams( spelling) kids and others also have big upside. Cabell Midland is always a good measuring stick .... I remember one year they just killed us and even stopped Josh Gross cold ...

Estill County .... Nothing like the PA announcer calling out 'thats another Engineer first down" ... Like those Air Force uniforms ... or better yet the cheerleaders spelling out E - n- g -i -n-e-e-r-s .... Also like the band show last year and your field ... although a long trip Estill is a 2A diamond in the rough ....

Ashland hasn't been Ashland for a long time , I want them to be Ashland again in all activites , it's good for our entire area. When you go down state , very few know where Russell or Flatwoods are but everyone knows Ashland. So let's recommit to the run with Fields and Darrell , tone down the passing , tackle on defense and go deep into the playoffs again. Ashland has the kids ....

58 how can you pass up this chance to tweak the Red Army. Belfry can play football ... no question about it ... most in 2A are only playing a partial game of football. Belfry will be fine ... They didn't shake our hands after they beat us in 2004 and I still remember. I did shake their hands last year ... We ain't even yet ... No one answered my question about Belfry's #20 , how did he do ?

Ashland should help carry the banner for EKY in football. Ashland has the kids just not the mindset. Bring back Vic ...

Advice to OC , Offense ... Run the football .. Drive block ... Defense ... The LB's and DB's need to learn to deliver a blow and tackle. I have watched last years champ game several times , the DB's and LB's attempt to grab and hold on. You folks made K Clark look like Jim Brown. You folks have the players just need to get better at these fundamentals... Good luck

If Ashland goes into another season without lines something is wrong in Tomcat Land. All the skilled players in the world cannot move the football consistently in high school. Last time Ashland beat the Devils it was by running the fullback. If you can't run .. ain't no way you can beat the devils ... Tell the coach to commit to the run , make Darrel a running back , Fields - the stump - Davis the fullback and run it ....

Problems within the Red Army is a good thing. Other than the obvious seniors last season , #20 was the only player that stood out. How did #20 do he's a linebacker and RB. Belfry needs to learn to defend the short passing game and pass some themselves because Ivan learned last year these (skill players ) are the keys to beating back the Red Army. See you in November , hope it isn't as cold as last two years.

If Mercer remains physical , adds some speed and upgrades positions that didn't want to hit last year ( mostly on defense ) ... They can be Top 5 .... Ps.... Mercer also has to go into big games expecting to win ... this might take more than a season to develope ... The RB we saw last year would deliver a blow and that's a good thing put more like him on defense ...

For Russell ...Josh Wills ... should have a ton of tackles this year and lead the blocking in the wing t .. Also Aaron Beekman ... he'll throw himself into every play .. For Lawrence Co ... Kyle Carter ... comes to play For Ashland ... Fields Davis ... a stump who can play

I am looking forward to Russell line play this year. Devils graduated some small but powerful football players. And that's the highest compliment for those kids .. football players ... Timberlake - fullback/Guard , Smith , Perry , Shaffer and Mell. All these kids played both ways .... The Lines this year will do it with size and numbers .... I'll be looking for next "football players "... Certainly fits Wills and I am counting on Ethan to step up. Although the Wing T helps with blocking angles and general confusion for linebackers , games are won and lost at the line of scrimmage. Go Devils

Key word is successful in the east. Some of the larger schools in the east have adopted spread passing with only one running back. Many of these are not as successful as they once were. When Ashland last won a state championship , they muscled it and mixed in the pass. Also many schools in Nothern and North Eastern Ky cross state boundaries and play physical Ohio and Ohio Valley - West Virginia Football teams.

I would love for the Devils to play Paducah T . Coach Thomas would learn first hand why a member of the 2005 2a State Champs should have been on the Tn-Ky football team. Russell/Flatwoods is a long way from Paducah , so it' easy to tell very deserving eastern ky kids ( only public state champ ) and Coach McGlone - a Ky coaching legend , they don't have anyone who is good enough to be on the team that lost to Tenn. Looking forward to welcoming Paducah T to 3A .... Bring your lunch ...

Successful football mindset in the east is tough , physical , run first football. From kids whose Dads likely still get dirty at work. Being closer to Ohio also influences the game in the east. Not sure about the game in the West ...

1)Best Team - in 25 years at homecoming , only the 2005 Champs will be remembered. 2)Best 2005 Opponent - Toss up , Boyd Co or Newport ( Russell generally goes into a funk on the road against quality) ... Mercer and Belfry rate up high also. OC - no fundamentals - basketball on turf ... 3)Belfry at home , no road funk - huge help ... we came out hot ... too conservative in 2nd half , loss of Horn was felt on both sides of the ball.. 4) This year - my fear is first quality opponent ( outside Ashland and Boyd) won't be until third or forth round of playoffs ...hard not to get fat against all cupcakes ... 2006 Forecast .. 2006(Kasey) is setting itself up to be like 2004(Josh) ..... Lot's of stats for Kasey , lot's of hype for Kasey and then a trip to Belfry for all the marbles. 2005 , Coach McGlone going to the Pass - (Tommy Brown to Horn,Kasey) got us over the hump against Belfry - Red Soviet Army. 2005 ,Coach Morris adjusted the defense to shutdown Belfry's fullback. 2005, Experienced Seniors - actually played in the emptiness of losing to Belfry on the road 2004 and also to LLoyd Memorial - on the road 2003. Both games could have been won .. If this years very capable , large Senior Class combined with the Coaches can continue to rise to every challenge and learn from the past , no reason the real season shouldn't last all the way to the Pizza Box .... 2006 ,Should be exciting(lot's of Hype) - Mr Sparks should raise the price of admission. And Norman's the price of Tee Shirts .... Go Devils..

1)Best Team - in 25 years at homecoming , only the 2005 Champs will be remembered. 2)Best 2005 Opponent - Toss up , Boyd Co or Newport ( Russell generally goes into a funk on the road against quality) ... Mercer and Belfry rate up high also. OC - no fundamentals - basketball on turf ... 3)Belfry at home , no road funk - huge help ... we came out hot ... too conservative in 2nd half , loss of Horn was felt on both sides of the ball.. 4) This year - my fear is first quality opponent ( outside Ashland and Boyd) won't be until third or forth round of playoffs ...hard not to get fat against all cupcakes ... 2006 Forecast .. 2006(Kasey) is setting itself up to be like 2004(Josh) ..... Lot's of stats for Kasey , lot's of hype for Kasey and then a trip to Belfry for all the marbles. 2005 , Coach McGlone going to the Pass - (Tommy Brown to Horn,Kasey) got us over the hump against Belfry - Red Soviet Army. 2005 ,Coach Morris adjusted the defense to shutdown Belfry's fullback. 2005, Experienced Seniors - actually played in the emptiness of losing to Belfry on the road 2004 and also to LLoyd Memorial - on the road 2003. Both games could have been won .. If this years very capable , large Senior Class combined with the Coaches can continue to rise to every challenge and learn from the past , no reason the real season shouldn't last all the way to the Pizza Box .... 2006 ,Should be exciting(lot's of Hype) - Mr Sparks should raise the price of admission. And Norman's the price of Tee Shirts .... Go Devils..

2A Football means each team has weaknesses just because of numbers. Last years Devils had no real weakness ( no real stars either) in it's starters but several very experienced kids had to go both ways. No playoff team wore us down. Mercer was closest. Depth was our real only weakness. This years Devils likely have more depth - but much less experience. So if heathly at playoff time and if they can find a clutch passing game , the Devils will be overall talent wise as good as any team in 2A because they will have no weak kids on the field. But from my perspective most regular season 2A teams Russell will face have at least a couple weak kids on both sides of the ball... Just the nature of 2a football.

58 said it all , with one exception. 2005 was the best team - no stars, just kids who always found a way - that's a team. Maybe not the most individual talent nor glamor individuals. In 2005 , the "whole" was much better than it's individual parts. All parts stepped up at different times and won games - credit to the coaches. But no one will dispute the timing also was " just right " for the Team of 2005. Go Devils , I too plan to show up this season, every friday night ,just won't be on the field ....

The reddevils will be at home and will play the winner who comes out Corbin's district

Hey old rambler if the shoe was on the other foot u would be saying the same thing about Ironton.... I agree it is a waste of time to play raceland when they cannot compete with Russell... if Russell would have played Raceland in the last five years Raceland's chances would be over when they kicked the ball off... give me a break!!

Total combination of size , speed , toughness , experience and pure athletic ability again at the 2a level. Kasey has this ....

Having Battled Belfry twice , the most physical team wins , period. From a pure physical standpoint , Kasey will be unmatched this year in 2a football. The Devils have to replace the clutch passing of a physical Tommy Brown. And physical play of several other seniors. I think this years Devils will do this with pure numbers , this senior class is huge for a 2a school. Bring on Greenup , let's get started.

What we are really talking about is O line execution. Kasey succeeds based upon how well O line and other backs execute the Wing T. However having Kasey as a senior means the holes don't have to be as big or open as long. I predict huge numbers for Kasey after some early struggles... Kasey has learned to run in traffic and put his head down. At times this year he will need this. Last years Championship was in part won by the combination of several physical experienced kids. Other Devils will step up ... Go Devils ..

Grit of this years Seniors will determine how far the Devils go. Difficult to repeat ,but I look for K Clark , Sizemore ,Lewis , Wills ,Beekman ,Gullet and others to step up. If this years Devils prove physical and find a passing attack , start ordering the rings. Go Devils ....