PoppaBear

Agreed there was no need to blitz - and St. X's speed has already been mentioned - very impressive. My comment was more a knock on Lex Cath's hesitancy to release the ball on so called 'quick routes', and to let it be known that the O-line gave good support on pass protection.

The fact that the Lex Cath quarterback was sacked only one time after attempting more than 50 passes tells me that the line was giving him plenty of time to pass - and there were five or less true 'hurries', thus, I would say the QB had plenty of time to pass. The 'quick hitters' need to be TRUE quick hitters - get the ball from the shot gun and get it to the receiver without hesitation. Too many times by the time the ball was released to the wide-out or slot receiver in the flat, the defensive end had slid down the line to the receiver and three St. X linebackers had crashed the convoy of blockers. Admittedly, St. X showed a lot of speed, and they knew what was coming due to limited play selection, but the lack of execution of the passing game was not because of the defensive pass rush (St. X only rushed four all night and I cannot remember a blitz).

Maybe St. X knew what was coming because Lex Cath was running only 6 different plays, and 3 of those plays were run 75% of the time? Even if they knew what was coming it always comes down to a matter of execution. St. X may not be very big this year, but their defense was very fast to the ball.

Not that I believe in rankings at this time of year, but curious who he has at the top. I would assume it is Trinity, Highlands, Male? Do you have the link to his rankings?

Shane Israel will likely be out for this game ... but who knows for sure? Vic Anderson was supposed to be out for the St. X / LexCath game last year too and he showed up... BIG TIME!

What's the cornfield spread? Enlighten us!

Anderson played played last year for sure ... and if I am not mistaken, he touched the ball about 6 times and scored either 3 or 4 times. Does anybody remember? In fact, one those touches was the first offensive play from scrimmage and it was for one of his touchdowns.

If HC did not put in its second string, then Boyle almost had its story book finish. Sorry to hear that BC came up short. The lack of Henry Clay's defense will keep them from being an authentic contender again this year. I would love to have the talent that is in the halls of Henry Clay and form them into a cohesive unit - it takes discipline and execution, but Henry Clay always stays with a few talented players to keep them 'competive', but without real leadership, they will fall short year in and year out.

I couldn't agree more! With the talent that walks the halls at Henry Clay, a disciplined and enforced offseason training program and with a great coach like Coach Smith -- HC would have been competing against the likes of St. X and Trinity for what was then a 4A championship, and now a 6A championship.

I have a question for anybody who was in attendance at the game or to any Henry Clay fans. Did Coach Simpson put in his second string at the start of the fourth quarter while ahead 40 - 14, and things simply got out of control as Boyle County started to roll? Could the come back have been avoided with better coaching?

It's too bad that until Lexington public high schools are allowed to play Lexington Catholic, we may never really know who is the best in Lexington!

I agree you have to throw at the 3A and 4A level to be successful, but too often you just don't have the talent at the skill positions to do this consistently at the smaller schools -- you have to work with the talent you have, and sometimes you just got to know your limitations. If I'm not mistaken, I didn't see any Petrino or Ammons out on that field this afternoon.

It is probably the toughest road in 4A, plus Bell and Rockcastle .... but, it will prepare somebody for a championship.

Ditto! And congrats to Mercer County -- we sometimes forget that adults can too frequently get in the way of boys competing for a championship -- it wasn't their fault that the merger and timing came down the way it did.

Funny thing, Mercer won the game by passing the ball only one time. Is that the kind of balance that won them a championship? Truth is at the 1A and 2A level you can win a championship by being one-dimensional. There are plenty of examples of this. Now, at the 3A and 4A level, it's a totally different ball game.

Nice job both sides. But Russell will be the first to tell you that it is hard to win with FIVE turnovers. Sounded like they outgained Mercer in total yardage, and if I am not mistaken, did Mercer county even pass the ball today? Russell definitely slowed Mercer's juggernaut offense.

You've got to be kidding me!!! If this happened in any game, the coach should be smacked down, too.

It's the SS Simpson... it tends to sink because its so dense.

But you've done a great job Booyah!

What class will Johnson Central be in next year?

So much for the shutout then!

Henry Clay has already rolled over... hope Rocks keep the shutout for the whole game and send a statement!

Abbreviated QUOTE from Covercorner...... Looked like the first and last Cov Cath touchdowns came with miscommunications in the Lex Cath coverage. Two defenders ended up on one reciever while the TE (#35 maybe) took off uncovered..... I think that it was also excellent play calling by Cov Catholic that led to the wide open receivers. Remember, Lex Catholic never plays a zone and are always in man. Cov Catholic would run two clearing routes on the lexington catholic corners and delay a back or TE into the cleared area while Lex catholic had no linebacker to fill that area because he was sent on a blitz. Of course executing these plays required excellent offensive line blocking by Cov Catholic to provide the time needed for those delay routes... not enough can be said for the Cov Catholic offensive (and defensive) lines, they were impressive! Best of luck to Cov Catholic next week!

Especially when you're a 4A school playing against a little ole' 2A!

Here you go OffCentre67... We still won't hold your hand and tell you exactly the things you might want to know, but now you can surf through the LexCatholic football web-site and draw your own conclusions as to who you might need to look for! Hope you can make it to the game. http://www.lexingtoncatholic.com/sports/football/football.htm