billytwoshirts

I don't necessarily disagree with you, however, the key word that you used was "last week." From your prediction and comments, you are obviously predicting a repeat of "no running game, dropped passes, etc." I agree with you that, if Catholic repeats last weeks performance, they could potentially get beat worse this week. You would have to agree with me that, if Catholic doesn't have "dropped balls, can establish a running game, convert on 3rd/4th & 1's in the Red Zone, limit turnovers, etc." The Catholic offense has the ability to win and score more points than the Red Devils. Even if you give OHS 2 TD's defensively?? I still don't think that they can score 2 more TD's and a field goal (your predicted 31 points). The Catholic defense is not as good as last year, but, they aren't way way off. Last year the Red Devils could only score 19 POINTS even after Catholic gave them 9 extra opportunities (in the form of turnovers)! Anyway, it's fun to predict. I appreciate your analysis.

I don't think OHS is capable of scoring 31 points. I would love to see them score 31 points, don't get me wrong! Consistent offensive output over the last few years (against teams that matter) has been almost non-existent at Owensboro. If Catholic shows up mentally, and doesn't turn the ball over as they did last year, I think Catholic should win as I predicted. It should be a tight contest. Coach Prince runs a "disciplined" team/program, however, Catholic is more disciplined and sound in what they do on the football field. The athleticism of OHS is much much better than Catholic and I predict that it will get them 2 TD's against the Catholic D. The Catholic O should welcome a scoring battle w/ OHS and they have shown the capability of scoring, but. . . will they? My prediction hinges upon Catholic's ability to "show up." If Catholic shows up offensively, they have the potential to score a lot of points. I don't think they will score a lot of points, but, I think they can keep OHS off balance enough to get the job done. I think that the OCHS defense will be helped by the ineptitude of the Red Devil offense unless Catholic completely breaksdown. The Red Devils will make plays and the athleticism will carry them through most of the game, but, in the end, Catholic wins because they are better at the X's & O's. [Again, my prediction hinges upon whether the players show up!]

I see Henderson gathering steam as the season progresses.

Thank you for the specific information. I agree, I think it will still be a long year no matter what. Perhaps, DC might squeak out one more victory than my original pre-season prediciton.

Apollo - 28 -- Madisonville N. Hopkins - 6 Apollo goes 2-0 after their contest with N.Hopkins. This won't be much of a game for the Eagles and I expect them to exploit N. Hopkins in almost every aspect of the game. Apollo probably won't be tested until their game against Catholic. Daviess Co. - 21 -- Hopkins County Central - 7 Daviess Co. surprised a lot of people last week against Marshall County. I may have to re-evaluate my preseason prediction for DC? Especially after last weeks performance, I see the Panthers taking of care of business against HCC. Catholic - 21 -- Owensboro - 14 Catholic struggled against a good South Spencer (IN) team and they squandered 3-4 opportunities in the red zone which would have affected the outcome of the game. Owensboro, offensively, is creating a yearly pattern of the inability to do anything. Even though both teams struggled in their opener, this should be the best game of the week. In last years contest, OHS won the football game because of 7-8 turnovers by Catholic. If Catholic can hang on to the football, and not miss on scoring opportunities, they will win the football game. Historically, this game has a lof of implications. Since I have been alive, Catholic has always played at Rash stadium. On Friday night, this will mark a change in history. Catholic will have a lot of pressure to win their first game in their new stadium and you can bet emotions will be running high! Looking forward to watching this one. Henderson - 14 -- Evansville North - 28 Henderson makes some improvements this week, however, it isn't enough to get the job done. Evansville North takes care of business and the football. I really feel sorry for the Colonels. Things could be shaping up for a long season.

From some of the posts on here, it sounds like Catholic may have some problems this year??? The QB spot will take a little time and he will have to learn fast against South Spencer and, especially, the Owensboro trio (OHS, Apollo & Daviess County). Defensively, according to those that have seen Catholic, they better get their act together or the Red Devils will run all over them.

Surely, a Catholic team can score more than 13???

And . . .here we go! Another season begins this week. Apollo - 28 -- Hopkins County Central - 0 I don't feel that this game will be close at all. Apollo isn't ready to win a state championship or anything, but, HCC is not a good test for the Eagles. The Eagles will at least get to test their wings in a real game and I think they will win without any trouble. Duvall and Pope get things going early and don't let up until the last whistle blows. Daviess Co. - 6 -- Marshall County - 35 Coach Lawson continues to breed success where ever he goes and he has helped the Marshals turn their program around. MC lost their QB, however, they still should be too much for DC to handle. Coach Kimbrell just needs time and everything that needs to be accomplished will not take place by the 1st game of the year. DC goes down in their opener and MC rolls on to what should be another productive year. Owensboro - 14 -- Mater Dei (IN) - 17 Owensboro loses in a close battle. I don't know much about Mater Dei, but, I'm giving them the edge b/c it is at their homeplace. Owensboro is much improved this year, but, I am hearing that Mater Dei is better and much improved as well. Obviously, the game will prove everything. OHS beat Mater Dei last year and I know that they will have revenge on their minds. Mater Dei is better prepared for the Red Devils and comes away with the win. Catholic - 21 -- South Spencer (IN) - 14 This will be another close game between the schools. Over the years Catholic and South Spencer have played some gritty games. South Spencer always seems to put a physical ball team on the field and I know that they will not want to leave any doubt as to who is the better team. Catholic has struggled with their scrimmages; however, I think that South Spencer will be a lot easier than Bowling Green. In the end, Catholic wins in a good high school Friday night football game. Henderson - 14 -- Castle - 28 Henderson has had to deal with a lot of issues which I know everyone is aware of. Unfortunately, I see this as a major distraction for the team. With the departure of Fidler, the Colonels will have difficulty with the Knights. Henderson will be good this year; however, I think it's going to take them awhile to find their groove.

Against Belfry, Belfry had the better team and Catholic was just out matched defensively -- I don't believe that it was a lack of killer instinct more so than it was a lack of ability. Offensively, Catholic needed about 3-5 more minutes on the clock and history might have been different. Against Russell, Catholic just didn't show up -- period. The Catholic team that beat Ft. Campbell and Trigg Co. was not on the field against Russell.

I'm not sure how reliable they are; however, as you said, both DC and Apollo have home games on 8/25 -- where else could Catholic play? I don't know exactly how the rule works, but, if Catholic isn't ready, I doubt if Coach Prince would want to move the game to a Saturday (knowing that they could play on his field)???? Who knows?

Nothing has happened to KWC -- Catholic WILL have a new place to play; however, there might be a contractor problem for the first game. If the stadium isn't ready by 8/25, Catholic might have to play elsewhere.

My sources tell me that, if OCHS hasn't completed their stadium project, they will play at OHS????

As long as Catholic stays in Owensboro, they will always have early season struggles and/or the pressure of learning fast. They play 3 4A teams before hitting their 2A district and, over the years, OHS/DC/Apollo have been good early season learning experiences -- i.e. intense rivalries, tough competition, etc. I think it has always been an advantage for Catholic compared to most schools that schedule weaker teams.

Well, I'm out of hibernation and ready to begin another football season! Now, that the long break is over from last December, and football scrimmages are upon us, it's time to start the Owensboro area predictions. Preseason APOLLO -- Regular Season Prediction (6-4) Coach Carlberg will have his team ready to play and they will have another year of experience under his system to aide in their success. Apollo struggled a little in the early part of last season and then gained some momentum towards the end (which I attribute to their grasp of Carlberg's system). I think that Apollo is still a year away from taking control of the Owensboro area. I see them beating DC without any trouble this year; however, Catholic and Owensboro will be tough games for them. They should finish 2 or 3 in their district and, like last year, will be a stronger towards the end of the season. Ben Duvall is the anchor of this team and is as solid as they come -- he will be the play maker. Good luck Eagles! Daviess Co. -- Regular Season Prediction (3-7) Unfortunately, Daviess Co. is going to have a tough year. New Coach Marcus Kimbrell will have his hands full in trying to squeeze 3 wins out of this team. Coach Kimbrell is starting at the bottom and will have an enormous re-building task over the next 2-3 years. This team, as with last year's team, does not have any standout players that can help dominate a football game. As the season progresses, I will be interested to see who steps to the forefront on this team. Coach Kimbrell is a good coach and will get as much out of his players as possible; however, this year will rocky at best. DC will not win the City County Championship this year. Good luck Panthers! Owensboro -- Regular Season Prediction (7-3) This could be the best all-around team that Coach Prince has had since his arrival a few years ago. The Red Devils don't have a standout name like Wimsatt, however, they DO have a solid 22 on each side of the ball. I look for Nick Hall, Jamison Johnson, Austin Moss and Josh Hayden to grab some headlines this season. Coach Prince seems to have his rebuilding phase behind him and I believe that he has his players doing things his way now. The Red Devils will lose to Male and Mater Dei; however, closer to home, they will do some damage. OHS might be bringing home the City-County trophy this year -- it will be decided on 8/25. The Red Devils should make a good run in the playoffs. Good Luck Red Devils! Owensboro Catholic -- Regular Season Prediction (9-1) Catholic will be in the running for another good season this year. Coach Edge has figured out how to sustain success -- this year will be no different. The only position that is unknown is the QB position. The last 2 years Catholic has had the advantage of playing 5 extra games, which has given the younger athletes 1 extra season of experience. The "extra season" is a BIG advantage for their program. Catholic should run through their district with ease; however, they are in for dog fights against South Spencer (IN) and Owensboro. They should be in contention for the CityCounty trophy and, as said earlier, it will be decided on 8/25. I see Catholic going deep into the playoffs again this year. Good luck ACES! [i will add the other area team predictions when the season starts]

I agree. I come from the old days and I appreciate what Russell brings to the table.

Well said. Hurry up Saturday. [You are going to think that I am sand bagging, but, the key word is "usually" the best athletes win the game. Catholic did not have the best athletes against the following: 4A Apollo, 4A Owensboro (loss), Ft. Campbell, Trigg County, Glasgow and, possibly, South Spencer (IN.)]

Your points are well taken. My answer to your question: Would they still platoon? Yes, I think they would. If Russell has 22 players that can play at a high level, why not allow 11 to specialize on defense? Why not allow 11 to specialize on offense? This would allow the "22" to be even better. For example and for this game, it would allow 11 players to focus solely on the OCath offense all week and, offensively, it would allow 11 players to focus solely on mastering the OCath defense. Surely, you would have to agree that this would give Russell an advantage.

Thank you for the info. As you said, it just kind of makes you think. It's hard to believe that 50-55 players don't see action.

I apologize for harping on the "going both ways" issue. I'm not going to talk about fatigue or anything related to that issue. However, one more comment that made me realize something . . . 65! Let's just say that it's 60 for the sake of argument. With 60 players, and according to the posts on BGP 8 go both ways, that means that over 80% of the players don't play on offense or defense (I'm not including special teams). That's interesting and puzzling with a team that has 60 or 65 players. For a 2A team 60 is a lot! Why do so many go both ways? Is their a drop off in talent or is this a philosophy of the coach?

I do believe that Russell will be prepared. They will probably be better prepared than any game that they have played all year -- it's the state championship. I don't mean to offend the Russell fans and I'm not trying to say that Catholic is the "greatest offense ever." I'm simply stating that this offense is inherently hard to prepare for. For example, do you think the scout team QB will be able to throw the same type of ball to the scout WR's? Do you think that they can effectively run the no huddle in practice? I'm sure Catholic will be prepared, however, their scout team will be limited in how they effectively run the Wing T -- they won't be able to simulate exactly what Russell brings to the table.

Do you think that Coach McGlone will take a timeout "just to take a timeout" and rest the players? Maybe he might want to use them for a different strategy? Or maybe that IS the strategy? Interesting point of view and I think it makes sense. It's kind of similar to a basketball coach using them in a basketball game. The biggest adjustment for Russell will be the tempo of the game (assuming that Catholic can establish their game). I know that Russell is preparing as we speak, however, it is very hard, if not impossible, for a scout team to simulate the no huddle as Catholic runs it. For example, the scout team players have to probably look at a coaching card, then, run the play, stop, look at another card, run the play, stop, etc. etc. Over the last few years IMO this style of offense has helped Catholic win football games. Opposing teams can't adequately prepare for the no huddle and this gives Catholic an instant edge against better teams. As the game wears on and the no huddle/speed of the game starts to wear down the opposition. With teams that have several players going both ways, this factor is intensified. It's been fascinating to watch. I've seen Catholic get down or look overwhelmed in games and then all of a sudden the game momentum starts to change. They have been in games where you think everything is going wrong and then something just happens. This was apparent against Ft. Campbell -- Catholic was down 25-14 and then FC started wearing down, getting tired, making mistakes, etc. -- this opened the door to scoring for OCath. OCath was conditioned to go the distance. Against Belfry it took awhile, but, eventually, Belfry started showing signs of fatigue. Belfry was a great team and they completely dominated the Catholic D. A lot of teams don't get as many snaps as Catholic does. I'm not sure what Russell averages, however, I would venture to say that Catholic has to average 70 plays or more a game -- that's a lot! This game is going to be a great one. Russell has to keep it out of the Catholic offense's hands. Russell will get their attempts at scoring. The good/bad thing about Catholic and their style of offense is that they can give the ball back to the other team quickly -- either by scoring or turning over on downs. The Catholic D will be tested.

I agree. I also think you can look at it as an extension of a coaches clinic. All coaches from across the state attend coaching clinics for a fee to learn "tricks of the trade." I know that Coach Franklin hosts clinics for a fee, however, I guess he takes it a step farther to include consulting.

I think you are right. From what I have heard, he is more of a consultant. This would be no different than if a business hired a "consultant" to help them with their business procedures. Last year Coach Franklin was more involved. This year, if I understand correctly, yes, he's on the sideline, but he's on the sideline as a "friend" -- not as a consultant. I could be wrong, but that's what I am hearing.

Actually, they have only played 3 teams that we similar to OCath -- Edmonson Co. Daviess Co. and Hart Co. These teams were not very good, however, Edmonson did score 29 (?) through the air. Most of the teams that Catholic has played have been predominantly running teams.

Hopefully, my points are clearer now.