jude

Lawrence runs a spread offense, or at least they did last season and the same o-coordinator is here this year. The problem with that is that LC has run the belly for so long that even when the varsity switched to the spread the freshman coach stuck with the belly. This is an example of the lack of support for this offense that this community has. The fans and obviously some feeder system coaches haven't bought into the idea that we can win with anything other than the belly. At least they hadn't last season. We'll see what we get this year. The spread may not be the most popular offense in eastern kentucky, but at least when we get into the playoffs and start seeing lex and louis teams they won't be able to just stack the line and stop our only option. This is what has historically happened. Maybe some people around here don't remember the brick wall called Highlands that our "greatest offense ever" ran into a few years ago. I surely remember and I know that our o-coordinator remembers. Oh and before you tell me we scored on them, go back and watch the film, we scored on their second and third string players after they were up by a thousand or so points. This system really might not be the solution, but you'll never know if you can't really get full support from everyone involved. I hope with the change at head coach that people really support this system and give it a chance.

It is very encouraging to see that this staff will have another year to see how their offensive scheme can work. I think with time and with some good health this years offense should really show us what this scheme can do. Most importantly this staff will help these young men learn to be respectful and hard working young men. That's what's really important. Good luck!

Those numbers are excellent! However the numbers don't lie, West wins in every rushing catagory and only loses in combined TD's and points scored? That's 7 out of 9 catagories I listed. I have no solid stats on his recieving yards. I apologize for that. I didn't have the opportunity to watch Gross play but I understand that he was INCREDIBLE! It's nice to have that kind of talent in this area. I think these stats show that Gross was probably a more versatile back judging by his recieving yards? Lawrence County RARELY threw the ball after Gared Parker left.

I think Ram has assembled an incredibly good list! Which is evident by how VERY little disagreement has been posted. KUDOS to you RAM. VERY nice display of knowledge!

At RB please give me someone that has better stats than these: Yards - 7725 Points Scored - 584 Total TD's - 95 Rushing TD's - 93 Rush TD's in a season - 50 YDS in a season - 3166 YDS in a game - 414 (I believe he had another 400+ game?) Yds per game - 212.5 Yds per rush (single season I believe?) - 12.99 If you can tell me who had better stats than you can put them at #1 but until you can come up with someone that was at least close to these I can't see it. No these are not Arliss Beach #'s. But he did have a 100+ yard game against Beach and held him to around 50 yards in that game I believe???? Maybe someone can help me a little on that games stats? These are numbers from the former Lawrence County and Marshall University player - Michael West

I hope May is OK? Knee injury?

The most amazing thing about this stadium is comparing it to the old complex. I can say this because your not there anymore, it SUCKED!!!! :sssh: I always thought that maybe Belfry players were so tough because they were never pampered, but they are still tough and you have to give the new facility the nod as the best in the area? I guess maybe it's just the way they are coached?

Once again I will say that there are people in our community like Stick that understand that wins and losses are just one SMALL way of measuring success. The enjoyment of the game and most importantly the life lessons these young men walk away with are the real measuring sticks of any program! Thank you Stick for what you and your family have had to endure this season and I would be happy to have my son play for you some day!

One of JC's fans came into work the Monday after they played Belfry and said "I really feel sorry for LC if they meet Belfry in the playoffs cause Belfry would blow them off the field!" I remember thinking at the time that we might get to find out?

There has been some really good information on here so far! Thanks for all the great posts. Here is my personal opinions of some of the "Possible" candidates. Chuke Williams - Incredible coach, loved by many here in LC, but unfortunately disliked by some of the influential people in LC. His personality earned him some non-supporters. Not my first choice, but would be a good hire. Dixon - Loyal is the word that everybody throws out, but everyone forgets that this man is Football smart, and EXTREMELY respected by most of the players and former players. I had one former player say that Dixon was greatest motivator he ever knew. My CO-first choice. Phillip Ratliff - The hands down easiet choice and great guy, but IMO not gonna happen! He would be making a great sacrifice leaving the college ranks to coach high school. Blake Preece - Incredible guy and DEVOTED bulldog. Some good experience and I know the kind of offseason work he puts into really knowing the X's and O's of the game. The knock is that he runs an offense that LC fans are not as happy with as they are with the belly or something else. My Co-first choice Alan short - This would be a great hire, but I have know idea if he would be interested or not. J.R. Cook - From the Johnson Central staff. Sorry JC but he is ours at heart and we should look at him hard if he's interested?

Sometimes the underdog forgets that they are supposed to lose. Just ask Michigan. I think LC wins 28-14 and wins in the second round. After that, well I'm a fan but I'm not crazy! Go APP ST! oops, I mean DOGS!!!

I made what I thought was a very well thought out and very persuasive arguement about why Johnson Central would win this game. WRONG!!! I explained that the due to the 2 class difference in enrollement that JC would have better athletes. WRONG!!! I explained that Matney is one of the few coaches that can come close to the Belfry coach. WRONG!!! I explained that Belfry was underestimating JC. WRONG!!! Then I said that JC would start to dominate the lower classes over the next few years. WRONG!!! I did finish by saying that NOONE scares Belfry and they always step on that field expecting to be the best team there and forcing you to prove otherwise. I GOT ONE RIGHT!!!!!!!!!

The thing that is most interesting about some Belfry fans is that they truly forget what they have in Belfry. They have arguably THE BEST 3A team in KY. The key to this is the 3A part. Don't get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for Belfry and the incredible tradition of that program, but I seem to sense that the fans are looking at JC as the JC of old, the JC of 10 or 20 years ago. This is not the JC of yesteryear. This school and this program have started to understand that they are a 5A school and they are building a 5A program. I'm a Lawrence County fan, so trust me it hurts to give JC any credit for what they are building, but the fact is that Matney is building a program that very few Eastern Ky teams are going to have a chance against in the coming years. They are going to not just compete with the Belfry program, but they should start to consistently outclass them. By outclass them I mean that by having a much larger pool of athletes to choose from they should be consistently bigger, stronger, faster and therefore a better team. Obviously the large pool of athletes doesn't matter unless they have the coaching, but they DO have the proper coach now. So in conclusion, I would just like to say that while watching Belfry's running game will always be one of my favorite things to do, I for one will not be surprised to see the JC team start to dominate nearly all of the Eastern KY competition. The best thing about Belfry has always been that even if someone CLEARLY is better then they are Belfry just doesn't care! They will still schedule you and they will still walk right onto your field with the idea that if you think your better then you have to prove it on the field. They never give up and they NEVER back down.

Congratulations to Breathitt.. They are a talented hard working team that deserves the credit due to a great performance! As far as LC goes... Well what is it that the Chicago Cubs fans are famous for saying? Oh yeah, "Wait till next year". I love the dogs, but they are a team in serious transition right now. They have allot of young players and a new offensive scheme along with what I understand is allot of nagging injuries. With all of that being said, the losses we have this year are earned. I can't look back at any game and say that bad luck or just an off night caused that loss. Coach Goldsmith and Preece won't allow their players to make excuses or take anything away from the teams that earned their victories over the bulldogs. So as a fan I have to congratulate those teams and say "well done". Enjoy it while you can. While we will accept that we lost we will never accept our team or our coaches giving up or hanging their head. This is still bulldog country and we as fans have earned the right to go to that field every friday night and see our team play with heart and pride and tradition.. We have stood in rain, snow and sleet and supported our team when they were winning every game and we will stand on those sidelines or sit with our ear to the radio at home and we will support this team with our very last breath when they are losing every game. All we ask is that they play with heart, pride and tradition. Winning is great, but playing like a bulldog has nothing to do with wins and losses. The true fans know this. Go Dawgs!:fight:

Yeah, I remember hearing that "Breathitt has too much offense" thing a few years ago also. I believe that was before LC stopped Breathitts long (48 games I think?) winning streak. I don't see any real similarities this year, but I still get a smile thinking of that game and bringing it up to Breathitt fans:) LOL

Only in KY can we have someone talk about football, deer hunting and a cannon all in the same sentence! This is AWESOME!!!!!!!

People that think like this are the reason there are court cases. I never attended the same school for a full school year until my junior year of high school. Am I to blame for my parents inability to get their lives together? Should I have been punished for the instability in my parents lives? The only reason that I could attend my full junior and senior years at one school was because I supported myself for those two years, and therefore didn't move when they did. The simple fact is that these decisions are not about simple facts..... You have to look at each case seperately and unfortunately then and only then can you try to make an informed decision about the motivation of the transfer.

This LC team is being picked on allot this year by the fans and media for having some bad years recently. So what did they do? They went and got a HIGHLY knowledgable new offensive coordinator and told him that he would have the time and the freedom to change the style of offense that this team uses. Now people want to take the VERY rough start that they've had and turn that into a reason to gripe about the coaches or faculty or players.... I am just shocked and appalled that some of these fans have such short memories... I played for Goldsmith (albeit VERY briefly because I stunk) and I can tell you that he has nothing but winning and teaching these boys to be men on his mind! He is not just a good man, but he is a man that deserves the time to turn this program around. If you recall it was Goldsmith and Michaels that turned this program into a powerhouse before Chuke got here. I also recall that Preece played his heart and soul out for this team and loves this program. So I for one will be patient and give goldsmith and Preece the time they deserve to implement this new scheme and teach this young group of players what it takes to bring the bulldogs back to the top of mountain.:thumb: Oh yeah: LC-28 GC-14

This kid is such a nice kid with great potential and I'd hate to see him miss the most enjoyable rivalry game of his senior year.

What is the truth about Grimm's injury? I'm not going to listen to rumors until someone that really knows can give some substantial information...

Good luck to all! 7 - Prestonsburg 5 - Bath County 3 - Clay County 2 - Knox Central 1 - Pikeville TB Bath county

That is a very good question that we will never have an answer for. However you can also ask what kind of numbers would West have put up if he had the same number of carries or if he ran behind the same line as Alexander? Who knows? My only point of contention is that West deserves to be in the discussion for the top 5 backs.

Marshall. But once again, that has nothing to do with high school. After high school Paul Hornung may be the only one that compares to Alexander and I will be the first to admit that. But during high school West stacks up against anyone, period.

Numbers mean little? So what are you basing your arguement on? Emotion?

94 Camel, I agree that Alexander played in the pros, but that doesn't make him necessarily better in high school. I love Alexander, and agree he could arguably be the best ever RB to play in KY(as the question asks), but the best during high school is not as cut and dried and some people like to think.