jude

Congratulations!!

Johnson Central in the top 5! WOW... Sheldon Clark is 10th. Looks like Eastern KY is doing pretty good? I guess Matney really knows how to build a program?

:jump: It is absolutely hysterically funny to listen to some (a minority) of the JC fans on here bash Paintsville over this decision. I don't know if anyone told you or not, but you're a 5A school! I know that the history of your program shows that a little 1A school has had the edge over you in football, but you can't honestly tell me that you think they should be able to compete with you every year? Are you people really so glib that you think they OWE you a chance to pay them back for the losses you've taken in the past. Are you grown men and women telling me that parents and a faculty should march their 1A team of kids onto a field that they have NO chance of winning on just so you feel better about all the past losses? :mad:Don't show your football ignorance by telling me that they have a chance at winning because anyone with any football knowledge knows that at this time Paintsville cannot compete with JC. :mad:Don't show your greed and tell me that these kids should be sent to be embarassed in front of their friends and family just so Paintsville will make more money from this game. I am truly ashamed of anyone on here that thinks that money should trump the pride and esteem of these young men. Remember when your making your comments about the cancellation of this game that this is a GAME first and foremost. GAMES are supposed to be about competition and helping these young men become real men by letting them win and lose in FAIR competition on the field. This game is not and lately has not been about FAIR competition. The coaching staff and Paintsville faculty has realized this and has made the tough but mature decision in this situation.:thumb:

Great game! Congratulations to both schools for a well played game and to JC for a memorable and successful season. With that being said I will throw out my quick thoughts and let everyone pick them apart. It's kind of interesting to say that JC's "run only" offense didn't hurt then note that they had the ball inside the 20 about 3 times that they didn't score. It would seem to me that when you are inside the 20 and you are a one dimensional offense that you are easier to stop. Maybe I'm wrong and some of the coaches on here can tell me if this statement is true? Also if you have 3 turnovers and 2 of them are from the 4 passes you threw you can't tell me this didn't hurt your team? 50% pass to interception ratio is not good no matter how you look at it. I am a fan of JC and I really wanted them to pull off this upset. However once this team is down 14 points with little time left I can't believe that anyone there really anticipated a comeback based on a run-only offense? I'm not saying you have to be perfectly balanced but when you play HHS you better be one of the best in the country at running the ball or a balanced offense or else you'll be wearing street clothes next Friday night. I think that JC will be one of the best teams in the state next year and I believe that this game will teach them the lesson that they will need pass the ball to ever get past HHS in the playoffs.

I have stated before and I still believe that Highlands will beat JC, But I would be truly happy with a JC win! JC has one of the best rushing attacks that I've seen in years and I believe Highlands will have to really bring their A game to stop this rushing attack. Or they could just watch the Belfry tape and copy that? LOL

Fugate should look hard at some of the in state schools. Playing D1 anywhere is an acheivement and schools like WKU are recruiting from Florida, Texas and California so why wouldn't an in-state recruit look at that as a possibility.

Well said!

Congratulations to Bell!! Classy move by your coach to try and stop the beating at halftime by pulling the starters. Good team and a good coaching staff. Lawrence County now has a chance to regroup and start over next year. A year like this is difficult for fans but it has to be excruciating for players and coaches. I hope they realize that things will improve next year. We only had 3 or 4 starting seniors so our young players got plenty of experience this year. See ya'll next year!

As a team didn't Johnson Central have over 600 yards in one game this year? I may be wrong but I think that's accurate?

As a fan of an 0-10 team that's in the playoffs I can say that I think they need to do something to prevent this in the future. I like seeing my team in the playoffs, but not if they didn't earn it. At 0-10 there is no way to justify having the same opportunities as teams that played their tails off to make the playoffs.

I don't even believe my vote but I love pulling for the underdog!

Even though I like to be optimistic, everyone knows that Bell is really as good as advertised and Lawrence is just not that good this year. Even with that said it's fun to dream?

Lawrence County 21 - Bell 14. LOL Someone has to have the bulldogs back? I've decided that what's really happening here is that LC knew at the beggining of the season that they would be playing Bell in the playoffs so they have been saving all of their best stuff for this game. They are going to SHOCK the world! Now to be serious. Everyone knows that Bell is really that good. However I still say Lawrence isn't as bad as their record shows. The chances of them beating Bell are about the same as App State beating Michigan or Buster Douglas beating Tyson. Oh wait? That's probably not a good example. Sorry I was trying to be serious but it's hard to do when your 0-10 team is playing a 10-0 team. Good luck to all and I hope it's an injury free game.

Even as a fan you have to know when your team is going against a superior team. With that being said it will be interesting to see who puts up a better fight, Lawrence or Pendleton? I think Lawrence will score at least 14 points against Bell. I know nothing about Pendleton though?

Thank you Scar! How many of those teams beat Highlands? I'm just saying that the beating Lawrence counties potent running attack took at Highlands in 99 taught me and many others around here a valuable lesson. Highlands may play in the same class as you on paper, but they play a different calibur of teams week after week. How often do teams from Eastern KY even get considered as part of the schedule for the Cincinnati schools or teams like St.X or Trinity? We have good football here, but we DO NOT have the competition here that you have in that part of the state. PERIOD! I respect Highlands for what they are and I respect JC, Belfry and Ashland for having teams that can go to the playoffs and make a good showing for eastern ky, but when you get into 5A and 6A teams Eastern Ky schools are going to have to learn that it takes a talented and diversified offense to compete against the elite teams in this state. With that being said I think JC has one of if not the finest all around running attacks I've seen since some of the great 90's Belfry and Lawrence County teams. Will that be enough to compete against Highlands? History doesn't suggest to me that a great running attack is quite enough. You have to at least have the "threat" of a passing attack and one heckuva defense against both the run and the pass. If you recall Lawrence County in 99 had the #1 all-time reciever in the state and a top 5 all time rusher in the backfield and still got THUMPED!

Who was the last team to beat Highlands with over 90% of their plays being running plays? As MANY eastern ky teams find out, you DON"T beat Highlands without at least the threat of a passing attack. I really like JC but I don't think they can play the type of game they like to play and beat Highlands. Sorry?

Someone mentioned in another thread that the rain really favors running teams and immediately someone else pointed out that passing teams have an advantage due to the QB and reciever knowing the route and therefore the DB has problems on the wet surface more than the WR? My philosophy is that the recievers do have a route running advantage, but that it is negated by the fact that the QB and WR have to contend with a wet ball, therefore a rainy game does in my opinion favor running teams. I've also stated that the rain seems to push coaches more towards the philosophy that "three things happen when you pass and two of them are bad". A huge "THANK YOU" for whoever can remind me who originally said that?

The whole idea of knowing the route makes sense at face value, but it ignores the fact that the ball is wet. It's not really about getting open in the rain it's about having a QB that can grip and throw the ball well in the rain and a reciever that has good enough hands to catch it in the rain. I think the rain makes most coaches go back to that really old saying "three things can happen on a pass play and two of them are bad". The rain seems to emphasize those two bad things. Actually this would make for a good thread topic?

High life has a very good point. LC plays Letcher and Breathitt after this. I am a devoted LC fan but Letcher and Breathitt are not the teams you want to be trying to beat to get your first win. After that LC will probably play Bell in the playoffs and even I don't have dillusions about that game! So with all that said this is VERY much our best shot at a win this season. Unfortunately for LC Greenup has some talented players and has been improving throughout the season also. So Greenup wants this just as bad as LC does. Good luck DOGS!!! I'll be there cheering you on!

LC has 3 starters that are seniors. I hope for their sake that they didn't quit. It would be a shame to miss out on playing the end of the season your senior year!

I know all of you are getting sick of me pointing at Lawrence Counties non-district schedule as the primary culprit in our winless season, so tell me which other teams out there have really had a rough schedule. LC's 7 game non-district schedule includes 4 of the top 6 ranked 3A schools, 1 top 10 2A school and 2 non-ranked 5A schools, one of which (Letcher) has been ranked in the top ten. So our non-district schedule has a total of 1 school that is not and hasn't been ranked in the BGP top ten of their class.:scared:

To the players of Lawrence County that read this site I just want to say thank you! I have been watching LC play for 20+ years and I have never been more proud of a group of players. Most fans come on here and say that all they really expect is for the players to play their best and win or lose they'll be happy. Well this year has tested that statement. Even with 0 wins so far I feel that the players have given 110% EVERY week and have come so close so many times only to be sent back to the drawing board for another try next week. Every Friday night I watch or listen to this team and smile at my wife after the game and say "Man they sure are a good team. They didn't win but they NEVER quit playing and they came so close to getting that first win. I can't wait till next week!" Well I can't walk into the locker and tell you each thank you, but if any of you do read this site please tell the other players that the vast majority of your fans out there TRULY appreciate your effort and hard work every week. So in closing I say once again that all I expect is for my Bulldogs to take that field with pride and tradition and give your fans and yourself an honest 100% effort till the last tick of the clock! GOOD LUCK.:thumb:

OK after some studying on Rowan I will say that they have some talent in some VERY key spots. The RB from what I hear is VERY good. They apparently have a good coaching staff and some players that are starting to really improve. However with that being said I will say that LC finally gets over the hump. The young talent and hunger for a win finally combine to give LC fans something to celebrate.

I will quickly be reminded that I've said this at least 4 other times this year, but here goes. The Bulldogs are going to win this week! No I mean it this time. Really! I'm just playing. I can't really make an educated prediction on this one because I know nothing about Rowan this year? Does anyone have any information on how physical they are or what type of offense they are running this year?

Lawrence still sits atop this list. They have played three teams that are still undefeated. Russell is an excellent team that lost to Ashland and Boyd also lost to Ashland and Russell. So with the exception of North Laurel the Bulldogs schedule has been packed with highly ranked teams. Combine that with the fact that Lawrence only starts 2 or 3 senior total for both sides of the ball along with at least 2 freshman on offense and you have a very young team that plays hard every week but just doesn't get a chance to catch a break. I've got confidence that we will win this week and turn things around. Unfortunately we still have Letcher County and Breathitt on the schedule. Those along with our two district games make for 4 more weeks of tough games.