Grover

East has experimented with multiple offenses (spread, power I, pro I) and have not been very successful with any. They scored 35 against a good Raceland team running the Power I. Perhaps they have found something in their win against Rowan County, but I say that Belfry will shut their offense down. East's defense is pretty physical and will hit you in the mouth. They have some athletes on offense, but I think their lack of committment to any one offense has stymied them. If they have finally become comfortable with an offense, they may give Belfry some minor fits, but I see Belfry big in this one. If Belfry's defense is a good as advertised, I smell a shutout.

The Russell Frosh have a new coach this year, Shawn Moore. He's a good guy and coach, but has had a rough first year. The Ashland boy you are talking about is now their JV coach.

They are not very deep and have struggled mightily this season, but they have also played Ironton, Wheelersburg, and Wayne.

Better watch out for the Kiwanis Bowl! The Red Devils frosh are 0-7!

It is harder to throw a wet football than hand one off.

Actually, Coach Morris coaches the defensive backs. Coach Jones coaches the defensive ends.

As far as the kick goes, I know Coach McGlone is probably now thinking he made the wrong decision. However, in his defense, the kickoff team already had shown all game they couldn't tackle anybody short of the 45 yard line and they had already given up an 85 yard return. Also, if you kick it out of bounds, then all Simon Kenton has to do is take a re-kick. That is a no win situation.

First, if anyone misread my previous post and thought I was blaming a PLAYER for the loss, you did indeed misread it. I was simply pointing out that people are going to blame the poor secondary play or the short kickoff for the loss, then they are wrong. Russell did those things and still had the game won when the clock ended, except for the penalty which allowed them to kick the field goal. Yes, the game isn't over until the final whistle blows, I know all of the cliches, but Russell was still in position to win the game despite all of that. Yes, the secondary needs TREMENDOUS help in spots, but these are 16-17 year old kids who are taught correct fundamentals and are trying their hardest. The best of the best are already out there, so even though there will probably be some changes made, you can't expect there to be dramatic differences in personnel performance. There is no answer on the bench. We need to just support these kids and hope that they will get better each week.

You can second guess a lot of things, but what it boils down to is that Russell had the game won, with bad secondary play and a kickoff that will be debated. A face mask penalty lost them the game.

I may be wrong, but I think the last correlation between the undefeated Frosh and not so successful varsity was due to transfers and players quitting.

Not caring who is ranked where, it shocks me to see the combined Win/Loss Record for the "Super 7" is 22-17. Take Russell and JC out of the mix, and teams 3-7 are a combined 12-16. Makes our area look weak this year.

I apologize if anyone took my previous comment as a personal jab. I wasn't directing it at anyone. I was just stating that it should be obvious that Russell will not be as strong as they have in the previous 3-4 years due to the loss of two of the best players in school history. I think, from my observations, that Russell will be much weaker in the individual athlete department. However, they do have 2-3 above average running backs and a great quarterback (who is still nursing an ankle sprain). Their offensive line is playing very well right now and the defense is above average. They don't have the athletes that they have had in the past on this side of the ball, but Coach Morris will always have a great game plan ready and will put the athletes where they need to be to be successful. Their schedule is not strong again this year, but they are soundly defeating everyone in their path. They have a bad tendency to let the opposing team score first and last, but they are scoring more than enough in between to win the games.

When you lose Gross and then Clark, you're going to fall a little.

The good thing it that IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER. We're all pretty much playing for different championships at the end of the season. Is Johnson Central better than Russell? They don't play so it is hard to say. Probably are though. Is Fairview better than East? Fairview won the game, so they pretty much must be. It's really all a moot point, except for fan based bragging. Comparing teams each play will never be a good catalyst, unless they are the same teams. Even then, it can be cloudy. Case in point: Does Johnson Central's 14-3 victory over Wheelersburg compared to Russell's 53-15 win over West Carter REALLY show us who is the better team? Does Fairview's 62-15 win over Lewis County mean they are better than Mason County, who only beat Lewis 56-7?

There were 80-90 kids on the team two year ago, but this year, there is barely 50 (not counting Freshman).

Ivan McGlone, Russell. He has one returning starter defensively and three offensively from last year's state runner up program and is currently 5-0. With the past two years success for Russell (state championship and runner up), people think success should be a given. However, this is a small, 3A school where athletes don't grow on trees. Also, the one's that lead the previous success are all gone. The success of the program this year is due to his coaching ability.

5. Mason, Russell, East Carter, West Carter, Lewis County

It's still pretty early to be guessing that. I would say the teams to watch would be Belfry, Breathitt, Russell, Mason, Louisville Central, Russellville, and Sheldon Clark off the top of my head. I haven't seen many 3A teams play, so there are probably others that deserve to be listed.

I was there. This is not what happened. I know for a fact that Coach Smith would not berate a kid for checking on an injured player.

I think he is talking about East's success when Miller was there, not Miller's success.

East currently isn't running any wing T. They have a new coach, and they started the year running a spread offense. The past couple of games, they've also run Power I.

I agree 100%. There should be CONSISTENCY for transfer rules. There is not. The system is way too political.

Where was the uproar of eligibility when Mahan transferred TO Ashland? Some people want their cake and eat it too. I know it is a tough situation. When a player is kicked off a team and later on suits up for a rival or district opponent (whether legitimately or not), it leaves a sour taste in your mouth. However, when a talented player comes to your school, we welcome them with open arms. It can't be both ways. If you have ill feelings against a player being deemed eligible at the school he transfers to, you shouldn't EVER allow a player to transfer into your sports team.

I would be shocked if this one is a blowout. The intensity of the rivalry throws records and talent out the window. Ashland has some GREAT skill players who can beat you every play. The past three games they really haven't looked like they knew what to do on every play. If this happens to be the week they figure it out, anything can happen.

The 2-7 is just a breakdown of the tackles. The stat program gives whoever the stat person types in first a solo tackle (the first number) and whoever he types in last an assist (the last number). Both count as tackles for the player (unless they do 1/2 tackle credit for assists). Most teams do not because on many plays, it is difficult to see who made the initial contact and who helped bring him down.