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BluegrassPreps 2019 Western Kentucky Power Rankings – Week 7 Edition The top story line this week is the BYE Week Cometh! EIGHT (8) of the Top 10 Teams are on the BYE Week come October 11. And another 4 teams in spots 11 thru 20. So 12 of the Top 20 Teams are now on the Bye! WOW! That just seems like more than I can ever remember. But on the other hand, it is a good time to stretch your legs after 6 or 7 straight weeks of the grind! Some teams use the Bye Week better than others. What about your team? Do they usually improve or decline after the break? You tell me… Week 7 Western Kentucky Game of the Week: 5A Bowling Green (4-2) 14 at 5A South Warren (6-1) 3. Terrific game at Spartan Stadium on Friday Night! BG received 3 South Warren Turnovers in the first half and still could not get on the board thanks to a fantastic South Warren defensive effort. The Spartan offense did manage to get into range for a 27 yard field goal and led Old-School Style 3-0 at the half! BG made a significant adjustment at halftime and that led to being able to keep South on their own end of the field early in the 3rd Quarter. BG then methodically moved deep into South territory late in the 3rd Quarter and JR RB Javy Bunton took the draw and scrambled into the end zone to finally put the Purples on top 7 to 3. Now into the 4th Quarter; South Warren managed to get into field goal range, but the kick was blocked and after a wild scramble, BG recovered on the South 45 yard line. BG then went to work on the clock, but South forced a 3rd and 18 from roughly the Spartan 25 yard line. Javy Bunton then took it around the left end and made about 3 Spartans miss in route to the final score of 14 to 3. Great Game! But this is only Round 1 between these 2 IMO! Much more analysis below! Week 8 Western Kentucky Games of the Week: 4A Hopkinsville (5-2) at 4A Madisonville North-Hopkins (6-1). 4A District 1 - The District that keeps on giving! The top 3 teams in this District are all worthy of representing 4A District 1 come the 3rd week of the playoffs, but only 1 will get that honor! And this game right here will help decide that as it will at least help ensure seeding for the first round of the playoffs! Madisonville comes into this one after taking a crushing home loss vs Logan County 2 weeks ago; then throttles County Mate Hopkins County Central. The Tigers come into this one after a terrific performance against a very gritty Logan County team. Hoptown now controls their destiny in this district. And with a win in this game, will become District Champs and avoid the other 2 worthy district adversaries until Week 2 of the playoffs! But if the Maroons win, then we have ourselves a fun 3-way tie and we’ll have to get our tiebreaker charts out! BIG GAME! Honorable Mention: Graves County at Grayson County and Apollo at Henderson County. Try to make it out to one of these great games! Week 7 Top 10: 10) Glasgow (3A) – Preseason Rank: 12 - 2019 Record 6-1; District Record 1-0] Week 7 Results: Win 50-22 vs 3A District Mate Adair County (2-5). The Scotties took out their South Warren near miss frustrations on the Indians, but give Adair County credit as the Indians battled admirably and played awfully well into the second quarter before Glasgow pulled away! I think both of these teams are going in the right direction for where they are presently. Also Scottie Fans, don’t make much of dropping to #10 this week. That simply has to do with turbulence above you, but I am still very high on Glasgow! Week 8: BYE WEEK. The Scotties have to feel good about where they are at this stage of the season. They are laying in the tall weeds at #10 in the BGPs 3A Poll! That’s a steal from where I’m sitting! I like Glasgow against most of those teams in front of them. Not all, but most. They should have light work to get to the 3rd Round. The new RPI ranking tool isn’t the Scotties friend as they are below all those top 10 teams, but 1. But a LOT to like if you’re a Scotties Fan! 9) Paducah Tilghman (3A) – Preseason Rank: 7 - 2019 Record 5-2; [District Record 1-0] Week 7 Results: Loss: 49-14 vs 3A DeSales (4-2). When a running team can’t run – that’s a problem! DeSales is currently the #1 Team in 3A right now for a reason and they have one of the best defenses around! That showed last Friday night as Tilghman only gained roughly 50 yards on the ground. Well below their typical output. But I would put this to you Tilghman Fans, what have you lost by this game? Yes, you took a loss on your record. Yes, the neigh-sayers can take their shots, but who cares about them. If you take this film and experience and take care of business in your district and come out ready to go in Week 3, I still believe you have the talent to make some noise beyond that! Go Tilghman! Week 8: BYE WEEK! Rest up Blue Tornado’s, but don’t sleep on Union County! Be ready for a tough game on October 18th, as that will put you in the District Driver’s Seat for sure! 8) Logan County (4A) – Preseason Rank: 10 - 2019 Record 6-1; District Record 1-1] Week 7 Results: Loss: 21-6 at 4A District Rival Hopkinsville (5-2). Rough loss for the Cougars! No doubt about it! But like our good friend @TackleTrap said, I have a great deal of respect for the Cougars, who never quit even when players were going down injured throughout this game! QB Tyler Ezell and RB/LB Gary Hardy are undoubtedly the heart and soul of this team! Ezell played his heart out; got banged up and went back in any way! Hardy was carted off the field in the 3rd Quarter! There’s no question the physicality of the Madisonville and Hoptown games on the road in back to back weeks took their toll on the Cougars! Even through all that, they took the early lead and chose to play aggressively going for the 2 point conversation and just after an on-side kick. We learned in the Update threads the regular Logan kicker/punter wasn’t in Hoptown, as the young man is also a soccer player and Logan had a soccer game that night as well. Logan won that soccer game vs Butler County 11 to 1. Sure seems like the coaches could have spoken in advance to get the young man where he was most needed, but I digress. Sending a pray for Mr. Hardy to get better soon! Terrific player! Week 8: BYE WEEK! No one has earned a Bye Week more than Logan County! Getting your 2 district rivals out of the way knowing you are still in the District Race at this point has to be a good thing! But Logan County has multiple injuries and a mild schedule upcoming until they go to South Warren the last game of the year. I’d look to get those injured some time off in order to make a playoff run no matter who you face! Good luck Cougars! 7) Madisonville – North Hopkins (4A) – Preseason Rank: 5 - 2019 Record 6-1; [District Record 1-1] Week 7 Results: Win: 48-14 at 4A District Mate Hopkins County Central (0-7). The Storm just can’t buy a break. Arguably the worst week of the whole season to play Madisonville was likely this week, as the Maroons were surely still angry from their whisker close loss to Logan County. This game seemed more of a scrimmage than a District game, as these two teams are just at such different levels! Week 8: Western Kentucky GAME OF THE WEEK - vs District Rival 4A Hopkinsville (5-2). Well 4A District 1 is down to this final game between the Big 3! If Hoptown wins, they are District Champs and get a much easier game in Round 1 of the playoffs! If the Maroons win, then it’s a 3 way tie! The attached link will take you to the KHSAA rules page. The Tie-breaker rules for the District Championship are to the right on the first page. https://khsaa.org/common_documents/handbook/competitionrules/fbcompetitionrules.pdf I simply don’t have time this week to go through that in details, but maybe one of you might. But again, if Hoptown wins, it’s a moot point. But will they? I think Madisonville is in a good spot, playing at home with a chip on their shoulder. What say you… 6) Hopkinsville (4A) – Preseason Rank: 6 - 2019 Record 5-2; District Record 2-0] Week 7 Results: Win: 21-6 vs District Rival Logan County 4A (6-1). This was a very physical, hard-nosed football game. Thanks to our good friend @FSfan who brought us excellent updates for this game! Star QB Jay Bland played a whale of a game! He had success passing the ball, but it was likely his gutty, tough, physical runs that ultimately made the difference for the Hoptown offense. Concerning the Hoptown defense, LB Eric Grubb was a solid as the Rock of Gibraltar! And remember the name of the young Freshman DB Dejaun Mercer, who really stepped on the scene in a BIG way for the Tigers! You’ll see him later, but he is already near the top Tiger for INTs in a single season this year at 7! Impressive for a Freshman! Huge win for Hoptown! Week 8: Western Kentucky GAME OF THE WEEK - at District Rival 4A Madisonville-North Hopkins (6-1). Another HUGE District Game! When this game is complete, we should have a much clearer picture of which team will basically get a first round bye (District Champ), while the other two teams will have to play each other a second time. That’s what makes these games so big, as they are almost like playoff preseason games! I look for the Tigers to try to establish just enough of a run game to have some play action take hold prior to just lining up in the shotgun and slingin it all over the field. I think Hoptown comes in really focused in this game. Coach Clayton and staff have done a terrific job this year! I see this game as pretty even and should be one HECK of a game! Get out to support your team Tiger Fans!!! 5) Owensboro (5A) – Preseason Rank: 8 - 2019 Record 6-1; [District Record 3-0] Week 7 Results: Win: 54-0 vs 5A Muhlenberg County (2-5). The Mustangs simply got mauled! Owensboro is playing well and a very good team. QB Gavin Wimsatt had a big game and you’ll see him and his stud WR Treyvon Tinsley (Oh, another Tinsley!) later! Their District Mates are simply not on their level, for right now at least. But that holds the Red Devils back from being able to compete with BG & South at the top of these Rankings. But that’s not to say, I don’t think O would be able to win those games because I do. If Owensboro played BG and/or South, I think they would be close competitive games, but we wouldn’t see that now until Week 3 at the earliest. Onward! Week 8: BYE WEEK. Might as well get this out of the way Red Devil Fans! But I will say that I really like how Coach Fallin got backup QB Taquan Robinson a couple series in this game! SO SMART! Nobody knows when injuries will come your way and you need to be prepared. The Red Devils coaching staff should be applauded for that! Rest up Owensboro! 4) Mayfield (2A) – Preseason Rank: 1 - 2019 Record 6-1; District Record 1-0] Week 7 Results: Win: 45-7 at 2A District Rival Caldwell County (5-2). As our good friend @WKY_Football said, Caldwell played hard, they just didn’t have the horses to keep up with Mayfield. It feels like Mayfield was very focused this week and played a sharp, clean game. QB Jayden Stinson played really well again passing for over 200 yards on the night. Also RB Kylan Galbraith had a big game for Big Red and you’ll see him later! Mayfield clearly seems to be ramping up to me going into the Bye Week. What say you… Week 8: BYE WEEK! The Cardinals roll into the Bye Week in fine shape. Yes, I’m sure they’d like to have another shot at McCracken County, but I also think that this loss will help/has helped the Cardinals focus this season. I’m not aware of the Cardinals injury report, but don’t know of any serious losses yet this season. If I’m wrong, I’m sure our good friend @Squirrel will let us know! Looking down the road at the Cardinal schedule, a HUGE District Tilt at War Memorial Stadium sees the Murray Tigers coming in as strong as they have been in some time! That will be followed by a long drive east to Madisonville to take on rock solid Maroons squad who have deep playoff hopes as well. Madisonville is a VERY physical team. Mayfield will need to prepare for that. Finally, our good friend @Mayfieldsportsfan provided us with such a cool video of Mayfield during the Graves County game and really shows what the Cardinals mean for the entire Mayfield community! It’s inspirational and I’d like to add it here as well: Access Denied Good luck Cardinals! 3) McCracken County (6A) – Preseason Rank: 9 - 2019 Record 5-2; District Record 2-0] Week 7 Results: Win: 50-36 vs 6A District Mate Apollo (2-5). Thanks to our good friends @Brown and @redleg13 who brought us updates on this one! Early on SR RB Shane Riley for Daviess County had roughly 4 carries for 165 yards and 2 scores to give the Panthers the early lead. But he got hurt and the Mustangs regrouped and settled down and led 43-14 at the half and started the running clock at 9:37 in the 3rd quarter. The Mustang offense is playing really, really well and if their Big 3 of QB Elijah Wheat, RB Hunter Bradley, and WR Franklin Hayes stay healthy there is no reason McCracken County can’t go into Week 3 of the playoffs looking to compete for a Regional Championship! Week 8: BYE WEEK! I’ve been sayin it for a while now! McCracken County is in a good spot with the rest of their season looking for them to be the favorites in every game. Even the likely district showdown at Hendo! I would make a point to get in younger Mustangs who will be needed next year. The teams that understand this are the teams that stay at the top! If you just blow through the mop-up time, that’s on you! If you put it to good use with getting some younger guys some snaps with the Bright Friday Night Lights, things will continue to look up for Mustang Nation! Good luck Mustangs! 2) South Warren (5A) – Preseason Rank: 3 - 2019 Record 6-1; District Record 0-1] Week 7 Results: Western Kentucky GAME OF THE WEEK - Loss: 14-3 vs 5A District Rival Bowling Green (4-2). I realize it is difficult to lose to your rivals Spartan fans, but you have no shame here! Your defense played super! And honestly, I thought your offense was ok as well, especially SO RB Kobe Martin, who I still believe will be a special RB before he’s done in a South uniform! I also felt young SO QB Mason Willingham played well in only his second varsity start in a very difficult position, as BG didn’t make it easy on him. Consider this Spartan fans, Mr. Willingham did throw 3 picks, but remember the first one gave BG the ball at their own 2 yard line, where the Spartans forced BG to punt soon after. The second, BG didn’t do anything with that possession. And the 3rd INT was in Hail Mary mode and that will happen when Joe Montana is in the pocket. However, it is also fair to say that the full measure of Caden Veltcamp’s absence was felt in this game. As I predicted last week, those 3rd and long/medium throws were just not there. If Veltcamp were in the game, it opens up more running lanes and South could likely have attacked BG up top as well. BUT, you play with who ya got! My South friends suggest Veltcamp “could” be back for the next BG game. But they also say that seems awfully aggressive for a broken wrist on your throwing hand. I agree, but we will see Week 2 of the Playoffs at El Donaldson Stadium! Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t spotlight star JR WR/DB Jantzen Dunn, who was all over the field for South in this game. He caught passes, he returned kicks and he was a stalwart on defense tripping up countless Purples who would have broken much bigger plays had it not been for his stellar efforts. Outstanding! Week 8: BYE WEEK! The Spartans can use the Bye Week to heal up, as they have some injuries that could use a week off! Good luck Spartans! 1) Bowling Green (5A) – Preseason Rank: 2 - 2019 Record 4-2; District Record 1-0] Week 7 Results: Western Kentucky GAME OF THE WEEK - Win 14-3 at 5A District Rival South Warren (6-1). The Purples have to feel good to travel to South Warren and break their 21 game win streak and also snap a 2-game losing streak to South and evening up the series record with the Spartans at 2 games each! Most Purples fans were very concerned at halftime when you are given 3 turnovers while not turning it over yourself and still find yourself losing at halftime. But such it is when you play a very good team! The BG offense can be said a Tale of 2 Halves, with the first half being mired in conservative run plays and incomplete pass plays. But halftime saw a change in QBs and IMO a change in the outcome, as BG moved the ball in the opening possession to keep South pinned in their half of the field. Add some key pass completions and QB scrambles along the way and you could tell BG had improved coming out of the locker room. In many ways, this second half was JR RB Javy Bunton’s coming out party. Many staunch Purples fans already know of Bunton’s talent, but he put it on display Friday night against arguably the best run defense in the West and had a BIG game! You will see him later! And how bout that BG Defense! They had to hold the fort the whole first half and made huge plays in the second half as well. Well done! Finally, IMO this was HUGE from a mental standpoint for the Purples, as you don’t want to lose 3 straight to South knowing you’d have to come back in 6 weeks to play them at South again! Big! Week 8: BYE WEEK! I would think Coach Spader is pleased with getting this win and this South film will be invaluable to ironing out strategy to get the next one (hopefully if you’re a BG fan)! Rest up Purples! Next 10 – 11 to 20: 11) Owensboro Catholic (2A) (6-1) – Week 6 Results: Win 55-21 at 2A McLean County. I think McLean hoped to have a little bit better team than their 3 and 4 record would let on. Let’s see how they do down in Elkton taking on a good Todd County Central Club for the #2 spot in this district. But this is what it’s come to in the Hansel and Gretel District of 2A with OCATH being the domineering Witch! All OCATH different Day! Star QB Drew Hartz has a monster game along with his supporting cast and you’ll see them later. But wouldn’t you get the backup in and throw a few passes with him now in the weak district schedule? I’m not complaining; I’m looking out for your future Aces! Think about it… Onward! Next up: BYE WEEK! Maybe our good friend @zoneblitz2 can shed some light on the injury report for OCATH. Outside of that, it pretty business as usual for the Aces! Looking at the Aces schedule ahead, I only see routes except for possibly at home vs 6A Apollo. That game has another 81-51 feel to it to me! What say you… 12) Henderson County (6A) (5-1) - Week 7 Results: Win 42-7 at 5A Marshall County. The Colonels get back in the win column in comfortable fashion, as the fighting Marshals just aren’t that good this year. Hendo playing well right now. On to District play! Week 8: vs 6A District Mate Apollo. Interesting game here. HENDO has certainly played better this season, but with 51 points on the board vs McCracken County, even in defeat for Apollo, you have to think they are dangerous. At least with a punchers chance if everything falls into place! Still, the game being in Henderson is an advantage for the Colonels and I like them to pull this one out by a couple TDs! Good Luck Hendo! 13) Franklin Simpson (4A) (3-4) – Week 7 Results: Win 35-21 at 4A District Mate Russell County. According to our good friend’s @macdon and @FSfan, the Wildcats are dealing with many injuries, but their replacements are now starting to hit their stride! Of particular importance are the offensive and defensive lines are seeing continued improvement. Just what the doctor ordered! Next up: BYE WEEK! The Wildcats enter the Bye Week after having gotten up off the mat from 4 straight losses to start the season against medium to tough competition and are now on a 3 game win streak against low (Russellville) to medium competition. I look for the win streak to continue, but I will admit that I’m intrigued by the Wildcat games with Warren East and at a Gritty Glasgow squad. While I “think” Franklin will be the favorites in both those games, I’ll certainly be paying attention to them! Good Luck Wildcats! I still look for the Wildcats to be a dangerous team come Week 3 of the playoffs! 14) Murray (2A) (5-1) – Week 7 Results – Win 49-17 vs 2A District Mate Fort Campbell. The Tiger knocked the feathers off the Falcons yet again. It’s been a rough 2019 campaign for Fort Campbell. Star QB Hunter Utley was outstanding again, but a BIG Game is just up over the horizon. But not next week! Next up: at 2A Poor Ole’ Ballard Memorial. I’m shaking my head as I type this, as Murray could easily win this game with their JV team. I’m not trying to slap the Bombers in the face; I’m trying to tell you the disparity in these 2 teams! But hey, the Bomber earned their first win of the season last week – Yeah Bombers! Go Tigers! 15) Caldwell County (2A) (5-2) – Week 7 Results: Loss 45-7 vs District Rival 2A Mayfield. I don’t have any stats for the Tigers on this one, but just feel Mayfield jumped on the Tigers and that was pretty much it. I do think Caldwell County put up good effort. They just don’t have the horses this year to run with Mayfield. It’s that simple. But the seasons not over Tiger fans and this sets up a great game just over the horizon, but not next week! Next up: vs District Mate Ft Campbell. Poor ole’ Fort Campbell has lost all 7 games this year and yes it’s likely, make that, very likely to be 8 straight! Would be a great chance to get some younger Tigers into action in this one as the Falcons are about to get flogged again! Tigers roll! 16) Graves County (5A) (3-3) – Week 7 Results: Win 37-7 vs New District Mate Ohio County! Graves blew the doors off Ohio County more than doubling the Eagles in yardage. QB John Brown had a great game and you’ll see him later! Next week: at District Mate Grayson County. This is an interesting game! From Mayfield to Leitchfield is roughly 2.5 hours by bus one way. That’s a haul! Graves has easily played the tougher schedule by a mile and should be the more prepared team because of it. But Grayson County is coming off the Bye Week and Coach Smart is a pretty good coach. So I think this game can go either way. I’d say regardless these 2 will meet up again in the first round of the playoffs. But where will that game be played? This game should determine that and with a 5 hour round trip on the line, it’s a big deal! What say you… 17) Barren County (6A) (5-1) – Week 7 Results: BYE WEEK! The Trojans are just now empting the last bottles of Dom Perignon ’53 from the Vino cellars deep inside the Barren County Fieldhouse after their eye-popping win 19-16 at 5A Greenwood! It’s been a fun ride leavin the old broken down chassis on I-65 formerly known as 5A District 2 and fielding a new Formula 1 inspired 6A District 2 chassis! That along with a Neosporin-inspired schedule, have the Trojans riding high! But now it’s time to pay the Band! Next up: vs New District Mate 6A Central Hardin. This is probably the best Central Hardin team I can recall. They have a really talented offense with playmakers all over. On defense, they aren’t as talented. Central Hardin has played 3 6A teams this year winning on average 50-20. I look for that margin to continue here. But prove me wrong Trojans! 18) Grayson County (5A) (6-0) – Week 7 Results – BYE WEEK! Grayson County called up the Trojans to see if they had any more spirits left after enjoying their best pre-district campaign since 2012! But I’m hopeful the Cougars have used this time wisely, as likely their most important game of the season is upon them! Next up: vs. District Mate 5A Graves County! Why did I say it was Grayson’s most important game you ask? It’s because of all the remaining Cougar games, this is likely the only one still up in the air. I look for them to beat Ohio County at home and Hart County on the road, while losing to Owensboro at Rash Stadium. So here you go Cougars! It’s your opportunity to win a home playoff game right here! And as I said before, with a 5 hour round trip bus ride and getting the gate for the playoff game is a pretty Big Deal to me! Good luck! 19) Greenwood (5A) (5-2) –Week 7 Results: Win 20-14 at 5A Christian County. Big District Win for the Gators! Congratulations! While I don’t see any other District Wins for Greenwood, this win was important for momentum, as I could see Greenwood beating John Hardin even on the road in a close scrap in Week 10! Mr. Everything Reed Sloan did it all for the Gators running a punt back and running another TD in to help Greenwood avoid a winless district slate! I feel bad for Christian County, who will not likely have a winless season this year. That’s tough! Better luck next year Colonels! Next week: BYE WEEK! Getting back in the win column is more important than you think going into the Bye Week as mentally it sets the tone for the rest of your season. Yes, the coaches can yell at you and tell you to suck it up, but nothing helps more than winning! Rest up Gators! You’re going to need it! 20) Warren East (4A) (4-3) – Week 7 Results: Win 53-12 at 4A District Mate Warren Central. Welcome to the Top 20 Ra-Ra-Raiders! JR QB Nolan Ford had a super game and you’ll see him next. Also SR RB/DB Damontra Pillow had a big game to for the Raiders with nearly 100 yards rushing and 1 INT and 4 tackles on defense! Interesting team here! Could the Ra-Ra-Raiders have anything for Franklin this year? You tell me… They are dangerous! Next up: BYE WEEK! The Raiders last 3 games of the season are challenging at home vs Allen County, at Franklin Simpson and then at Daviess County! Tough slate, but that should get you ready to battle in Week 1 of the playoffs! Go Raiders! Week 7 Players of the Week: *I don’t have all stats available, so please add as you see fit! 1) Dejaun Mercer – DB – Hopkinsville - 3 INTs vs Logan County! Outstanding! 2) Javy Bunton – RB – Bowling Green – 14 carries for 82 yards and 2 TDs vs South Warren! And against South Warren that’s sayin something! 3) Jantzen Dunn – WR/DB – South Warren – I don’t have specific stats yet for South, but I watched the game vs BG and IMO Dunn played a significant role in all 3 phases for South Warren and contributed on all 3 levels and that’s why he is here! Great effort! 4) Drew Hartz – QB – Owensboro Catholic – 22 for 32 for 468 yards and 7 TDs vs Ohio County! Add ultra-talented WR Hagan Edge 7 catches for 152 yards and 3 TDs and WR Braden Mundy with 6 catches for 169 yards and 2 TDs! Then there’s another Boarman for OCATH! LB Chris Boarman with 19 tackles! Outstanding! 5) Kylan Galbraith – RB – Mayfield – 17 rushes for 223 yards vs Caldwell County! 6) Gavin Wimsatt – QB – Owensboro – 11 for 19 for 185 yards and 3 TDs vs Muhlenberg County! Add talented WR Treyvon Tinsley with 3 catches for 102 yards and 2 TDs! 7) Hunter Utley - QB – Murray – 8 for 9 with 236 yards and 2 TDs vs Fort Campbell! Add talented WR Jordan Duffy with 4 catches for 101 yards and 2 TDs! 8) Nolan Ford – QB – Warren East – 10 for 14 for 148 passing yards and 3 TDs AND 14 rushes for 131 rushing yards and 1 TD vs Warren Central! Outstanding! 9) John Brown – QB – Graves County – 24 for 38 for 309 yards and 4 TDs vs Ohio County! GREAT WORK GENTLEMEN!!! Week 7 “Teams Trending Down” Paducah Tilghman (3A) – Down – I’m not here to beat the Blue Tornado’s down. If you read their section above, you will know that. But to be fair, the DeSales game was a Big Game! It highlighted the Blue Tornado’s need to build a more balanced offense. That is a process because you have to play the players you have. BUT, to have such a powerful run game, I think Tilghman should look to enhance their play action package to help them going forward. Just a suggestion when teams stack the box on them! Good luck Tilghman! Logan County (4A) – Down – Let me start by saying I thought the Cougars gave everything they had last Thursday night and really appreciate their effort! But I also felt they were too aggressive at times with the 2 point conversion and on-side kick right out of the gate that I felt gave Hoptown a chance to a short field early in the game. Did that have to do with not having their starting kicker? You tell me… That and the poor snaps have to be corrected. That’s easy really. But the kicking game has to improve the next time Logan County sees either Hoptown or Madisonville. I hope Logan County’s injured players heal soon! Good luck Cougars! Fulton County (1A) – Down – The Pilots went to Russellville with a 5 and 1 record and looked to go up in the District race. But fate would serve up a brutal 34-31 loss. The Pilots are not here for that so much as they are for late in the 4th Quarter back to back RB passes were called with the last one being a Pick 6, which ultimately proved to be the deciding score. My point is when you have a horse as fine as RB Caleb Kimble, you ride him to the end! Teams “Trending Up” Bowling Green (5A) – Up – Excellent win Purples Nation! In my book, Bowling Green broke through several thresholds last Friday Night! Beat South for the first time since early 2017. Used Vito Tisdale on offense for the first time since the humbling loss to Owensboro in 2018 (even if it was only 2 plays – baby steps Purples Fans!). Hopefully, based upon the results Friday night, a full time QB can be named (we’ll see!). The BG defense played as well as they have all year. And the running back tandem of Javy Bunton and Jayvan Collins is really coming into their own! And as long as after playing Trinity, there aren’t more Purples in Greenview than the BG Fieldhouse, I feel really good about where this team is! Go Purples! Hopkinsville (4A) – Up – Coach Clayton has to be extremely proud of his team! Their physicality may have been the difference in the critical District win vs Logan County! With talent all over the field, this Tiger team is really playing well. They should have supreme confidence going up the Pennyrile Parkway Friday Night with the District Championship on the line! Hoptown playin as well as anyone right now! Go Tigers! Hancock County (2A) – Don’t look now but Coach Eubanks club has jumped out to a 2 and 0 record in the district! The Hornets just knocked off a good Todd County Central club 36-18 last Friday! While I don’t see the Hornets stinging the Aces, I do think they are a shoe-in for #2 in the district! The Hornets played a tough pre-district slate with now a 3 and 4 record, but I think that tough early season schedule is paying off now! Good luck Hornets! “Broke Their Maiden” – In horse racing, when you break your maiden, you win your first race. Well this category is for teams that don’t get as much love, but did get their first victory of the season here and I think that’s significant: 1. Ballard Memorial Bombers dropped the BIG MOMBA on Fulton City 26-8! Congrats to Coach Mark Brooks and the Bombers Players on their first win in 2019! 2. Russellville Panthers pulled out a thrilling 34-31 win against solid Fulton County on Friday Night for their first win of the season! Congrats to Coach Benton and the entire Panther Nation! They have played a very tough schedule and to their credit, never quit and battled to the end to get this critical District win! THE HAVES AND THE HAVE NOTS – It’s that time of year, when I try to recognize teams that are currently undefeated (The Haves) and teams who have yet to win a game (The Have Nots). Concerning the Haves, I don’t think any of us realize how difficult it can be going through 6 or 7 games and winning them all, even with less difficult games, I think that should be spot-lighted! The Haves – Thru Week 7 – Only 1 left after this week (2 dropped out this week)! 5A Grayson County (6-0) – Have not played Murder’s Row, but have played very well against the team in front of them. Likelihood to stay undefeated – 5% Tough teams ahead – Graves County (Home), Owensboro (Away). Concerning the Have Nots, I admit I have a soft spot in my heart for the teams that do not win even 1 game all year long. I am not on the “everybody deserves a trophy” train. I just know the long, arduous, demanding schedule these young men endure in order to simply put on that uniform and step out onto that field to represent their school. It is one of the most noble, dedicated paths we still have left in our society. As you know, these young men are roughly committed to football year around now. After the season, and at least by the first of the year, they move to winter conditioning, followed by spring condition, spring practice, before things move into the summer with more conditioning, followed by the 7v7 scene and then your back into active football season again. So: The Have-Nots – Through Week 7 - 5A Christian County (0-7) – The Colonels are strangers to being down here and they’ve been really close in a number of games this season including last week. But they simply are too young to make the plays down the stretch at the moment. Likelihood to get a win this year – 5% It pains me to say it, but with BG, South Warren and McCracken coming up, it’s goodnight Irene I’m afraid. Better luck next year Colonels! 4A Hopkins County Central (0-7) – After falling 20-14 at Webster County, the Storm really haven’t been close since. They also play in a very tough district. Likelihood to get a win this year – 40% Teams they might beat – Calloway County (Away) - Might as well go all in Storm! 4A Calloway County (0-6) – The Lakers have competed well in 3 games and were just overmatched in 3 games. But I applaud their effort. Likelihood to get a win this year – 40% Teams they might beat – Hopkins County Central – It’s the Basement Bowl! And I’m glad someone will get a win here, but the loser with almost definitely go winless in 2019! Good luck Lakers! 4A Warren Central (0-7) - According to our good friend @All State Baseball, the Dragons have lost 42 straight games. I am speechless with that stat, as I still see the Dragons as an old rival, but maybe just in my memories now. Regardless, I am pulling for those kids to get a win! Likelihood to get a win this year – 50% Teams they might beat – Monroe County (Away) and Russellville (Home) 2A Fort Campbell (0-7) – The Falcons played Grayson County & Fort Knox well, but not well enough. But there’s still time! Likelihood to get a win this year – 50% Teams they might beat – Ballard Memorial (Home) Now that the Bombers got a win, I’m pulling for the Falcons to get one also!

BluegrassPreps 2019 Western Kentucky Power Rankings – Week 6 Edition The top story line this week is we have passed the halfway point in the season now! Time truly does fly! With that said, how have your top teams done so far? For the majority, I think it’s a mixed bag of uneven performances. A LOT of that can be attributed to new, younger guys asked to step up and be the man and maybe they are ready and maybe they aren’t! But part of the things that make our sport great is that steel sharpens steel! I mean, if you expect to continue to compete successfully as a program over a long period of time, sometimes you will have the best sword (players), but sometimes you won’t. It’s through those uneven seasons that you take lessons learned where you were defeated and strengthen yourself through that and get significantly better later on in the year! That’s what I expect with several of our teams in the West this season! Franklin Simpson is one in particular. Yes, they should have beaten Greenwood. And yes, maybe they should have stayed closer or beaten Meade County, but come the third weekend of the playoffs, I wouldn’t want to draw an experienced (maybe just experienced with guys who were on the sidelines during the past 2 championship seasons), well coached team that most have given up on besides their own fans! Going to be a great window of opportunity for many teams just like this! What about your team… Still A LOT to prove this year no matter if the first part of the season has been good or bad! Week 6 Western Kentucky Games of the Week: 4A Logan County (6-0) 26 at 4A Madisonville North-Hopkins (5-1) 24. WHAT A GAME SPORTS FANS! This is perhaps the best game of the entire football season right here! A top flight District Battle right out of the gate! According to our good friend @Figs, Madisonville Star RB Jeriah Hightower scored on a 5 yard run with 51 seconds to play putting the Maroons ahead 24-20! But the Cougars wouldn’t quit and used a hook and lateral to set up a Hail Mary pass that our good friend @Mayfieldsportsfan reported the Maroons DB tried for the INT but couldn’t get it. The Logan WR caught it at the goal line and fell into the end zone earning the heart-stopping win for Logan County! Congratulations to Cougar Nation on the HUGE win! 3A Paducah Tilghman (5-1) 63 at 3A Trigg County (4-2) 21. As much as the game above was a great game, this one not so much! Trigg County has a fine team, but some critical injuries on the defensive side of the ball have really compromised the Wildcats ability to stay in games against more upper echelon teams. Case in point, the Wildcat defense has given up roughly 700 yards on the ground in the last 2 games. When that happens you typically don’t win. But I do anticipate Trigg competing for the #2 spot in the district. For Tilghman, all signs point up for the Blue Tornados! Coach Smith has his team in a great spot with a game of state-wide interest coming to Paducah next week! Go Blue Tornados! Week 7 Western Kentucky Game of the Week: 5A Bowling Green (3-2) at 5A South Warren (6-0). Well here we are! A game many across the West (and State) now look forward to, especially with South Warren winning the 5A Championship last season! Many, including myself, expected the Spartans to be considerably below their championship form of the 2018 Campaign. However, a mix of young talent including a fine young QB, good RBs, a consistent defense, and arguably the top 1 or 2 OLines in the West, has South Warren saying “Why Not Back To Back”! But a critical season threatening injury to talented QB Caden Veltcamp has tempered those sentiments! The Purples come into this game uneven honestly. Handed their opponent a victory in the Rafferty’s Bowl, blew out teams they should have, but that also included a 6A McCracken County team that took down Mayfield and has been on fire ever since. They took on the #3 team in the State IMO, St Xavier, and played just as I said above – uneven. The first half seemed like they didn’t know the game started early at 6:30. By the time they regularly start, 7:00, they had made adjustments and roughly played the Tigers even. This week lightning struck and BG didn’t even get to play (there must have been only about 5 cities in the Commonwealth with rain and lightning on Friday night, but Corbin drew the short straw I guess. So where are we? Basically in a spot, where South comes in with a new QB and BG looks to make life difficult for the new Spartans signal caller! As for this game, I think anything could happen, but I now think BG is the favorite without Veltcamp on the field. South is the home team and they practice on that field, so that is always an advantage to me, but I don’t see a large point differential in this game. Am I right? You tell me… Honorable Mention: DeSales at Paducah Tilghman (This game is worthy too); Mayfield at Caldwell County; Logan County at Hopkinsville; and Trigg County at Crittenden County. Try to make it out to one of these great games! Week 6 Top 10: 10) Hopkinsville (4A) – Preseason Rank: 6 - 2019 Record 4-2; District Record 1-0] Week 6 Results: Win: 43-0 vs Poor Ole’ Calloway County 4A (0-6). The Lakers just have a tough schedule for their roster this year. It’s that simple. For Hoptown, katty-bar the door, as points fell out of the Tigers pockets like Allied Bombs on the Axis Powers in WWII! The Tigers rolled up over 320 yards on the ground and not 1 Tiger had more than 100 yards. That tells you Coach Clayton got a lot of younger Tigers in the game, which will help them in years to come! Great strategy & shows the other inferior team you have some compassion. Week 7: THURSDAY NIGHT SPECIAL: vs District Rival 4A Logan County (6-0). Another HUGE District Game in the BEST 4A District in the State (Top to Bottom) this year! It seems they are getting the critical games played at the beginning of District Season this year! Should be a terrific battle! During the summer Best of the West 7v7 event, these 2 squared off in one of the best games played, where Hoptown edged Logan County 34-32. That’s excellent offensive execution for those that don’t know much about 7v7 ball. Of course 7v7 isn’t what will take place next Friday night at the Stadium of Champions! I do look for some continued offensive execution and I could see a shootout develop. However, more times than not for teams that see each other regularly, the team with the best defense wins. And it usually is a lower scoring game than you expect because the teams know each other so well! I think that’s likely the case here. But it will be a HECK of a game! Get out to support your team Tiger Fans!!! 9) Glasgow (3A) – Preseason Rank: 12 - 2019 Record 5-1; District Record 0-0] Week 6 Results: Loss 21-20 vs 5A South Warren (6-0). The Scotties were so close in this game and led nearly the entire game! It certainly would have been a feather in their cap to have beaten the defending 5A State Champs, but if Glasgow can learn from this game, they will certainly be much better prepared come late November in games in which they will be challenged. From following the update threads, I would think Coach Garmon would like to have the Scotties last offensive possession back! Up 6 with the ball and 51 seconds to go is a heartbreaking way to lose a game. But the season’s not over by a long shot Scottie Fans! You have a great team and can still go a very long way! Chin up! I don’t have any stats, but QB Tanner Abernathy played a whale of a game for Glasgow! Week 7: at District Mate 3A Adair County (1-5). The Indians were a good story a few seasons back around 2015 and 2016, but in smaller communities, those teams come and go. Right now they just don’t have the braves to be able to take the fort! Scotties name the score!!! 8) Madisonville – North Hopkins (4A) – Preseason Rank: 5 - 2019 Record 5-1; [District Record 0-1] Week 6 Results: Western Kentucky GAME OF THE WEEK - Loss: 26-24 vs 4A District Rival Logan County (6-0). The Maroons stumble out of the District Gate and take a gut-wrenching loss! But Star RB Jeriah Hightower played superbly and you will see him later! This game had a playoff flavor in late September! That’s a credit to both clubs! Chin up Maroons! If Hoptown beats Logan and you beat Hoptown, we’re back to even again! Could happen… Madisonville rolled up nearly 300 yards on the ground and SR QB Hayden Reynolds played awfully well throwing for 125 yards 2 TDs and no INTs! Week 7: at County Rival/District Mate 4A Hopkins County Central (0-6). The Storm has lost every game this season including a setback last week vs poor ole’ 2A McLean County. And the Storm haven’t beaten the Maroons since a 21-7 win way back in 2003. Since then, most of these contests have been routes with only 2 games being what you’d consider close. All that to say, this isn’t the year for the Storm to break that streak! Maroons roll!!! 7) Owensboro (5A) – Preseason Rank: 8 - 2019 Record 5-1; [District Record 2-0] Week 6 Results: Win: 41-0 at Ohio County (2-4). Just the haves and the have nots here again sports fans! The Red Devils are just a couple notches about anybody else in their district and that’s just the plain truth. But I do wonder if the consistent easy games will hurt them in late November. I guess we’ll have to wait to find out because no district team will challenge this Owensboro team. Week 7: vs new District Mate 5A Muhlenberg County (2-4). District game #3 for the Red Devils! And District win #3 for the Red Devils! I could see Graves County and Henderson County giving O problems for a quarter or two maybe, but that’s about it for the rest of their regular season schedule! Red Devils roll with a running clock! What say you… 6) Logan County (4A) – Preseason Rank: 10 - 2019 Record 6-0; District Record 1-0] Week 6 Results: Western Kentucky GAME OF THE WEEK - Win: 26-20 vs 4A District Rival Madisonville – North Hopkins (5-1). Epic win for the Cougars! People will be talking about this game over in Logan County for a long time! When you win in comeback fashion like this, you remember it! SR QB Tyler Ezell is just a star for the Cougars! You’ll see him later! Congratulations Cougars on taking the lead in 4A District 1! Week 7: THURSDAY NIGHT SPECIAL: at 4A District Rival Hopkinsville (4-2). Rough District schedule for the Cougars, as they get both 4A District Rivals right out of the gate and both of them on the road! But I guess every other year you like it! Based on last week’s results, they’re ready to take on anybody you put in front of them! Cougars rolling right now! Can they pull off a sweep of the Top Teams in the District? You tell me… 5) Paducah Tilghman (3A) – Preseason Rank: 7 - 2019 Record 5-1; [District Record 1-0] Week 6 Results: Western Kentucky GAME OF THE WEEK - Win: 63-21 at 3A Trigg County (4-2). Tilghman used a traditionally strong run attack (you’ll see some of those guys later) to overpower Trigg County. The Tilghman defense continued its strong play and that was all she wrote in this one! According to our good friend @TilghmanPride, the Blue Tornados moved some guys around last week and got away from as many going both ways and that seemed to pay off for Tilghman! But will they be able to do that next week in a very big game? You tell me... Week 7: vs 3A DeSales (3-2). Terrific game right here! Great job by both schools to make it happen! This should squarely tell the Blue Tornados where they are on the state-wide 3A Map, as DeSales came in last week as the #1 rated 3A football team! Looking at the DeSales overall stats on the year, they gain 9 yards (roughly 900 on the year) on the ground vs giving up 1 yard (roughly 100 yards on the year) on the ground, while they gain 5 yards on a pass reception vs giving up 9 yards. But they have played St X and LexCath, which are both very fine teams. So it looks like which team can run the ball the best and sprinkle in a few timely passing plays will make the difference in this one! What say you… I’m pulling for the Blue Tornado’s in this one! 4) Mayfield (2A) – Preseason Rank: 1 - 2019 Record 5-1; District Record 0-0] Week 6 Results: Win: 42-0 vs 3A Fort Campbell (0-6). Another hit for the Falcons; this likely sets up two 0-8 teams playing October 25th when Ballard Memorial comes to Fort Campbell. At least 1 of those teams will get a win this year! As for the Cardinals, star QB Jayden Stinson continued his stellar play going near perfect at 9 for 10 for 251 yards and 3 TDs on the night. Mayfield dominated the Falcons gaining 400 yards to 92 for Fort Campbell. Week 7: at Old-turned New District Mate 2A Caldwell County (5-1). These two have played some competitive games over the years, but they have been more of the exception than the rule, as Mayfield has won 8 of the last 11 games and 2 of those Caldwell wins were in 2008 and 2009. The last close game between these 2 was in 2015 where Mayfield eked out a 25-24 win in Princeton. The game being in Princeton surely gives the Tigers more hope, but they are still a decided underdog here. I look for Mayfield to have too many weapons for the Tigers to be able to handle. What say you… 3) McCracken County (6A) – Preseason Rank: 9 - 2019 Record 4-2; District Record 1-0] Week 6 Results: Win: 81-51 at 6A District Mate Apollo (2-4). WHAT A SCORE! No this wasn’t a December round ball affair, but more of a high octane offensive blow-out for both teams! Both teams combined rolled up over 1,300 yards! Spectacular, especially if you love offensive football! If you’re an old wool defensive guy, you left the stadium in the first quarter! According to our good friend @backinblack2000, the Mustangs are on a 4 game road win streak. And our good friend @wrn1979 thinks Apollo has turned a corner even in defeat. I tend to think he’s right, but the proof will be in the district win column. We shall see… Week 7: vs 6A Daviess County (2-4). The Panthers did get a win last week and I’m sure that felt good, but this week driving 2.5 hours over to Paducah for what should be a very difficult matchup for Daviess won’t feel so good on that lonely bus ride back up the old WK Parkway! McCracken County is in a good spot right now with the rest of their season looking for them to be the favorites in every game. Even the likely district showdown at Hendo! Good luck Mustangs! 2) Bowling Green (5A) – Preseason Rank: 2 - 2019 Record 3-2; District Record 0-0] Week 6 Results: Cancelled due to Lightning at 4A Corbin (2-2). The only other lightning cancellation I can recall was during the Great 2013 Campaign where BG drove up to Lexington Catholic and was set to play Bryan Station, but spectacular lightning prevented that game as well. Does this hurt BG? You tell me… Week 7: WESTERN KENTUCKY GAME OF THE WEEK - at 5A District Rival South Warren (6-0). The Rivalry between these two teams has more history before they ever played a single game than since they have been playing games. Fans of either side have said this or that about how their team was better than the other. And such it is with rivals. Since the two started actually playing each other on the field in 2017, they have only met 3 times with easily the most important game being the only playoff game in 2017 where South Warren upset BG 28-21 at El Donaldson Stadium. IMO, BG comes into this game with more weapons than South. With offensive threats TE Jordan Dingle, WR Dez Wilson, RB Javy Bunton to name 3, BG has a lot to keep a defensive coordinator up at night. After the last quarter of the Father Ryan game and the first quarter of the St Xavier game, the BG defense has been very solid. How does this game playout you ask? I will answer your riddle with one of my own: who is playing where for BG? I’m speaking about Vito Tisdale and the QBs of course, as they are certainly key for the Purples chances to win here and beyond! What say you… 1) South Warren (5A) – Preseason Rank: 3 - 2019 Record 6-0; District Record 0-0] Week 6 Results: Win: 21-20 at Gritty 3A Glasgow (5-1). Terrific game here. The Spartans have to feel both resolve in their ability to come back after being down, but also very fortunate to be able to get this win. This was the first game without QB Caden Veltcamp and it appears the Spartans had some difficulty on offense early, but came through when it counted. On to a much bigger game! Week 7: WESTERN KENTUCKY GAME OF THE WEEK – vs 5A District Rival Bowling Green (3-2). I look for South Warren’s defense to play very well in this game and do what they always try to do – Stop the Run at All Costs! And they are good at it. Thru 5 games, they have given up roughly 300 yards on the ground or 60 yards a game. Vs BG I anticipate BG will run for more than 60 but think the high water mark is likely around 100 yards at best. Last year’s game saw South rush for over 225 yards against BG! WOW, but Jacob Lacey ain’t walkin through that door! The South offensive line is at least the 2nd best line in the West, if not the best and Colt Jackson is likely the best OLineman in the West IMO. With that said, I look for them to have some success on the ground, but nowhere near 225 (St X only rushed for 122)! The South RB Kobe Martin is only a SO and has played very well this season and reminds me of a young Jamale Caruthers. Add undervalued WR/DBs Jantzen Dunn, Avrin Bell and Tomi Mustapha and the Spartans have guys who can hurt you on the outside, but without Veltcamp how do they get them the ball? That’s the question… But I know the Spartan Coaches have been planning for this game since the end of last season, as the rest of their games they can likely be ready for in a normal week. Ultimately, I think it’s a close game that could go either way defending on specifics in the game that you can’t know in advance (turnovers, injuries, penalties, use of players, etc.), which is true in any game, but none more so than when the teams are mostly even and particularly in a rivalry game. But this is only the first meeting between these two. And just like 2017, the second one in the playoffs will be much more important! Good luck Spartans! Next 10 – 11 to 20: 11) Owensboro Catholic (2A) (5-1) – Week 6 Results: Win 48-24 at 2A Todd County Central. This is a better win than it might appear as I truly feel that the Rebels have a really good squad this year, but it also shows how OCATH is clearly above their district mates and have been for some time. Team Air Raid continued to put up big numbers and you will see talented QB Drew Hartz later. Next up: at 2A McLean County. District win #2 for the Aces right here, with 2 completely mismatched teams. It would be a good opportunity to groom a younger signal caller as Mr. Hartz will be moving on after this season! And it looks like SO Lincoln Clancy would be that guy, as he is the only other QB listed on the Aces roster. Certainly seems like a good time to get him several varsity series under his belt! Is it just me or do you really need 9 TDs… That’s a shot at last week, I admit, but isn’t it valid? 12) Henderson County (6A) (4-1) - Week 6 Results: BYE WEEK. The Colonels have been a feel good story for sure this season, as they have come out of the Preseason unranked to be a formidable contender to McCracken County in 6A District 1, which McCracken has owned ever since they were combined and the school formed. The final 2 games on the schedule will test the Colonels for sure when McCracken comes to town and they have to roll down the Audubon Parkway to Owensboro for a matchup with a really good team. But the next three weeks will serve to help you ramp up to those difficult games! Week 7: at 5A Marshall County. Should be way too much Colonel Power in this one. QB Sam Elliot and company should have a field day! Good Luck Hendo! 13) Caldwell County (2A) (5-1) – Week 6 Results: Win 57-16 at Poor Ole’ District Mate Ballard Memorial. Not much to see here over in Barlow, but I think the Bombers could have a shot on the 25th when they go to Ft Campbell, if there’s any Bombers left by then. I hope so! For Caldwell, not much of a tune up for one of the toughest games of your regular season! Next up: vs District Mate Mayfield. Caldwell, like so many teams, have not found much success against Mayfield. I think a team’s best shot vs the Cardinals is to be able to run just enough to pass most of the night. Can Caldwell do that? We shall see… Good luck Tigers! 14) Franklin Simpson (4A) (2-4) – Week 6 Results: Win 31-21 at 4A District Mate Allen County-Scottsville. This is more of a rivalry than I probably know, but with Franklin dominating within their district of late, the results of these games don’t seem in question, but a 10 point game speaks to the flavor of rivalry! Next up: at 4A New District Mate Russell County. I’m not sure these teams have ever played before. The Russell County Lakers are 4 and 2 on the year. The 4 wins are against teams you’d likely think they could beat and the 2 losses are against the best 2 teams on their schedule so far Casey County and Warren East. I look for that theme to ring true here as well with the Wildcats enduring the 1.5 hour bus ride each way to handle the Lakers comfortably! Good Luck Wildcats! 15) Murray (2A) (4-1) – Week 6 Results – BYE WEEK. This might be the most undervalued team in the West this year at #15. Why would I say that? Because after losing in demoralizing fashion to open the season (38-35) vs nearby rival 5A Graves County, the luster wore off the shiny new season as quick as a wink and many moved on from the Tigers. But since that game, which they clearly could have/should have won, they have played rock solid football, as evidenced by blowing the doors off Trigg County by 37 points in Cadiz. Does Coach Hodge’s Tigers have anything for Mayfield this year? You tell me… Next up: Vs 3A Fort Campbell. This game should be over early, as I see the Tigers running away with this one! QB Hunter Utley and company will be hard for the Falcons to hold down I’m afraid. Go Tigers! 16) Graves County (5A) (2-3) – Week 6 Results: Win 51-16 vs New District Mate Breckinridge County! I don’t know of any team happier to move into district play than Graves! This week’s district win begins a cupcake soft stretch of games (minus Owensboro) that will take them to likely #2 in the district. But the likelihood of playing beyond week 2 in the playoffs is pretty low IMO. Next week: vs New District Mate Ohio County. While Ohio County has a terrific RB, I just don’t see them making the long bus ride and sneaking out of Mayfield with a win! What say you… 17) Barren County (6A) (5-1) – Week 6 Results: Win 19-16 at 5A Greenwood. Welcome to the Top 20 Trojans! It’s been before the 1998 season since Barren County has been 5 and 1. And according to our good friend @Tkinslow, the Trojans haven’t had a winning season since 2000. Good for them! Do you think they wanted this one? Check out this twitter clip after the game: Twitter SR LB Tyler Bush had a HUGE Pick 6 that helped turn the tide for Barren. Big win for them and big loss for Greenwood! This is the first win for Barren over Greenwood since a 14-10 2013 match. Next up: BYE WEEK. Enjoy it Trojans as the Beasts of your District schedule are coming soon, including stout Central Hardin and highly ranked North Hardin. But enjoy the ride Trojans! 18) Grayson County (5A) (6-0) – Week 6 Results – Win 22-14 at Muhlenberg County! 6 and 0 Cougars! Congratulations! The Cougars haven’t been 6 and 0 since a very strong 9 and 3 2012 team opened that year 7 and 0! If the Cougars can beat Graves County they will tie that mark! We’ll see! Next up: BYE WEEK! The Cougars have to feel great about where they are and good for them! While I could see them beating Graves County in Leitchfield, there’s no way I can come up with a scenario of Grayson going into Rash Stadium and getting a win. But hey Cougar Nation, I like you in every other game! Good luck! 19) Greenwood (5A) (5-1) –Week 6 Results: Loss 19-16 vs 6A Barren County. This is a brutal loss for Greenwood! Mostly because they were up in this game and at home. Now a very challenging District schedule awaits. Next week: at 5A Christian County. The district season opens for Gator Nation is the best and likely only chance for a district win this season is this coming Friday night. Greenwood’s other district mates are BG and South Warren – OOFFF!!! The Gators have played much better than Christian County has this year, but going to Hoptown to play them is always harder than you think. Still, I believe Greenwood has proven thus far to be the better team. I’ll go Gators by 10 points! Go Gators! 20) Fulton County (1A) (5-1) – Week 6 Results: Win 20-14 at previously undefeated Greenfield, TN. First, I realize some other teams have a right to be upset to not be considered for this spot including Warren East, Crittenden County, and Union County to name 3, but I have chosen to go with what truly is a feel good story this year in the Pilots of Fulton County! Most know the Pilots have been down for some time. In fact, it’s been before 1998 since the Pilots have had this good a record. Add special RB SR Caleb Kimble as a once in a generation type back. Through 6 games, Kimble has rushed roughly 100 times for 1,000 yards. That’s pretty good for a 1A school! Next up: At 1A District Foe Russellville. This is a complete role reversal, as Russellville is typically the team in this district that comes in with the winning record and looks to smash Fulton, but it appears to be the other way around this year. In fact, I’m picking the Pilots in this District Opener even at Rhea Stadium! Go Pilots!!! Week 6 Players of the Week: *I don’t have all stats available, so please add as you see fit! 1) Jeriah Hightower – RB – Madisonville-North Hopkins – 43 rushes for 301 yards and 1 TD vs Logan County! 2) Damian Lovinsky – QB – Apollo – 6 for 12 for 224 yards and 2 TDs. Add RB Harold Hogg – 25 rushes for 358 yards and 4 TDs vs McCracken County! 3) Drew Hartz – QB – Owensboro Catholic – 14 for 26 for 352 yards and 5 TDs vs Todd County Central! Add WR Hagan Edge 5 catches for 158 yards and 3 TDs! 4) Hunter Bradley – RB – McCracken County – 19 rushes for 413 yards and 7 TDs vs Apollo! 5) Tyler Ezell - QB – Logan County – 295 passing yards and 3 TDs vs Madisonville-NH! 6) Damien Ford – RB – Paducah Tilghman – 16 carries for 325 yards and 3 TDs; Jayden Freeman – 4 catches for 165 yards and 3 TDs; Tim Watkins – 10 tackles and 1 sack vs Trigg County! GREAT WORK GENTLEMEN!!! Week 6 “Teams Trending Down” Madisonville – North Hopkins (3A) – Down – The Maroons are not here because they played poorly vs Logan County. They played a fine game. They are here because when you have the lead under a minute at home, you expect to win the game when you are the favorite. Madisonville will now need Hopkinsville to win this coming Thursday night vs Logan County. If the Tigers don’t win, then Hopkinsville and Madisonville will be playing in Week 1 of the playoffs regardless of what else happens during the regular season, which is a much tougher road than the District Champ will have! Greenwood (5A) – Down – I’m not here to beat the Gators down relentlessly :deadhorse:, but the loss to Barren County after you had the lead is very demoralizing considering you know your likely ceiling is Week 1 of the Playoffs! Teams “Trending Up” Logan County (4A) – Up – What a win Cougar Nation! Has anyone in the State done a better job at changing culture and getting the most out of their players than @CoachAdler and his staff at Logan County? I don’t think so! Another HUGE game this Thursday in Hopkinsville! But I’m sure Coach Adler won’t have any trouble keeping his players focused! Go Cougars! Barren County (6A) – Up – Coach Jackson Arnett has his team believing and playing with a purpose! That can take you a long way as we saw last Friday Night! Although I fear their district challengers will be too much, I think Barren can still have a winning season this year and that’s atypical for most Barren County clubs! Great effort Trojans!

BluegrassPreps 2019 Western Kentucky Power Rankings – Week 5 Edition The top story line this week is ¾ of the Top 20 recorded wins during Week 5! Great Job! And 3 of the 5 losses were to other Top 20 teams. The other 2 were Bowling Green falling to 6A stalwart St Xavier and Henderson County losing a close game at solid Anderson County. Overall, it was another good week for the Western Part of the State! Week 5 PurpleHaze Western Kentucky Game of the Week: Bowling Green 5A (3-2) 14 vs St Xavier 6A (4-1) 28. St Xavier came out very strong in this game and took two opening series drives in for touchdowns. Bowling Green’s defense then seemed to recover and it remained 14-0 at the half! BG made good additional adjustments at halftime and came out strong in the second half and had a chance to tie the game at 14, but the turnovers kept mounting for the Purples and it was ultimately too much to overcome! While disappointing, I think this game can help BG down the road as hopefully mistakes made in this game are identified and corrected. Onward! Week 6 Western Kentucky Games of the Week: This week we spread out focusing on some of the best District Openers around! 4A Logan County (5-0) at 4A Madisonville North-Hopkins (5-0). A dandy right here sports fans!!! Both these teams have played so well thus far! Madisonville is the favorite and playing at home is a clear advantage. But could Logan County Stars QB Tyler Ezell and RB Gary Hardy roll up 431 toward Madisonville and come away with a vital district win right out of the gate? You tell me… 3A Paducah Tilghman (4-1) at 3A Trigg County (4-1). This is a diamond in the rough the highlanders out east would overlook! But this is likely the top District Matchup in 3A District 1 right out of the gate! The stellar skill guys from Tilghman will test ultra-talented Wildcat QB Cam Jordan. Jordan will lead his crew into this matchup hungry to prove they are worthy to be considered in the 3A playoff race! Good Luck! Honorable Mention: South Warren at Glasgow (This game is worthy too); Bowling Green at Corbin; OCATH at Todd County Central; and Crittenden County at Union County. Try to make it out to one of these great games! Week 5 Top 10: 10) Hopkinsville (4A) – Preseason Rank: 6 - 2019 Record 3-2; District Record 0-0] Week 5 Results: Win: 41-13 vs County Rival 5A Christian County (0-5). After a tough road trip last week at Henderson County, Hoptown refocused and regained the “Bragging Rights Trophy” for the first time since 2014. QB Jay Bland had a record setting game! You will see him later. Star WR Reece Jesse was double covered the entire game, which allowed others including Lane Rushing and Tyrell Gray-Lewis to have big games from the WR spot! But the bigger take away from this game was the return of the Tiger rushing attack that gained over 110 yards on the night against a County defense that prides itself for stopping the run! Week 6: vs District Mate 4A Calloway County (0-5). The hits just keep coming for the poor ole’ Lakers! They have had 2 close games and 3 blow outs. Unfortunately for Laker fans this will be another blowout loss. I don’t get any pleasure typing that. I really believe all teams should get a win. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not an “everybody gets a trophy” guy, but want to see all youngsters hard work rewarded. But it won’t be here Lakers! Tigers Roll! 9) Glasgow (3A) – Preseason Rank: 12 - 2019 Record 5-0; District Record 0-0] Week 5 Results: Win 42-0 vs 3A Hart County (3-2). QB Tanner Abernathy and RB Nick Mitchell have big games for the Scotties as they roll to their 4th straight running clock game. But that streak will end next week. Week 6: vs 5A South Warren (5-0). Great game here for the Scotties to find out where you are really are at this point in the season! While you will not be the favorite in this game, you are capable! If you can find a way to neutralize the powerful South OLine, I think the Scotties can hang around. If not, I’m not sure. But regardless, Glasgow needs this game to prepare for the post-season! Good luck Scotties! 8) Logan County (4A) – Preseason Rank: 10 - 2019 Record 5-0; District Record 0-0] Week 5 Results: Win: 43-6 vs 5A Greenwood (4-1). The Cougars good a good win here and seem razor sharp heading into a crucial district matchup next week. QB Tyler Ezell had a great game – you will see him later! And the Cougar Defense was rock solid only giving up 88 yards the entire night! Week 6: WESTERN KENTUCKY GAME OF THE WEEK at 4A District Rival Madisonville North-Hopkins (5-0). Did anyone think just 3 seasons ago that Logan County would ever be a part of anything close to a Game of the Week! Congrats to them on turning their program around! This 2019 season is rolling right along and here were are to the District Schedule and we have a Great Game right out of the Gate! Last year the Cougars were set up in this game outgaining the Maroons by over 140 yards, but 2 big fumbles proved costly and the Maroons snuck out of Russellville with a big district win. This year the Cougars would like to return the favor. While I expect the Cougar offense to play well, I also expect the Cougar defense to be under duress with the rushing arsenal that Madisonville will unleash. And late in the game, will Logan County be able to come up with a big stop if it’s needed? You tell me… 7) Owensboro (5A) – Preseason Rank: 8 - 2019 Record 4-1; [District Record 1-0] Week 5 Results: Win: 55-17 at Daviess County (1-4). Just the haves and the have nots here! The Red Devils have the weapons to control a game like this and that’s basically what they did! I have no stats for this game, but it was a mismatch from the start. Week 6: at 5A Ohio County (2-3). District game #2 for the Red Devils! They will have to pay particular attention to hidden gem RB QDaryius Jennings, but I don’t think I have to tell the O Coaches that! Should be too much Red Devils in this one for sure! Running clock… What say you… 6) Paducah Tilghman (3A) – Preseason Rank: 7 - 2019 Record 4-1; [District Record 0-0] Week 5 Results: Win: 44-21 vs 4A Calloway County (0-5). According to our good friend @TilghmanPride, the Blue Tornados rested several injured players last week, but still managed almost 400 yards on the ground. Star Jayden Freeman had a big game and you’ll see him later. Week 6: WESTERN KENTUCKY GAME OF THE WEEK at 3A Trigg County (4-1). Your district opener is always highlighted on anyone’s schedule, but when it may be at your most difficult district opponent it carries more weight I think. This will be a fascinating strategy game with Tilghman trying to impose their will on the ground while Trigg County can play the shootout game with anyone. So will the Trigg defense carry the majority of the minutes in this game if Tilghman runs the ball and Trigg scores quickly? I’m not sure, but it’s something to pay attention to. What say you… 5) Mayfield (2A) – Preseason Rank: 1 - 2019 Record 4-1; District Record 0-0] Week 5 Results: Win: 48-7 vs 5A Graves County (1-3). No chance of a 2 game slide here, as Mayfield comes out very strong in this one. According to our good friend @Squirrel, Mayfield earned the running clock in the 2nd quarter at 41-0. Mayfield played refocused and Graves did not. Week 6: at 3A Fort Campbell (0-5). I’m not sure if Mayfield has ever lost to Fort Campbell, but I know they won’t next week! The Falcons typically pick up a win against their military counterparts Ft Knox, but the Eagles upended the Falcons to extend their difficult stretch! Mayfield rolls… 4) McCracken County (6A) – Preseason Rank: 9 - 2019 Record 3-2; District Record 0-0] Week 5 Results: Win: 42-6 at 5A Marshall County (2-3). The Mustangs fresh off a memorable win against Mayfield rolled on! I don’t have stats here, but McCracken County now has their sites on starting off their district slate on a positive note! Week 6: at 6A Apollo (2-3). The Mustangs roll into the district schedule welcoming new district mate Owensboro Apollo! The Eagles have played some tough teams and are coming off a very nice win against an uneven Meade County squad. The Mustangs should be in a good spot to get out of town with a win and some fine Old Hickory Barbeque! I already feel cheated since BG didn’t get to play Owensboro this season! Oh well! Good luck to both teams! But I think the Mustangs will be too strong in this one, but it will be interesting to see how Apollo plays after a solid win! 3) Madisonville – North Hopkins (4A) – Preseason Rank: 5 - 2019 Record 5-0; [District Record 0-0] Week 5 Results: Win: 41-7 vs 2A Ballard Memorial (0-4). The Maroons haven’t been 5 and 0 since 1993 according to 14 News out of Evansville. The next most important information for this game was reported by our good friend @Maroonman in that this game was a fill in when other/better teams scheduling didn’t material and Madisonville was left scrambling for a game. So the Poor Ole’ Bombers had to drive 2 hours each way to Madisonville. I really feel for Ballard. They have no wins this season. They have scored a total of 27 points all year. They have 25 kids on their roster and 10 or 40% of those are seniors. What about next year? You saw that Poor Ole’ Jenkins in the far eastern part of the state just packed up the program! I’d hate to see that happen to the Bombers, but it is a problem for the majority of small schools across the state and nation. Sorry to focus on this, but the game isn’t very interesting. We all knew what would happen. Moving on to a MUCH better game! Week 6: WESTERN KENTUCKY GAME OF THE WEEK vs 4A Logan County (5-0). There should be no excuses from Madisonville in this one. They come in hitting on all cylinders! They have arguably the top rushing offense in the State with Jeriah Hightower in the saddle. Add to that a passing offense that really hasn’t been needed this season, but was very evident they had hit another gear when SR QB Hayden Reynolds and company surprised many by leading the opening day at the highly successful Best of the West 7v7 Tournament this July! So Madisonville has the rest of 4A in the West on notice, as I look for them to play awfully strong here. If they can dictate offense with the run and sprinkle in some Hayden Reynolds passes, they will be a very tough out! 2) Bowling Green (5A) – Preseason Rank: 2 - 2019 Record 3-2; District Record 0-0] Week 5 Results: PurpleHaze Western Kentucky Game of the Week - Loss: 28-14 vs 6A St Xavier (4-1). In a word, disappointed. Not in the fact BG lost the game, but more so in the first half of the ball game. I think every Purples offensive series had third down and long every time. So ineffectiveness on first and second downs really cost BG. But not more so than 4 big turnovers. You simply can’t give a very good team that many and expect to win. See some highlights here: VIDEO: Week 5 high school football highlights | Sports | bgdailynews.com Week 6: at 4A Corbin (2-2). The Redhounds were on their BYE WEEK last week, so they should be well rested when the Purples come calling next week! I got to see Corbin in the Best of the West 7v7 Tournament back in July and they had some fine players, but they seemed young as they couldn’t click in that environment, but Friday Night Lights are much different. I look for this to be a competitive game. You tell me… 1) South Warren (5A) – Preseason Rank: 3 - 2019 Record 5-0; District Record 0-0] Week 5 Results: Win: 22-8 at 4A Louisville Central (1-4). The Spartan defense played very well only giving up 88 yards on the night. The Spartan offense played well enough, but the big news out of the Spartan camp is talented SO QB Cade Veltcamp was believed to have broken his wrist and likely out at least 6 weeks. I certainly hate that for the young man if this is confirmed, who was playing well for South! It will be interesting to see who will now step into the QB slot. But the new QB will be tested right out of the gate. Week 6: at 3A Glasgow (5-0). This will be a good game, but it’s a better game for Glasgow than South. I say that because all perspectives say South should win this game. I realize when you get on the field of play that a good team is a good team. The fact is South favors a medium schedule. No problem, but own that. It will not be until October 4th when the Purples come calling that we will really know where the Spartans are. That will continue to be a game most will look forward to. Next 10 – 11 to 20: 11) Henderson County (6A) – Preseason Rank: Not Ranked - 2019 Record 4-1; District Record 0-0] Week 5 Results: Loss: 21-17 vs 4A Anderson County (3-2). I don’t have any stats on this one, but obviously was a good game. It’s tough to drive across the state and play a good team, but was a good pickup on the schedule for Hendo, as Anderson will have to travel to Henderson next year! Week 6: BYE WEEK. The BYE WEEK is undefeated and comes at a good time for the Colonels. Rest up as your near term games area very favorable. Those lead to the likely District Championship game when the Mustangs of McCracken County come calling on October 25th! Mark that one on your calendar sports fans! Good Luck Hendo! 12) Owensboro Catholic (2A) – Week 5 Results: Win 68-14 vs 4A Hopkins County Central (0-5). Team Air Raid continued to put up big numbers handing poor ole’ Hopkins County Central their 5 straight loss. It was a remarkable output for the Aces offense and you will see them later! OCATH is really playing well now as they head into district play! Next up: at scrappy Todd County Central. The District Opener! This will be a terrific test for the Aces. The 2 hour bus trip down 431 should be very entertaining. The Aces rarely get tested in their district. I got a little glimpse at both these teams in the 7v7 earlier in July and I honestly think the Rebels have a punchers chance in this game at least for a while. Yes, Todd County Central is the clear underdog, but beware Aces! 13) Greenwood (5A) –Week 5 Results: Loss 43-6 at 4A Logan County. The Gators have been arguably the best “feel-good” story this season, as they have come out of nowhere to shock most people! But that fairy tale ran out of magic dust in Russellville on Friday night as the Cougars controlled play and the game as well, but chin up Gators! Next week: vs 6A Barren County. I hope the Gators lay the law down next week as the Trojans rubbed me the wrong way last year, but let’s move on! Go Gators! 14) Caldwell County (2A) – Week 5 Results: Win 50-13 vs 3A Union County. This is a good win for the Tigers! Coach McGowan’s Tigers appear to have hit their stride as the Tiger offense is playing really well right now. Too bad they are in Mayfield’s district! Next up: at Poor Ole’ District Mate Ballard Memorial. Not much to see here. Ballard is winless with dwindling numbers and Caldwell is playing good ball right now! This one’s over early! Tigers roll! 15) Franklin Simpson (4A) – Week 5 Results: Win 42-0 vs Old Foe Russellville. Not much of a game here as Russellville is still trying to put the limited pieces together. For Franklin, it has to feel good to get a win. That’s the game you play with a tough schedule and they have played a challenging schedule. Good first step Wildcats! Next up: at 4A District Mate Allen County Scottsville. The Wildcats are favored against all their district mates. That’s why they play the challenging early schedule. Because there are other VERY tough 4A teams awaiting should Franklin seek to advance beyond Week 3 of the Playoffs! Wildcats roll! 16) Murray (2A) – Week 5 Results – Win 64-27 at Trigg County. The Tigers get a very nice road win last Friday going to Cadiz and rolling up over 400 yards on the night! QB Hunter Utley had a big game with 250 passing yards and 5 TDs. RB Charvelle McCallister also had a big game. You will see him later! Next up: Vs 3A Fort Campbell. This game should be over early, as I see the Tigers running away with this one! The new playoff system hurts a team like Murray more than most, as they will be over-tested to get through the Mayfield Forest, but could take down most other 2A squads that will make it through to Week 3 of the Playoffs. Fair? You tell me… 17) Graves County (5A) –Week 5 Results: Loss 48-7 at Mayfield! Talk about walking into a Buzzsaw! Poor ole’ Eagles draw the unenviable task of facing Mayfield after a rare home loss. But they are going to have to forget it as district season is upon us. Next week: vs New District Mate Breckinridge County (3-2). Just what the doctor ordered Eagles fans, as the Fighting Tigers won’t be able to drive 3.5 hours over and put up much of a fight IMO! Eagles roll! 18) Trigg County (3A) – Week 5 Results: Loss 64-27 vs 2A Murray. I don’t have any Trigg stats here, but I think a dose of toughness was given out on Friday Night! It will be up to the Wildcats to take that medicine and get better from it. If they hang their heads, the Blue Tornados won’t let up. A test of character in Cadiz this coming Friday! Next up: WESTERN KENTUCKY GAME OF THE WEEK vs Paducah Tilghman! Great Matchup sports fans! Wildcats QB Cam Jordan will have to play a special game to get this done for Trigg! But he is capable! It’s a big spotlight! Let’s see what the Wildcats have for a very solid Tilghman squad! Go Wildcats! 19) Todd County Central (2A) – Week 5 Results: Win 57-27 vs Poor Ole’ 1A Caverna. The Rebels ambushed the Colonels early and it was over fairly quickly! I don’t have stats for the Rebels, but there was a SUPER Effort by one of the Colonels and you’ll certainly see him next! But now comes a BIG Game Rebel Fans! Next: District Foe vs 2A Owensboro Catholic. Now is your chance Rebels! The Aces are and have been the Top Dog in this District for a long while and I really think you have a punchers chance to compete here! But it will take a GREAT effort! You will need the home fan support in this one! Oh and make sure you call the refs so they show up for sure in this one! Ha! Good luck Rebels! 20) Grayson County (5A) – Week 5 Results – Win 24-12 at Breckinridge County! 5 and 0 Cougars! That has to feel good! Congratulations! The Cougars haven’t been 5 and 0 since a very strong 9 and 3 2012 team opened that year 7 and 0! If the Cougars can beat Graves County they will tie that mark! We’ll see! Next up: At Muhlenberg County. I like Grayson County to pull this one out, but it certainly could be close! Good luck! Week 5 Players of the Week: *I don’t have all stats available, so please add as you see fit! 1) Drew Rhodes – QB/OLB – Caverna – 19 for 39 for 219 yards passing with 2 TDs v 1 INT! He also ran the ball 10 times for 116 yards and 2 TDs! And instead of selling popcorn he had 1 INT as well – OUTSTANDING! Add WR Zyier Yates with 7 catches for 111 and 2 TD vs Todd County Central! Great Job! 2) Jay Bland – QB – Hopkinsville – School Record 6 TD passes (218 yards) vs Christian County! 3) Drew Hartz – QB – Owensboro Catholic – 18 for 21 for 548 yards and 9 TDs vs Hopkins County Central! Add WRs Hagan Edge 6 catches for 167 yards and 3 TDs and Dre Thurston with 5 catches for 147 yards and 3 TDs! WOW! 4) Charvelle McCallister – RB – Murray – 17 rushes for 161 yards and 3 TDs vs Trigg County! 5) Tyler Ezell - QB – Logan County – 21 for 31 for 347 yards and 5 TDs vs Greenwood! GREAT WORK GENTLEMEN!!! Week 5 “Teams Trending Down” Greenwood (5A) – Down – The Gators have had a storybook beginning to the 2019 season! There’s no doubt about that! But from afar Cinderella lost her slipper in Logan County Friday Night! But still a lot to play for Gators! District play is looming in about a week! Rise up Gators!!! Trigg County (3A) – Down – The magic the Wildcats have been hammering people with this year got transferred to the Murray sideline last Friday! Can’t win them all Wildcat fans! But you still have a good chance to control your own destiny with strong District play. Let’s see what you got Wildcats! Teams “Trending Up” Hopkinsville (4A) – Up – Hopkinsville has been all over this part of the article the last few weeks. I’m sure Tiger fans like it down here as opposed to up above any day! And when you punch your rival in the gut for the first time since 2014 has to be that much sweeter! Nice win Tigers! OCATH (2A) – Up – Coach Morris’ club has played very well this season and has dominated pretty much every team not named Owensboro! Drew Hartz is playing as well as anyone right now! It will be interesting to see if any of their typically soft district teams can put up ANY resistance? Can they? You tell me… Caldwell County (2A) – Up - The Tigers continue to play well and dedicating their season to their former Coach David Barnes has produced a talented team heading up as we go into district play! While I don’t think they can take down the Mayfield Cardinals, I do think their likely 2 games with Murray to be very competitive and highly entertaining! Good luck Tigers!

BluegrassPreps 2019 Western Kentucky Power Rankings – Week 11 & Playoff Preview Edition Concerning the top story line for this week: Defenses across the west took a back seat to offenses this week for the most part! Man, we had some BIG numbers put up this, the final week of the regular season! And you also know what that means right - the third season has arrived: Playoff Time! The time most of us cherish most, as teams prepare for the win or go home drama ahead! Looking back, we have had some terrific football this season! These playoffs seem pretty open (At least initially) with many teams in the West capable of making deep playoff runs! But does the new playoff structure hurt our Western Kentucky Teams loaded into the same district? It certainly does in 4A! But you tell me… Get your honey-do’s out of the way Sports Fans and get out and watch some playoff High School Football! Nothing like it! Week 11 Western Kentucky Game of the Week: I’ve been pretty good at picking solid, hard-hitting, close games this year and am glad I end on a Great One! 2A Mayfield (9-1) 53 at 4A Madisonville-North Hopkins (8-2) 50. It was 50-Burgers all around in Madisonville on Friday night! What a Ball Game! Mayfield was up over 3 TDs at halftime, but after what I’m sure was a stern halftime encouraging speech from Coach Burgett, the Maroons came out with quite a bit of fire in the second half and stormed ahead 50 to 43 in the 4th Quarter! Mayfield then tied it up at 50. Madisonville then throws a big INT! Mayfield then takes it all the way down to the Maroons 1 yard line and chooses to kick the game winning field goal with 9 seconds on the clock! Holy Moly! Great game by both team! I look for Mayfield to play in Lexington in Week 5 of the Playoffs with this win here! No doubt in my mind! For Madisonville, all is not lost, but you did drop from a #1 seed playing a cupcake at home to being a #3 seed and going to tough Logan County. So QUITE a difference there! Rise up Maroons!!! Week 11 Top 10: 10) Tie Glasgow (3A) – PR: 12; 2019 Record (9-1) [District Record 3-0] – RPI – 0.638 : Week 11: Win 28-21 vs 4A Old Rival Franklin Simpson (5-5). GREAT game right here! At the end of 1Q – 0-0; at halftime 14-14; at the end of the 3Q 21-21! On to the 4th Q! Both teams trade TDs and then Glasgow gets a 60 yard end around run to put the ball at the Wildcats 1 yard line prior to RB Nick Mitchell running it in for the winning score! Thanks to our good friend @FSfan for the great updates in this one! I really felt Glasgow belonged in the Top 10 of this ranking at the end of the year! I also didn’t see a need for Tilghman to drop from a close road loss to a top 6 team! So I split the difference here! Playoff Snapshot: This is one of the better Scotties teams I can remember! They are deep for a 3A school, athletic and very physical on the lines! They will be a tough out! Very nice season Scotties! District Rounds: I would consider Glasgow losing in the first 2 rounds of the playoffs to be a major upset and I don’t look for that to happen. But to not prepare for Taylor County would be a mistake. Still, Glasgow with way too many weapons IMO! RPI Rounds: Glasgow’s RPI rating, if the top ranked teams advance that would put the Scotties in the 4 seed and traveling more than 3 hours one way to Paducah to take on the (#10 Tie-Mate) talented Blue Tornado’s! Purple 88 Pick: Scottie Nation will roll this early competition in my book! They will roll over to Paducah and give everything they have! I personally think this game is dead even. With that said, I look at other things, like a 3 hour bus ride, which I counterbalance with Glasgow clearly having better passing abilities. So if Glasgow can contain the Tilghman run game, I like their chances! With all that said, I look back at Glasgow nearly defeating South Warren and I will take that as my deciding factor to pick Glasgow 28-27 in the best 3A 3rd Round game! From there, I’m pulling for Glasgow all the way! Go Scotties! 10. Tie Paducah Tilghman (3A) – Preseason Rank (PR): 7; 2019 Record 7-3 [District Record 3-0] – RPI – 0.665: Week 11: Loss 17-15 vs 4A Hopkinsville (7-3). What a game here! Defenses made some really big plays in this one! It was 15-14 Tilghman after 3 quarters and neither team could get a lot of offense going, but Hoptown managed to get to the 22 yard line of Paducah Tilghman with seconds to play and kicked a 32-yard field goal to win the game! Thanks to our good friend @TilghmanPride who gave great updates on this one! It should be noted that Tilghman started a Freshman at QB in this game, so that will keep your play calling more vanilla than most games. Jayden Freemen for Tilghman starred in this game for Tilghman and talented DE Tim Watkins was one of many who played well for the Tilghman D! Playoff Snapshot: The Blue Tornados have been really solid this year! Think about it; they have only lost to Mayfield, vs the #1 Ranked 3A School (DeSales) and now to a very good Hopkinsville squad on the road with a Freshman QB by a field goal at the buzzer. No shame there! I think Tilghman was making some marked strides in the passing game, but injuries seem to have stalled that. Now, we know they can run the ball, but it feels the highest high for Paducah seems to be known. But if you can stop that run game then it will really hamper Tilghman’s likelihood to win. Plain and simple. But I love their solid scheduling and really feel that it has set the foundation to give the Blue Tornados the chance at a significant playoff run! District Rounds (1st and 2nd Rounds): I just don’t see one of Tilghman’s District Mates coming to Paducah and beating them this year. So if they lose before Round 3, I will be very surprised. With that said, I would say Tilghman’s Floor is Week 3 of the Playoffs. RPI Rounds (3rd & 4th Rounds): Tilghman has a great RPI rating, actually second best in All of 3A! So if they can win, Tilghman will host all the way to the State Championship Game! With that said and like you read above, I think Glasgow comes calling in the 3rd Round! I think that is a razor tight game and could go either way! I picked Glasgow above due to their better passing game and playing a really solid South Warren team to a 1 point loss. Those are better accolades than Tilghman has, but Tilghman is at home and that’s a big deal and do those other things really matter! I could see the Blue Tornado’s winning that game and if they did I could see the DeSales Colts come calling again! Purple88 Pick: The Blue Tornados tomahawk Poor Ole’ Hart County, who needed an extra tank of fuel just to get over to the Purchase! They beat Trigg County to win 3A District 1 again! They play Glasgow really tough, but QB Tanner Abernathy just makes 1 more play! Terrific season though Blue Tornado’s!!! 9. McCracken County (6A) – PR: 9 (2019 Record 6-3; District Record 2-1) – RPI .572 - Week 11 Results – Win 19-14 vs 5A Christian County (0-10). The Mustangs eke out a surprisingly tight game vs winless Christian County (although I’d say Christian County is likely the best 0-10 team I know of – for what that’s worth)! Thanks to our good friend @00Rocket28 who reported star RB Hunter Bradley suffered a bad ankle injury where the game was stopped and Bradley was carted off the field. I am certainly sad to here this news so close to the playoffs, as Mr. Bradley is a VERY talented young man! This led to statements of the Mustangs “lost a lot of wind in their sails”! So it will have to be “next man up” for the Mustangs with more doses of Wheat to Hayes in my book! Playoff Snapshot: The Mustangs had put themselves in position to ramp up for a good playoff run, but I’m not liking this “losing wind” tone here! And don’t look now but Round 1 just got A LOT more interesting in Paducah!!! District Rounds – The Mustangs have owned 6A District 1 since they became a school. But if Bradley can’t go and knowing you’re going to get a double team on Hayes all night, I get more and more concerned all the time as the Apollo Eagles could be the most improved team in the West in the second half of the year! Get through that game and Hendo or Daviess will give you a game as well. Without Bradley, is McCracken still the favorite in this District? You tell me… RPI Rounds – McCracken County’s RPI rating is 7th best in 6A, which is pretty good, if they could get past district foes, you would be on the road if no upsets occur against potentially the Male Bulldogs. That’s not good. Purple88 Pick: Understanding that I have no idea if Bradley can play or not, in making this decision I am going with the upset, as I think Apollo, as long as they can weather the bus ride over (and this ain’t the first rodeo for @coachhawk) I think they have the team that can compete here and pull the upset. It’s that simple. Will they get upset and will Bradley play? I don’t know, but I’m putting this game on Upset Alert Right Now! 8. Henderson County (6A) – PR: Not Ranked (NR) (2019 Record 7-3) [District Record 3-1) – RPI 0.561 - Week 11 Results: Loss 22-16 at 5A Owensboro! Henderson kept battling in this game! Whenever you go to Rash Stadium it will be a tough game, but the Colonels kept coming and were up by 1 point after 3 quarters. But the Red Devil defense is one of the best units around this season and Hendo just couldn’t muster anything in the second half and Owensboro did most of their damage on the ground and ran the final TD in within the 4th quarter! Good effort and good game to prepare you for the playoffs Hendo! Go Colonels! Playoff Snapshot: Of all the teams in the West, I have missed most on Henderson County this season. I didn’t even have them ranked in the Top 20 in the Pre-Season and they have REALLY battled to be where they are now. Truth be told; they should have also beaten Anderson County and Daviess County. So I think they could easily be 9 and 1 and another fortunate bounce or two and dare I say 10 and 0! The holidays are coming, so the Colonel Fans can make wishes too! District Rounds: (Rounds 1 & 2) – These games are going to be a battle. There is no doubt about that. You lost in OT to a rugged and solid Daviess County squad before, but that was in Daviess County. Now with revenge on your side and playing at home, I like Hendo to move on to Round 2. From there, I’ve picked Apollo in the upset. If that were to play out, it would be another good game. And if McCracken ends up winning Round 1, Hendo drives and it would be another battle for sure. RPI Rounds: 6A District 1 is low RPI Man on the Totem Pole this year and whoever makes it out of the 2nd Round of the Playoffs will have to travel and that’s not a good spot IMO. Purple88 Pick: My gut tells me Hendo still has quite a bit left in the tank and I think they take care of both Daviess County and the winner of McCracken County and Apollo. But from there, I don’t like their chances against the likes of Male, Manual/St X, and North Hardin or Central Hardin. But hey, this has been a ground breaking year for Henderson County IMO. They finally beat the McCracken County beasts in the regular season and now have another home playoff game! Those are big building blocks to me. And should you get to Round 3, you have a punchers chance so punch away Colonels! Go Colonels!!! 7. Logan County (4A) – PR: 10 - 2019 Record 8-2; [District Record 3-1] – RPI 0.565 - Week 11 Results: Loss 53-6 at 5A South Warren (9-1). Just wasn’t meant to be Cougar fans! You simply played a better team last Friday night. South’s defense just will not give up rush yards to most teams. They have a very talented secondary and it puts a ton of pressure on your offense. So you tend to gamble and most of the time you lose on those and then add a couple defensive scores/set up scores for South and its 53 to 6. Head up Cougars, as there isn’t anyone that resembles South Warren to face anytime soon! I have just heard that Star QB Tyler Ezell is likely not to play in the game this upcoming Friday! I am truly sorry to hear this! This young man has been a staple in the Cougars return to prominence and an absolute Warrior on the football field! Sincere thoughts go to him as he hopefully recuperates soon! District Rounds – 4A District 1 is one of the toughest districts around! These games are going to be real battles! Madisonville comes to Logan County where a rematch of the best 2-minute drill of the season was conducted by Logan County that allowed them to score basically on the final play to steal this regular season matchup on the road 26-24! Look, this game WAS simply a toss-up. I think Madisonville has the revenge factor going for them and now if Ezell can’t go, I just don’t see how they beat a very good Madisonville team! What say you? RPI Rounds – Logan County’s RPI rating is down around 7, so should the Cougars get through they will be on the road with likely opponents being Franklin Simpson, Franklin County or Shelby County. Purple88 Pick: I really like this Logan County team and Coach Adler! And Star QB Ezell and RB Gary Hart have been generational players for Logan County. I hate to see this run come to an end when they are both not on the field! With that said, I am picking Madisonville in the first round and would pick Hopkinsville in the second. That’s not to say the Cougars can’t win, but for me they won’t be favored! But prove me wrong Cougars and GREAT work again this year! Go Logan County! 6. Hopkinsville (4A) – PR: 6 - 2019 Record 7-3; [District Record 3-1] – RPI 0.602 - Week 11 Result: Win 17-15 vs 3A Paducah Tilghman (7-3). Terrific game for both teams to get them playoff ready! Back when Hoptown was Team Cupcake, they had a better record but I didn’t feel very strongly for them to have the pedigree to move forward against tough teams in the playoffs. That’s not the case this season and this game speaks to that. This is a very sound Tilghman squad and Hoptown had to play sound football to win and they did that! Coach Clayton has done a super job since returning to his hometown! The Tiger defense was the star of this game and they are a formidable unit! Playoff Snapshot: Just a difficult district with 2 other capable, worthy teams to battle yet again! Except Hoptown will only have to battle one thanks to beating Tilghman! The Tigers can easily go a long way, but the journey (after Round 1) will be filled with peril throughout. Should be a heck of a show! The Tiger defense is underrated and their offense has a good balance that they are still working on. Don’t discard this Tigers team! District Rounds: With Hopkinsville’s win and Logan County and Madisonville’s losses, Christmas has come early for the Tigers as they earn the #1 seed and stay away from the other 2 top District teams and can simply wait for week 2 as I’m giving them a pass against poor ole’ Calloway County. They will have to play very well to get that second round win, but they will clearly be the fresher team and play at home, so you have to like their chances! RPI Rounds: Hoptown’s RPI rating is about 6th and they would have a good chance to host the likes of Louisville Moore, Franklin County or Franklin Simpson. I like that opportunity for Hoptown if they can earn it! Purple88 Pick: I think this Hoptown team is sitting in a “preferred” spot. I mean most coaches would select to be in Hoptown’s spot! With that said, the second round will be an absolute battle! I like Hoptown’s chances a lot and think they are the favorite right now in their district, but it’s not by much! From there, I would like the Tigers in the 3rd Round, but it would be hard to pick them against Boyle County or Johnson Central. But we all know what Franklin Simpson was able to do to those perceptions, so go take your best shot Tigers – I’m pulling for you!!! 5) Madisonville – North Hopkins (4A) – PR: 5; 2019 Record 8-2; [District Record 3-1] – RPI 0.598 - Week 11: WESTERN KENTUCKY – GAME OF THE WEEK: Loss 53-50 vs 2A Mayfield (9-1). It’s tough to lose a game when you score 50 points in a football game, but what a shootout! The Maroons’ losses have both been tough, stinging losses against 2 very fine teams by a total of 5 points! While there is not shame there whatsoever, in order to advance deep in the playoffs as I know Madisonville wants to, they are going to have to start making plays in the 4th Quarter to make that happen. But will they? You tell me… Playoff Snapshot: After I saw the Maroons beat my Purples in the Hoptown 7v7 tournament this summer, I have really felt this was their year. I still feel this way, but not nearly as boldly now. To have the top RB (and by association the best OLine) in the State and SR QB Hayden Reynolds is one of the most undervalued QB in the State. And this hidden offensive balance can continue to pay off for the Maroons! But they play in the District of Death so anything can happen, but if I have a gun to my head, Madisonville moves onto Round 2 of the Playoffs, but from there? I’m not sold on that! District Rounds: This matchup with Logan County would have been one of the most competitive games in Rounds 1 in the entire State! But I think without Ezell at QB for Logan County, I look for Madisonville to control this game and move on to Hopkinsville! I am leaning with Hopkinsville due to their Bye and playing at home in Round 2. RPI Rounds: Madisonville’s RPI is 7th in 4A! If they could make it to the 3rd round, I like their chances a lot in that game! That would likely be the end of the road, but I look for this Madisonville team to be a very tough out so keep fighting Maroons! Purple88 Pick: I just think Madisonville will use the revenge angle well and come out with a solid win at Logan County. Travel to Hoptown the next week and just run out of gas in the second half. If you look at the Big 3 and games they have played against each other, all but Madisonville lost the second of back to back games, but that was likely due to consequences associated with being out of the district race. I am going with Hoptown in this 2nd round rematch by a very close margin! Prove me wrong Maroons! 4) Owensboro (5A) – PR: 8; 2019 Record 9-1; [District Record 5-0] – RPI 0.663 - Week 11: Win 22-16 vs Old Rival 6A Henderson County (7-3). Red Devils get a hard fought home win to prepare them for the playoffs! Thanks to our good friend @Brown who gave great reports of this game! QB Gavin Wimsatt was the star on offense with his legs instead of his arm and produce yet another weapon for the Red Devils. But truth be told though, without Imonte Owsley, this team will go as far as their defense takes them. And don’t look now, but Star All-State LB Austin Gough is back in the Red Devils lineup and led the team with 13 tackles last Friday vs Henderson County! That’s significant in my book! Owensboro could go a long way! Let’s take a look below! Playoff Snapshot: Owensboro may have found the Old Nebraska Corn Huskers route to the National Championship/State Championship under Tom Osborne, where they didn’t play any really tough teams and would up at the end every year. I look for Owensboro to dominate their District for at least the next 3 years before potential realignment throws kinks for all back in the mix. And they look as they will stay clear of 5A District 2 for that foreseeable future as well. So if I asked Coach Fallin if he would take a road game at a talented team with a trip to the State Finals on the line every year, what do you think he would say? I know I’d take that in a heartbeat! What say you Red Devil fans!!! District Rounds: NEXT… Really, I think Graves County can hang around for a couple quarters, but that’s it, as that game will be at Rash Stadium this time. To win at Rash Stadium in the playoffs is a VERY difficult task. I’ll go one further… If Owensboro loses in the first 2 rounds of the playoffs this year, I will walk to the winning coach’s office from Louisville to shake his hand! Moving on… RPI Rounds: Owensboro’s RPI Rating is a sterling 4th place! That’s awesome! That means they will likely get Louisville Fairdale in the first round at Rash Stadium and from there – likely a trip to either Frederic Douglass or Covington Catholic. Purple88 Pick: Owensboro blows the doors off 5A District 1! They then HAMMER Fairdale or my sneaky feeling is that Bullitt Central might sneak in there and upset Fairdale, but it won’t matter to the Red Devils as they roll here! They then travel to play a fine team on the road in the State Semi-Finals. At that point, lay it on the line Red Devils you have nothing to lose and I’ll be cheering for you!!! Best of luck! 3) Mayfield (2A) – PR: 1; 2019 Record 9-1; [District Record 3-0] – RPI 0.753 - WESTERN KENTUCKY GAME OF THE WEEK - Week 11: Win 53-50 at 4A Madisonville – North Hopkins (8-2). Not many teams can give up over 500 yards offense to a team 2 classifications above you along with 50 points and still come out with the win on the road no-less! But then you wouldn’t know much about the Mayfield Cardinals that I honestly would like to see play either my Purples or South Warren to get a good feel of where those teams are compared to these Cardinals! Those would be great games for the West! But I am fine pulling for all here! Playoff Snapshot: Some would say here that Mayfield needs to ratchet up the defense and make some adjustments and etc and while there may actually be some truth to that, my first statement above trumps all that! This ain’t Coach Morris’s first rodeo and I am now more convinced than ever that Mayfield is definitely better right now than earlier in the year and will be headed to Lexington to play either Somerset or LCA in what should be a barnburner for the 2A State Championship!!! District Rounds: Mayfield has rolled over their District since Sherman Marched to the Sea! In Week 1, Big Red could use their Freshman Team to get the win. In the 2nd round game, if you come out in business-like fashion at War Memorial, it will be over quick. But don’t let Caldwell County hang around, as they will be playing for their old coach and will play hard. Still shouldn’t be near enough in the end! Cardinals roll!!! RPI Rounds: Mayfield’s RPI rating is a dazzling 2nd place in 2A, which means they will stay at home as long as they win all the way to the Championship Game! Mayfield could play the likes of OCATH or Edmonson County in Round 3 and maybe a Beechwood or Breathitt County in Round 4. Mayfield “may” want to pull for Somerset in their Round 2 rematch with LCA, as if the Briar Jumpers win that game, Mayfield would have the top RPI and likely avoid Beechwood in Round 4, unless you just want to play Beechwood again. Purple88 Pick: I think Mayfield goes to Lexington is the bottom line. I think the first and second round games are running clocks. I think the OCath game will not be a running clock, but I think Mayfield wins decisively! They would then likely either rekindle the old fire with Beechwood or welcome Breathitt County who would max out all Frequent Flyer mileage for the entire Eastern part of the state just to get a few area codes over to the left back of the state (Come on man…)! From there, I think the Cardinals face the Somerset/LCA winner in what should be an outright classic football game! I’ll be pulling for you Cardinals!!! 2) South Warren (5A) – PR: 3; 2019 Record 9-1; [District Record 2-1] – RPI 0.611 - Week 11: Win 53-6 vs 4A Logan County (8-2). Spartans completely control this game with their defense stepping up and putting their offense with great field position when Logan County felt they needed to gamble to try to create scoring opportunities! That doesn’t work well against South. They are too well schooled and disciplined for that to work and pride themselves on making teams one-dimensional and that’s exactly what happened last Friday! South playing better each week now and clearly ramping up to the playoffs after their only loss of the year! As always, South Warren will be a tough out! Playoff Snapshot: What about QB Caden Veltcamp and his potential status to return this year from a throwing hand broken wrist? I simply don’t know, but still feel that is VERY aggressive to try to have him back for the BG game in 2 weeks. We shall see. Even with that, I think young backup QB Mason Willingham has done awfully well to be thrown into the mix with no summer ball or preseason work to run the South offense as he has. Young RB Kobe Martin is a load and there isn’t a more versatile player in the West than Jantzen Dunn! South will be a tough out! District Rounds: South rolls Greenwood! It’s that simple! The Spartans then travel across town to take on the Purples again for the right to move on deeper in the playoffs. It’s a toss-up game honestly as many rivalry games are. While I am biased (so take that into account), I think South will make adjustment from the first game and try to do a better job of locking down the Purples run game, which was a big deal in the regular season game! For South on offense, they will have to do something to get the ball down field more. If they can’t do that, it will put a ton of pressure on the Spartan D to completely keep BG out of the end zone! It will be another great atmosphere at El Donaldson Stadium! Another fine season for the Spartans! RPI Rounds: South Warren’s RPI rating is a respectable 6th place, which means if South makes it to the 3rd Round they will likely travel to a surging South Oldham team. From there it would be to either Frederic Douglass or Covington Catholic, which would both be very tough games for sure! Purple88 Pick: South Warren puts a running clock on Greenwood. They travel to BG and put up a tremendous fight, but just don’t have enough this year to beat BG, but it’s a very close game! And if I’m wrong, I like South in a very close game at South Oldham. But that would be the end of the road for the Spartans at that point! Good luck Spartans!!! 1) Bowling Green (5A) – PR: 2; 2019 Record 6-3; [District Record 3-0] – RPI 0.554 - Week 11 Results: Loss 49-21 vs 6A Powerhouse Trinity (9-1). Nothin like getting crushed your last game before going into the playoffs! I know Trinity is good! I’ve watched them play twice in person this year, but the timing of this game is a problem. I don’t have a problem with playing Trinity, but move it to Week 1 and switch your Week 1 opponent to Week 10. You need to be ramping up for the playoffs now, not picking up the splinters left behind by gettin your doors blown off! Rebound Purples! I kept BG at #1 because no other team in the West could beat Trinity either. Could another team in the West keep it closer than 4 TDs, well that’s debatable, but I don’t see a line forming to sign up for playing the Shamrocks!!! I have to say this: 2019 will be the year I look back on for the Purples and I will recall the year “Without Vito Tisdale” and yes I know he played some offense against Trinity, but the Trinity game in A LOT of ways is like the Warren Central Indiana game last year. Wrong team, but more so wrong spot (right before the South Warren game last season). And for the neighsayers, I know it is difficult for BG to schedule. Let me say clearly again, I am NOT against playing Trinity, but I am against playing them in Week 10. Back to Vito, BG should not have lost against Father Ryan period. Truthfully, what do you think St X thought when they heard Vito would not be playing offense against them this year after he carried BG to their best win of 2018 against X. I’m not aiming to cause problems here, but I am aiming to paint the white elephant pink again! What if Michael Mayer, Covington Catholic’s star, who is going to Notre Dame, only played LB, do you think they would be as good as also having him play Tight End? What about Reece Smith at Boyle County who will play D1 ball? Do you think Boyle County would be as good as they are with Reece Smith only playing DB? I think those answers are clear. And I’m sure there is a reason why Vito isn’t playing offense to an effective measure, but without saying it or communicating it in some way I’m not sure how else to vent! Am I off base, I have been before, but don’t feel so now! Playoff Snapshot: Simply put, the Purples have a good chance to play into the RPI rounds of the playoffs. I think JR RB Javy Bunton has played tremendous football for the Purples along with their offensive line. Take out the Trinity game and I like what QB Conner Cooper has/had been ramping up for (this playoff season). The Purples defense has overall played really well this year with MUCH better line play and a secondary that started poorly but has really come on of late until both corners got hurt last Friday. I don’t look for either to play this Friday, but hopeful for the South game! And here again, it will all come down to the South Warren game. And maybe for both teams, the winner of this playoff game will have a good season, while the other has a really sour taste in their mouth all winter and summer long. Such it is with a rivalry. District Rounds – BG smashes a gritty 0-10 Christian County team that is really young and by this point in the year beat down! On to South Warren! I just think BG is a little better this season than South; mostly because of the backup QB for South. But if BG can continue to run the ball like they did in the first game, that will be bad news for South Warren and I do look for the Purples to move on in a tight, hard fought ball game! RPI Rounds – Bowling Green’s RPI rating is 13th best in 5A. BG clearly didn’t get the RPI is important to pay attention to notice, but that is likely because BG schedules way YONDER higher caliber competition, perhaps to a fault. While I enjoy playing good competition, is playing X & T & a Tennessee team in the same season a winning formula if you value home games in the 3rd and 4th round of the playoffs? Number 13 in 5A says no. But I am very likely not giving light that MANY other teams that BG would schedule won’t schedule them. I’m not going to call out names for detention, but there are many. I’m merely stating now is the time to re-evaluate your scheduling objectives and more so the TIMING of those better opponents to strategically set yourself up in the future for the best position possible for later playoff round success. Purple88 Pick: BG handles Christian County with low problems. They then face a very good South Warren squad with revenge on their mind, as BG gave them their only loss of the season! This will be a tight, hard-hitting matchup, but again I just feel BG comes out on top, as I think they have the better team, but not by much. From there, they travel to a surging South Oldham team. I won’t stop now, I like BG in that game as well, but it will be tight as well (no free lunch in the RPI zone on the road)! But the end draws full circle with a trip to Frederic Douglass or Covington Catholic. I hope I’m wrong! But no shame there! While I’ve presented some tough love above, it is with the intent to improve things strategically instead of simply throwing mud! I’ll allow the politicians to do that! Go Purples!!! Next 10 - 12 Thru 20 – 12) Franklin Simpson (4A) – PR: 5; 2019 Record 5-5; [District Record 3-0] – RPI 0.464 - Week 11 Results: Loss 28-21 at 3A Old Rival Glasgow (9-1). Terrific game here! As Franklin fought the whole way, but Glasgow just made more plays in the 4th Quarter; it’s that simple. In a lot of ways, I think this Franklin team is the product of the aftermath of back to back championship seasons where a few injuries intermixed along with just being a young team took over this trajectory for their season along with a brutal opening 4 game schedule. With all that said, I like where Franklin sits for the future! Good luck Wildcats! Playoff Snapshot: Franklin Simpson is still the top team in the 4A District 2 and will be again next year. This is a young team that should continue to improve over time. But this year getting to the 3rd round of the playoffs and giving it your best shot appears to be the ceiling. What say you? Purple88 Pick: Franklin only beat surprising Russell County by 14 points, but that was over by Lake Cumberland. At Rhea Stadium, I expect a more convincing outcome. In the second round, I ‘m not sure who wins the AC-Scottsville vs Warren East game, as Warren East should have competed better in that first matchup. Regardless, I don’t see either of them winning in Franklin. Then the Wildcats would have to travel to Franklin County or the 4A District 1 Survivor (Hopkinsville, Madisonville, or Logan County). While I don’t like Franklin in any of those matchups, if it’s the 4A District 1 winner they will likely be beat up by the time you get there and if so just give it your best shot! You have nothing to lose Wildcats! Best of luck! 13) Caldwell County (2A) – PR: 16; 2019 Record (8-2) [District Record 2-1] – RPI 0.691: Week 11 Results: Win 56-54 vs 3A Rival Trigg County (6-4). The old 139 Bowl Rivalry certainly did not disappoint this season with the Tigers having just enough to outlast a proud Trigg County squad! Good effort by both teams! Star QB Russ Beshear and Star RB DeEric Hollowell played awfully well for Caldwell and you’ll see them later along with a commendable effort by Star QB Camron Jordan from Trigg County! Caldwell County has played very well this year in light of the tremendous loss of Coach David Barnes! I know they have played their hearts out this season! Playoff Snapshot: The Tigers will start the playoffs from their friendly home field vs a rugged Murray squad they beat barely earlier in the year. With Star QB Hunter Utley likely done for the year, I think Caldwell is set up to go to Mayfield for another try! Give it your best shot Tigers!!! Purple88 Pick: I like Caldwell by 3 TDs vs a wounded Murray squad. I think Caldwell is playing well right now. I see them going to Mayfield and playing as hard as they can, but it’s just not enough. No shame there! Good luck Tigers!!! 14. Daviess County (6A) – PR: 18 - 2019 Record 5-5; [District Record 3-1] – RPI 0.513 - Week 11 Results: Win 28-27 vs 4A Warren East (4-6)! I don’t know much about this game other than the offensive yards was nearly even. It appears the game was settled due to the kicking game/extra points or going for 2 for the win. Regardless, this is a good win for a solid Daviess County squad as I think Warren East is a better team than most give credit to. Very solid season for the Panthers, as their OT win vs Henderson stands out nearly as much as Hendo’s win over McCracken County, so good for the Panthers! Playoff Snapshot: I would think Henderson County has revenge on their mind, as it was losing to Daviess County that dropped them out of first place for the District Championship! I think Daviess is flying below the radar and they have some good players, but I just can’t pick them at Henderson County in the first round! Purple88 Pick: One and done for the Panthers, but you had a solid season Daviess! Good luck Panthers!!! 15. Apollo (6A) – PR: 14 - 2019 Record 4-6; [District Record 3-1] – RPI 0.467- Week 11 Results: Win 56-35 at 2A Owensboro Catholic (8-2). The Eagles just refuse to fold! They have played a difficult schedule this season for sure! They started out pretty uneven as several players just trying to get accustomed to things, but you look at their District performance and they have been in all those games! And now with the “upset” of OCATH come in guns a-blazin! Don’t discount this team! Playoff Snapshot: Well sports fans, Apollo will come out of the Playoff gate and travel to the #1 seed McCracken County Mustangs, whom they haven’t beaten ever to my knowledge. But if Star RB Hunter Bradley can’t go for McCracken County, I really feel that puts Apollo in reach of this win! Star RB Harold Hogg is the most undervalued RB in the West and he will be a BIG factor in this game! Should Apollo move on from Round 1, I see Henderson County at the next stop. I think Apollo would love that chance to get another swing at Hendo and from the regular season score of 20-13 Henderson, I think Apollo has the opportunity to turn the tide here! From there, I don’t see any more 4-leaf clovers floatin down the Western Kentucky Parkway, but hey that would be a HECK of a way to go out Eagles! Purple88 Pick: I’m not backing up now, and I’ll take Apollo in a BIG Round 1 Upset! Write it down! In the second Round, I’d love to pick Apollo, but am afraid it will take a lot out of the tank to get that Round 1 win and will say Hendo trips up the Eagles by a late TD. But prove me wrong Eagles! 16) Owensboro Catholic (2A) – PR: 15; 2019 Record 8-2 [District Record 4-0] – RPI 0.645 : Week 11 Results: Loss 56-35 vs 6A Local Rival Apollo (4-6)! Aces played very well in this game for about 3 Quarters! Thanks to our good friend @chuckit who reported on this game and described the major turning point in the game was a turnover in the 3rd Quarter where OCATH was set to take it into the end zone and tie the game up at 28, but it never materialized and Apollo rolled from there! This will happen from time to time Aces when you play teams 4 classifications above you! But you have to give credit to OCATH for scheduling tough games because that’s the only way you can ramp up if you want to battle Mayfield, which we all know is a tough task. Chin up Aces! Playoff Snapshot: The Aces have competed really well this season and even though they took it on the chin last Friday they are the best team in their district by a mile! From there, it’s likely a road game at Mayfield or the Somerset/LCA winner. That’s tough! Purple88 Pick: Running clock vs 2A District 2. Travel to any one of the 3 I mentioned above and play as hard as you can, but it just isn’t enough. No shame there! Tremendous season for the Aces and QB Drew Hartz will be sorely missed next season! No shame there Aces! Great Season! 17. Graves County (5A) – PR: 11 - 2019 Record 6-4 – RPI - : Week 11 Results: Win 21-28 at 6A Marshall County (3-7). Eagles have had a good year so far and I think they are the second best team in their district! No super impressive with only a 7 point win against lowly Marshall County, but no blood, no foul here! Good luck in the playoffs Eagles!!! Playoff Snapshot: I look for Graves County to hold up their end of the bargain and own the 2nd spot in 5A District 1. I think they are clearly better than Grayson County and will prove that on Friday and head to Owensboro looking to prove something. Purple88 Pick: The Eagles have played a little bit better than I would have thought going into this season. And with that said, I like them rather easily over Grayson County in Round 1. But then you travel to Owensboro and that’s a completely different matchup. I just don’t see how you’ll be able to make enough offensive plays to win that game! And that should be all she wrote for Graves County, but not a bad season at all – above 500 record and winning a playoff home game is a good accomplishment! Go Eagles! 18. Murray (2A) – PR: 13 - (2019 Record 7-3) [District Record 1-2] – RPI 0.626: Week 11 Results: Win 35-0 at 1A Fulton County (6-4). Tigers outgain the Pilots roughly 300 yards to 100 and firmly control this game. But as our good friend @BadaBing has told us before, this scheduling won’t change their playoff makeup in a positive light. But hey, a wins a win! Enjoy it Tigers!!! Playoff Snapshot: A season that started with such promise has turned South pretty quickly with the untimely loss of Star QB Hunter Utley. Without Utley to direct the Tiger attack, I don’t see them getting by a solid Caldwell County team in Princeton. And even if they did, it would be an early exit at War Memorial Stadium if truth be told. Chin up Tigers! Purple88 Pick: It’s one and done this playoff season for the Tigers IMO! Sorry Murray, but better luck next season! 19. Crittenden County (1A) – PR: 20 (2019 Record 8-2) – RPI 0.625 - Week 11 Results: Win: 49-22 vs 3A Todd County Central (6-4). Crittenden shut down a fairly strong Rebel rushing attack with one of their own. RB/DB Xander Tabor had a big night and you’ll see him below. Good win to ramp up for the Rockets!!! Playoff Snapshot: The Rockets are in control of 1A District 1 and that shouldn’t change this playoff season! But don’t discount a dangerous Russellville squad! Purple88 Pick: I like the Rockets to go to the 3rd Round of the playoffs. From there it looks like they would be on the road to either Louisville Holy Cross (who I say play Paducah Tilghman earlier this year) or Kentucky County Day. Those would be difficult games for the Rockets, more so in distance than opponent IMO. Go give it your best shot Rockets! I’m pulling for you! 20. Allen County-Scottsville (4A) – PR: NR - (2019 Record 4-6) – RPI 0.452 - Week 11 Results: Win 49-32 vs 2A Monroe County (5-5). I don’t have any information here, but am happy for the Patriots to still be invited to the Top 20 Party! Good luck going forward! Playoff Snapshot: If ACS could beat Warren East again, that would be a really good season in my book. But I just don’t think they will. But heck, I didn’t think they could in the regular season and the Patriots won pretty easily. Let’s see this time! Purple88 Pick: I just think Warren East is a better team. Prove me wrong again Patriots! WEEK 11 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK*: 1) Harold Hogg – RB – Apollo – rushed for 332 yards and 6 TDs vs OCATH (his former team)!!! That puts Hogg with over 2,000 yards on the season! Outstanding! 2) Xander Tabor – RB/DB – Crittenden County – 198 all-purpose yards with 2 rushing TDs and a 42 yard Pick 6 return vs Todd County Central! 3) Cameron Jordan – QB – Trigg County – 25 – 37 for 423 yards and 4 TDs, plus 19 carries for 60 yards and 3 more TDs vs Rival Caldwell County! Add WR Kion Thompson with 7 catches for 211 yards and 2 TDs! 4) Jeriah Hightower – RB – Madisonville – North Hopkins – 27 carries for 190 yards and 3 TDs vs Mayfield! 5) Russ Beshear – QB/LB – Caldwell County – 11-16 for 181 yards and 2 TDs vs 2 INTs; add 8 carries for 39 yards and 2 more TDs; and finally add 10 tackles on defense with 2 of those tackles for loss and 1 sack (MERCY!) vs Trigg County! Add Star RB DeEric Hollowell with 22 carries for 292 yards and 4 TDs! 6) Gavin Wimsatt – QB – Owensboro – 16 carries for 149 yards and 3 TDs vs Henderson County! * If there are stats I don’t know about, please add them below! Congratulations to all the young men who have had a spot on this list throughout the season! Great Work!!! Week 11 – Teams Trending Down Bowling Green (5A) – Down – No free lunch here! You aren’t ramping up into the playoffs with a 4 TD loss. It’s that simple. I realize its Trinity they played. But if you want the glory that goes with the opportunity to achieve a win, then you have to stomach the anguish of getting your lunch money stripped from you and told to like it! Regroup Purples! Owensboro Catholic (2A) – Down – Maybe the Aces just ran out of gas? I’m not sure, but it’s not a good look for a team that I know would not beat Mayfield to win on your field. It just sets the ceiling at a 3rd round trip to the end of the road! Week 11 – Teams Trending Up Mayfield (2A) – Up – To go on the road and to take the best shot of a Top 10 team 2 classifications above you and still win is VERY impressive! Cardinals rolling… Glasgow (3A) – Up – I’m just really impressed with the job Coach Garmon and company have done with this Scotties team! They can go a long way! 2019 Western Kentucky Regular Season - All West Team QB – Jaden Stinson, Mayfield QB – Drew Hartz, Owensboro Catholic QB – Tyler Ezell, Logan County RB – Jeriah Hightower – Madisonville – North Hopkins RB – Hunter Bradley – McCracken County WR – Franklin Hayes, McCracken County WR – Reece Jesse, Hopkinsville WR – Kade Neely, Mayfield WR – Jayden Freeman, Paducah Tilghman OL – Colt Jackson, South Warren OL – Logan Weedman, Apollo DL – Blake Moody, Madisonville – North Hopkins DL – Joseph Henry, Daviess County DL – Terrion Thompson, Bowling Green DL – Yovani Sales, Owensboro LB – Gary Hardy, Logan County LB – Erik Grubbs, Hoptown LB – Cody Goatley, Graves County DB – Dejaun Mercer, Hopkinsville DB – Jaiden Jackson, Murray S – Jantzen Dunn, South Warren S – Vito Tisdale, Bowling Green K – Cole Hollingsworth, Franklin Simpson P – Eli Burwash, Bowling Green Coach – Josh Boston, Henderson County Honorary Coach – David Barnes, Caldwell County Farewell: End of the Road! It’s been a Long Road, but I hope you have found it as fun as I have! Even if you don’t agree with my rankings, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about our teams out West! We have A LOT to be thankful for in having good football teams in the West! Now get out there and support your team(s) in person! It’s a great time of year! Good luck to your teams this playoff season and hope to see ya next year!

BluegrassPreps 2019 Western Kentucky Power Rankings – Week 9 Edition The top story line this week reflects the stellar play of our Top 11 squads in the West! All 11 (save the Hopkinsville BYE) won in very convincing fashion (save Glasgow, who played a very worthy District Foe)! But for Spots 12 through 20, most found unfavorable results with 6 of those 9 taking losses, albeit against very sound competition! But some great games and surprise results for us to discuss for sure! So let’s get to it… Week 9 Western Kentucky Game of the Week: 2A Caldwell County (7-2) 42 at 2A Murray (6-2) 40. One of the best games of the year right here in terms of competitiveness and never giving up! Which describes Former Caldwell County Coach David Barnes to a Tee! Murray came out fired up for Homecoming Night at Ty Holland Stadium and led Caldwell 17-0. But Caldwell rallied and led 35-34 in the 4th Quarter. Caldwell scored again to take a 42-34 lead. But Murray wouldn’t fold either and staged a terrific final drive and scored late in the 4th Quarter. They set up for the 2-point conversion, but Star QB Hunter Utley’s pass was batted down in the end zone ending a whale of ball game! Great effort by both teams! Also, WPSD Local 6 out of Paducah does an awesome job of providing highlights for all things Purchase Area Football and provides highlights for this game and many other WKY games this week. The following is a link to that telecast: 1

BluegrassPreps 2019 Western Kentucky Power Rankings – Week 8 Edition The top story line this week continues to be the impact of the BYE Week with only 1 game impacting 2 Top 10 teams was played this week! And only 6 teams and 5 games were played in spots 11 through 20, so let’s just say it was a light week overall! But this is a clear indicator that the push to finish the year strong is now upon us! Most teams have big district games still to go! So let’s get ready… Week 8 Western Kentucky Games of the Week: 4A Hopkinsville (5-3) 18 at 4A Madisonville North-Hopkins (7-1) 20. The last big battle between the Big 3 within 4A District 1 did not disappoint! Madisonville dominated the first half leading 14-0 behind stellar running from Star RB Jeriah Hightower! And into the first part of the 3rd Quarter, the Maroons added 6 more points on with a punt returned for a TD by Gunner Dameron! But Hoptown would not quit, as we have seen this entire year! The Tigers started to make plays mostly in their passing game where they rolled up 200 yards on the night! Additionally JR WR Lane Rushing really broke out in this game to give the Tigers very formidable WRs on both sides of the field joining Star Reece Jesse! Hoptown would come all the way back to get to 18-20 with a 2 point conversion try. But that attempt was unsuccessful and the Maroons escaped with a critical win to set up a 3 way tie atop the best 4A District Top to Bottom! Week 9 Western Kentucky Game of the Week: 2A Caldwell County (6-2) at 2A Murray (6-1). Terrific game over on the left bank of the state! The winner of this game pretty much wraps up the 2 seed in the district, while Murray still gets to take their shot against Mayfield, and even if Murray loses at Mayfield it’s the winner of this game that will determine home field for that critical first round game of the playoffs! In this battle of Tigers, Caldwell County QB Russ Beshear has played well throwing for over 800 yards on the season with 12 TDs vs 6 INTs and RB DeEric Hollowell has rushed for over 700 yards and 12 TDs on the year! For Murray, QB Hunter Utley has passed for nearly 2,000 yards and 27 TDs vs 3 INTs and WR Tommy Waldrop has 43 catches for over 700 yards and 11 TDs on the year! So this should be a terrific game! Good luck to both teams! Honorable Mention: Dyer Co TN at McCracken County, Owensboro at Graves County, Taylor County at Glasgow, Crittenden County at Fulton County, Henderson County at Daviess County, Hancock County at OCATH, Union County at Paducah Tilghman, and Allen County-Scottsville at Warren East. Try to make it out to one of these great games! Week 8 Top 10: 10) Glasgow (3A) – Preseason Rank: 12 - 2019 Record 6-1; District Record 1-0] Week 8 Results: BYE Week. The Scotties headed into the Bye Week in great shape and were a whisker from being undefeated. Still very promising season ahead for Glasgow. As you take a look at their schedule, all 3 are games Glasgow will compete in and likely should win at least the first 2. The last game of the year vs Franklin Simpson is a terrific game we’ll keep our sights on! Week 9: vs 3A District Mate Taylor County (6-1). These teams have equal records coming into the break. Looking at the teams they have lost to, South Warren barely beat Glasgow 21-20 and 6A Simon Kenton beat Taylor up in NKY 39-7. I think South is stronger than Simon Kenton IMO and I like the Scotties in this game, but not by more than 2 TDs. And it could be much closer. What say you… 9) Paducah Tilghman (3A) – Preseason Rank: 7 - 2019 Record 5-2; [District Record 1-0] Week 8 Results: BYE WEEK. Tilghman can certainly use this down time to prepare for the final push of the season. Focus on the District Championship is now paramount! Good luck Blue Tornados! Week 9: vs 3A District mate Union County (4-2). With a win here, Tilghman is almost assured a District Title with only one remaining District game at Poor Ole’ Webster County! So this is a Big Game! I look for Tilghman to try to get back on their rushing game and try to wear down the Braves to get that job done! While I like Tilghman by 3 TDs, I would not overlook an always scrappy Union County team, as they remind me of a Graves County Roman candle kinda team that seems to have one good spark left in them but you don’t know when it’s coming out! But I still have confidence in Tilghman in this one! 8) Logan County (4A) – Preseason Rank: 10 - 2019 Record 6-1; District Record 1-1] Week 8 Results: BYE WEEK! The Cougars are banged up! With very physical tough games back to back to Madisonville and Hoptown, the Bye Week came at just the right time. Now with the vastly easier part of their district schedule to complete, they should be able to play some younger Cougars while continuing to heal some critical starters. I still don’t know the status of star RB/LB Gary Hardy. Could someone provide an update? It would be appreciated! Rest/Heal up Cougars! Week 9: vs 4A District Mate Hopkins County Central (0-8)! After losing the Basement Bowl this week to Calloway County, the Storm now face an almost assured winless season. I get no pleasure typing that, as I have compassion for the Storm players just like anyone else’s team. Better luck next year Storm! With that said, Cougars roll!!! 7) Hopkinsville (4A) – Preseason Rank: 6 - 2019 Record 5-3; District Record 2-1] Week 8 Results: Western Kentucky GAME OF THE WEEK - Loss: 20-18 at District Rival 4A Madisonville-North Hopkins (7-1). Great effort Tigers! Yes, I know you wanted to win this game, but when your starting kick got injured that put you on a much more unstable course and it turned out to be critical because Hoptown had to go for the 2 point conversion after all 3 TDs. They did not convert on any of those 3 and that turned out to be the difference! Still Star QB Jay Bland, RB Jayden Dillard and WR Reece Jesse all played really well. But to me the emergence of WR Lane Rushing on the other side of the field when Jesse was getting double teams all night that propelled Hoptown back into this game! Great effort and you’ll see them later! Week 9: BYE WEEK! Bye Weeks can be awesome tools for a football team when combined with a proper timing element. Well that’s certainly the case for the Tigers! After 2 drop down – drag out cage matches against Logan County and now Madisonville, the Tigers have certainly earned the off week! And great scheduling to put the BYE here as well! It should set the Tigers up well to ramp up into Week 1 of the playoffs! As District Champs? You tell me… 6) Madisonville – North Hopkins (4A) – Preseason Rank: 5 - 2019 Record 7-1; [District Record 2-1] Week 8 Results: Western Kentucky GAME OF THE WEEK - Win: 20-18 vs District Rival 4A Hopkinsville (5-3). Great Win Maroons! You controlled the first 2.5 Quarter of this game with another fine effort from Star RB Jeriah Hightower! You will see him later. I should point out that Mr. Hightower is the State’s Leading Rusher and ranked 3rd in the country with 1,723 yards coming into this game! Outstanding! But the Maroons D played tough when they had to, especially on all 3 2 point conversion attempts! BIG, BIG Win for Madisonville! Now with a 3 way tie at the top, it will come down to the tie-breaker system that might not be settled until the last week of the season! Week 9: at 4A District Mate Calloway County (1-6). The Lakers are ridin high with their first win of the year over fellow district basement dweller Hopkins County Central. Good for Calloway County! Plus, it is a long bus ride from Madisonville to Calloway County, but when it’s all said and done, Madisonville is a very good team this year and Calloway County is not and that will ultimately describe the final score in this one somewhere in the vicinity of 46-8 Maroons. 5) Owensboro (5A) – Preseason Rank: 8 - 2019 Record 6-1; [District Record 3-0] Week 8 Results: BYE WEEK! The Red Devils cruised into the Bye Week as smooth as Kentucky Lake on a fine crisp Fall Morning! No worries here! The Red Devils seem to have gotten most of their injuries (albeit important ones) out of the way early this year! The remaining Owensboro schedule displays an always gritty Graves County team, upstart Grayson County, along with old foe Hendo, who has played really well this season. But I’d honestly be shocked if Owensboro had a lot of problems against any of these teams, but you just never know and that’s why you play the game! Good luck Red Devils! Week 9: at 5A District Mate Graves County (3-4). Maybe an interesting game for a while! It’s a 2.5 hour drive over to Mayfield from Owensboro, so that could definitely have an effect early. But I just think the Red Devils have too many weapons that Graves just won’t be able to account for. But I am looking forward to seeing how QB Gavin Wimsatt performs in this game. Will be interesting to note. Good luck Red Devils! 4) Mayfield (2A) – Preseason Rank: 1 - 2019 Record 6-1; District Record 1-0] Week 8 Results: BYE WEEK. Mayfield strolls into the Bye Week in really good shape. They have 2 district games left. One is a walk in the park (against poor ole’ Ballard Memorial) and one will be challenging IMO (vs Murray). Then a final trip east to a big, physical Madisonville team that will certainly test the Cardinal’s metal, especially on defense as the Madisonville rushing attack may be the best in the West, if not the State! With all that said, you have IMO the most experienced Coaching Staff in the West and that will surely guide you through this stretch of games. This should set the Cardinals up looking to host games at War Memorial Stadium deep into the playoffs! Your enemy will almost certainly be injuries as you will have to give your all in the Murray and Madisonville games! Week 9: vs 2A District Mate Ballard Memorial (1-6). I’d certainly dress all the Freshman team for this game. As they could certainly perform in this game. Also, who will take over when QB Jayden Stinson graduates? This is the game to get him a few series of Friday Night Lights! Rest up Cardinals! 3) McCracken County (6A) – Preseason Rank: 9 - 2019 Record 5-2; District Record 2-0] Week 8 Results: BYE WEEK! Similar to their Purchase Area rivals above, the Mustangs stroll into the Bye Week playing really well and already have 2 district wins under their belt! McCracken seems to have limited injuries at this time, but I’m sure some nagging injuries persist. Great week to get back to full health! The Mustangs final 3 games include the likely District Championship at Henderson County on October 25th. That one should be a great game as both these teams have played well this season. The last game of the year sees a beleaguered Christian County team come to town winless. So the Mustangs could see a desperate team November 1, but still McCracken is clearly the class of that game. Onward to an interesting game! Week 9: vs Dyer County (Newburn), TN (6-1). The Choctaws will roll into Paducah with confidence, as they have won every game this season with ease (save a 27-24 win against Clarksville, TN). Their lone loss was to Henry County, TN who checks into MaxPreps National Ranking around 1,000. They are somewhat closely graded to North Hardin at 860. So this should be a good game to see where the Mustangs are at in this latter part of the season! This game also sets the stage for their huge district showdown in Henderson the week after. Good Luck Mustangs! I’ll be pulling for you against the Choctaws!!! 2) South Warren (5A) – Preseason Rank: 3 - 2019 Record 6-1; District Record 0-1] Week 8 Results: BYE WEEK! The Spartans were dealt their first loss of the season in Week 7. So, in many ways the BYE Week has come at a good time for South so they can refocus for the final 3 games of the season and hopefully get some valued Spartans healthy! With that said, the Final 3 games of the season (at Greenwood and at Christian County and home vs Logan County) should line up in your favor, especially the first 2 games. The Logan County game in the final week of the season is interesting, as do you manage some of your ailing personnel that week, as you likely won’t need that game going into the playoffs. We shall see how Coach Smith handles it! Week 9: at 5A District Mate Greenwood (5-2)! The Gators have only beaten the Spartans once. A 17-16 OT Thriller at Greenwood back in 2016. If memory serves me correctly, the Spartans had some injury issues in that one as well! Does this game have a chance to be the Gators second win in this series? I don’t know, but the longer the Gators hang around, the longer they will believe they can win! The Spartans need to shake off Week 7 and come out strong here to prevent a closer than comfortable game; it’s as simple as that! Good luck Spartans! 1) Bowling Green (5A) – Preseason Rank: 2 - 2019 Record 4-2; District Record 1-0] Week 8 Results: BYE WEEK! The Purples had to have a good Bye Week after getting the Spartan Monkey off their backs! Yes, it’s just one game, but it means a lot toward district play and it means a lot in the community. The Purples remaining games represents 2 valleys and 1 peak! BG will face district foes Christian County (winless) and Greenwood (have never beaten BG in more than 25 tries) and represent the valleys, while the final game of the season sees the vaunted Trinity Shamrocks drive down I-65 to battle the Purples and they clearly represent the peak! BG should handle their district foes with no problem. But the Shamrocks are a completely different animal. If BG couldn’t beat St X, how can BG beat a team St X lost to 35-3? You tell me… Week 9: vs 5A District Mate Christian County (0-7). This matchup has been a really big one in Western Kentucky in the near recent past! But Kolbi Langhi and Cory Trice ain’t walkin through that door! The Colonels are simply young this year and have competed well in several games, but just couldn’t close the deal. I certainly don’t think they close it at El Donaldson Stadium either! Purples roll!!! Next 10 – 11 to 20: 11) Owensboro Catholic (2A) (6-1) – Week 8 Results: BYE WEEK! The Aces are playing awfully well pulling into their Bye Week! Star QB Drew Hartz is playing as well as anyone in the State IMO. It doesn’t hurt to be playing a soft district schedule, but that’s not the Aces fault. You play who remains on your schedule! For the Aces, they finish up district play with homes games vs a decent Hancock County team and a struggling Butler County team. They finish the year at home vs nearby rival 6A Apollo, who has clearly been improving of late. The district games likely get out of hand quickly, but the game with Apollo could see it closer for a while. But I still think the Aces pull away from the Eagles late in that game! Good luck Aces! Next up: vs 2A Hancock County. I think the Hornets are a decent 2A team that have improved come District play. The problem is the Aces are destroying their district and ultimately think the Hornets get swatted in this one! Go Aces! 12) Henderson County (6A) (5-1) - Week 8 Results: Win 20-13 vs 6A Apollo. Thanks to our good friends @wrn1979 and @Brown for bringing us the updates in this District battle! Apollo led 7-0 at the half while just missing a FG attempt close to the end of the first half. Henderson County tied it up about mid-way through the 3rd Quarter, but then word started trickling in for some unscrupulous play suggesting late hits and ripping Apollo helmets off committed by the Colonels players! I assume this to be the case unless someone saw it differently. That is definitely troubling to hear. Is there some bad blood between Apollo and Hendo or just a hard hitting District Game that got a little out of hand? You tell me… Week 9: at 6A District Mate Daviess County. News Flash Colonels! You better get more than 1 guy on Panther Star RB Shane Riley! This young man is a force on the football field, but he’s been hurt of late. But he is a game changer. If Hendo can control Mr. Riley, I like them in this game by about 14 points! Good Luck Hendo! 13) Franklin Simpson (4A) (3-4) – Week 8 Results: BYE WEEK. Well, I’m sure you’d like more wins in this first half of the year Wildcat Fans, but as we’ve discussed injuries and younger Wildcats need time to get their footing on the varsity field. The good news is it sounds like that is the case, especially along the line of scrimmage. Looking at the final 3 games of the Wildcats season show Warren Central and Warren East at home and then a very interesting road trip on the final week of the season at surging old rival Glasgow. I think the Wildcats will be too much in their District games, but to overlook Warren East would be a mistake! The Glasgow game is intriguing on a number of levels and we’ll discuss those later! Next up: vs 4A District Mate Warren Central! The Dragons haven’t won a game in a long time and the bottom line is that they won’t win here either. But their final 2 games, I do give Central a chance in both! Good Luck Dragons! For Franklin, this game would be great to make sure any younger Wildcats you want to bring up for a shot at varsity ball this year and next are ready to play on the 18th! Good luck Wildcats!!! 14) Murray (2A) (6-1) – Week 8 Results – Win 54-6 vs 2A District Mate and Poor Ole’ Ballard Memorial. Just 2 teams at different levels, but hey Bombers, you did beat Fulton City last week! Murray in a really big way! I hope the Tigers got some cubs in this game. Star QB Hunter Utley and undervalued WR Tommy Waldrop were huge in this game and you’ll see them later! Not much else to see really. Next up: WESTERN KENTUCKY GAME OF THE WEEK vs 2A District Mate Caldwell County. This should be a really entertaining game! I respect Caldwell’s program quite a bit but just feel Murray is the better team this year with likely the better lines. Plus playing at home will be an advantage IMO. Am I wrong? You tell me… Go Tigers! 15) Caldwell County (2A) (6-2) – Week 8 Results: Win 40-0 vs District Mate 2A Fort Campbell. Cheer up Falcons! You are finally on the BYE Week with Ballard Memorial coming to call on the 25th! This is your shot! Don’t miss! For Caldwell County, they were razor sharp as one should be against a lesser opponent! I don’t have any stats for this one, but a good team beats a really struggling team is the theme here! A Big game is upon you now! Rise up Tigers! Next up: WESTERN KENTUCKY GAME OF THE WEEK - at District Mate Murray. Important game right here Tigers Fans! This game will likely determine who hosts the Round 1 playoff rematch between these 2. So, if you’d like to host a playoff game, and I’m sure you would, give it all you got at Murray! You’re going to have to stop/neutralize stellar QB Hunter Utley, who can be a dual threat QB. It won’t be easy. Good luck Tigers! 16) Graves County (5A) (4-3) – Week 8 Results: Win 21-10 at New District Mate Grayson County! Graves with a big District Statement win here as they knock Grayson County from the unbeaten ranks! The Eagles rushing attack was in full swing and really dictated this game as Graves County rolled up almost 290 yards on the ground! 2 Eagles RBs each had over 100 yards rushing and you’ll see them later! Also the Eagles defense came to play by limiting Grayson County to only 59 yards total offense on the night! That’s stout work there! Nice win and it sheds quite a bit of light on where Grayson County really is as well. Next week: vs District Mate Owensboro. Graves County is playing well right now and they will host this game, which I do think is an advantage. This game has a chance to be close early as Owensboro will be driving 2.5 hours over into the Purchase Area. But I just think Owensboro has better athletes across the board and especially on defense. The Red Devil D has been terrific of late. QB John Brown has his work cut out for him! Good luck Eagles! 17) Greenwood (5A) (5-2) –Week 8 Results: BYE WEEK! The Gators got to rest up after a strong opening 7 games to the 2019 season! Their opening win vs Franklin Simpson is still one of the more surprising of the entire season to date. Yes, you likely should have held on to beat Barren County. But still much promise in the Gator camp! Onward! Next week: vs 5A District Mate South Warren! The Gators upset South back in the 2016 campaign for their only win vs the Spartans! Could this be the second? In order for that to happened, you’d think star Reed Sloan would have to be involved to some degree, as he pulled Greenwood through last week vs Christian County. Also, can the Gator D Line hold up against a fine South OLine? That may be the difference in the game right there! It’ll be a tough game for sure, but at least South won’t be coming into it flying high and missing a couple key pieces of their team. Good luck Gators! 18) Warren East (4A) (4-3) – Week 8 Results: BYE WEEK! Raider Nation has done pretty well this year! Their only losses are to South Warren, Logan County and a 22-13 setback to Greenwood. Those are all teams above you in these rankings! What about from here on out? Only 1 of 3 remaining opponents are above you in these rankings (Franklin Simpson). While I don’t think you’ll beat Franklin, especially away, I can see you beating Allen County-Scottsville and even a physical Daviess County team on the road. But you will need to shore up your defense prior to that last one, as you gave up over 300 yards rushing to Greenwood! Good Luck Raiders! 19) Barren County (6A) (5-2) – Week 8 Results: Loss 38-0 vs New District Mate 6A Central Hardin. This loss doesn’t surprise me and shouldn’t any Trojan fan that knows it’s going to take time to compete near the top of 6A District 2! Also know Trojan Fans that this year is one of the absolute top years for both Central Hardin and North Hardin so maybe you’ll have a shot not so far down the road! Best of Luck! Next up: vs New District Mate 6A North Hardin. Well Trojan fans, at least you get the 2 toughest district teams at home this year! Problem is they are both way too tough for you this season. But chin up, as you are headed up overall and if you can compete with Meade County things would definitely be rosier going into the 2020 season! Good Luck Trojans! 20) Crittenden County (1A) (5-2) – Week 8 Results – Win 54-0 vs. Poor Ole’ Caverna! Trying to find clarity with this #20 spot is like trying to get free HBO back in the day with the wavy lines rollin across your screen from time to time! But it makes it fun too, as we get to highlight a number of very solid team across our Great Region of the State! I feel bad for Caverna to ride 3 hours over to Marion to get crushed! Sorry, I just do. Not taking anything away from a fine Rockets club here, as they did what they were supposed to do! Many Rockets play well and you’ll see some of them below! Next up: at 1A District Mate Fulton County! This could be a very interesting game. While I fully expect Crittenden to win, this is one of the best Fulton County teams I can recall and Caleb Kimble is a very fine runner. Problem is Crittenden knows this and will load the box and make it very tough on the Pilots! Still hoping for a good one here! Good luck Rockets! Week 8 Players of the Week: *I don’t have all stats available, so please add as you see fit! 1) Jeriah Hightower – RB – Madisonville – 27 carries for 132 yards and 1 TD vs Hopkinsville! 2) Jay Bland – QB – Hopkinsville – 21-44 for 200 yards and 3 TDs vs 1 INT vs Madisonville! Add WR Lane Rushing with 7 catches for 97 yards and 1 TD and WR Reece Jesse with 6 catches for 58 yards and 2 TDs! 3) Hunter Utley – QB – Murray – 10 for 15 for 312 yards and 6 TDs! Add star WR Tommy Waldrop with 5 catches for 241 yards and 4 TDs vs Ballard Memorial! 4) Clint McKee – RB – Graves County – 27 carries for 167 yards and 1 TD! And Cody Goatley – RB – 15 carries for 114 yards and 1 TD at Grayson County! 5) Hunter Jones – QB – Crittenden County – 10 for 13 for 201 yards and 2 TDs! Add star RB Xander Tabor who rushed only 5 times for 117 yards and 2 TDs vs Caverna! 6) Trenton Brown – RB – Breckinridge County – 6 rushes for 86 yards and 3 TDs vs Nelson County! 7) John Foster – QB – Calloway County – 10 for 17 for 176 yards and 4 TDs vs 1 INT! Add RB Jacob Watters with 15 carries for 238 yards and 4 TDs vs Hopkins County Central! 8) Adrian Stringer – QB – Hopkins County Central – 33 for 60 for 487 yards passing and 3 TDs vs 2 INTs! Add WR Blaisin Moore who caught 14 passes for 247 yards. He didn’t have any TDs, but he did make an INT playing defense! Outstanding effort vs Calloway County! GREAT WORK GENTLEMEN!!! Week 8 “Teams Trending Down” Hopkinsville (4A) – Down – When you play in a great district, you can easily be up one minute and down the next! Such is the case with Hopkinsville. Let me be clear that Hoptown isn’t here because they played poorly. To the contrary, they are here because they had a ticket to basically a first round bye if they could have harnessed this game. But it wasn’t meant to be. But Hoptown’s effort was commendable! Sometimes players get hurt and you have to adjust and play with those you have. And such was the case with the Tigers last Friday Night! Still a lot to play for! Good Luck Tigers! Grayson County (4A) – Down – I’m not here to pile on the Cougars! But I will point out the obvious that we all knew your schedule was suspect. And I think that showed on Friday Night. I’m not sure they beat Graves County if they had a more difficult schedule or not. But when the first time you are really tested all year is 3 games into your District Slate, maybe you need to reconsider this scheduling thing… Am I right? You tell me… But good luck the rest of the way Cougars! Teams “Trending Up” Madisonville (4A) – Up – HUGE Win Maroons! You rode your stud RB in the first half and held on in the second half against a worthy opponent! The breaks seemed to finally go your way at the end of a game for once and I’m sure you’re pleased with that! Still a lot to play for if you expect to go beyond the second round of the playoffs! Very nice work Maroons! Graves County (5A) – Up – Coach Kemp has to be extremely proud of his team! They could have easily come in soft in this game and let Grayson County hang around and keep it closer than the score turned out to be. But when you only give up 60 yards on the night, you are playing sound defensive football! That has to be very encouraging if you’re a Graves County fan! But do they have anything for the Red Devils? You tell me… Good luck Eagles! “Broke Their Maiden” – In horse racing, when you break your maiden, you win your first race. Well this category is for teams that don’t get as much love, but did get their first victory of the season here and I think that’s significant: Basement Bowl - 4A Calloway County (1-6) defeats 4A District Mate Hopkins County Central (0-7) 69-35 – What an epic battle; as both teams laid it on the line! You have to admire young kids desire to get the win in a game like this one! As you can see some of the fine efforts highlighted in the Players of the Week category above, you know this game was played with great passion and great determination and makes high school football the great game it is! Congratulations to Coach Champion and Laker Nation!

BluegrassPreps' 2019 Western Kentucky Power Rankings – Week 10 Edition The top story line this week reflects the peaks and valleys of the regular season games! And then there are games that you tend to remember and reference at different times over the year! We had one of them this week! We also had demonstrated what our good friend @Brown reported a couple weeks ago, in that the depth of good teams in the West this year is deeper than it has been in some time IMO. We will expand on that further below! And we’re off… Week 10 Western Kentucky Games of the Week: DISTRICT BUSTERS! 6A McCracken County (6-3) 28 at 6A Henderson County (7-2) 33! 6A District 1 was given a seismic jolt last Friday night with Henderson, Kentucky at its epicenter! This was another terrific game in the West between 2 very solid teams, both well prepared and both played very hard with talented players making big plays for both. The interesting piece for me, is that McCracken County has to make the drive over the WKY Parkway and up the Pennyrile and basically came out flat. Did that have to do with the bus ride… You tell me! The teams played on the same field with the same weather conditions, but it clearly took the Mustangs a couple quarters to get going! But give McCracken County credit for not quitting as they came back and led late in this game. But on this night the Colonels would not be denied, even as a go ahead field goal was blocked with 3 minutes to go in the game. And the Colonels defense rose up and stopped the Mustangs on 4th and 1 with about a minute to go in the game. HUGE! Then on 4th and 10 they connect on a HUGE pass play to get to the 9 yard line, which set up the go ahead pass completion for the go-ahead TD and I’m sure pandemonium in Henderson, KY! Awesome Win Colonels! The first EVER district loss for McCracken County! This sets up a 3 way tie at the top of 6A District 1, which won’t be settled until after next Friday! Heck of a game!!! One I will reference for a long time… 2A Murray (6-3) 6 at 2A Mayfield (8-1) 41. 2A District 1 still comes through War Memorial Stadium and it’s not really close right now! Mayfield got 2 defensive scores and Star QB Stinson hit one of his favorite receiver Neely a couple times for Bomb TDs and that was really all she wrote!!! Also, our good friend @Mayfieldsportsfan reported Star Murray QB Hunter Utley was injured in the first half and never returned. I certainly hope the young man is ok and can return this season! Mayfield is just on another level than their nearby 2A competition, but what about their nearby 4A competition? We shall talk about it below! Cardinals roll!!! Week 11 Western Kentucky Game of the Week: 2A Mayfield (8-1) at 4A Madisonville-North Hopkins (8-1). I had a ton of great games to choose from this week, but ultimately decided to highlight this one as it promises to be an out-right classic! A disciplined Mayfield squad travels east to a rough and powerful Madisonville squad, who still needs some RPI points! Who will come out on top of this great end of season game? Mayfield’s defensive unit will be significantly tested in this game, as Madisonville can throw it and also has the top RB in the State! For Madisonville, their defense will have to come to play as well, as Mayfield isn’t like any other team. They beat Hopkinsville earlier in the year and Hoptown played Madisonville extremely close at Madisonville. So there you go for teams that have played similar opponents! More below! Honorable Mention: Trinity at Bowling Green; Logan County at South Warren; Franklin Simpson at Glasgow; Paducah Tilghman at Hopkinsville; Henderson County at Owensboro; Apollo at OCATH; Warren East at Daviess County and Todd County Central at Crittenden County! Great games here! If you stay at home on this Friday Night – it’s on you! Try to make it out to one of these great games! Week 10 Top 10: 10) Paducah Tilghman (3A) – Preseason Rank: 7 - 2019 Record 7-2; [District Record 3-0] Week 10 Results: Win 52-0 vs 3A District mate & Poor Ole’ Webster County (3-6). Tilghman’s drop is simply the casualty of high power ranking game causing ripples around the Top 10 and the fact that sometimes those hit when you’re playing poor ole’ Webster County and you just have nothing to push back with this week! Still nothing wrong in Blue Tornado land! And they appear from afar to be ramping up and storming into Round 3 of the playoffs! Go Blue Tornados! Week 11: at 4A Hopkinsville (6-3). I really like Tilghman’s schedule this year! This is a terrific matchup to end the regular season and ramp you up into the playoffs win or lose. Tilghman controls their district and allows them to have the freedom to schedule Hoptown and a team like Desales, who gave Tilghman plenty to work on since early October! This should be a terrific game! Hoptown has a fine defense and it will be tested with the Tilghman’s speed. But can Tilghman cover the Hoptown receivers? I think that’s my biggest question mark in this game and the answer to it will go a long way in determining the outcome of this one! Good Luck Tilghman!!! 9) McCracken County (6A) – Preseason Rank: 9 - 2019 Record 6-3; District Record 2-1] Week 10 Results: WESTERN KENTUCKY GAME OF THE WEEK - Loss 33-28 at Henderson County (7-2)! This loss is like a coin flip! Heads says we traveled a significant route on a crappy weather night and played a fired up team where we didn’t play well early; never quit and came back to take the lead only to have it slip away in the end. Hey it happens when you play a good district team on the road! Tis true… Tails says this is a HUGE loss from the standpoint you went in with a firm command on the District Title as always and now you are in the washing machine still awaiting to see how the spin cycle (tiebreaker) plays out! Not to mention the mental side of things, which is undervalued here. Let me say this clearly: McCracken County has NEVER lost to a district opponent EVER! Let that sink in. Now that’s gone and maybe the District Title too! This is also true! But keep fighting Mustangs as I still think you are the best team in this District! Prove me right… Week 11: vs 5A Christian County (0-9)! A couple years ago this would have been a great matchup, but County is really down right now and will go winless for the first time since before 1998! Wow! I’m hoping Coach Clark can continue to develop depth he might be able to go to sooner or later! Good Luck Mustangs! 8) Henderson County (6A) (7-2) - Week 10 Results: WESTERN KENTUCKY GAME OF THE WEEK - Win 33-28 vs 6A District Rival McCracken County! Keep the Pony Keg’s comin!!! Life is good at Henderson County! As our good friend @Brown rightfully said: this Hendo team could easily be 9 and O! Let that sink in!!! They landed at a clearly uneven Anderson County team and lost by 4 and just couldn’t make the plays late at Daviess County, but make no mistake that Coach Josh Boston has done an OUTSTANDING Job resurrecting the ship over in Henderson! They are knocking on the door of their first District Title since 2012 and possibly hosting at least 2 playoff games! BIG DEAL! Great Work Colonels! Week 11: at 5A Old Foe Owensboro. The Colonels travel across the Audubon Parkway for another battle with the Owensboro Red Devils! These 2 have been playing for a long time! I like that they both fit this game in as I know it helps both teams! And with Hendo losing their Indiana games next season they need these games more than ever! While I think Henderson can stay in this game a while; I look for Owensboro to break it open in the second half with the defense setting the tone and the Red Devil offense up in good shape to control this game. What say you… 7) Logan County (4A) – Preseason Rank: 10 - 2019 Record 8-1; District Record 3-1] Week 10 Results: Win 46-7 vs 4A District Mate Calloway County (1-8)! Just a really good team overwhelming a very medium team. The Cougars rolled up over 500 yards offense! Many Cougars play well and you will see a bunch of them later! Cougars roll! Week 11: at 5A South Warren (8-1)! Terrific game right here! This game doesn’t mean a lot to South as they already have the #2 District Seed wrapped up, but the Cougars could sure use the RPI points from a big win here! Do I think Logan County can win this game? Sure, but it will be very difficult, as the South Defense is always good. But IMO, Logan sets up nicely in its pass first schemes that will give South fits. But expect a 4th Quarter game when you travel to South Warren! Good luck Cougars!!! 6) Hopkinsville (4A) – Preseason Rank: 6 - 2019 Record 6-3; District Record 3-1] Week 10 Results: Win 53-13 at District Mate 4A Poor Ole’ Hopkins County Central (0-10). Farewell Storm! I hope you have a good off season and get a win in 2020! For the Tigers, they put a 50 Burger on the Storm in what was more like a glorified scrimmage that pressure packed District Tilt! Onward to a Good One! Week 11: vs 3A Paducah Tilghman! Terrific game here! Tilghman is a running team; Hoptown is primarily a passing team with Jay Bland at QB. So who wins? I’d say the defenses will dictate how this one goes! Get out to the Stadium of Champions Sports Fans and cheer on your home team!!! 5) Madisonville – North Hopkins (4A) – Preseason Rank: 5 - 2019 Record 8-1; [District Record 3-1] Week 10 Results: BYE WEEK! The Maroons are a 2-minute drill away from a perfect season now pulling into the Bye Week. It’s been a grind to get here, so I’m sure the down time will prove advantageous and allow Madisonville to recharge their batteries and come out hard and fast! Good luck Maroons and Onward! Week 11: vs Western Kentucky GAME OF THE WEEK vs Stalwart 2A Mayfield (8-1)! I couldn’t easily find if these 2 have ever played against each other before. If I were to guess, I would guess it would have had to have been back in the day due to the difference in current classifications! But let me know if you have info on this! As for the game, I look for a very tough hard hitting game in the land along the Pennyrile! I look for Madisonville to try to establish the run. If they can, it will put Mayfield in a tough spot on that side of the ball. If you are the Madisonville defense, think Hopkinsville with Hot Sauce because Mayfield will come at you with a lot of different weapons on offense! I think this will be a Dandy! Good luck to both teams and no injuries, as I expect both these teams to go deep in the playoffs this year! Good luck Maroons! 4) Owensboro (5A) – Preseason Rank: 8 - 2019 Record 8-1; [District Record 5-0] Week 10 Results: Win 51-9 vs 5A District Mate Grayson County (6-3)! Red Devils roll up over 350 yards on the night and the stellar O Defense held Grayson County to only 85 yards on the night! Impressive! Red Devils playing very well. Playing a light schedule does instill confidence, which I see in this Red Devil group, but what happens the first time the get punched in the mouth early (which hasn’t happened since August)! You tell me... Week 11: vs 6A Old Foe Henderson County (6-3). I could see this game close for a while and even a half, but in the end Owensboro just has too many weapons for the Colonels to account for. It’s that simple! But this game doesn’t mean very much for the Red Devils, so I look for Coach Fallin to continue to build depth and get some younger Red Devils some more snaps! Would be a good idea because the Red Devils know more than most about injuries and next man up! Good Luck Red Devils!!! 3) Mayfield (2A) – Preseason Rank: 1 - 2019 Record 8-1; District Record 3-0] Week 10 Results: WESTERN KENTUCKY GAME OF THE WEEK - Win 63-6 vs 2A District Mate Murray (6-3). Another game at War Memorial Stadium and another win at War Memorial Stadium! The supposed weaker than normal Cardinal defense was spurred on by Eddie Rabbit’s “I Love a Rainy Night”! Stud QB Jaden Stinson and crew were very sharp on this night and send notice to every 2A team this side of I-75 that you have to come to Mayfield if you want to advance to Round 4 of the playoffs! Onward! Week 11: WESTERN KENTUCKY - GAME OF THE WEEK at 4A Madisonville-North Hopkins (8-1). Terrific game here! This is the first time since 2006 that Mayfield hasn’t played Caldwell County the last game of the regular season! Wow! Talk about consistency! But this is a clear step up for Mayfield, no offense to our Caldwell County faithful! Madisonville will really test Mayfield at the line of scrimmage and their depth. I look for this game to be very physical and hard fought! About an hour and a half ride east for Big Red Nation to come support their team! And I look for a big Mayfield presence here! Why? That’s what they do! Good luck Cardinals – this one will be tough!!! 2) South Warren (5A) – Preseason Rank: 3 - 2019 Record 8-1; District Record 2-1] Week 10 Results: Win 36-0 at 5A District Mate Christian County (0-9)! Stellar SO RB Kobe Martin rushes for 110 yards and the South Warren defense playing really well holding County to less than 100 yards offense on the night! Great effort on a crappy night! Week 11: vs 4A Logan County (8-1)! This is a fascinating game here! South doesn’t need this game, but they play to win and don’t necessarily want to take another loss going into the playoffs. Logan County could really use the RPI points a won would give them. They are set up IMO just right with their throw first mentality with Star QB Tyler Ezell to make hay against a good South defense! How would you plan for this one if you were the Coach? I think it will be a really interesting one to follow. South is the favorite IMO, but not by as much as you might think with QB Veltcamp still out! So what’s your take on this one? You tell me… 1) Bowling Green (5A) – Preseason Rank: 2 - 2019 Record 6-2; District Record 3-0] Week 10 Results: Win 39-0 vs 5A District Mate Greenwood (5-4)! As our good friend @bernies said, Conner Cooper starting at QB just opens things up for the Purples! And open things up he certainly did, leading BG to a 25-0 lead at half and 39-0 lead at the end of the 3rd Quarter! Purples playing well and they need to be to have any shot at keeping it close next week, but I look for BG to play hard and to the end and take their best shot! Go BG! Week 11: vs 6A Juggernaut Trinity (7-2)! The Rocks come to BG for the first time since a 14-12 Trinity win back in 2010! Great showing by the Purples considering BG has never beaten Trinity! And if I’m honest, I just don’t think they will this year either, although I’m still pulling for them to do so! I’m honestly hoping to keep playing Trinity after next year because I honestly believe BG can play with Trinity after next season! Between then and now… Well, let’s just say the Purples will need to play their absolute best to have a shot in the game! Never say die Purples! Go BG! Next 10 – 11 to 20: 11) Glasgow (3A) – Preseason Rank: 12 - 2019 Record 8-1; District Record 3-0] Week 10 Results: Win 21-14 at 3A District Mate Casey County (4-5). Don’t look now but the Scotties are 8 and 1 – that’s a heck of a record! Scotties have played awfully well this year! The Scotties rushing attack played well and that controlled the clock for Glasgow who likely got a better game from Casey due to the rain. Week 11: vs Old Foe 4A Franklin Simpson. These 2 have played many times back in the day, but the Scotties have lost the last 5 games to Franklin dating back to a Glasgow win in 2007! Since this game is in Glasgow, I think they have a real chance to break that streak! In fact, I’m picking the Scotties in a really tight game! From there, Glasgow gets to sit at home for the first 2 weeks of the playoffs in games I like their chances in. But beware because an unfocused effort vs Taylor County would be bad news! Go Scotties!!! 12) Owensboro Catholic (2A) (8-1) – Week 10 Results: Win 63-24 vs 2A Butler County (1-8)! The Aces are just way yonder too much for Poor Ole’ Butler County! Drew Hartz is simply amazing and his stat line this week could be his most impressive considering the wet night! Aces Roll! Next up: vs 6A County Rival Apollo. This should be a terrific game! Just when you think Apollo should take a downward turn, they play their hearts out and take Daviess to the wire and likely shoulda/coulda won their game last week! While the Aces are pretty much hitting on all cylinders and have been since they left Rash Stadium back in September! It would be a Major Upset for OCATH not to make it to at least the 3rd round of the playoffs. From there, well we shall see… Carry on Aces!!! 13) Franklin Simpson (4A) (5-4) – Week 10 Results: Win 48-21 vs 4A District Mate Warren East. This was a much tougher game than the score implies, but such is a good hard fought district game! I have no stats for this one, but the Wildcats played much better in the second half. They will need a more focused effort next week against a much better opponent. Onward Wildcats! Next up: at 3A Old Foe Glasgow! Just a dandy of a game right here! Both teams playing really well! This game will really test the Franklin defense as it hasn’t been in quite a while (probably the 4th game of the season). Tanner Abernathy and company will present quite a challenge for Franklin. But this is what you need Wildcat fans, as the 3rd round of the playoffs could very likely be a team of Glasgow or better. Ramp up Wildcats!!! 14) Caldwell County (2A) (7-2) – Week 10 Results: BYE WEEK! The Tigers have to be sky high with this Bye Week getting some guys some needed rest/healing time, while sewing up the #2 spot in the District and a well-earned home playoff game!!! That’s always a big deal in my book! But the next game is the one you want to keep bragging rights when you walk into Hancock’s Neighborhood Market over off Commerce Street in Cadiz!!! Tell me that’s not a Big Deal!!! Next up: 139 Bowl at Nearby Rival 3A Trigg! This will be a hard hitting game as both teams want to win this game that means more than you know over in this part of the state! Trigg County started like a house-a-fire starting off the season. They were hit by the injury bug and really haven’t been able to get back to where they were earlier in the year! Caldwell is coming in HOT with a huge District win at Murray! I look for the Tigers to win this one, but don’t think Trigg won’t be playing hard all the way to the end! Good luck Tigers! 15) Daviess County (6A) (4-5) - Week 10 Results: Win 49-45 at 6A District Mate Apollo! This was a great game that Apollo led for most of the night! But Daviess just kept coming and never quit. Both teams combined had over 800 yards rushing! Neither team really stopped the other most of the night on the ground. You will see some Panthers later! Week 11: vs 4A Warren East. The Panthers are sitting in a good spot right now. The Ra-Ra-Raiders come into this one after a solid effort down in Franklin last week. I look for the Raiders to play tough, but Daviess County has a better weapon IMO in Star RB Shane Riley! But don’t underestimate East as they have some athletes who I think can give Daviess problems, but probably not enough to win. Prove me right Panthers!!! 16) Murray (2A) (6-3) – Week 10 Results – WESTERN KENTUCKY GAME OF THE WEEK – Loss 41-6 vs 2A District Rival Mayfield. More than the District loss is the likely loss of Star QB Hunter Utley to what may be a season ending wrist/hand injury! I hate that for the Tigers. But Murray just couldn’t get anything going in this one as evidence by Utley’s 4 for 14 line before he left the game and it was downhill from there! Next up: at 1A Fulton County. Great timing for Murray, but just like our good friend @BadaBing said, Murray needs to schedule some stronger competition before most are going to really take them seriously. Hey, I’m a big fan of Star RB Caleb Kimble and a revamped Pilots squad, but is this game really going to get Murray prepared for the first 2 games of the playoffs if they make it that far? You tell me… It just feels like the writing is on the wall for the Tigers this year! Ramp up Tigers! 17) Graves County (5A) (5-4) – Week 10 Results: Win 49-8 at 5A District Mate Muhlenberg County! Route! About 350 yards vs 130 yards for the Mustangs! QB John Brown and RB Clint McKee both play well for the Eagles who are playing well right now! On to the next victim… Next week: at 6A Marshall County. Is it round ball season yet Marshall Fans! Don’t worry; it soon will be! But can’t wait to watch my man Zion Harmon! Go Marshalls! Back to the business at hand; Eagles roll… 18) Greenwood (5A) (5-4) –Week 10 Results: Loss 36-0 vs 5A District Mate Bowling Green! You could see this one coming Gators fans! Purples playing really well right now. No shame there. Greenwood continues to play really hard, but with 2 stalwart programs in their district are the Gators looking at realignment and 2023 for change for them to be able to compete again in the playoffs? You tell me… Next week: at 4A John Hardin! Awe yes, the Bulldogs! Many old battles reverberate through my mind (2012 Playoffs is tops!!! BG wins on a hook and lateral when it wasn't a common thing and Nacarius Fant caught the 2 point conversion to steal one from the Bulldogs!) whenever I think about playing John Hardin! John Hardin just lost at home vs a 4-5 Spencer County club. I like the Gators in this one! Good luck Gators! 19) Crittenden County (1A) (7-2) – Week 10 Results – Win 21-14 vs. 1A District Mate Russellville! Good hard fought game here! The Rockets used a steady diet of Xander Tabor and Caden McAllister to keep control of the game, but Russellville has improved since the start of the season and they came to play and kept fighting to the end! But give the Rocket defense credit as they held when they needed it most! Nice work Rockets! Next up: vs 2A Todd County Central! A lot earlier in the year I would have felt this would be a tight game, but not now. The Rebels just look as lost as General George McClelland for the Union Army. I say the Rockets blast off in a big way in this one and really ramp up for the playoffs! Don’t look now but the Rockets seem a lock to make it to the 3rd Round of the playoffs! Do they have anything beyond Round 2? You tell me… Good luck Rockets! 20) Allen County-Scottsville (4A) (3-6) – Week 10 Results: Win 34-28 vs 4A District Mate Russell County! Sorry I don’t have any stats for this one. Maybe our good friend @DragonFire can fill us in, but no worries if you don’t know either! But the Patriots ensured a home playoff game! Congrats to them! That’s a big achievement with a 3 and 6 record! Next up: vs 2A Monroe County. This game feels a little like the old Rock-em’ – Sock-em’ fighters, where Allen County is the Red guy and Monroe is the Blue guy. Take your best shot guys! I got next!!! Good Luck Patriots! Week 10 Players of the Week: *I don’t have all stats available, so please add as you see fit! 1) Drew Hartz – QB – Owensboro Catholic – 13 for 13 (YES, that is PERFECTION!) for 225 yards and 5 TDs vs Hancock County. Add WR Hagan Edge with 5 catches for 1145 and 3 TDs! 2) Tyler Ezell – QB – Logan County – 13-30 for 193 yards and 6 TDs vs 2 INT vs Calloway County! Add RB Gary Hardy with 9 carries for 151 yards. Add WR Anthony Woodard with 6 catches for 152 yards and 5 TDs (WOW) and DB Brayton Baptiste with 2 INTs with one a 99 yard pick 6! Outstanding! 3) Jaden Stinson – QB – Mayfield – 11 for 19 for 245 yards and 3 TDs vs Murray! Add Star WR Kade Neely with 5 catches for 179 yards and all 3 Stinson TDs! 4) Gavin Wimsatt – QB – Owensboro – 9 for 17 for 236 yards and 3 TDs vs 1 INT vs Grayson County! 5) Shane Riley – RB – Daviess County – 26 carries for 257 yards and 2 TDs vs Apollo! Add RB Bryan Parm with 9 carries for 168 yards and 3 TDs! 6) Xander Tabor – RB – Crittenden County – 218 yards rushing vs Russellville! 7) Nolan Ford – QB – Warren East – 11 carries for 100 yard and 3 TDs vs Franklin-Simpson! GREAT WORK GENTLEMEN!!! Week 10 “Teams Trending Down” McCracken County (6A) – Down – Everybody will take a loss now and again – right! It’s just that after a 25 game regular season district streak – when you do lose it is shocking! I felt the Mustangs were a comfortable 14 point favorite on the road. You easily had the 3 best players on the field from afar, yet Hendo just came out harder in the beginning of the game and took you a long time get going. You did get going, but I’m sure the power that be would really like that 4th and 1 back late in the game when the ball didn’t go to Star RB Bradley. But if you learn for that mistake (in my eyes anyway) and you use it to regroup and win in Week 2 of the playoff and get deep in that 3rd round game and know who to give the ball to in that game and win it… Then that is paying your dues right there Mustang fans! It’s a long road and sometimes you have to pay the toll! You paid it Friday night Mustangs! Onward! Murray (2A) – Down – The Tigers follow up a disappointing home loss to Caldwell County on Homecoming with a disappointing showing at War Memorial Stadium against stalwart Mayfield. But more so troubling is the fact that Star QB and Senior QB Hunter Utley is likely out for the season with a hand injury. Certainly hate that the young man was hurt and best wishes on his recovery. But what now Tigers? You have a winnable game vs Fulton County this week and then have to travel to Caldwell County again without your star QB. Are you done this year? Show me what you got Tigers!!! Teams “Trending Up” Henderson County (4A) – Up – The Colonels pulled out one of the most memorable wins of the season! And even though they lost their lead late in the game and were on the heels of stumbling last week at Daviess County, they came through and made some HUGE plays (4th and 10 inside a minute and converted the final TD from the 9 yard line!)! I am very happy for Coach Boston and company has they have worked very hard for this and it’s paying off for them. Onward Colonels! Daviess County (6A) – Up – Another Big Win for the Panthers! Even though Apollo played really, really well for the most of the game, the Panthers just would not give up and kept coming and finally overtook the Eagles with a late TD and really solidified their playoff chances (at least for the first 2 rounds). Very nice work Panthers! WESTERN KENTUCKY BULLETS: - Fort Campbell 28-0 over Ballard Memorial – Great Job Falcons! Congratulations on getting your first win of the season! - Edmonson County 13-0 over Clinton County – The Wildcats wouldn’t be denied and pulled out the shutout win and secured the District Title! Congratulations!!! - McLean County 34-13 over Hancock County – McLean County earns the First Round of the Playoffs Home Game! Great achievement! - Monroe County 35-12 over Warren Central – Congrats Monroe! Dragons, it’s getting late in the game! Only 1 more chance for a win this season and it’s against a Russellville Panthers squad that is playing their best ball right now! Good Luck Dragons! Disclaimer: My last Edition of the Year: Week 11 and Playoff Preview will likely be a day later than I typically post due to going to a lacrosse tournament with my daughter next weekend in Chicago! I hope I don’t get snowed in! Have a Great Week!

BluegrassPreps 2019 Western Kentucky Power Rankings – Week 2 Edition The top story line this week is chalk! Of the top 12 teams ranked last week, all won last week, but four. Graves County had a bye week. Hopkinsville and McCracken County both had losses to teams they were expected to lose to. And Owensboro took a very tough 10-8 home loss to gritty Evansville Central. It was a terrific week overall for the top teams in WKY! Disclaimer: I have attended 6 high school games the first 2 weekends. I’ve never done that before. It was a lot of fun though! Great competition in the early season! Western Kentucky Spotlight: Caverna Colonels – First Win in 37 Games! Huge win for the Colonels over Shawnee last Friday 51-0! The Colonels let the flood gates open since they hadn't won a game on the field since beating Fort Knox on October 16, 2015, a streak that spanned 37 games (their loss to Green County on August 24, 2018 was later credited as a win to the Colonels after Green used an ineligible player, but does that really count for the players?). It is a great thing when long losing streaks are broken! Way to go Colonels!!! Week 2 Western Kentucky Game of the Week RECAP: Mayfield (2A) (2-0) 27 at Hopkinsville (4A) (1-1) 22 at the Stadium of Champions. Fantastic football game sports fans! Mayfield hit 3 big pass plays and 1 pick 6 and it was just enough. The Tigers battled really hard and made Mayfield earn every bit of it. Good showing for both teams, as both teams will learn from this one!!! WESTSIDER - Week 3 Western Kentucky Game of the Week: (Disclaimer 2: Westsider was a friend to this website and all sports in Western Kentucky. This is mentioned in honor of his memory as he loved this rivalry!) Mayfield 2A (2-0) travels to Paducah Tilghman 3A (2-0): I expect this OLD Rivalry to be extremely hard hitting and well played on both sides. Bragging rights at the local grocery store are on the line in the Purchase Area! The last time Tilghman beat Mayfield was back in 2005 (18-15 at Tilghman). I got to see the Blue Tornado’s this past week in Louisville and they are dangerous. They have solid lines and Damian Ford and Jayden Freeman can both take it to the house every time they touch the ball. Mayfield got a scare at Hoptown. I’m sure they will be focused this week in practice! Get out to the stadium early sports fans!!! Honorable Mention: Owensboro Catholic at Owensboro; Franklin Simpson at South Warren, Logan County at Warren East, McCracken County at Graves County, Caldwell County at Hopkinsville – Try to make it out to one of these great games! Week 2 Top 10: 10) Graves County (5A) – Preseason Rank: 11 - 2019 Record 1-0; District Record 0-0] Week 2 Results: BYE WEEK. Again, not a fan coming off a great emotion filled win against a fine Murray Tiger squad and then sitting out the next week, but play the schedule you got! Week 3: vs. McCracken County (0-2). The Mustangs are likely one of the best 0 and 2 teams out there. That may seem like a backhanded compliment, but I think they are a good team and I also think they will be fired up to play. You’ve been warned Eagles!!! 9) McCracken County (6A) – Preseason Rank: 9 - 2019 Record 0-2; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Loss: 42-14 vs Bowling Green 5A (1-1). I don’t have any stats for this game, but know that in the first quarter the Mustangs were forcing 3 and outs and taking it to the Purples. Franklin Hayes is a terrific football player for the Mustangs and he played really well last Friday. McCracken had the ball in the red zone several time later in the game but simply couldn’t make the plays late. That is disheartening but I like the effort they came with. Big game next week! Week 3: at 5A Graves County (1-0). The ragged Mustangs travel across the Purchase Area to take on a rusty Graves County team that will not have played for 14 days when you meet them. Important game for the Mustangs. Good luck Mustangs! 8) Logan County (4A) – Preseason Rank: 10 - 2019 Record 2-0; District Record 0-0] Week 2 Results: Win: 59-0 over 5A Muhlenberg County (0-2). Poor ole’ Muhlenberg County with flogging #2! Many play well for the Cougars and you will see one of them later! Week 3: at 4A scrappy Warren East (1-1). This is an interesting game as East is a dangerous team with some dangerous players. Yes, they were flattened by South, but a lot of people will be flattened by South. East flattened Russellville. So this should be a very entertaining game. Logan County would like to get this win to continue their nice momentum in this early part of the year. 7) Owensboro (5A) – Preseason Rank: 8 - 2019 Record 1-1; [District Record 1-0] Week 2 Results: Loss: 10-8 vs Evansville Central, IN (1-1). No stats, but you can see the highlights here: Touchdown Live Game of the Week: Central at Owensboro Very good game! Just came up short on the final 2 point conversion! No time to rest now. Week 3: vs City Rival 2A Owensboro Catholic (2-0). This is always an intense game and I think the injuries Owensboro has sustained make this matchup within the Aces reach. With that said, if the Red Devils starters, most importantly the OL and DL guys step up, they should win this game. Who ya got? 6) Paducah Tilghman (3A) – Preseason Rank: 7 - 2019 Record 2-0; [District Record 0-0] Week 2 Results: Win: 50-21 vs 1A Louisville Holy Cross (1-1) at Louisville Central in the middle game of the Central BSN Bowl. I got to make this one and meet our good friend @TilghmanPride! Always great to put a name with a face considering the inherent knowledge of all our BGP guys. The Blue Tornados are a talented and dangerous team. RB Damien Ford and WR Jayden Freeman are really dangerous when they touch the ball. Ford took the opening kickoff to the house! And Freeman just ran by people for as long as I could take it on a hot afternoon! They also passed ok, but think it will be a different animal next Friday night! Week 3: WESTSIDER Western Kentucky Game of the Week vs 2A Mayfield (2-0). This game still means a lot over in the Purchase Area and I bet you didn’t know that it means a lot to the nation as well. How so? According to the MaxPreps TOP 50 All-Time Winningest High School Football Programs (Top 5

BluegrassPreps 2019 Western Kentucky Power Rankings – Week 3 Edition The top story line this week is consistency in the Top 12 in the early season! Of the top 12 teams ranked last week, all won last week, but two and both of those played other teams in the Top 12! Paducah Tilghman lost to top ranked Mayfield and #10 Graves County lost at home to an explosive McCracken County squad. It was a terrific week overall for the top teams in WKY! WESTSIDER - Week 3 Western Kentucky Game of the Week: (Disclaimer 2: Westsider was a friend to this website and all sports in Western Kentucky. This is mentioned in honor of his memory as he loved this rivalry!) Mayfield 2A (3-0) 38 at Paducah Tilghman 3A (2-1) 20: Good first half by both teams and Mayfield led 21-14 at the half. Then Mayfield makes their adjustments and only give up 6 points in the second half while they put 17 on the board. But a very good game none the less. So the Mayfield win streak continues on to 14 years. Interesting to note that according to our good friend @Squirrel, the all-time record between these two teams is Mayfield 50-46 and 10 ties. Great rivalry still! For me personally, it is my Bowling Green vs Owensboro rivalry as they have played a long time (ironically, except this year). The attachment is WPSD out of Paducah who does a great job covering high school sports in the Purchase Area: 9/6 Gridiron Glory - Part 1 | | WPSD Local 6 Week 4 Western Kentucky Game of the Week: There are several pretty good games to choose from. I am going with 2 very solid teams that don’t get as much of the spotlight as they might deserve. So this week’s game of the week is: 2A Caldwell County (2-1) at 1A Crittenden County (3-0). These teams have a very good history even though Caldwell has had the better of things of late. With Caldwell dropping down to 2A this season and Crittenden having one of the larger 1A rosters in the state, could this the year the Rockets blast off and leave the Tigers in their dust? You tell me… Honorable Mention: McCracken County at Mayfield; Owensboro at Apollo, Franklin Simpson at Battle Ground Academy, TN; Paducah Tilghman at Graves County, and Logan County going across town to take on arch-rival Russellville. Try to make it out to one of these great games! Week 3 Top 10: 10) Glasgow (3A) – Preseason Rank: 12 - 2019 Record 3-0; District Record 0-0] Week 3 Results: Win 57-14 vs Monroe County (1-2). I don’t have stats for this game, but know Seniors Nick Mitchell and QB Tanner Abernathy led the way against Monroe County. The Scotties have a combined 148-27 through the first 3 wins this season! I see nothing stopping them until a very matchup with 5A South Warren on September 27! Here are some highlights: Football Friday Night: Monroe County Falcons vs Glasgow Scotties Week 4: at 4A Allen County Scottsville (0-3). Allen County has played 3 pretty good teams, but I don’t look for them to be able to stop the Nick Mitchell Show! Good luck to both teams! 9) McCracken County (6A) – Preseason Rank: 9 - 2019 Record 1-2; District Record 0-0] Week 3 Results: Win: 65-26 at 5A Graves County (1-1). JR RB Hunter Bradley had a huge game in this one and you will see him later! BIG win for the Mustangs to change momentum for them. It’s tough to go to Mayfield anyway, but to go there with a 0-3 record is certainly harder! Week 4: at 2A Mayfield (3-0). The Mustangs are the only team to come into War Memorial Stadium and get a win since 2008 against Mayfield. Let that sink in a while! The Mustangs won at Mayfield back in 2015 in OT. That Mustang team only lost to Tilghman, Bowling Green and Central Hardin that year. Could this version of the Mustangs pull off that rare feat? Anything is possible, but to be honest their defense just isn’t in a position to challenge Mayfield at this time IMO. I’ve been wrong before though. And 65 points last week is impressive regardless of opponent. Good luck Mustangs! 8) Logan County (4A) – Preseason Rank: 10 - 2019 Record 3-0; District Record 0-0] Week 3 Results: Win: 35-17 at 4A scrappy Warren East (1-2). This is a good win for the Cougars! The gained roughly 180 yards on the ground and 280 through the air. Stalwarts Tyler Ezell and RB Gary Hardy play well, but I’ve selected another Cougar for later on. Week 4: at Old Rival 1A Russellville (0-3). This is a rivalry game and not too long ago Russellville dominated it. But the past couple years have been the exact opposite once Coach Adler got to Logan County. I don’t see any way Russellville wins this game. Just too many solid weapons for the Cougars! Cougars continue to gain momentum when most of the 4A talk is on other rivals, could Logan County shock some people this year? You tell me… 7) Owensboro (5A) – Preseason Rank: 8 - 2019 Record 2-1; [District Record 1-0] Week 3 Results: Win: 36-7 vs Owensboro Catholic (2-1). No stats, but this game was dictated in the trenches with Owensboro fairly dominant in those areas. Add that to OCath missing some opportunities early to get more points on the scoreboard and a 4 TD game is what you get! Owensboro still has some very fine athletes. They just don’t have those top end ones anymore this season, but several others are getting opportunities to step up and last Friday they got it done! Week 4: at City Rival 6A Apollo (1-2). These two have had good games over the years with Apollo winning a memorable game back in 2017 with a really stout team. This year even with the brutal injuries the Red Devils have sustained, they seem to be playing markedly better than Apollo at this point in the season. Although, the Eagles have some nice pieces to work with and Coach Hawkins is a good coach, I just don’t see the Eagles getting the win here! In fact, the Red Devils start what should be a pretty easy stretch of games for them. What say you… 6) Paducah Tilghman (3A) – Preseason Rank: 7 - 2019 Record 2-1; [District Record 0-0] Week 3 Results: Loss: 38-20 vs 2A Mayfield (3-0). Even in defeat Blue Tornado fans, you have to be encouraged with this outcome. Yes losing to your historic rival sucks and the 14 game losing streak is one that will stay in your craw until it goes away! BUT, you were only down 28-20 in the second half. Yes, I’m playing the moral victory card. Fact is, you can still make significant strides in your district and 3A! Carry on! Week 4: at 5A Graves County (1-1). Of all teams this year, I’ve likely given Graves County the most brushoff. Meaning I just didn’t feel coming into this season that they would set up to have a decent year. Am I wrong? Help prove me right Blue Tornados! 5) Hopkinsville (4A) – Preseason Rank: 6 - 2019 Record 2-1; District Record 0-0] Week 3 Results: Win: 42-14 vs 2A Caldwell County (2-1). Hopkinsville continued it good play of late with a commanding victory on Friday night. QB Jay Bland, RB Jatorian Dillard and WR Reece Jesse for quite an offensive force to be reckoned with! You will see them later! All this and I don’t believe the Tigers defensive leader LB Eric Grubbs is back from injury yet! Week 4: at 6A Henderson County (3-0). Terrific Matchup here! Hoptown travels up the Pennyrile Parkway to take on an undefeated Colonels team that has been tested by 2 pretty solid Evansville, IN teams. While I applaud that work by Hendo, I don’t think they’ve seen anywhere near the level of athleticism they will see this Friday night! Plan to make the trip Tiger Fans and support your team! 4) Madisonville – North Hopkins (4A) – Preseason Rank: 5 - 2019 Record 3-0; [District Record 0-0] Week 3 Results: Win: 52-15 vs 6A Daviess County (0-3). The Maroons rolled in their home opener and never gave Daviess County any chance in this one! Star RB Jeriah Hightower had a tremendous game and you’ll see him later! Madisonville seems to be hitting on all cylinders with the defense only giving up 21 points in 3 games (albeit not to a murders row)! Here’s some highlights: Touchdown Live Week 3: Daviess County vs Madisonville Week 4: at 5A Christian County (0-3). The Colonels are certainly down this year and with the Maroons flying so high, it would be a real upset to see anything other than a dominating Maroon win here! 3) Bowling Green (5A) – Preseason Rank: 2 - 2019 Record 2-1; District Record 0-0] Week 2 Results: Win: 56-0 at 4A Old Foe Warren Central (0-3). As expected, BG won this game with no doubt. But I am most encouraged with some early personnel positioning, which clearly will help the Purples down the road! Add to that the defense is play very well at the moment, as evidenced to holding Central (who put up 42 points the week before) to 0 points and seeing McCracken County put up 65 this week, when they only scored 14 on BG! Well done defense! Week 4: vs 6A Pleasure Ridge Park (1-2). PRP is way down from their team that beat BG 35-21 up in Louisville back in 2017. I could easily see PRP only winning 1 more game all season (Western). With that said, I look for the Purples to be ramping up getting ready for a very tough stretch of games that starts with 6A St Xavier on September 20, 2019. 2) South Warren (5A) – Preseason Rank: 3 - 2019 Record 3-0; District Record 0-0] Week 3 Results: Win: 41-14 vs 4A Franklin Simpson (0-3). The Spartans didn’t come out very strong in this game. But they made solid adjustments at halftime and didn’t allow Franklin to score after the break. Again, the Spartans OLine was a huge factor in this game allow QB Caden Veltcamp plenty of time select his offensive option. I don’t have any stats, but again if you don’t have an OL or DL that can challenge Souths, you are going to be in for a long day. Week 4: vs. 4A Warren Central (0-3). This game will be as lopsided as Central’s last, but I think they will start to move into a stretch of games where they can compete and I hope they get a win! Spartans Big!!! 1) Mayfield (2A) – Preseason Rank: 1 - 2019 Record 3-0; District Record 0-0] Week 3 Results: Win: 38-20 at 3A Paducah Tilghman (2-1). In the video above, if you watch it all, you will see Coach Joe Morris speaking about this game where he confirms what we though. Mayfield used a focused week of practice to get ready for this game and then came out and executed accordingly. Give Tilghman credit for competing, but Mayfield’s halftime defensive adjustments and consistent offensive effort won the day for their 14th straight win in this series! Great work from the Mayfield Cardinals, but none-more-so than outstanding SR QB Jayden Stinson! Week 4: vs 6A McCracken County (1-2). The Mustangs of McCracken County come calling next week on the heels of their best performance of the year putting up 65 point on Graves County! I look for the Mustangs to be able to move the ball early, but what about after the Mayfield adjustments? It will become more difficult. The difference is likely the Mayfield offense who should be hard to stop again! Next 10 – 11 to 20: 11) Greenwood (5A) –Week 3 Results: Win 22-19 vs Allen County-Scottsville. The Gators just keep chomping! While this one suggests they have come down to earth a bit, when you earn a win on Friday Night that beats the alternative! Greenwood hasn’t started a season 3 and 0 since 2016! Great work! Here are some highlights: Football Friday Night: Allen County-Scottsville vs Greenwood Next week: vs 4A Warren East. Greenwood has a good chance to go 4 and 0! 12) Graves County (5A) –Week 3 Results: Loss 65-26 vs McCracken County! Looks like the Graves County defense didn’t get the message to show up Friday night, as McCracken County gained over 440 yards on the ground! Next week: vs 3A Paducah Tilghman! If McCracken County can rush for 440, how many can the high powered running backs for Tilghman earn? We’ll see… 13) Owensboro Catholic (2A) – Week 3 Results: Loss 36-7 at 5A Owensboro. Team Air Raid was brought back to earth thanks to the a couple things. First QB Drew Hartz didn’t throw a pass. SO WR Braden Munday stepped under center for the Aces and gave it his all, but that’s a tough spot to be in. Second, the Red Devil defense flexed their muscles and along with their OLine controlled this game. But I’m not down on the Aces, but would like to know that status of Mr. Hartz! Next up: A trip across the river to take on South Spenser, Indiana (0-3). This is probably what the doctor ordered as I see the Aces winning big in this one! 14) Franklin Simpson (4A) – Week 3 Results: Loss 41-14 vs 5A South Warren. I think Franklin put in another good effort here. It’s simply South Warren is a fine football team and they have a heck of an offensive line to bolster their attack and likely just wore the Wildcats down! The good news for the Wildcats is they won’t face another team like these first 3 after next week! Unfortunately, you have to travel to face a very tough opponent next week. Next up: at Battle Ground Academy, TN. The undefeated Wildcats will host Franklin’s Wildcats. BGA is ranked #12 in Tennessee and around 600 in the nation according to MaxPreps! But all is not lost in the world of 4A. The Wildcats are still the favorite in their district and that should get them to the 3rd round of the playoffs. Beyond that, they have to improve quite a bit from here, but I know they can! Hang in Wildcats! 15) Caldwell County (3A) – Week 3 Results: Loss 42-14 at 4A Hopkinsville. Cheer up Caldwell fans, Hopkinsville is a really good team this year. Their level of athleticism is very hard to match up with. Shake it off and keep going! Next up: WESTERN KENTUCKY GAME OF THE WEEK: at 1A Crittenden County. This has been a good matchup over the years and Crittenden County could be catching the Tigers at a good time for them. Caldwell will have to play very well to come home with a win! Should be a great game! 16) Trigg County (3A) – Week 3 Results: Wildcats drained the Lakers on Friday Night – Trigg County 57 Calloway County 7. Complete mismatch in this game! SR QB Cameron Jordan had a game for the ages! You will see his stats below! Through the first 3 weeks Trigg has scored 148 vs only 21. That’s getting out of the gate in style! After next week, they will hit the teeth of their schedule where they host a very solid Murray team and then start with district Stalwart Paducah Tilghman in what should be two lively games! Next up: over to Barlow for a matchup with the Bomber of Ballard Memorial (0-2)! I look for the Cam Jordan arsenal to continue to be unleased next week! Go Wildcats! 17) Crittenden County (1A) – Week 3 Results – Win 50-6 at Ballard Memorial. The Rockets earned the running clock early in the second quarter, as this one was over early. Next up: WESTERN KENTUCKY GAME OF THE WEEK: vs 2A Caldwell County (2-1). This will be the home opener for the Rockets and I predict a big crowd on Friday Night. It will be needed as Caldwell County will easily be the most difficult opponent Crittenden has played this season. But should be a great game! 18) Henderson County (6A) – Week 3 Results – 26-14 Win vs Christian County. Terrific Win for Hendo! They led 20-7 at halftime and never looked back! Solid season for Henderson thus far. Here are some highlights: Touchdown Live Week 3: Christian County vs Henderson County Next up: Home vs 4A Hopkinsville. This will be a HUGE step up in speed and athleticism for Hendo, but that will be good for them to get tested before district play starts! Good luck! 19) Murray (2A) – Week 3 Results – Win 58-7 vs Marshall County. Tigers roll all over the Marshalls! QB Hunter Utley had a monster game and you’ll see him in just a minute! Murray playing strong ball this year! Next up: At 3A Union County (2-1). This Union County team is dangerous and playing in Morganfield should set up a good test for Murray! I like Murry by a TD in this game!!! 20) Todd County Central (2A) – Week 3 Results: Win 51-27 vs 2A Fort Campbell. The Rebels finally get back on the field again after a bizarre No Referee game last week that is still “under administrative review”. Strong RB JaTwan Graham likely had a big game on Friday night! Next: vs 4A Hopkins County Central. This game should be to the Rebels liking! I like Todd County Central by at least 2 TDs in this one! Week 3 Players of the Week: *I don’t have all stats available, so please add as you see fit! 1) Cameron Jordan – QB – Trigg County – 12 for 18 for 246 yards and 4 TDs; Plus 15 rushes for 99 yards and 2 more TDs! Great Job! 2) Hunter Bradley – RB – McCracken County – 28 rushes for 328 yards and 5 TDs vs Graves County! 3) Anthony Woodard – WR – Logan County – 8 catches for 130 yards and 2 TDs vs Warren East! 4) Jay Bland – QB – Hopkinsville – 17 for 27 for 264 yards and 4 TDs vs Caldwell County! Add ultra-talented WR Reece Jesse who had 12 catches for 210 yards and 3 TDs! 5) Hunter Utley - QB – Murray – 19 for 21 for 280 yards and 6 TDs vs Marshall County! 6) Jeriah Hightower – RB – Madisonville NH - 18 carries for 284 yards and 5 TDs vs Daviess County! GREAT WORK GENTLEMEN!!! Week 3 “Teams Trending Down” Graves County (5A) – Down – It was really the score in this one for me. Graves lost 65-26 at home to McCracken County. We didn’t have a ton of losses at the top this week so the Eagles end up here! What can they do against Tilghman if the Mustangs rolled up over 400 yards rushing? You tell me… Apollo (6A) – Down – Not trying to kick a team when they are down, but it’s been a tough couple weeks for the Eagles. And the schedule turns from bad to worse at least for the next month! Wow! Chin up Eagles! Teams “Trending Up” Butler County (2A) – Up – The Bears have been in hibernation since the King Rex Henderson days which ended back in 2016. And believe it or not, they hadn’t won a single game since. That is until last Friday Night when Butler County stopped Russellville 20-15 to end a 2 season long drought! And as tradition would have it; the Bears were led by another Henderson! SO QB Jagger Henderson completed 9 of 14 passes for 145 yards and 2 critical TDs! Way to go Bears! McCracken County (6A) – Up – The Graves County win was a critical one for the Mustangs as going to War Memorial Stadium (Mayfield’s home stadium) being 0 and 3 is a poor idea! But after getting beat by 4 vs Tilghman and 4 TDs by BG, this was an early gut check call for Coach Clark’s team! And to put up 65 points against a 5A club that wanted/needed the win every bit as much as you did speaks volumes! Nice work Mustangs! Trigg County (3A) – Up – Through 3 games the Wildcats star SR QB Cameron Jordan has passed for over 500 yards and 7 TDs and rushed for over 300 yards and another 8 TDs on the year! While their schedule is due to ratchet up after next week, these Wildcats have come out impressively in 2019!

BluegrassPreps 2019 Western Kentucky Power Rankings – Week 4 Edition The top story line this week is the opposite of the opening 2 Fridays of the season! The first 2 weeks have been chalk with higher ranked teams, specifically the Top 12, all winning! But this week the #1 and #5 teams were beaten by the #9 and #18 teams! SO, that’s a big deal! And the results of that can be felt throughout the Top 20! Week 4 Western Kentucky Game of the Week: 2A Caldwell County (3-1) 36 at 1A Crittenden County (3-1) 14. An enormous crowd gathered for the home opener for the Rockets! But those home town fans never got going as Caldwell County used great field position to score 5 unanswered first half TDs before the Rockets knew what hit them! Great effort for Caldwell County! Crittenden just couldn’t get it going at all on Friday night! Disclaimer: I have always held this distinction for Week 3 for the Bowling Green vs Owensboro game. With the classification realignment, that’s not possible at this time. So I’d like to focus on another significant Bowling Green game that I know our good friend PurpleHaze would have loved. I know of no other, who combined a love for playing the game, watching the game, researching the history of the game and supporting all others who do the same with the zeal that my friend Michael “Bulldog” Drake (aka. PurpleHaze) did. He was a friend to BGP and to so many on this site and the entire Western part of the State. This week we honor his memory here, as he absolutely loved this game! Also want to make sure this year that @MrsPurpleHaze knows about it as well! Week 5 PurpleHaze Western Kentucky Game of the Week: Bowling Green 5A (3-1) vs St Xavier 6A (3-1). I know both of these teams would have liked to have been 4 and 0 going into this game. But the game has a way of humbling you. And I firmly believe that it’s how you assimilate the information from any loss that put good teams on the road to being great! The team that wins this game will be in the right frame of mind going forward and the one that losses will be on gut-check watch, as St X will face arch-rival Trinity and BG will travel to Corbin before traveling to South Warren! Wow! The season is officially serious now! Honorable Mention: South Warren at Louisville Central; Hopkinsville at Christian County; Greenwood at Logan County; Graves County at Mayfield; Murray at Trigg County. Try to make it out to one of these great games! Week 4 Top 10: 10) Henderson County (6A) – Preseason Rank: Not Ranked - 2019 Record 3-1; District Record 0-0] Week 4 Results: Win: 28-13 vs 4A Hopkinsville (3-1). Our good friend @Brown was spot on with his assessment of Henderson County and called a close win this week! Henderson County pulled off a huge Homecoming win to start 4 and 0 for the first time since 2005. Coach Boston has done an outstanding job with this squad. They had 2 secondary starters out with injury and rotated multiple players in to keep them fresh to chase star WR Jesse. This was huge as Hoptown threw for a record 44 times on Friday. QB Sam Elliot was super and WR Edmond Brooks had a big game for the Colonel offense. Just a big win! Week 5: at 4A Anderson County (2-2). Long bus ride for the Colonels (3 hours). Anderson was projected to have a good season and opened with 2 wins but followed that up with 2 losses. So hoping the Colonels can get to 5 and 0! Good Luck Hendo! 9) Glasgow (3A) – Preseason Rank: 12 - 2019 Record 4-0; District Record 0-0] Week 4 Results: Win 50-7 at Allen County-Scottsville (0-4). Thanks to our good friend @Tkinslow who reported on this game that went to a running clock with about 7 minutes left to go in the 4th Quarter. Glasgow’s offense is scary good. Their defense if good to, but largely untested. Week 5: vs 3A Hart County (3-1). Hart County lost to Monroe by 18 points. Glasgow just beat Monroe County by 43 points! This game is at Glasgow. The Ra-Ra-Raiders are in for some pain on Friday Night! But no injuries I hope! Scotties Roll! 8) Logan County (4A) – Preseason Rank: 10 - 2019 Record 4-0; District Record 0-0] Week 4 Results: Win: 55-28 at 1A Rival Russellville (0-4). This rivalry matchup came down to rushing the ball. Logan County could and did roll up nearly 360 yards on the ground, while Russellville could not and only earned around 10 yards on the night! Wow. Stalwarts Tyler Ezell and RB Gary Hardy play well as usual for Logan County. Week 5: vs surprising 5A Greenwood (4-0). This is a sneaky good game right here. Before the season I would have said Logan County rolls in this game, but now I think Greenwood has earned a punchers chance in this game. And while I fully expect Logan County to win at home, Greenwood has surprised me every step of the way this year! Will that continue? You tell me… 7) Owensboro (5A) – Preseason Rank: 8 - 2019 Record 3-1; [District Record 1-0] Week 4 Results: Win: 46-0 vs Owensboro Apollo (1-3). No stats, but I feel bad for Apollo as the schedule seems very daunting for them. For the Red Devils, this is a dangerous team. They have plenty of athletes and should be well rested come Week 3 of the Playoffs. Do they have the offense then to win a game of that magnitude? I’m not sure, but their talented young QB gets from now till then to gain more game experience, which is the only thing he needs. But I clearly think the better team’s defenses will load the box on O and make the young QB beat them. This team will continue to improve. Should they be higher up this list? You tell me… But you can’t hit a nail with melba toast and drive into a tough piece of wood… Week 5: at County Rival 6A Daviess County (1-3). Daviess County should have given the Red Devils a game last year. Now with all the talent that departed Panther Nation, I just don’t see any way Daviess gets a win in this game without significant turnovers. What say you… 6) Paducah Tilghman (3A) – Preseason Rank: 7 - 2019 Record 3-1; [District Record 0-0] Week 4 Results: Win: 34-13 at 5A Graves County (1-2). Paducah Tilghman just did what they do and that’s run the football effectively! They had over 370 yards on the ground. The passing game continues to be a work in progress, but adding an additional QB who you can go to if needed is surely a good thing. This game had some reportedly crazy aspects concerning the referees, who seemly didn’t know what to call on several occasions resulting in large breaks between plays. Is this a result of not having enough quality referee to start with? I think so. Week 5: vs 4A Calloway County (0-4). Poor ole’ Lakers; just can’t seem to get a break! And now, here comes the Blue Tornados. Just too many weapons for Paducah in this one! Tilghman rolls! 5) Mayfield (2A) – Preseason Rank: 1 - 2019 Record 3-1; District Record 0-0] Week 4 Results: Loss: 45-35 vs 6A McCracken County (1-3). Whoa Nelly – Sports fans! This one surprises many, except a few die-hard Mustang fans! WPSD out of Paducah does a really good job covering football out west; here’s some video of this game and the Paducah vs Graves game too! 9/13 Gridiron Glory - Part 1 | | WPSD Local 6 Some of the holes that Mayfield fans have been hinting out we seen last Friday night. Can they be fixed? I think so! It’s not all doom and gloom Cardinal fans as you are 80 and 2 at home since the start of the 2009 season! WOW! Time to refocus! Week 5: vs 5A Graves County (1-2). Mayfield hasn’t lost to Graves County since a 28-12 setback in 2008. Look for that streak to continue! It’s as simple as that. 4) McCracken County (6A) – Preseason Rank: 9 - 2019 Record 2-2; District Record 0-0] Week 4 Results: Win: 45-35 at 2A Mayfield (3-1). What a win Mustang Fans! I love how McCracken County opens with a play action bomb the first play of the game resulting in a TD! You can’t go to Mayfield and come out with rudimentary offense and defense and expect to win. That hasn’t worked 80 times out of 82! But this week SR QB Elijah Wheat to SR WR Franklin Hayes was a combination Coach Clark and the Mustangs had to feel confident in and they used it to their advantage! I’ve said it before that over in the Purchase Area (the area roughly west of Interstate 24 in the Western Part of the State) classification numbers don’t mean as much. That’s primarily because Mayfield has ruled the roost with an iron fist for decades! McCracken County has been the only team to win at Mayfield in roughly 11 years! Impressive (for both really)! Week 5: at 5A Marshall County (2-2). With their 3 toughest games of the non-district regular season behind them, the Mustangs should be able gain significant traction here and ramp up to the district season! This is a solid team and they are still the favorite in 6A District 1. But the Mustang at Henderson County game is my leading contender for Game of the Week in the West on October 25, 2019! Great Job & Good luck Mustangs! 3) Madisonville – North Hopkins (4A) – Preseason Rank: 5 - 2019 Record 4-0; [District Record 0-0] Week 4 Results: Win: 25-15 at gritty 5A Christian County (0-4). SR QB Hayden Reynolds and SR RB Jeriah Hightower with 264 yards and 2 TDs both play well. When you play Christian County this year, it is a defense first, second and third approach. So 25 points is roughly what they average giving up on the season. Two teams headed in the opposite direction I’m afraid. As our good friend @macdon said: It’s Madisonville’s year! Week 5: vs 2A Ballard Memorial (0-3). Need to switch this game out Maroons. You’re above this one for sure! With that said, the Bombers are really going to get bombed in this one!!! Great game for the Maroons to get the guys who will be called to lead this team next year A LOT of snaps next Friday! 2) Bowling Green (5A) – Preseason Rank: 2 - 2019 Record 3-1; District Record 0-0] Week 4 Results: Win: 56-0 vs 6A Pleasure Ridge Park (1-3). PRP beat BG in 2017 in a game they led start to finish. But that PRP team is LONG gone! The one that showed up at the El left flattened! BG playing well right now and it is needed, but some of that is a reflection of the competition. QB Conner Cooper, RB Javy Bunton and WRs Dez Wilson and Jordan Dingle lead the offense, while S Vito Tisdale and DT Terrion Thompson lead the defense! Now the real work begins! Week 5: PurpleHaze Western Kentucky Game of the Week vs 6A St Xavier (3-1). These teams have played some memorable games over the years, but maybe none more memorable they last year when long time BG Coach Kevin Wallace steps down at BG and accepts the Head Coaching position at St Xavier. That game showed X outplaying BG in the first half and leading the Purples. But BG used a steady diet of Vito Tisdale running the ball to come back to tie St X and push it to overtime. BG held X in the opening OT possession and kicked a FG to win 24-21. I’m honestly not sure what to expect in this game other than a hard hitting well-played game where BG tests the X secondary and X tries to establish the run. Will Vito get a shot to carry the ball? Who wins? You tell me… 1) South Warren (5A) – Preseason Rank: 3 - 2019 Record 4-0; District Record 0-0] Week 4 Results: Win: 53-14 vs 4A Warren Central (0-4). Another game; another Spartans win! The Spartans have a very solid team, but how good are they? Will we know before they play BG? I don’t think so. I don’t have any stats for this one, but it’s clear the Spartans dominated this game. I hope now the Dragons can get to a part of their season to get win! Good luck Dragons! Week 5: at 4A Louisville Central (1-3). The Yellow Jackets play anybody! They aren’t scared to schedule anyone. They have only played Jefferson County 6A teams this year, except for the sacrificial lamb Iroquois. So South won’t intimidate Central. These 2 have played in the relatively recent past with Central knocking South out of the 2014 4A State Semifinals 16 to 14! I look for South to win, but not win big! What say you? Next 10 – 11 to 20: 11) Hopkinsville (4A) – Preseason Rank: 6 - 2019 Record 2-2; District Record 0-0] Week 4 Results: Loss: 28-13 at 6A Henderson County (3-1). I didn’t foresee this outcome plain and simple. But if you’re a Hoptown fan, it’s better to know it now than in a district game. The score doesn’t tell the whole tale of this one. Hoptown entered the Red Zone 3 times on Friday and came away with no points! That’s Huge! Additionally, Hoptown ran the ball 8 times and passed it 45 times. That seems extra unbalanced to me. You don’t have to be a power run team, but need some running attack against the better teams on your schedule. Rise up Tigers! Week 5: at Rival 5A Christian County (0-4). Not too long ago Christian County was the favorite in this great Western Kentucky Rivalry! Now Hoptown is! And while I know Christian County will play their best game, Hoptowns top shelf athletes should be the difference! But make no mistake, this is Christian County’s Super Bowl this season right now! So Hoptown needs to refocus and play their best game Friday Night as County will come to play! Plan to show up Tiger Fans and support your team! 12) Greenwood (5A) –Week 4 Results: Win 22-13 vs 4A Warren East. The Gators just keep chomping! The Gators rolled up over 370 yards on the night to take care of the Ra-Ra-Raiders! RB Reed Sloan is have a great season for Greenwood! You’ll see him later! Greenwood hasn’t started a season 4 and 0 since 2012! Great work! Here are some highlights: Football Friday Night: Greenwood vs Warren East Next week: at 4A Logan County. Greenwood will have their work cut out for them is this battle of undefeated team! Good luck! 13) Owensboro Catholic (2A) – Week 4 Results: Loss 36-7 at 5A Owensboro. Team Air Raid busted back out last Friday north of the Ohio River! QB Drew Hartz played great again throwing TDs to 4 different WRs. You will see him later! And Christopher Boarman continues a long line of tradition excelling in the Aces defensive ranks with 17 tackles including 3 tackles for loss and 2 sacks on the night! Next up: A home game vs lowly Hopkins County Central before the district opener at surprising Todd County Central in what should be a very entertaining game! 14) Graves County (5A) –Week 4 Results: Loss 34-13 vs Paducah Tilghman! The Eagle defense just doesn’t have the feathers this year to stop many high powered offenses. McCracken gained over 440 yards on the ground while Tilghman rolled up over 370 yards on the ground. And now isn’t the best week to be traveling to Mayfield! Very unlikely to get that win, but the seas will calm down considerably once district play starts, except for Owensboro, who appears from afar to be beyond Graves County’s reach! Chin up Eagles! 15) Caldwell County (3A) – Week 4 Results: Win 36-14 at 1A Crittenden County. The Tigers drove up to Marion and took a very big home crowd out of the game from the beginning! QB Russ Beshear, RB DeEric Hollowell and the rest of the Tiger offense have played awfully well this season! They are a really solid team! Next up: a crappy Union County squad comes calling. This should be a good game. I expect Caldwell to win, but only by about a TD. This will be a good primer game before district play starts in 2 weeks! 16) Trigg County (3A) – Week 4 Results: Win 46-8 at 2A Ballard Memorial. I don’t have any stats here, but feel the Wildcats continued their impressive journey this 2019 season! NOW it gets interesting! New up: The Murray Tiger come to Cadiz! This will be a terrific game as both these teams have had terrific starts to the season! The one who can get this win will set their district slate up on a high note! Go Wildcats! 17) Franklin Simpson (4A) – Week 4 Results: Loss 35-16 at Tennessee Power Battle Ground Academy. I think Franklin put in another good effort here. Franklin Fans, I don’t think there are 16 better teams than you in the West, but due to the turmoil this week, this is just the where your ping pong ball ended in this week’s draft. And 0 and 4 is 0 and 4 even against very solid teams! Better Days ahead! Next up: vs Old Rival Russellville. As our good friend @macdon stated that this will be the first time Franklin and Russellville will play where they are both winless. But it’s clear to me that Franklin will get their first win this coming Friday night! Hang in Wildcats! 18) Murray (2A) – Week 4 Results – Win 21-7 at Union County. This is a good win as Union County is no pushover up in Morganfield! No Stats, but QB Hunter Utley and squad are off to a great start in 2019! Next up: At 3A Trigg County. This will be a great game to tell us where each team is! Both will be heading into district play after this game! I’m not sure who the favorite is. You tell me… 19) Todd County Central (2A) – Week 4 Results: Win 60-34 vs 4A Hopkins County Central. The Rebels rolled up 60 points mostly on the ground and overwhelmed the Storm! Next: vs 1A Caverna. Poor Ole’ Caverna does come into this game with a win to their credit, which isn’t something they could always say! This game sets up the district clash with District Favorite Owensboro Catholic! Good luck Rebels! 20) Grayson County (5A) – Week 4 Results – Win 22-14 at Fort Campbell! Welcome to the Top 20 Cougars!!! Grayson County is 4 and 0 this year! Congratulations on that accomplishment to Coach Smart and team! They have not played a challenging schedule but have won the games in front of them. They are in the 5A district with Owensboro and other than the Red Devils should have a good chance to beat the rest. Good luck! Next up: at 5A Breckinridge County. The Fighting Tigers are 3 and 1 so this district opener for the Cougars will be telling. I like Grayson County to pull this one out! Good luck! Week 4 Players of the Week: *I don’t have all stats available, so please add as you see fit! 1) Sam Elliott – QB – Henderson County – 211 yards passing with 2 TDs! Add WR Edmond Brooks with 5 catches for 115 and 1 TD vs Hoptown! Great Job! 2) Reed Sloan – RB – Greenwood – 18 rushes for 206 yards and 2 TDs, plus 1 catch for 28 yards and another TD vs Warren East! 3) Drew Hartz – QB – Owensboro Catholic – 14 for 22 for 279 yards and 4 TDs vs South Spencer, IN! 4) Adrian Stringer – QB – Hopkins County Central – 28 for 46 for 436 yards and 5 TDs vs Todd County Central! Add undervalued WR Blasin Moore who had 12 catches for 237 yards and all 5 Storm TDs! 5) Tyler Ezell - QB – Logan County – 12 for 16 for 126 yards and 4 TDs vs Russellville! 6) Jayden Freeman – RB – Paducah Tilghman - 19 carries for 280 yards and 4 TDs vs Graves County! Add standout LB Anton Jones with a team leading 12 tackles! GREAT WORK GENTLEMEN!!! Week 4 “Teams Trending Down” Mayfield (2A) – Down – Look – everybody is “allowed” to lose. But when you are 80 and 1 at home in roughly 11 years, when you do lose it is shocking. Does Mayfield need to make some adjustments? Sure. Are they still the favorite in 2A? Yes, I think so, but others may not fear them as much now. Just the mental part of the game! Mayfield has one of the best coaching staffs in the state and I look for them to run the table in their remaining home games and head into the playoffs very strong as usual! Hopkinsville (4A) – Down – The Tigers were flying pretty high coming into the Henderson County game. But this loss spotlighted the fact that Hoptown is having trouble running the ball. So now teams are loading the box and doubling Reece Jesse and saying beat us with this defensive package. Now it is Hoptown’s turn to add adjustments/wrinkles to move forward. With the rivalry game with Christian County coming up, a defensive battle is brewing! Good luck Tigers! Teams “Trending Up” McCracken County (6A) – Up – I love the positive vibe Coach Clark keeps within this team. And I love the aggressive offensive strategy they play with. It merits repeat that they are the only team in 82 Mayfield home games to come away with a win. In the far Western part of the state, that holds great significance! The Mustangs are now set up to start rolling with a district championship as their usual goal! Go Mustangs!!! Henderson County (6A) – Up – Coach Boston has done a really nice job over in Henderson revamping this team that has had success on the non-Jefferson County 6A perspective. I think that is really admirable! To win by 2 TDs vs a team that likely is more athletic than you are and to do so when you are missing 2 secondary starters if remarkable! The Colonels should have significant momentum now to head into their district slate of games looking to challenge for a District Championship! Good Luck Colonels!

BluegrassPreps 2019 Western Kentucky Power Rankings Preseason Edition In 2019, we head into our Fifth Season of BluegrassPreps weekly high school football Power Rankings for each of the regions around the state. With each week's Power Rankings, we will be looking to rank (at least) the top ten teams in each region - regardless of class - against the other teams in their region. Throughout the season, we will be accounting for the results of all the games throughout the region, including the strength of each opponent played, points scored, points allowed, along with several other statistics on each side of the ball. Additionally, we will be highlighting a "Game(s) of the Week", and moving forward, will be re-capping the previous game(s) of the week, as well as highlighting regional "Teams Trending Up" and "Teams Trending Down" as various teams improve their performance and other teams fall back. Also look for a featured "Player(s) Of The Week". In the Preseason, I'm pretty amped up SO: Are you ready for some football? Put your cowboy hat on and head out WEST: Long-time Caldwell County Coach David Barnes Passes Away: It is with great sadness that I begin this 2019 Preseason Article with the news that stalwart Coach David Barnes from Caldwell County passed away on Saturday August 18th. The Sporting Times produced the following linked article and I could not do better than that with his many accolades and admirable deeds. Western Kentucky has lost a Great Coach, but an even better person and community advocate. Rest in Peace Coach Barnes. You will be missed! Caldwell County Football Coach David Barnes Dies | Your Sports Edge Western Kentucky 2018 Spotlight: Franklin Simpson - The 2018 Wildcats brought the Big Hardware back to Franklin again in back to back years with a low scoring 14-12 affair against three consecutive title game rival Johnson Central. This is Franklin's 4th State Championship and creates 2 perfect bookend championships (1979 and 1980 with 2017 and 2018). 8 of 55 sports writers picked Franklin to win this game. Just goes to show you that anyone can win especially when you have good coaching and good players that are instilled in a culture to believe they can win regardless of the noise outside the locker room! BIG Congratulations to Coach Preston, the Franklin Simpson Wildcats and their fans! South Warren - The 2018 Spartans didn't garner the top spot in 5A at the beginning of the season, but on the strength of an awesome Senior Class and calm, steady coaching found themselves on top for the second time in program history and the first time in 5A. This was a special class that willed themselves to go undefeated and beat some very good teams in the playoffs along the way, most notably a very talented Covington Catholic squad in the Championship Game. Years from now we will be comparing defensive linemen to Jacob Lacy and VERY few will measure up to that mountain. Congratulations to Coach Smith, the South Warren Spartans and their fans!!! 2019 Preseason Top 10: 10) Logan County (4A) - Snapshot: The Cougars are still in good hands with Coach Adler and staff. Last year was another tremendous run for a school that just got out of the shadows of a 42 game losing streak! 2018 Recap: (2018 Record 10-2) The Cougars continued their remarkable turnaround thanks to Coach Adler and a tremendous group of players and coaches. They are now 21 and 3 in the past 2 seasons on the heels of having the longest losing streak in the state. Wow! They came up second in their tough district after a tight battle with Madisonville ultimately losing 21-17. But the Cougars continued to battle into the second round of the playoffs where they met their fate in Franklin to the eventual 4A State Champions. No shame there! Still a very successful season! 2019 Outlook: The Cougars still have a lot to like on offense where star SR QB Tyler Ezell returns to improve on nearly 1,700 pass yards in 2018 and ultra-talented SR RB Gary Hardy (nearly 1,500 yards and 18TDs) will lead Logan County in 2019. On the defensive side of the ball, all 3 levels were effected by graduation, none-more-so than star DL Cade McKinnis who was the heart and soul of that fine defense. JR Zach Yates returns to make his mark for the Cougars and try to earn a District Championship in one of the most difficult Districts in 4A Top to Bottom. Schedule Highlight: Looking at the schedule; there's not a lot of meat on the bone when you look at the non-district group of 2A Butler County, 5A Muhlenberg County, 5A Breckinridge County, 2A McLean County, and 2A Todd County Central. But your district is so tough and having just come off a 42 game losing streak, I understand having some less challenging games. I would strive to add another challenging game or 2 in the future if you want to be a consistent 4A threat though. I didn't put the Backyard Brawl with Russellville in that group due to the fact Russellville is typically very good and always a tough game. I look for the Cougars to have the upper hand again this season vs Russellville. Week 1 vs 2A Butler County - August 23, 2018 at 7PM. Can you say 1 and 0 boys and girls! 9) McCracken County (6A) - Snapshot: Coach Marc Clark needs to let his best two Mustangs run - SR WR Franklin Hayes and SR QB Elijah Wheat! 2018 Recap: (2018 Record 8-4) The Mustangs came out of the gate last year like a 1974 Ford Pinto on 3 cylinders - going 2 and 3 in the first 5 games of the season (1 of those wins was a Forfeit win vs Northeast Clarksville, TN who used an ineligible player where the scoreboard said 40-10 Clarksville at the end of the game). But to the players and Coach Clark's credit, they didn't quit, circled the wagons and pulled off 6 straight wins and yet another District Championship, which has to be a good accomplishment after such a turbulent start to the year! They hosted a stout Ballard team in Week 2 of the playoffs and just didn't have enough in a 34-18 loss to end the season. But I saw that Ballard team play last year and they were pretty darn solid. Likely 3 tiers right now in 6A football. McCracken is at the top of the 3rd tier. Nothing wrong with that, but just shows there is still a long way to the top. 2019 Outlook: On offense, the heart and soul of the team is led by SRs QB Elijah Wheat (126 of 205 attempts for 1,822 yards with 18 TDs and 8 INTs), RB Hunter Bradley (143 carries for 744 yards and 10 TDs), and Stud WR Franklin Hayes (32 receptions for 623 yards and 6 TDs). On defense though, all 5 of the 2018 50+ tacklers graduated. So there will be some young guys on the field for the Mustang defense this fall. But can anybody in 6A District 1 beat McCracken? They are going to have to prove it, as the Mustangs have owned that district ever since they consolidated. Schedule Highlight: Right out of the gate is a great game against local rival Paducah Tilghman. Tilghman won comfortably last year 35-6 rushing for almost 350 yards. Can the Mustangs stop the run better this year with younger guys on defense? You tell me... Outside of district play, my Purples travel to Paducah Week 2 in what should be an interesting game considering some of BGs injuries. I'll be pulling for the Mustangs Week 8 when Dyer County, TN comes calling. Good luck Mustangs! Week 1 RIVALRY GAME vs 3A Paducah Tilghman - August 24, 2019 at 7PM. HUGE Local Bragging Rights Game Mustang Nation - Get out and support your team!!! 8) Owensboro (5A) - Snapshot: If Imonte Owsley doesn't tear his ACL, Owensboro is way up this list. Now star LB Austin Gough and a starting OLineman may be injured long term as well. Owensboro is blessed with many athletes, but the 3 above make a BIG difference! 2018 Recap: (2018 Record 10-3) Terrific bounce back year after a 4 and 7 2017 campaign was highlighted by ending a long losing streak and beating rival Bowling Green 28-21 in the playoffs along with earning a terrific win at Evansville Reitz as well. Several key losses to graduation include super-tough DT Diamond Glover, undervalued RB Trevon Green, spark plug Aireon Phillips and transfer QB Will Warren. 2019 Outlook: Had it not been for the injury report from our good friend @Irish Cat, I would have given Owensboro a chance to go to Lexington. But that isn't the case now when you lose a guy who can take it to the house every time he touches the ball and the guy that was the leader of the defense, less is expected now. Also whoever the QB will be (likely SO Gavin Wimsatt or Taquan Robinson) he will be talented, but very inexperienced at the varsity level. Good for him to have stud WR Tyren Hayden to throw to! Schedule Highlights: As long as I can ever recall, Owensboro played a stiff schedule; that cannot be said this season. A piece of that has to do to the reshuffling of District opponents where they lose Christian County and pick up Ohio County, Muhlenberg County and Grayson County - 3 very easy wins for the Red Devils. Throw in sacrificial lamb Breckinridge County in the opener and it's hard to see where anyone could characterize this schedule as challenging. So the toughest games are 2A Evansville Central (Indiana) and 5A Graves County. They should still walk to Week 3 of the playoffs and face a serious challenge from either Bowling Green or South Warren. Week 1 at Washington Generals - wanna be 5A Breckinridge County at 7PM. 7) Paducah Tilghman (3A) - Snapshot: It seems measured progress is being made in Paducah. Look for the Blue Tornados to continue that measured march upward in 2019! 2018 Recap: [2018 Record 9-3] The Blue Tornados made positive strides last year as Coach Johnathon Smith took the reins for Coach Stephen Duncan for health reasons and according to our good friend @TilghmanPride has continued to instill significant continuity to a program that before Coach Duncan arrived has basically been on a washing machine spin cycle for maybe a decade of coaching stints comprised of poor fits to poor leadership. Tilghman won 4 more games than they did in 2017, with their schedule that is significant! 2019 Outlook: Tilghman always has athletes! 6'2" JR Camden Marshall will get his shot at QB but also is a standout secondary player. Other skill players of note include speedster and track star Jayden Freemen, who also lines up on the outside at WR allowing both Damien Ford and Jarmorie Sabbs to provide more RB talent on the field. Both lines are solid with SR OL Tim Watkins being the anchor. For the defense, transfer Jonathan George leads the linebackers with Sabbs forming a formidable LB corps. Tilghman will have big play potential all over the field! If they can get timely QB play, the sky's the limit! Schedule Highlight: Tilghman always plays a solid schedule and 2019 is no different. With Caldwell County dropping down to 2A, Tilghman looks like the leader in their district, although Union County & Trigg County will be better than you think this year and could challenge. The game I love most on the Blue Tornados schedule, aside from their normal rivalry games over in the Purchase Area, is their tilt with new 3A Class Mate Desales! Outstanding work by both schools to make this happen. This October 4th game in Paducah should be one of the best games in the entire State that week! Week 1 RIVALRY GAME August 24 at 6A McCracken County at 7pm. This is typically a good game to open the season for both squads, although it puts a lot of pressure on both being the opening game, but that is great for the community IMO. Good luck Tilghman! 6) Hopkinsville (4A) - Snapshot: With QB Jay Bland back from injury and a plethora of talented skill guys around, look for Hoptown to light up the scoreboard this year! 2018 Recap: [2018 Record 5-7] The Tigers battled so much adversity in 2018 with another extremely difficult schedule, but more so with the loss of ultra-talented QB Jay Bland during the 5th game of the 2018 campaign. Stud Ellis Dunn stepped in admirably, but that clearly diminished the fire power of the Tigers offense. Still they battled on and picked up momentum in the back half of the 2018 schedule before bowing out at gritty Madisonville. But the Tigers were pretty young in 2018 and graduation losses appear minimal while Coach Clayton's system continues to take hold. 2019 Outlook: The Tigers looked super in finishing runner up in the Inaugural Best of The West 7v7 Tournament. (Great Summer tournament by the way!) QB Jay Bland returns for his SR season. WR Reece Jesse, who is a Missouri recruit was the leading receiver during the 2018 season and looks to improve. SO Jayden Dillard looks to take over for his graduated brother to lead the Tiger rushing game. The Tiger D will be anchored by a trio of really strong players including LB Eric Grubb, DL Denarius Barns and DB Jaxon Davis. Schedule Highlight: Hopkinsville has had a brutal schedule the past 2 seasons. They take a step back off that this season losing South Warren and adding Henderson County. That said, I look for Hoptown to be 6 and 1 before the difficult District Play begins with a home game vs resilient Logan County followed by a trip to rugged Madisonville. I look for these district bouts to be epic just like the 34 - 32 7v7 battle Hoptown and Logan County had in July! Week 1: at Kenwood (Clarksville) TN at 7:00PM. Kenwood in 2018 graded similar to where Madison Southern (KY) at 2-8 ranked last year. So I look for Hoptown to start strong this year! Get out and support your team Tiger Fans! 5) Madisonville-North Hopkins (4A) - Snapshot: The Maroons enter 2019 hungry to go a couple steps further than 2018. With some of the best offensive and defensive lines in the West, maybe they can! 2018 Recap: (2018 Record 10-3) Terrific season for the Maroons that brought home a district championship! They fought hard the whole way and lost a heart-breaking low-scoring game at the eventual State Champions (Franklin-Simpson). No shame there. They only lose 8 seniors off the 2018 team. 2019 Outlook: The Maroons SR QB Hayden Reynolds was one of the most impressive QBs at the Best of the West 7on7 Tournament I saw in July. Add ultra-talented SR RB Jeriah Hightower who rushed for almost 1,800 yards and 23 TDs his JR year and key offensive firepower returns. Add that to maybe the most complete offensive line in the West and they will be a formidable 4A team. The defense will be led by SR Blake Moody and SR LB Krey Cunningham. The Maroons are in a tough 4A District, one of the best top to bottom in the State. Could Madisonville get over the Franklin Simpson hump this year and represent the West in Lexington? You tell me... I think they are going to be hard to stop! Will make that District an all-out war! Schedule Highlight: I think the Maroons schedule is pretty solid to help them improve. They get both Logan County and Hopkinsville in Madisonville this year, which is a huge advantage. A big step up in the Maroons schedule is Week 10 when Mayfield comes to town! That will be a big game - write it down! One of the most intriguing games I'll be watching this season is Week 1 August 23 at Nearby Foe 3A Union County at 7pm. 3A Union County has beaten the Maroons 2 years in a row. This should be the year to turn that around - right Maroons? 4) Franklin Simpson (4A) - Snapshot: After earning back to back State Championships and 3 straight years in the Championship game, the Wildcats return for another run in 2019! 2018 Recap: (2018 Record 14-1) As mentioned above, Franklin Simpson climbed the 4A hill again in 2018 and stood alone at the top when it was all said and done! Outstanding and Congratulations! The Wildcat offense was hard to handle last year rushing again for more than 5,000 yards as a team with 2 special rushers gaining over 1,700 yards each! The defense was also very effective as is highlighted by containing a high octane Johnson Central offense to only 12 points in the championship game! Another one for the record books Wildcat fans! With all good things, there comes a time to pay the band and that takes place in the form of graduation. RB's Tre Bass, Carlos McKinney and star lineman Jack Randolf are the major losses on offense. The Wildcat D lose 3 stalwarts in DLineman Traevon Goodnight, Collin Preston and Michael Punzalan and WR Jevon Covington, who was a difference maker on the outside. They will be very hard to replace, but don't count Coach Preston out! 2019 Outlook: Again hard to improve on a Championship season, but why not go for a 3-Peat! Of the 17 players that played in the Championship Game, 8 return in 2019. It's always good when your QB comes back and the Wildcat Offense will be led by SO QB Luke Richardson (that's right - young man was a Freshman helping lead the Wildcat State Championship Campaign - Impressive!) who was 5 for 7 for 56 yards in the Championship Game. Those aren't Nintendo numbers, but were critical to keep the Eagle defense honest. Younger RBs will have to step up to fill the HUGE void left by standout backs Bass & McKinney. The Wildcat D will be led by SR DB Chase Gooch and SR LB Conner Rodgers and it may take a little time for the chemistry with the new younger Wildcats to synch with the overall defense. The O and D lines were hit hard by graduation, but SR AJ Burr and SO Logan Chandler are back to lead those areas. Schedule Highlight: The games that catch my eye for the Wildcats are at 3A Glasgow and at super-tough Battle Ground Academy (Franklin), TN. Franklin may split those games. That leaves another road game against super tough 5A defending Champion South Warren on September 6th as the clear gem to circle on the schedule this year. Don't forget about the Green Wave from 6A Meade County either. The games between these 2 have been feisty to say the least! Week 1 August 23 vs 5A Greenwood at 7PM. I look for Franklin to be way yonder too strong in this game even though it's very early in the season. 3) South Warren (5A) - Snapshot: On the heels of their second championship and likely best senior class in school history, young Spartans finally get their chance to play. With a medium, medium-rare schedule, look for the Spartans to come on after their opening game against capable and ranked 6A Butler. 2018 Recap: [2018 Record 15-0] The Spartans ran the table! It's as simple as that! With arguably their best team ever, led by their best Senior Class ever and ultimately the best player ever IMO to play for South Warren Jacob Lacy, who will line up this fall for the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (Oh and he is listed as backup nose tackle for the #9 ranked Fighting Irish and scheduled to play - as a FRESHMAN! Wow!). I truly think this young man, barring injuries, will play on Sundays. He's that good. But South also had tremendous other players like QB Gavin Spurrier, S/WR Clayton Bush and RB Cameron Harrison along with outstanding performers on the defensive side of the ball like LB Pete Cross, who will be sorely missed this season. A season for the records books South Warren fans. 2019 Outlook: All of the players mentioned above are gone and a very limited amount of returning starters will suit up for Coach Smith this season. That doesn't mean they won't be good. It just means they will be largely inexperienced. That starts with incumbent QB SO Caden Veltkamp, who was taken under Spurrier's wing last season. But he was 9 for 31 in mop-up duty last season and will be the man this year to lead the Spartans. Think of a 3 year starting QB for your high school team. That sounds great, but you have to gain the experience on Friday Nights to make it work. But I really think he will be a star in coming years. Schedule Highlight: Medium to Medium Rare is the steak of choice for the Spartans. South won't win many strong man competitions at the SOKY Fair when it comes to tough scheduling. Of the 10 games on their schedule, they are clearly favorites to strong favorites in at least 7. Only their first game at WKU vs 6A Butler, who lost a lot from last year and the annual (thank goodness) rivalry matchup with Bowling Green and vs 4A Champ Franklin Simpson are the Spartans likely close to even money. I'm not ripping that schedule like I used to. Coach Smith's scheduling philosophy just brought home the 5A Title. So my question to you is, Is it better to test yourself over the top or just have a medium schedule to prepare you for the playoffs? All that thrown into the mix with the new RPI System to better position yourself for a higher ranking to help you in the later rounds of playoff seeding. I guess we shall see. Week 1 vs 6A Butler - August 24, 2019 at 5PM. Butler, a 6A team out of Louisville, had a terrific season last year going 8-4 and losing at St X to end last season, is a terrific early opponent to test yourself. I hope to make this game and see more of what the 2019 Spartans have to offer early in the year. 2) Bowling Green (5A) - And here come the Purples! Snapshot: BG has many terrific players, but with the injuries already sustained and a killer schedule, how they fit those players together will make all the difference in their 2019 season! 2018 Recap: (2018 Record 9-3) 2018 was a good season for the Purples. The Purples changed head coaches for the first time in more than 20 years and it takes time to get new administrations ironed out and systems implemented. With that said, the 9 wins were largely predicted with the exception of their best win of the season, a 24-21 OT win at 6A St Xavier. A game with a ton of emotion and 2 teams who fought hard to the end on a wet night in Louisville. The three losses (at Top 5 Nationally ranked Warren Central IN, at eventual 5A Champion South Warren and at 5A old foe Owensboro) were each difficult in their own right, especially for BG fans accustomed to making deep playoff runs. But you can't win them all as the old saying goes. 2019 Outlook: BG will certainly miss the 23 seniors who graduated from last year's team, but most notable on that list will be 2 year starting QB Beau Buchanan. Beau was steady and resilient for BG and will be difficult to replace. The Purples were evaluating 3 players in the pre-season for the QB spot including SR Max Payne, whose brother Clark was a standout QB, Athletic JR Conner Cooper, and ultra-versatile JR Eli Burwash, who is the best punter BG has had in some time along with being a star baseball player. The outcome of this competition seems to have progressed somewhat as 2 of the 3 above are at least slightly injured and the third not called on in the scrimmage against Male but rather SO QB Spencer Newman, who did a terrific job in the scrimmage coming off the bench and leading BG to what I believe were all 4 of their varsity scores vs the 6A Titan. With all that said, who will be under center on August 24th vs Father Ryan? I simply don't know, but it will be imperative for BG to solidify the position and form some continuity going forward early in the season. Once BG gets to a home game with Louisville PRP on September the 13th, they begin a brutal stretch of games including St Xavier, at Corbin and at South Warren that necessitates that QB selection so that he has a chance to immerse himself fully into the system, not just a part-time version of it. Keep an eye on how that plays out. Coach Spader has had to roll with the punches that injuries will throw at you early in the year. I know he is up to the challenge and it will be fascinating to see the outcome. The rest of the Purples position groups have strong pieces to work with led by 4 Star SR S/LB/RB/Returner Vito Tisdale. Due to Vito's destiny to play defense at the next level, his primary Purples duties will be on the defensive side of the ball this year, but is that set in stone? You tell me... Also garnering serious recruiting accolades is 4 Star TE Jordan Dingle. The 6-4 230lbs JR already has offers from Ohio State, UofL, UK, and Georgia Tech among others. Both offensive and defensive lines will need some 2018 backups to step up in 2019, but both should be solid. Although JR OL Jackson Littlefield is expected to miss 6 weeks due to an injury sustained on the very first offensive play of the Male scrimmage. I hate injuries! Schedule Highlights: Bowling Green has the strongest schedule in the West, top to bottom and likely 5A as well. But is it too much? BG plays a killer 4 game stretch starting in mid-September vs 6A PRP, St X, at Corbin and at South Warren. They finish the year vs the #1 Ranked Team in the State - the Trinity Shamrocks!!! As my good friend Daffy Duck used to say "Thanks for the Sour Persimmons Cousin"! That's tough sleddin' right there. I'm hopeful for a QB to be named soon and hopefully he can remain injury free. Week 1 vs. Father Ryan TN - Saturday August 24, 2018 - Rafferty's Bowl 8PM at WKU. I don't know much about Father Ryan except they went 2 and 9 last season playing the Big Boys of Nashville. I did listen to a radio interview of the Father Ryan Coach, who commented on his team saying this will be his most experienced team coming back. So I expect this to be a difficult game for BG with the uncertainty at QB. 1) Mayfield (2A) - Snapshot: Simply the most complete team in the West coming back and that's why they are here! 2018 Recap: (2018 Record 14-1) Mayfield continues to be Team Consistency losing only 9 games from 2010 through the 2018 season (that's 9 full seasons!!!). The Cardinals got back to the State Championship game again after a 1 year hiatus back in 2017 after going a noteworthy 8 straight times prior to 2017! Add 5 State Championships collected during that timeframe, confirms your position as a fixture among all WKY football programs and state programs for that matter. I'm sure they were disappointed not bringing the big hardware back to the Purchase Area last season, but Christian Academy was simply stacked with veteran players, who last lost in Mayfield late in the 2017 Playoffs. So no shame there. Mayfield loses stud RB Kent Tray Matthews who gained over 1,800 yards and 29 TDs in 2018, both stout DEs and one solid LB. However, Mayfield expects to reload every year. But when only 10 players played at least 10 games for your 2018 squad, ALL are important! 2019 Outlook: Thanks to our good friend @Mayfieldsportsfan who was instrumental in helping forecast the 2019 Cardinals season! The Cardinals will be led by standout SR QB Jayden Stinson (145 for 222 with 2,931 yards and 35 TDs vs 4 INTs). All WRs return and most OL return. The RB position will be handled by SR Travon Halliburton, who played the position prior to Matthews, but was injured and now returns along with JR Kylan Galbreath. Mayfield's defensive secondary returns intact. One returning LB will move to the DL and former Warren Central Coach Mike Roger's son Jax Rogers will start at LB. It is reported this will be another terrific defense, but it may take a game or two to get acclimated. But make no mistake, Mayfield will compete for a 2A Championship this season. Schedule Highlight: While selfishly, I would like to see Mayfield come to Hopkinsville for the new 7on7 Tournament in July, I really like their Fall schedule this season. The Cardinals don't take a week off, as they always schedule tough competition! Games of note this season include an early gut check game against stout Lausanne Collegiate out of Memphis, TN, who lost in the semi-finals last season. Then turn around and travel to Hopkinsville in what should be my game of the week in Week 2, as Hoptown will be really good this year. The district now includes Caldwell County, who drops down with the reclassification alignment. Don't sleep on the Murray Tigers either, as they are pretty hungry to try to knock off the Cardinals! And Week 10 slates a tough, physical road trip to a gritty Madisonville team that has a very talented Oline and RB. Should be a great game! Week 1 August 23 at home vs. Lausanne Collegiate, TN at 7:00PM. I always pull for Kentucky schools vs non-Kentucky schools! Let's go Mayfield!!! Good Enough to Make the Top 10 This Season: 11) Graves County (5A) - The Eagles lose their 4-Year Starter at QB and top tackler from 2018. I haven't even mentioned the Eagles new head coach Nick Kemp, Sr. While I hope Coach Kemp has a good year and know Cody Goatley is a stud player, I don't look for them to compete with Owensboro for a shot to go past the second round of the playoffs and I could have them too high here with significant pieces to replace and a tough early schedule. I'm just not as high on the Eagles as others are. 12) Glasgow (2A) - With stars Nick Mitchell running the ball and Chase Jones anchoring the DLine, I like Glasgow to make it to the 3rd round of the playoffs at a minimum. From there, we'll see! I may have the Scotties too low. 13) Murray (2A) - Coach Keith Hodge has been building toward this season with 5 of their top 6 producers back. They have a manageable schedule, especially if they can take care of Graves County out of the gate. No one expects the Tigers to beat Mayfield this year, but we have seen stranger things in rivalry games, although I don't expect that to be the case here. The Tigers should see Mayfield twice this year. 14) Apollo (6A) - Coach Hawkins has things going in the right direction over off Tamarack Road in Owensboro. Thanks to our good friend @zoneblitz2, who reports the Junior Class at Apollo is set to break out this year with UK verbal commits Logan Weedman (TE/DE) and OL Parker Bates. Add John Lynn TE/OLB and OCath transfer RB Harold Hogg and the Eagles have a lot of potential in 2019. Mark the district game with McCracken County on September 27 in Owensboro as one where Apollo could make their mark this year. I could have the Eagles too low as well. 15) Owensboro Catholic (2A) - With star WR Nick Mills and star RB Vonn Williams graduated and star to-be RB Harold Hogg transferring to Apollo, Drew Harz will have to be very special this year to get past the 3rd round. The Aces will still own their district, but I fear that's it in 2019. 16) Caldwell County (2A) - The Tigers lose 20 seniors from 2018. But losing long-time Coach David Barnes will be very difficult for the Tigers to overcome. Stud JR QB/LB Russ Beshear is back to lead the team with star RB DeEric Hollowell. But the significant loss of most players with experience seems to suggest an already difficult year in Princeton to unfortunately stay that way for the Tigers. But I hope you prove me wrong. Other Western Kentucky Teams: 17) Christian County (5A) - The Colonels will be very young this year. They battled during the Best of the West 7v7 Tournament, but were more successful finding things to work on than advancing deep in the tournament. That's not meant to pile on, but meant to let you know that it's likely a ground and pound year for the Colonels, but to keep an eye on them for the future. 18) Daviess County (6A) - With the amount of offensive firepower the Panthers had last season, the resulting 6 and 5 record had to be a disappointment. With the lion share of that firepower graduated, the outlook for this Panther team isn't nearly as high with breaking in a new QB and receiving corps. 19. Trigg County (3A) - With SR QB Cameron Jordon, United States Navy commit and several other talented skill guys, the Wildcats should compete in 3A District 1. I was really impressed with these guys at the Best of the West 7v7 Tournament. 20) Western Kentucky 1A - Crittenden County & Russellville - The Rockets of Crittenden County rode a star senior class to an 11 and 2 record before falling in the 3rd round of the playoffs. With 53 kids on the roster, Coach Thompson has some options and likely a leg up in the district. The Panthers for the most part beat the teams they were supposed to and lost to the ones they were supposed to. This will be Coach Mikie Benson's second season and he will lean on stud SO Lennon Ries on both sides of the ball this year. It looks to be a tough year out of district for Russellville, but take care of your District and life is good! Western Kentucky Bullitt Round: - McLean County - 8 - 2018 Wins & Stud RB Peyton Conway back = Promising 2019! - Metcalfe County - JR Gabe Zurmehly does it all for the young Hornets & they should improve over 2018 and compete in their district! - Hancock County - JR Darian Clay = Player! - Ohio County - Transfer JR Q'Darius McHenry is one of the best players most have never heard of! - Todd County Central - The Rebels looked GREAT in the BOTW 7v7 Tournament & QB Bryce Nolan is a player! - Union County - Braves are lurking with SR QB Solomon Teehan back! - Henderson County - Colonels lose Skip Patterson & that's big and why they aren't higher in the ranks. Critical High School Football News: The realignment of 2019 to 2022 is upon us. Here is the layout of all the new classification and district alignments in case you would like to view it: Current Alignment of Team – Football – 219 through 222 Playing Seasons | Kentucky High School Athletic Association Also of significant importance to the new season is the new playoff format. The following link provides you a BGP thread on the subject: http://bluegrasspreps.com/ky-football-high/2019-playoff-alignment-379975.html Games of the Week - Week 1: #7 Paducah Tilghman at #9 McCracken County 8/24/18 @7PM - This game is probably more important to McCracken County from the standpoint of I don't think they need to win it, but they need to show up better than the 35-6 (loss) effort last season. For Tilghman, it's a chance to set the tone early. For the fans, it's a chance to see what both teams really have early in the year. Should be a great atmosphere! Get out and support your teams!!! #11 Graves County (5A) at #13 Murray (2A) 8/23/18 @7PM - This is another terrific game over in the Purchase! These 2 don't have very high profile games except one district game apiece, but this game will set the tone for both. Look for a great early hard hitting game! You could make these 2 games your opening weekend double header in the Purchase Area! Get out and support your teams!!! Pre-Season - Teams Trending Downward South Warren (5A) - Down - This is really a curtain call for the best Senior Class South Warren has ever had. Jacob Lacy, Clayton Bush and Gavin Spurrier led a tremendous Senior Class. It is hard to fathom South rising to the Championship level this season. But Coach Smith is known for bringing his teams along with medium competition and getting them ready mentally and physically as well as any coach for playoff football. We shall see... Caldwell County (3A) - Down - This too is a curtain call for Coach David Barnes, who tragically passed away. Additionally, the Tigers lose almost 2 dozen seniors who contributed to last season's 8-4 record. It is hard to see how this season sees an increase in wins in Princeton. BUT NO TEAM WILL PLAY HARDER THAN CALDWELL COUNTY THIS YEAR. Pre-Season - Teams Trending Upward Madisonville North-Hopkins (4A) - Up - Was really impressed with QB Hayden Reynolds at the Best of the West 7v7 Tournament and am willing to overlook the unflattering "pulling out" of that tournament on Day 2 as the heat getting to them. But they have men on their OLine who will make life difficult for Maroon opponents this season. Add stud RB Jeriah Hightower to the mix and the Maroons will be in the 4A hunt come playoff time. Hopkinsville (4A) - Up - I got to speak very briefly with Coach Clayton at the Best of the West 7v7 Tournament and came away with "he likes his team". I do too. And if stud QB Jay Bland can stay healthy, he has a wealth of options in the skill spots as Hoptown usually does. LB Grubbs will cause teams fits this season. Hopkinsville will be in the 4A Hunt too! Mark October 11th on your calendar when Hoptown travels to Madisonville for the best 4A game in the state that week! As I think they are in one of the best 4A District in the State top to bottom with Logan County also with a chance. Murray (2A) - Up - Tigers really improved last year after a long 5 and 7 season in 2017. While the Rock of Gibraltar (Mayfield) is still a road block to be dealt with, the win last year on the road against Owensboro Catholic in the playoffs was significant IMO. Of the top 6 producing guys from last season (both offense and defense), 5 return for the Tigers. They will be a dangerous 2A team in the West. ALL WEST - PRE-SEASON TEAM QB - Jayden Stinson, Mayfield QB - Javier Bland, Hopkinsville RB - Jeriah Hightower, Madisonville - North Hopkins RB - Q'Darius McHenry, Ohio County RB - Nick Mitchell, Glasgow RB - Gary Hardy, Logan County WR - Kade Neely, Mayfield WR - Franklin Hayes, McCracken County WR - Jordan Dingle, Bowling Green OL - Parker Bates, Apollo OL - Tim Watkins, Paducah Tilghman OL - Colt Jackson, South Warren DL - Chase Jones, Glasgow DL - Blake Moody, Madisonville - North Hopkins DL - Isaac Young, South Warren DL - Logan Weedman, Apollo LB - Cody Goatley, Graves County LB - Erick Gruggs, Hopkinsville LB - Austin Gough, Owensboro DB - Jaiden Jackson, Murray DB - Evan Spader, Bowling Green S - Vito Tisdale, Bowling Green S - Imonte Owsley, Owensboro K - Dalton Major, Bowling Green Coach - David Barnes, Caldwell County (I could put MANY coaches here and would not be wrong as we have MANY strong Coaches in our region. I had Coach Brandon Smith here originally as he & his staff earned a State Championship last season when he wasn't picked to do so. However, when a Western Kentucky Coaching Fixture like Coach David Barnes passes away tragically, I've decided it is more important to honor his lifetime achievements here, which include (too many to get them all): - 171-126 in 26 years as a Head Coach. He was the Daviess County Head Coach for 13 years and then came home to his alma mater for 13 years. - Third Most Wins in Caldwell County History 110-50. - As a Player, he starred for Caldwell County as a 4-Year Starter at RB and held the single game rushing record of 280 yard & 4 TDs vs Crittenden County back in 1976! That record stood for 34 Years and he coached the young man who broke the record! - Guided Caldwell County to the 2A Championship Game in 2012 losing a close game to Newport Central Catholic 30-26. - 2014 2A Coach of the Year (Courier Journal). - 2017 3A Coach of the Year (KY Football Coaches Association). Rest In Peace Coach Barnes - And Thank You for all your Lifetime Contributions both as a Coach and as an Inspiration to those young & old throughout Daviess & Caldwell Counties!) It's going to be a GREAT YEAR sports fans! What do you think/like/dislike? Pitch all together? What would you change & why?

BluegrassPreps 2018 Western Kentucky Power Rankings – Preseason Edition In 2018, we head into our Fourth Season of BluegrassPreps weekly high school football Power Rankings for each of the regions around the state. With each week's Power Rankings, we will be looking to rank (at least) the top ten teams in each region - regardless of class - against the other teams in their region. Throughout the season, we will be accounting for the results of all the games throughout the region, including the strength of each opponent played, points scored, points allowed, along with several other statistics on each side of the ball. Additionally, we will be highlighting a "Game(s) of the Week", and moving forward, will be re-capping the previous game(s) of the week, as well as highlighting regional "Teams Trending Up" and "Teams Trending Down" as various teams improve their performance and other teams fall back. Also look for a featured "Player(s) Of The Week". In the Preseason, I’m pretty amped up SO: Are you ready for some football? Put your cowboy hat on and head out WEST: Western Kentucky 2017 Spotlight: Franklin Simpson – The 2017 Wildcats brought the Big Hardware back to Franklin after getting a little revenge from the 2016 Title game loss both against Johnson Central. Most did not give the Wildcats a chance after losing in 2016 and not adding any substantial star power. But that turned out to be unwise thinking, as the Wildcats got on a roll not losing after September 15th! BIG Congratulations to Coach Preston, the Franklin Simpson Wildcats and their fans! Logan County – NO TEAM; NO TEAM has ever had a greater reversal of course than last season’s Logan County Cougars. Logan County broke a 42 game losing streak with a win in Week 10 of the 2016 Season vs Todd County Central. They followed that win with an 11 game win streak in 2017. AMAZING! The First Undefeated Regular Season Football Team in Logan County HISTORY!!!! What an Amazing Feat! Congratulations Coach Adler and Cougar Nation!!! 2018 Preseason Top 10: 10) Caldwell County (3A) – 2017 Recap: (2017 Record 10-3) I think I missed more on the Tigers than I missed on any other team last season. I just didn’t think they would overcome the loss of Star QB Shane Burns, who decided to focus on baseball instead of playing his senior season. But I underestimated QB Joby Jaggers (204-297 for 2,422 yards and 28 TDs vs 10 INTs) and the Tiger offense. Not this year! The Tigers lost a closer than the score indicates game to 5A Christian County (27-10) to start last season. They then marched off 8 straight wins before falling to the Mayfield Cardinals the last game of the regular season. No shame there! Crushed Hart County and convincingly defeated a game Larue County squad before they finished the season on a down note with a thumping provided by a stellar Elizabethtown squad. Surprisingly terrific season Tigers! 2018 Outlook: On offense, this is the year Tiger Fans! Your QB, Stud RB Jameer Riley (139 rushes for 716 and 9 TDs; plus 48 catches for 474 yards and 5 TDs), and top 2 WRs return. On defense though, you lose some standout LBs including your ALL TIME Leading Tackler Hunter Vanhouser. Stud DB Trel Riley (8 INTs) and SR LB Caleb Burden (100 tackles) return to lead the way. But for Caldwell to go as far as they want to, Coach Barnes will have to find some answers on defense. Schedule Highlight: Caldwell County has put together one of the toughest schedules pound for pound in the West considering they are a 3A squad. Out of district opponents include 5A Christian County, 5A Graves County, 4A Hopkinsville, 1A Crittenden County (very strong this season), 6A Henderson County, and 2A Mayfield – WOW!!! They ran this schedule last season only losing 2 games. If they do that again, I think they will be in good shape going into the playoffs. Watch Week 3 when Hopkinsville comes calling – will be a fantastic game! Week 1 at 5A Christian County – August 17, 2018 at 7PM. HUGE Game Tiger Nation – Get out and support your team!!! 9) Madisonville-North Hopkins (4A) – 2017 Recap: (2017 Record 7-5) The Maroons had a solid 2017. Although I would expect they planned to beat the upstart 3A Union County Braves. Add that to the District loss to Cinderella Logan County, which began to bump Madisonville toward very tough early playoff opponents. This played out in Week 2 of the playoffs losing at 4A Champion Franklin Simpson. I don’t think Madisonville loses a lot to graduation from this past year. So Team Ground N Pound will be punishing opponents once again this season! 2018 Outlook: The Maroons return 9 on offense and 7 on defense! Of the 5 guys on defense that had 50 or more tackles last season only 1 graduated. With that said, they have terrific athletes returning including 2 1,000 yard rushers in JR RB Jariah Hightower (233 rushes for 1,528 yards and 15 TDs) and SR RB Aaron Miller (109 rushes for 958 yards and 12 TDs). And at least 2 of their better OLinemen return in JR Blake Moody (6’4” 265) and SR Roberto Cruz (6’6” 300) – WOW! So if you are a DLinemen lining up against these guys this season, you better eat your Wheaties! The Maroon D will be led by Stud DB SR James Gilbert (5 INTs, 3 Fumble Recoveries and 56 tackles from your DB is pretty dang good) and JR LB Krey Cunningham. The Maroons are in a tough District. Can Madisonville improve their district record this season? You tell me… I think they are going to be hard to stop! Will make that District an all-out war! Schedule Highlight: I think the Maroons schedule is pretty solid to help them improve. They play 5A Old Foe Owensboro, 5A Christian County, and a scrappy 3A Union County squad to counter-balance 5A Marshall County, 3A Fort Knox, and 2A Murray. Last season you lost all the tough ones and beat the ones you were supposed to. That sounds like you’re being challenged to me and getting some wins to keep morale up. One of the most important games I’ll be watching this season is Week 4 when Union County comes calling for an encore of last season. Want to take a step forward this season Maroon Nation? You should focus on beating the Braves and use that momentum to make a statement in your district! Good Luck! Week 1 August 17 at Old Foe 5A Owensboro at 7pm. 8) Logan County (4A) – 2017 Recap: (2017 Record 11-1) The Cougars pulled off one of the most impressive, remarkable, and unexpected runs I can ever remember in KY High School Football. Bringing the school their first undefeated regular season ever. The Cougars extended their wins into the first round of the playoffs. But when the Hopkinsville Tigers came calling a second time, it appeared they simply ran out of gas and couldn’t muster the same magic they had unleashed in previous weeks. Still a very Magical Season! 2018 Outlook: Cinderella only loses a few seniors according to our good friend @Mpb77. They return offensive stars: JR QB Tyler Ezell (rushed for 600 yards and 10 TDs and passed for over 1,600 yards for 19 TDs but 11 INTs), JR RB Gary Hardy (205 rushes for 1,261 yards and 9 TDs), and Top WR SR Dontavius Blann (28 catches for 366 yards and 7 TDs). On defense, SR DL Cade McKinnis is one of the best DLineman you have never heard of and he anchors a stout Cougar D that only gave up 16 points per game last season. It’s going to be a FUN season for Cougar Nation!!! Schedule Highlight: Looking at the schedule; there’s not a lot of meat on the bone when you look at the non-district group of 2A Butler County, 6A Muhlenberg County, 4A Breckinridge County, 2A McLean County, and 2A Todd County Central. But your district is so tough and having just come off a 42 game losing streak, I understand having some “less challenging” games. I would strive to add another challenging game or 2 in the future if you want to be a consistent 4A threat though. I didn’t put the Backyard Brawl with Russellville in that group due to the fact Russellville is typically very good and always a tough game. I look for the Cougars to have the upper hand again this season vs Russellville. Week 1 vs 2A Butler County – August 17, 2018 at 7PM. Can you say 1 and 0 boys and girls… 7) Daviess County (6A) – 2017 Recap: [2017 Record 7-6] The Panthers came out of the gate last season like a 1974 Ford Pinto on 3 cylinders. They lost 5 of their first 8 games, but they got a season changing victory against Owensboro in Week 5. The first win vs their cross-town adversary since David Barnes (now of Caldwell County Fame) was Head Coach back in 2004. That game IMO turned the tides for the Panthers. They steadily began to improve, although they did take tough District losses to McCracken County and Henderson County. They kept fighting and traveled back to McCracken County and avenged an earlier defeat in a fantastic playoff win before bowing out to a solid Central Hardin squad. No significant offensive skill players graduate. But the defense loses some outright studs in DLineman Shae Carwile and Drew Cockrell. Add at least 5 more significant contributors to that list. But solid year for the Panthers! 2018 Outlook: Daviess County has some of the best offensive skill guys you have never heard of. Most have heard of the best WR in the State (IMO) Marquel Tinsley (76 catches for 1,447 yards and 22 TDs; plus 4 INTs on defense – WOW!), but fewer know of his SR QB Joseph Cambron (236-421 for 4,078 yards and 49 TDs vs. 11 INTs). SR RB Landon Newman rushed 140 times last season for 939 yards and 13 TDs and caught 35 passes for 535 yards and 6 TDs. I haven’t even told you of perhaps the brightest hidden gem of them all – SR WR/DB Blake Baker (caught 50 passes for 1,029 yards and 15 TDs, picked off 5 INTs, scooped up 3 fumble recoveries and made 109 tackles for the Panthers defense. That, my friends, is getting it done!!!). With 4 of 5 OLinemen returning, if Coach Brannon can get the front 7 of the defense to hold up, this is a team to watch! They have big time big play potential! Schedule Highlight: I look for Daviess County to be the Top Dog in 6A District 1 this season, but they will have to unseat McCracken County for it. The McCracken County game is in Owensboro this year, which bodes well for Panther Nation. Week 1 August 17 vs 2A Owensboro Catholic at 7pm. This is an important game to start the season. Daviess County lost a tough one to the Aces last season 31-33 in a barnburner! It’s your year Panther Fans; come out and support your team! 6) Hopkinsville (4A) – 2017 Recap: [2017 Record 6-7] The Tigers likely encountered more obstacles in 2017 than any other team in the State of Kentucky. They were forced to switch coaches near the beginning of last season; they significantly upgraded their schedule adding the likes of Mayfield, South Warren and Caldwell County; and they had to endure and try to overcome the tragic death of teammate EJ Austin, who was an up and coming talented young man, mid-season. As a result of ALL of this, the Tigers lost 6 of their first 7 games. They turned it around and won 5 straight including road playoff wins at scrappy Warren East and the Logan County Magicians before falling at the eventual 4A Champs (Franklin Simpson). I know the coaching staff and Tiger faithful are ready to use last season as a spring board for the 2018 season. 2018 Outlook: The Tigers return 8 on offense and 5 on defense from a team that peaked right at the end of the season. After watching a competitive 7v7 match, I look for JR QB Jay Bland (2017 – 113-257 for 2,148 yards and 22 TDs vs 10 INTs) to have a big season, especially considering 4 OLinemen return. He must cut down on the INTs, as he threw 3 in the game I mentioned above vs Graves County. But he is young and improving and that was July with only experience to gain. He has a strong arm and blessed with good young receivers to throw to. He “may” be able to add another game-changer should Christian County transfer WR Ellis Dunn be ruled eligible (I’m told this is still a moving process so it will take some time to settle). Finally, SR RB JaTorion Dillard is back from a season ending ACL injury he sustained in the pre-season last year. If he can stay healthy, he is a tremendous player. Defensively, the Tigers lost their 2 most productive players (LB Andrew Kind and LB Jakevis Bryant) to graduation, so younger Tigers will have to plug the gaps here. They looked athletic and fast in the back 7 of their 7v7 squad, so the tools are there. If the young linebackers can find their way, I look for Hoptown to compete for the right to go to the Grocery Bag in Lexington and represent the West in 4A! Schedule Highlight: Hopkinsville has a difficult schedule. I think that is a good thing. Even though they didn’t have a sparkling record last year, no one wanted to play them when they got rolling. Out of the gate this season, they start with South Warren and Mayfield (I just keep seeing the old Animal House scene “Thank you Sir, May I have another” when I think of playing those 2 back to back). I don’t expect Hoptown to win either of those games, but I expect them to compete and keep it close. That means the 3rd game of the season against Caldwell County in Princeton will be HUGE! The Tigers really need that one to build some confidence with the annual grudge match with Christian County the following week. Tough early sledding for the Tigers. Week 1 vs South Warren (5A) at the Stadium of Champions in Hopkinsville, KY 7:00PM. Great Test & Big Game for both teams. Winner gets momentum very early in the season. Get out to the Wood Shed Restaurant for some great barbeque Tiger Nation and then out to the Stadium of Champions to support your team! It’s going to be a great season! 5) Franklin Simpson (4A) – 2017 Recap: (2017 Record 12-3) As mentioned above, Franklin Simpson climbed the 4A hill in 2017 and stood alone at the top when it was all said and done! Outstanding and Congratulations! The Wildcat offense was hard to handle last year rushing for more than 5,000 yards as a team with 3 rushers gaining over 1,100 yards each! The defense was also very effective as is highlighted by containing a high octane Johnson Central offense to only 21 points in the championship game! One for the record books Wildcat fans! With all good things, there comes a time to pay the band and that takes place in the form of graduation. Saul Brady, who seemed to play for 6 years not 4, along with QB Rylan Thomas and one stud OLineman are the major losses on offense. The Wildcat D lose 3 stalwarts in DLineman Dion Pearson, leading tackler LB Cade Harvey (141 tackles) and LB James Baker. They will be very hard to replace, but don’t count Coach Preston out! 2018 Outlook: Hard to improve on a Championship season, but why not go back to back? Two of the 3 1,000 yard rushers return in Tre Bass and Carlos McKinney. I look for Bass to be one of the leading rushers in the State this season as several key pieces of the Wildcat OLine return led by Stud SR OG Jack Randolph. Leading WR Javon Covington (29 catches for 501 yards and 9 TDs) also returns and is a real momentum changing weapon on the outside. But who is going to throw him the ball? We shall see, and that is one of my biggest concerns for the Wildcats this season. That and the reconstruction of the defense. More inexperienced players like DL Trevon Goodnight, LB Conner Rodgers, and S Gavin Finch will be called on to carry more of the defensive load this season. Going to be a fun ride in Wildcat Land this season! Schedule Highlight: The games that catch my eye for Franklin are 3A Etown (but they lost a LOT of seniors from last season), 2A Glasgow and 1A Russellville (old rivals). But Franklin should clearly be above these three schools. That leaves a home game against super tough 5A South Warren on August 31st as the clear gem to circle on the schedule this year. Don’t forget about the Green Wave from 6A Meade County either. Know the Wildcats had a bad taste after last season’s defeat and would like to settle the score this season. Week 1 August 17 at Elizabethtown at 7PM. AWESOME GAME right out of the gate right here! Gas up the car Wildcat Fans! Head up I-65 and support your team!!! 4) Owensboro (5A) – 2017 Recap: (2017 Record 4-7) Tough year for the Red & Black in 2017 – no doubt about it. Not since 2004 (Joe Prince’s second season as Head Coach) has Owensboro only won 4 games. As brilliant as moving to the veer was IMO in 2016, I felt it had a straight-jacket effect on the Red Devil offense in 2017. But I hear the Ides of Change are upon us (more below). Several strong Red Devils are lost to graduation including stalwart lineman Jackson Burke and super tough runner Josh Cowherd. 2018 Outlook: Word on the street is Owensboro will change back to some type of spread or more conventional offense and possibly or some say likely be led by former Owensboro Catholic Star QB Will Warren, who went through a drama plagued end of his era at Owensboro Catholic. But the QB reigns will not just be handed over to Warren, as SR Zeke Brown was the QB last year and is a stand out athlete in his own right, but will he be better used elsewhere? You tell me. Of course, the most valuable Red Devil is JR RB/S Imonte Owsley. It’s getting serious now Red Devil fans, as a talent like Owsley doesn’t come along often. He is a junior now and it’s time to make hay while the sun shines! Owsley only touched the ball 71 times last season. He’s going to need it in his hands more in my opinion to get the Red Devils where they want to go in 2018. On defense, the Red Devils are led by strongman DT Diamond Glover, SO LB Austin Gough and SR S Aerion Phillips. Schedule Highlights: September 28 vs. 5A District 1 Rival Christian County at the Stadium of Champions has been a terrific rivalry the past couple of seasons and I look for this one to be an important piece of the 5A District 1 puzzle this year. I know Owensboro fans want to get the Purple monkey off their backs and they will get their chance in Week 4 at Rash Stadium when the Purples come calling once again. Week 1 vs old-rival 4A Madisonville-North Hopkins at Rash Stadium at 7PM. 3) Mayfield (2A) – 2017 Recap: (2017 Record 13-2) Mayfield continues to be Team Consistency losing only 8 games from 2010 through the 2017 season (that’s 8 full seasons!!!). The Cardinals got back to the State Championship game after a 1 year hiatus after going a noteworthy 8 straight times prior to last year! Add 5 State Championships collected during that timeframe confirming your position as a fixture among all WKY football programs. I’m sure they were disappointed not bringing the big hardware back to the Purchase Area last season but Danville was simply stacked with veteran players, who lost in the 2016 State Championship game (to CAL), and Mayfield had a younger, less experienced squad. Still a Great Run in 2017 Cardinal Fans! Mayfield lost some absolute studs in standouts OL Trevor Terrell (among a few other very solid OLineman) and RB/LB Kyle Hurt, who was the heart and soul of last year’s squad. Add another LB and a couple WRs to the graduation list. However, Mayfield expects to reload every year. But when only 14 players played at least 9 games for your 2017 squad, ALL are important! 2018 Outlook: The Cardinals return 5 offensive and 6 defensive starters from a year ago. And according to our good friend @twenty4seven, Mayfield will be “STACKED” this year at the skill positions. Look for JR QB Jaden Stinson (116-183 for 2,007 yards, 24 TDs vs only 5 INTs all season) to lead the offensive charge for the Cardinals this season. And he will have a plethora of options to hand or throw the ball to lead by SR RB/WR Trey Matthews (rushed 110 times for 1,009 yards and 11 TDs; caught 34 passes for 600 yards and 11 TDs). Also look for SR WR Conner Guthrie and JR RB Travon Halliburton to expand on their production from last season. As mentioned, several talented OLinemen graduate, but look for SR Barrett Hendley to be a force for Mayfield on the OLine this season. The defense is where it becomes somewhat a work in progress. But don’t put DE in that category as Mayfield will have IMO the best DE combo in 2A (and maybe beyond). SR Brady Smith and SR Quorterrius Cherry are outstanding and get after you in a hurry! Coach Morris is a master at revamping a defense and team for that matter. He will have to tweak a couple areas for sure. But if those tweaks work and those units gel, LOOK OUT 2A! Schedule Highlight: The Cardinals don’t take a week off, as they always schedule tough competition! Games of note this season include the border war right out of the gate with Union City, TN, and the awesome cross-state game vs Corbin (likely to be played at Lindsey Wilson College this year)! I noticed where Corbin played awfully well down in Dalton, GA during 7v7 this July coming in second place in the whole tournament! Impressive! Should be a great game! I may try to make it to this one this year!!! Make plans Cardinal fans to caravan over to Central KY to watch your team!!! It will be a great game and a great season! Week 1 August 17 at home vs. Union City, TN at 7:30PM. I always pull for Kentucky schools vs non-Kentucky schools! Let’s go Mayfield!!! 2) South Warren (5A) – 2017 Recap: [2017 Record 11-3] The Spartans came out of the 5A gate like gangbusters! Won 7 straight before losing a tough one on the road to a good Ravenwood TN squad (10-3 2017 Record) before getting their doors blown off at BG during the regular season. But to their credit rallied and went on to undefeated Christian County the second week of the playoffs and left with a full head of steam handing County their only loss of the season. Had a great week of practice and went back to El Donaldson Stadium and played IMO their best game of the season and upended BG in the 3rd Week of the playoffs 28-21. BIG DEAL HERE!!! Then hosted the Covington Catholic Colonels, the team of destiny in 5A last season. Now here me out; I honestly think South had a chance in this game. Not to win it, per se, but to keep it under a running clock. First possession of the second half, QB Spurrier hits a “wide open” receiver and he drops it. Very easily could have been a TD and a 21-14 score. Instead they got running clocked soon thereafter. But still a Great opening 5A campaign for the Spartans! The Spartans lose some outstanding football players to graduation including WR Greg Byrd, WR Marcus Elmore, S Tryce Jackson, a real weapon in K Alex Cohron, and the sparkplug that was RB Christian Wynn (176 carries for over 900 yards and 14 TDs) will be sorely missed. But all is not lost in Spartan-land. Of the 17 Spartans who played at least 10 games last season 9 return. Led by their best player SR DT/OL and Notre Dame Signee Jacob Lacey. The young man is simply an outstanding football player that has commanded at least a double team since he was a freshman. Also back is talented SR QB Gavin Spurrier (175-286 for 2,509 yards and 21 TDs vs. 8 INTs, plus 7 rushing scores), who was a pleasant addition to the Spartans 2017 squad adding a stable passing component. SR WR/S Clayton Bush (a recent WKU commit) will look to add to his 37 catches from 2017. Don’t forget about one of the most undervalued players you will find in the State in SR LB/OL Pete Cross (If he came off the field in the second BG game I did not see it). This is a solid group no question, but MANY young Spartans will need to step up into the shoes left vacated. I’ll have my eyes most focused on the RB position as Christian Wynn was simply spectacular last season. BIG shoes to fill! 2018 Outlook: So what do I expect from South Warren in 2018 you ask… much more of the same with continued focus on better performance in the bigger games on their schedule. Coach Smith is an outstanding coach and does tremendous work with his staff getting his team prepared to win every week. South is easily one of the top two teams in the district and most likely the western part of the State in 5A, but will their tendency to play key players both ways catch up with them in the big games? You tell me… 5A Districts 1 and 2 are usually 2 of the toughest in the state. I look for that to continue this season. The first (note I’m expecting 2 meetings again this season) meeting this season with BG will be HUGE as it likely determines who will go to Rash Stadium (Owensboro) Week 2 of the playoffs. I think not playing Owensboro early could be beneficial for 1 of these 2. We shall see. Schedule Highlight: Remember the days of criticizing South Warren’s schedule. Not anymore. Really like the makeup of their schedule with 4A State Champion Franklin Simpson on the road with 6A steady Central Hardin and solid Ravenwood (TN) coming to Nashville Road. But is it time to add a tougher game to this schedule? You tell me… The easy Highlight will be when Bowling Green comes calling on October 19th for what should account for the District Championship being on the line. But I would offer the game with Ravenwood, TN as also very important as it sets up the BG game. The Spartans couldn’t get out of the fog last year down in Brentwood and I think it really hurt their confidence going into the first BG game. Week 1 at 4A Hopkinsville – August 17, 2018 at 7PM. With Hoptown – I think they started to put it together at the end of last season and with a stacked lineup, they will be entertaining to watch. For South Warren – how will the newbies acclimate to the bright Friday night lights? I’d say there will be some adjustments needed. But I look for South Warren to be very strong and look to go deep into the playoffs. 1) Bowling Green (5A) – And here come the Purples! 2017 Recap: (2017 Record 10-3) 2017 was a good season for the Purples. All 10 wins were convincing against mostly solid teams they were supposed to beat. Got bulldozed (literally) by 6A State Runner-up Saint Xavier (by 14 points) and fell in a hole up at senior-laden 6A Pleasure Ridge Park in the first quarter and simply couldn’t recover. Came in overconfident (IMO) against a determined, capable South Warren squad and took a disheartening playoff loss on home soil. I’m sure the returning Purples have not forgotten (or been allowed to forget) that. Salty, sour taste in their mouths all off-season for sure! Many talented Purples depart to graduation, most notably WR/KR Zion Kenner, WR Nash Hightower, LB Jason Beason, RB Dazhon Blakey, Stud LB Justice Dingle (109 tackles)(who will be dressing for the Ramblin’ Wreck of Georgia Tech this fall) and DL/OLB Devan Jackson (who was a force last year). All 21 seniors will be missed, as they played extremely well for BG for multiple seasons. Coaching Change: Not since the fall of 1996 have the Purples had to await the coming of a new Head Football Coach. But that was sort of planned, as Kevin Wallace was part of Dan Haley’s staff prior to his ascending to the Head Coach position. Well history has a way of repeating itself, as the New BG Head Football Coach, Mark Spader, has served as Defensive Coordinator since 2010. I want to take this opportunity to thank Coach Wallace for elevating the BG Football Program and wish him nothing but the best at Saint Xavier (Well - except for Week 3 of course – HA!). I also think Coach Spader will do an outstanding job as Purples Head Coach! Best of Luck! I’m pulling for you! 2018 Outlook: BG was fortunate to retain the services of Offensive Coordinator Kyle McGraw, who worked extensively with Coach Wallace on the offensive side of the ball for a number of years. The good fortune continued with the addition of Coach Chris Seabolt, former Greenwood Head Coach, as Offensive Line Coach. With the graduation losses mentioned above, focus will shift to QB Beau Buchanan, who enters his senior year campaign coming off an outstanding junior year (162-251 for 2,287 yards, 25 TDs vs. only 3 INTs). The Purples backfield will be filled by several this fall including SR Jamil Smith, who missed all of last season with an ACL injury, JR Jayvon Collins, a bowling ball back tough to bring down, SR Michael Carter, a big physical runner, and JR Vito Tisdale (a 4-Star athlete who will likely play safety in college). On the outside, the Purples WRs will be inexperienced but very talented. Elvin Fofanah, Jordan Dingle, Ivan Drobosky, and Greenwood transfer Zack Brassell all have tight end height and sure hands. Look for the Purples to incorporate the Tight End this season more than in years past. The offensive line returns 3 talented players led by 4-year standout Sam Vitale. On the defensive side of the ball, Coach Spader promoted Secondary Coach Demont Franklin to Co-Defensive Coordinator. Coach Franklin will try to focus on stopping the run this season. Two of 3 DLineman return led by SR Durrell Grey. The linebackers were hit hard last season with 3 graduating, but Jason Beason was only able to play 1.5 quarters of the opening game of the season due to an injury, so SR Ethan Klein has significant experience as a starting linebacker. The OLBs are really good ones in Miles Smith and Evan Spader. The secondary is led by SR S Davis Tomblinson and CB Vito Tisdale, who typically shuts down half the field. BGs kicking game is better than I can ever remember. JR Dalton Major recently won the Top Prospect Kicking Camp and SO Eli Burwash is a very formidable punter. Schedule Highlights: Wow Nellie!!! The Purples don’t take the slow lane this season as they already had 3 talented 6A schools jammed at the front of their schedule, but with Barren County heading out of the district faster than a one-legged duck in hurricane season, they add the mighty Warren Central Warriors from Indianapolis, IN! The Warriors are picked by many to finish the year ranked in the Top 10 in the Nation! Oh and this game will be played at Warren Central the week before the South Warren Game! I am all for this game as long as BG doesn’t sustain significant injuries. The most important game IMO is the Week 2 home game vs. PRP. BG has never beaten PRP in 2 previous tries and with a tough road trip to Saint Xavier the following week, negative mental mind frames could take shape. Will be a fascinating season for the Purples! Week 1 vs. 6A Central Hardin – Saturday August 18, 2018 - Rafferty’s Bowl 8PM at WKU. Got to see the Bruins in July at the Central Hardin 7v7 and they had some fine athletes. So I’m looking forward to a tough game at the Rafferty’s Bowl! Good Enough to Make the Top 10 This Season: 11) Christian County (5A) – 2017 Recap: (2017 Record 11-1) What a GREAT Season Colonel Fans!!! Undefeated regular seasons don’t grow on trees and I believe I’m correct in that it was Christian County’s first undefeated regular season squad! Outstanding! Christian County fans will remember last year for a long time. The Colonels were led by 4 year starter QB Kolbe Langhi who rushed the ball 100 times and completed 123 passes last season accounting for 21 TDs. That’s a lot to replace on its own. Add Purdue-signee and ultra-talented S Corey Trice, who changed games by himself last season (at Owensboro to name one) along with stud WR JaQuon Long and you have A LOT of production to replace! 2018 Outlook: Well boys, it sure feels like Christian County is the biggest teeter-totter team in the West this year. You can make a case for them being down just by the talent lost from last season’s graduation, which is the biggest reason they are down this far. But you can also make a case for them to rally around their 28 seniors and develop an “Us vs The World” mentality and play inspired physical football, which puts them in the top 4 of the Region! So what can we guestimate from this? I anticipate County will be more ground and pound this season and rely on a stout defense to carry them. I’m not the only one to carry that sentiment, as it’s clear several WRs including Stud Ellis Dunn have already transferred to Hopkinsville. Our good friend @Matt Holiday fan, also reports that 2 OLinemen, including what would have been their best returning OLineman, have transferred to a TN Prep School. Add that to former offensive coordinator Rusty Goble resigning at the first of the year and you have a lot of work to do to rebuild for the 2018 season. So can County still be good this season? Absolutely! Coach Lovelace is an excellent coach and their new QB SO Donte Abren is a super athlete, but the unknowns for this team are VERY high this season compared to previous years. So you could see the Colonels move up into the Top 10 or fall out of the Top 20; either could happen! Schedule Highlight: Difficult schedule and difficult district ahead for Christian County! I look for the backyard brawl with Hopkinsville to be very important for County. While I don’t expect them to win the game at this point, I do expect them to compete. Let’s see what they got!!! Week 1 August 17 vs. 3A Caldwell County at the Stadium of Champions (8pm). Tough opener right here! 12) Glasgow (2A) – 2017 Recap: [2017 Record 10-4] Glasgow had a fantastic 2017 season. They competed every week with close losses to 4A Allen County Scottsville, 4A Champion Franklin Simpson, and super tough 3A Elizabethtown. They ultimately met their demise against the Danville Admirals, who were the team of destiny last year in 2A. But still a terrific year Scotties! They lose one of their talented QBs from last season in Dalvin Smith and stud RB/LB Sielverio Rescontellio (690 yards rushing with 9 TDs and a team leading 73 tackles on defense – Solid!). 2018 Outlook: The Scotties have one of the best linemen in the state in SR Tanner Bowles, who recently committed to Alabama (doesn’t get much better than that!). You notice I mentioned above one of their talented QBs graduated, but the good news in Scottie-land is that JR QB Tanner Abernathy (passed for just over 1,000 yards with 14 TDs vs only 3 INTs) will return. The Scottie backfield will likely see a lot of SR RB Dontavis Oates and JR Nick Mitchell, who both contributed last season. WRs with the second and third most receptions from last year return in JR Jaden Franklin and SR Kris Horn. Glasgow’s defense will be led by SR LB Andrew Carter, but who will fill the shoes of Rescontellio’s 73 tackles from last season? Schedule Highlight: Nothing says “Get the season started out on the right foot” like playing 6 of your first 7 games at home. Well that’s exactly what Glasgow has engineered for this season. September 7 vs Allen County Scottsville and September 14 vs Warren East will tell us a lot about Glasgow this season. They split those games last season. Both are 4A teams, but if you expect to compete with the Big Boys of 2A, these are games you need to win. Week 1 August 17 vs 1A Russellville at 8pm in the Scottie Bowl. I look for this to be a scrappy game with Russellville coming to compete and start the season off strong, but look for Glasgow to pull away in the second half. 13) Owensboro Catholic (2A) – 2017 Recap: (2017 Record 8-5) If I had a Team Soap Opera last season it had to be the Aces. Stellar QB Will Warren sustains what most reports describe as a concussion in the 4th game of the season. He is replaced with stellar QB Drew Hartz the next game and the next thing reported is that Will Warren is done at OCath. WOW! It didn’t end there with long time Coach John Edge moving across the river to coach South Spenser, Indiana. Guess who the Aces play 4th game of this season? You got it – South Spencer! Should be a hard hitting game!!! The Aces don’t lose any offensive skill guys and looked good in the Central Hardin 7on7. But they lose Stud LBs Nick Blair and Josh Sloan. 2018 Outlook: Hopefully the Drama will fade away for the Aces as talented JR QB Drew Hartz (117-198 for 1,805 and 26 TDs vs. 8 INTs in only 9 games), SR RB Vonn Williams (166 carries for 906 yards and 16 TDs), and Standout WR Nick Mills (68 catches for 968 yards and 14 TDs) make the Aces LOADED on offense. Coach Jason Morris will have to lean on SR LB Sam Harrington to lead the charge on that side of the ball. If the lines can just hold their own, the Aces can go a long way this season. Schedule Highlight: The Aces can’t afford to play a weak non-district schedule with the weakness of their own district and to their credit they don’t. The Aces will play a gauntlet of tough upper classification teams including: 6A Daviess County, 5A Apollo, 5A Owensboro and go to 5A South Warren. If you want a chance to beat Mayfield in the playoffs you have to play good teams to get ready for it. As long as the Aces avoid the injury bug, I give them a shot at home. It may be a punchers shot, but that’s all you need sometimes. Week 1 August 17 at County Rival 6A Daviess County at 7pm. 14) McCracken County (6A) – 2017 Recap: (2017 Record 7-5) The Mustangs had a somewhat uneven 2017 season opening with an OT win vs. 3A City Rival Paducah Tilghman (Tilghman missed the XP in OT is how they won – just spouting the facts!). They went on to lose the next 4 games to pretty good teams and considering the graduation losses they had and adding a new Head Coach (and I really like Coach Clark and wish him well) you suspected some setbacks. They went on to roll their district in usual fashion. Then hosted Daviess County the second week of the playoffs and were outgained by the Panthers 511 yards to 318, which produced a 32-21 season ending setback. 2018 Outlook: I’d say it’s mostly positive news in the Mustangs camp this summer, as you don’t have to teach a brand new system. Players for the most part understand what is expected of them. I think all too often, we as fans (especially of the more established programs) take this component for granted. The Mustangs return 5 on offense and 6 on defense. Of those lost on offense the biggest void will be replacing Star RB TaeShawn Allen who did it all for the Mustangs last year. That task will likely be assigned to JR Franklin Hayes. SR QB Elijah Wheat had a good season last year, but will need to cut down on the INTs to lead the Mustangs to higher ground. Add that to only 2 returning starters on both the OLine and DLine. What about depth? You tell me… I do not look for McCracken County to win their district this year (I think they have won the district every year since they were incorporated if I remember correctly), as I feel it is Daviess County’s year. Prove me wrong Mustangs… Schedule Highlight: The Graves County game will once again be a pivotal, tough and physical game for McCracken County. This game is in a tough stretch for the Mustangs and to avoid another 4 game losing streak this may be the game to reverse those tides. This loss would be double trouble with the Mayfield Cardinals coming to call the following week. OOOFFFF!!! Week 1 at arch-rival 3A Paducah Tilghman – August 18, 2018 at 7PM. I love rivalry games and to start the season off with one is BOLD! Good luck Mustangs! 15) Graves County (5A) – 2017 Recap: (2017 Record 6-5) 2017 was a topsy-turvy year for the Eagles. Although they will fight you from the water cooler till you get back on the bus, they just couldn’t put it together in certain games, but specifically in their district last season in order to get them out of the eye of the South Warren Spartans first round of the playoffs, which is a tough spot for sure. Graduation hits the Eagles especially hard with State Stalwart WR Trevor Grant and his 65 catches with over 1,200 yards and 17 TDs graduating. But behind the scenes, the Eagles also lose 3 of their top 4 tacklers and 2 of their top 3 running backs. That’s a tough skill hit to take! 2018 Outlook: The good news is that 4 year contributor and Stephan LaFors QB Camp Invitee Ryan Mathis is back and appears healthy to lead the charge for the Eagles. But who will help him? Certainly Cody Goatley will. Goatley backed up Mathis when he was injured last season gaining over 200 yards on the ground with 9TDs (also tack on 58 tackles for Mr. Goatley). The rest of the unit will be relatively unproven with the top returning rusher gaining below 100 yards on the season and the top returning WR gaining nowhere near a third of Grant’s contributions. So Coach Gregory has his work cut out for him this season. Schedule Highlight: The Eagles have a challenging schedule and challenging district, especially this season where they have to travel to Owensboro and Christian County (remember that fight at the end of last year’s game? I bet both teams have not forgotten it and will be ready for a physical game this season). If the Eagles want to take a step forward this season, I think Week 2 at home vs 3A Caldwell County is a good place to start. Week 1 vs 2A Murray. Top 20 Tier: 16) Apollo (5A) – (2017 Record 7-4) Tremendous season for the Eagles last year! I especially recall the EPIC, last second victory the Eagles snatched on home soil vs Owensboro. Very impressive! But the season ending defeat to Greenwood at home was disappointing. Some absolute Studs depart Tamarack Road via graduation led by the heart and soul of last year’s team the Peters Brothers (WR Peyton (48 catches for 724 yards and 10 TDs) and DB Presley with a team leading 84 tackles). And there’s a new sheriff in town to lead the charge. Coach Philip Hawkins comes over from Louisville Doss High School where he built a contending team where he didn’t find one when he got there. This will be a challenge for sure, but I’m a Coach Hawk fan and am pulling for him and the Eagles! I watched them compete in the Central Hardin 7on7 and was overall pleasantly surprised. They had grit and never stopped fighting, which allowed them to get all the way to the semi-finals of the tournament. But 7v7 is not Friday Night Football and there will be big challenges ahead. But considering 7 offensive and 6 defensive starters return, led by talented SR RB Mariano McKenzie, the Eagles could make their tough District race even more interesting. Week 5 vs Owensboro Catholic is a Big Game leading into District play! The Eagles need momentum heading into a very difficult stretch of District games. Week 1 August 17 at 6A Muhlenberg County at 7pm. 17) Crittenden County (1A) – (2017 Record 8-5) Don’t let the 17 fool you Rockets Fans, I am high on you this season! The Rockets are led by a very strong group of seniors including QB Hunter Boone (171-298 for 2,603 yards and 32 TDs vs. 16 INTs), RB Devin Nesbitt (189 carries for 1,289 yards and 24 TDs) and Stud WR Ethan Dossett (70 catches for 1,273 and 13 TDs). The defense lost their leader from last season (DL Adam Beavers), but return a strong group led by SR Sean OLeary and Tyler Boone. I like the Rockets schedule as it will challenge them and get them ready to play Russellville toward the end of the season and beyond. That is a road game and will be difficult to win, but you beat them last season at home so confidence shouldn’t be a problem. I think Crittenden County can go a long way this year. Campbellsville and then Beechwood would be down the road, but a lot of football between here and there. Good luck Rockets!!! 18) Paducah Tilghman (3A) – (2017 Record 5-7) First and foremost, I want to send a sincere wish for continuing improvement for Coach Duncan’s health. Coach Duncan was forced to resign within the past couple of weeks and I can’t imagine the full circle hardships this has caused for Coach Duncan and the Blue Tornado Program! I wish you all the best. Tilghman will have to pick up the pieces. The biggest piece to pick up is their stacked schedule! Very difficult! The strength of these opponents makes me think there is a chance the Blue Tornados could start the year 0 and 6. They obviously could win a few of those as well, which would have significant value for their ranking here; so maybe I’m rollin the dice by placing them here. They will look to get out of the gate at home this year against a McCracken County team that only beat them by a point last season. This puts a lot of pressure on that opening game! That game will be VERY emotional and VERY hard fought. Will be interesting! Tilghman loses 2 of their top 3 rushers from last season. They do return ultra-talented SR Makel Askew to lead the charge on offense while SR LB Colbe Crim will lead the Defense. The starters for this team will be good players, but as always I think depth will be a factor, especially in the big games. Beat McCracken County and A LOT of positives will come from that! 19) Union County (3A) – (2017 Record 8-5) Coach Derek Johns has really done a super job up in Morganfield in his 2 seasons at the helm! The Braves really came into their own last season coming out of the gate with 5 straight wins including an eye-opening win vs 4A Madisonville. The town packed the stadium for a matchup with Caldwell County and even though they haven’t climbed to those heights yet, it is inspiring to know they have the community’s support! They lose some Big Time contributors to graduation including QB Jacob Winters, RB Christopher Bledsoe, and WR James Hutchinson. It will be a rebuild on that side of the ball, but the defense should be stout! Good luck Braves! 20) Henderson County (6A) – (2017 Record 5-7) I know 5 and 7 isn’t the top of the hill Colonel Fans, but you realize you were 3 and 8 in 2016. It takes time to rebuild. And I am still a fan of Coach Josh Boston. Some of your losses (Christian County and Gipson Southern, IN) were still inspiring as you played well in those games. Much of your success this season will rest on the strong shoulders of SR QB Skip Patterson. It will be difficult, as everyone knows this and will key on him. I still think you can at least equal this record in 2018. It should be noted that you did win a home playoff game last season. Something that hasn’t happened since the 2013 Season. Small steps Colonels… small steps! Looking for some Traction: 21) Allen County – Scottsville (4A) – (2017 Record 7-4) The Patriots lost some outstanding seniors off a solid 2017 squad. None will be more difficult to replace than stalwart, heart and soul QB Chase Wilson, who passed for nearly 2,700 yards and 15 TDs last season. Add to that your top 2 tacklers graduate. So I think it will take Coach Hood (Super Coach by the way!) a while to sort things out this season. 22) Monroe County (2A) – (2017 Record 9-4) The Falcons are a terrific small county team supported by a passionate fan base that loves their team. That passion was exemplified by their graduating 2017 SR Team Leader Ty Mink. That title will be passed on to their new SR Leader Braden Murphy, who stars on both sides of the ball. The Falcons beat all the teams they were supposed to last year and lost to the ones they were not supposed to beat. No shame there! I expect Coach Billy Joe Murphy’s 2nd season in Tompkinsville to be on par with the 2017 team. Circle the game with tough Campbellsville Falcon Fans as if you can get that one you should be able to get 8 wins this year. How many teams would like to say that!!! 23) Warren East (4A) – (2017 Record 6-5) The Raiders were very competitive in 2017 and if they could have found a way to pull out 2 back to back 1 point losses mid-season that 6 and 5 record turns into a much more flashy 8 and 3 record. 2018 will be a rebuilding year for Raider Power as some outright Studs graduate including QB Dwayne Cook, RB Trevor Naftel, and Super-talented WR Caleb Huskey. Add to that the 2 key stalwarts of the 2017 defense Greg Barnes and Isaiah Board depart. So Coach Griffith will have his work cut out. The Raiders do return standouts SR RB Thomas Maxey and young SO QB Nolan Ford to head the 2018 charge. 24) Russellville (1A) – (2017 Record 7-5) Of the 5 guys that did it all for Russellville last season (they each ran the ball and played on defense) only 2 return this season. Stud SR QB/LB Jacob Naylor and SR Edward Barber will be the heart and soul of the Panther attack this season. New Coach Mikie Benton will have to figure out the rest. Maybe they will let the former Panther star and UK player suit up this season! Russellville has a very difficult schedule with 2A Glasgow and 4A Franklin Simpson to name 2 quality opponents that are likely out of Russellville’s league this season. Seems like a lot of automatic loses (mentioned above) combined with some automatic wins (the Fultons) until they get to the most important game of the year when District-mate Crittenden County comes calling. The Panthers will have to play their best game to have a chance in this one IMO. Show me what you got Panthers! 25) Warren Central (4A) – (2017 Record 0-11) I placed the Dragons here as I really want to see them improve and get a win. They haven’t had a fair shake and it’s not the kids fault. Back to football. I wanted to mention the graduation of ultra-talented Stud RB/LB DJ Tyner, who was an absolute load on both sides of the ball. Wish him well moving on. The roster numbers on the Riherds page went from 43 in 2017 to 31 in 2018. That’s obviously the wrong way and hope Coach Taylor can find some more guys to come out this season. Monroe County on August 31 might be their most winnable game in 2018. Good Luck Dragons! Disturbing Western Kentucky Notes/Trends: Fulton County and Fulton City (1A) – If you do NOT include victories over each other or Fulton City’s odd 3 wins over Jackson Preparatory School from 2011-2013 (by a combined score of 124 to 24) it has been nearly 10 years since Fulton City beat Todd County Central in the Fall of 2009 and 7 seasons since Fulton County beat now defunct Reidland High School. Our good friend @gchs_uk9 reported only 45 boys attend Fulton City High School, while only about 80 boys attend Fulton County High School. There are 17 players on the Fulton City 2018 Roster. There are only 22 non-seniors on the 2017 Fulton County Roster. Sad situation! I don’t expect Fulton City can support a football team much longer. And it may not be much longer for Fulton County either… Caverna (1A) – Caverna only has 24 players on their 2018 roster and hasn’t won a game since knocking off Fort Knox and Clinton County in 2015. Breckinridge County (4A) – The Fighting Tigers did not win a game last season and haven’t won more than 3 games in a season since they went 11 and 2 in the 2000 Season. In the 2017 Season, 50 players were on the roster. At the beginning of the 2018 season only 34 players are listed on the roster. That’s a 32% reduction in 1 season! I suppose there have always been the Have’s and the Have Nots, but I am concerned for the longevity of the sport at smaller schools outside the Big City lights. Note that Trimble County (2A) cancelled their entire 2018 Football Season. There are more things at play here than just football, but this is still a significant negative undertaking to the game we love. I don’t look for this to be the last of those undertakings unfortunately. Games of the Week – Week 1: #2 South Warren at #6 Hopkinsville 8/17/18 @7PM - This game is probably more important to Hopkinsville. Not necessarily to win the game but to play well. I expect South Warren to win the game, but I think Hopkinsville has a punchers chance. I just don’t think the Tigers can handle the South Warren defensive line and that will be the difference. Should be a great atmosphere though! Get out and support your teams!!! #12 Owensboro Catholic (2A) at #7 Daviess County (6A) 8/17/18 @7PM – This is a dandy of a game! Big momentum game for each school and also a big local rivalry game. Supermarket pride is on the line!!! Last season OCath pulled out a Big 33-31 victory against the Panthers! I’m sure Daviess is looking for revenge this season on home soil. Get out and support your teams!!! Pre-Season “Teams Trending Downward” Greenwood (5A) – Down – This is really a curtain call for the best football player in Greenwood history QB Jackson Adams. Adams carried the ball 707 times for 5,405 yards and 67 TDs over his 4 year career at Greenwood. He attained the All-Time Leading Rusher mark his Sophomore Year! Outstanding Player! Greenwood will be replacing not only their best player but also their head coach. Best of luck to new Greenwood Head Coach William Howard. Christian County (5A) – Down – The Colonels had a Great Ride last season earning their first undefeated regular season. But they lose their 4-Year Starter at QB and many other contributing seniors off a stellar 11 and 1 squad. I’m not predicting doom and gloom, but the Colonels won’t get near 11 and 1 this season. Pre-Season “Teams Trending Upward” Hopkinsville (4A) – Up – When you switch head coaches so late in the offseason, it just takes time to get going again. Add that to the fact that Hopkinsville went from being Team Cupcake in their crazy easy schedule to having one of the more difficult schedules in 4A. Playing quality opponents has a way of preparing you for the playoff challenges you hope to get the opportunity to face. I look for Hopkinsville to be very tough this year. If WR Ellis Dunn, does in fact, suit up for the Tigers, “Look Out” as I think he is a Big Piece to make them a team that can compete with Franklin Simpson and get a shot at the Grocery Bag in Lexington come December. Daviess County (6A) – Up – Coach Matt Brannon has some Big Time Players this season! If they can come out of the gate stronger this year, they should be able to use that momentum to win their district and make a deep playoff run until they get to the Jefferson County Beasts. It should be a really fun year for Panther Nation!!! Owensboro (5A) – Up – Red Devil Nation as a whole was pretty upset with the 4 and 7 season last year. But if the rumors are true with the new more pass oriented offense, then they will be much better than 4 and 7 this season. The Red Devils have the talent to win their difficult District and compete with Bowling Green and South Warren. Imonte Owsley is a special talent. He is a junior. Time is of the essence Red Devil Fans!!! ALL WEST – PRE-SEASON TEAM QB – Joey Cambron, Daviess County QB – Beau Buchanan, Bowling Green RB – Tre Bass, Franklin Simpson RB – Vonn Williams – Owensboro Catholic WR – Marquel Tinsley, Daviess County WR – Ethan Dossett, Crittenden County WR – Nick Mills, Owensboro Catholic WR – Ellis Dunn, Hopkinsville OL – Tanner Bowles, Glasgow OL – Sam Vitale, Bowling Green OL – Blake Moody, Madisonville – North Hopkins DL – Jacob Lacey, South Warren DL – Diamond Glover, Owensboro DL – Cade McKinnis, Logan County LB – Pete Cross, South Warren LB – Jacob Naylor, Russellville DB – Blake Baker, Daviess County DB – Trel Riley, Caldwell County S – Clayton Bush, South Warren S – Imonte Owsley, Owensboro Athlete – Vito Tisdale, Bowling Green Athlete – Trey Matthews, Mayfield K – Micah Haley, Mayfield Coach – Doug Preston, Franklin Simpson (I could put MANY coaches here and would not be wrong as we have MANY strong Coaches in our region, but Coach Preston & Staff earned a State Championship last season and I think he deserves to be here – Outstanding Job Coach Preston!) It’s going to be a GREAT YEAR sports fans! What do you think/like/dislike? Pitch all together? What would you change & why?

Bluegrasspreps.com is giving you a chance to show off your football knowledge statewide! The Bluegrasspreps Regional Pick 'em gives you a chance to pick games in different parts of the state for prizes EACH WEEK. There will be five regional contests every week. You will have a chance to pick the winners in each region -- NKY, EKY, Lexington/Central Ky, Louisville, and WKY. Each region will have five games to pick from each week. We pick the games, and you will pick the winner of each game, assigning your picks a point value of 7-5-3-2-1. The first tiebreaker is picking the team (of the ten teams in the contest) that scores the most points. You don't have to pick the highest scoring team, you just have to pick a team that scores more points than the team(s) picked by the member(s) you are tied with. The second tiebreaker is time. This is a season long contest and you can enter in any or all regions that you wish. At the end of the regular season, the top two finishers in each region will compete during the playoffs for statewide bragging rights on Bluegrasspreps. If a contestant qualifies in more than one region, then the highest point total statewide from a non-qualifying contestant will advance as a Wild Card. The best part is, if you win a weekly contest, you will receive a quality prize. http://bluegrasspreps.com/new-member-introduction/contest-prizes-for-366882.html The overall state winner after the playoffs will get a grand prize custom made for you. The deadline for all entries is 5 p.m. (ET) Friday. Be sure to post your winners and assign each of them one of the following point values (7-5-3-2-1) based on how strongly you feel that that team will win. (Please note that if your selections are NOT in the specified format, your ENTIRE set of picks will be voided) 7 5 3 2 1 1st Tiebreaker 2nd Tiebreaker: Time of post. The games for Week 3 in the Western KY Regional contest are: Greenwood at Allen County-Scottsville Bowling Green at St. Xavier Hopkinsville at Caldwell County Metcalfe County at Calloway County Henderson County at Christian County

Here are the results for this week's Western Kentucky Regional contest. As always, the results won't be final for 24 hours. All contestants should use that time to check their score for errors. After that time period has passed, the contest is final and the winner should use the following link to claim the prize of choice. If you think your score is incorrect, please send me a PM and I will look into your claim. Winners click HERE to claim your prize: http://bluegrasspreps.com/new-member-introduction/contest-prizes-for-366882.html Results of the games in this week's contest: Caldwell County 28 Graves County 17 Warren East 47 Greenwood 30 Bowling Green 44 Pleasure Ridge Park 7 Apollo 17 Mater Dei 10 Hopkins County Central 22 Ohio County 0 Czar - 17 Rebel - 16 ATLCat - 16 DragonFire - 12 eaglepride924 - 11 Jack of all Trades - 10 Squirrel - 10 All State Baseball - 10 WestDanville - 9 westernky - 8 Purple88 - 8 Buckme - 7 colonel-fan - 7 2-3-Zone - 7 gchs_uk9 - 7 Mediocre Nachos - 7 plantmanky - 6 tackle trap - 6 HSfootballfan18 - 5 15th Region - 5 FSfan - 5 psychicscubadiver - 5 AverageJoesGym - 4 Rebelstat - 4 dmh115 - 4 newarkcatholicfan - 4 tommyjohn8400 - 3 GrantNKY - 3 mcpapa - 3 Randy Parker - 3 winterweather - 3 zoneblitz2 - 3 BiggestFan - 2 Fishhead - 2 Jlew - 2 NEERFAN - 2 Call It Like It Is - 1 Jumper_Dad - 1 16thBBall Fan - 1 MNCM - 1 sealedpower - 1 jcarter - 0 BIG BLACK JACK - 0 Season Standings Czar - 33 Rebel - 33 ATLCat - 31 eaglepride924 - 26 colonel-fan - 25 DragonFire - 25 gchs_uk9 - 25 Purple88 - 25 Buckme - 24 All State Baseball - 22 dmh115 - 21 winterweather - 21 2-3-Zone - 20 HSfootballfan18 - 20 Mediocre Nachos - 20 newarkcatholicfan - 20 Randy Parker - 20 15th Region - 19 mcpapa - 19 psychicscubadiver - 19 sealedpower - 19 tackle trap - 19 coldweatherfan - 18 Jack of all Trades - 18 Squirrel - 18 WestDanville - 18 westernky - 18 zoneblitz2 - 18 Fishhead - 17 jcarter - 17 16thBBall Fan - 16 NEERFAN - 16 Rebelstat - 16 FSfan - 15 MNCM - 15 AverageJoesGym - 14 plantmanky - 14 GrantNKY - 13 Jumper_Dad - 13 tommyjohn8400 - 13 WESTSIDE - 12 Mayfieldsportsfan - 10 Jlew - 9 randya3339 - 9 BiggestFan - 8 BIG BLACK JACK - 5 Call It Like It Is - 1

Here are the results for this week's Western Kentucky regional basketball contest. As always, the results won't be final for 24 hours. All contestants should use that time to check their score for errors. After that time period has passed, the contest is final and the winner should use the following link to claim the prize of choice. If you think your score is incorrect, please send me a PM and I will look into your claim. Congratulations to The Professor our winner with 15 points! Click below to claim your prize. http://bluegrasspreps.com/new-member-introduction/contest-prizes-sponsorship-299747.html Here are the scores of the games in this week's contest: LaRue County 59 Warren Central 57 South Warren 54 Russellville 53 Community Christian (Paducah) 55 Fulton City 39 Calloway County 53 Ballard Memorial 49 Grayson County 44 Hancock County 27 Here are the scores for this week's contestants: The Professor - 15 ballhog - 14 mcpapa - 13 MNCM - 13 16thBBall Fan - 12 NEERFAN - 12 dmh115 - 11 silo11 - 11 gold sunrise - 10 sealedpower - 10 Sportsaholic Mamaw - 10 train3399 - 10 Broomstick - 9 Kentuckywildcat#1 - 8 All State Baseball - 6 kygirl - 5 FINAL Season Standings mcpapa - 109 16thBBall Fan - 102 Kentuckywildcat#1 - 99 NEERFAN - 96 MNCM - 95 silo11 - 95 The Professor - 90 dmh115 - 89 gold sunrise - 77 kygirl - 77 sealedpower - 72 All State Baseball - 71 sweet16 - 59 Randy Parker - 53 train3399 - 28 pikevillecat - 27 Big Ticket 00 - 16 ballhog - 14 Sportslover32 - 13 Metcalfe2010 - 11 se7ens - 10 Sportsaholic Mamaw - 10 Broomstick - 9

BluegrassPreps 2018 Western Kentucky Power Rankings – Week 3 Edition Mother Nature decided to show up Friday night! Many games were impacted whether delayed or raining during the game. So some modifications were in order! The top story line this week is emotion! It seems A LOT of games this week were emotional games with plenty of story lines to go around! When these young men ride a wave of emotion, they can forge outcomes that are not expected by us gurus! But that’s a big piece of why we love the game! WESTSIDER - Week 2 Western Kentucky Game of the Week: Paducah Tilghman 3A (2-1) 27 AT Mayfield 2A (3-0) 51: This one started off with a BANG as Tilghman speedster Malachi Kirby returns the opening kick to the House 15 seconds into the game!!! WOW! But Mayfield recovers as usual and starts to dictate alternating scores. A blistering pace is exemplified with a long TD run for Tilghman as the 1st quarter clock strikes zero with a 28-27 Mayfield score! Problem for Tilghman is Mayfield would go on to score 3 more TDs while you could not find the end zone again! Good game to show where each team is early on in the season. More below! South Warren (5A) (3-0) 36 AT (4A) Franklin Simpson (2-0) 14. This score is a bit misleading. South put a running clock on Franklin AT Franklin with about 3:30 to go in the first half at 36-0! South doesn’t play many starters after the half where Franklin scored a couple mop-up TDs! The common theme for me for South is they use their stout D to set the table for the offense and/or just freakin score themselves. I am convinced they are the best defensive squad right now at turning you over and either putting the offense in great position or takin it to the house! For Franklin, my advice is just forget everything about this game. Burn the tape; regroup; come out and beat the crap out of Greenwood! It is the Week 3 Edition and that means we are on the cusp of Bowling Green playing Owensboro. So the game of the week this week is known as the PurpleHaze Western Kentucky Game of the Week. I know of no other, who combined a love for playing the game, watching the game, researching the history of the game and supporting all others who do the same with the zeal that my friend Michael “Bulldog” Drake (aka. PurpleHaze) did. He was a friend to BGP and to so many on this site and the entire Western part of the State. This week we honor his memory here, as he absolutely loved this game! Also want to make sure this year that @MrsPurpleHaze knows about it as well! Week 4 PurpleHaze Western Kentucky Game of the Week: Bowling Green 5A (3-0) At Owensboro 5A (2-1). Well I admit, I thought we could see a 3 and 0 team playing a 2 and 1 team, but if that played out, I thought it would be reversed. But that’s why you play the game! So, these old Rivals come into this one in different spots! The Red Devils “looked lost” coming down the stretch last week against a very solid 2A OCATH rival. While BG, shook off a lethargic first half to pull of an emotion filled battle in Louisville at 6A St Xavier! Owensboro has not beaten BG since winning at BG in the playoffs 28-21 on November 21, 2008. So to say Owensboro is hungry is an understatement! Owensboro is a MUCH different team than last season changing their offensive structure from veer to spread. And why not, when you have a fantastic QB that landed in your lap like SR QB Will Warren (formerly of OCATH fame). BG should be ready to travel up the old Green River Parkway one more time looking to go 4 and 0! See more below! Honorable Mention: Christian County at Hopkinsville; Russellville at Logan County; Graves County at Paducah Tilghman; Crittenden County at Caldwell County; Allen County–Scottsville at Glasgow; and Union County at Madisonville NH - Try to make it out to one of these great games! (Disclaimer: Christmas came early for spots 4 through 8 this week due to Owensboro’s demise. Merry Christmas!) Week 3 Top 10: 10) Owensboro (5A) – Preseason Rank (PR): 4; Last Week (LW): 4 - 2018 Record 2-1; [District Record 0-0] Week 3 Results: Loss: 45-32 at 2A City Rival Owensboro Catholic (1-2). WOW! Did not see this one coming sports fans! Know Red Devil fans don’t like this degree of fall, but truth be told you do not deserve to be ranked ahead of OCATH for sure. From where OCATH was, this is your landing spot this week. Owensboro trailed 14-13 at the half and powered out to a 32-21 lead with over 6 minutes to go 3rd Quarter, but it was all Aces from there as they outscored the Red Devils 31-19 in the second half. Disheartening way to lose to a City Rival. You will hear about that all year long. Regroup Red Devils! And Quick! Week 4: PURPLEHAZE GAME OF THE WEEK vs 5A Old Rival Bowling Green (3-0). I know Red Devil fans are ready to get that Purple Monkey off your back. And I thought Owensboro would be ripe to do just that this week, but with the results from last week IMO it is much less likely. But that’s why we play the game as kids with emotion mean anything can happen! The good news Red Devil fans is that not since the 2014 QB Nick Locher led Red Devils has there been this much variability on offense, which clearly seems to have been the Red Devils Achilles heel the past couple years. BUT should still be a SUPER game! I think both teams will be ready to go! I think Owensboro kinda thought they would be able to out-athlete the Aces; I don’t think they will be in that mind frame this week! Rash Stadium is a great place to watch a game! Looking forward to it; along with the Old Hickory Barbeque!!! Red Devil fans, your team will NEED you in this one. Get out to see the game Red Devil fans!! 9) Owensboro Catholic (2A) – PR: 13; LW: 15; 2018 Record 1-2: Week 3 Results: Win 45-32 vs 5A Owensboro (2-1). Well OCath fans, I asked you to hang in there. I sure hope you have because WOW! This is one of the most surprising scores for me from the entire state this season! Was there a better player on the field last week than QB Drew Hartz? You tell me… You will see his stats below! Standout RB Vonn Williams also played very well with 17 carries for 137 yards and 3 TDs. And the Aces defense likely played the best half of the season last Friday night at Steele Stadium! Week 4 vs South Spencer, IN (0-3). The emotional roller coaster rolls on for the Aces as former Aces coach John Edge crosses the Ohio River with his winless Rebels squad to take on his old team. I think the Aces have their best week of practice this week and put a running clock on the Rebels! You heard it here first!!! 8) Madisonville – North Hopkins (4A) – PR: 9; LW: 9 - 2018 Record 2-1; [District Record 0-0] Week 3 Results: Win: 29-15 at 2A Murray (1-2). Don’t know a ton on this one. But the biggest stat I could find was that the Maroons outgained Murray roughly 500 yards to 200 yards. Seems like a much bigger disparity than the gap in the final score. Thank Owensboro for being able to move up this week. Week 4: Vs 3A Union County (2-0). This is a game I’ve had circled since the preseason for a couple reasons. Last year Union County beat Madisonville 28-14, which really surprised me. The Maroons had a fair season from that point forward. If they want to improve off last season this is the game Maroon fans! Good luck! 7) Logan County (4A) – PR: 8; LW: 8 - 2018 Record 3-0; District Record 0-0] Week 3 Results: Win: 46-0 over Poor Ole’ 4A Breckenridge County (1-2). The Cougars outgained Poor Ole’ Breckinridge County roughly 350 to 100 yards. QB Tyler Ezell was very efficient on the night. RB Gary Hardy rushes for roughly 125 yards. And the Cougar defense pitches another shutout. This team reminds me of the old Nebraska Cornhuskers teams that had relatively easy early schedules, but figures to be a factor at the end of the year. It puts a lot of pressure on your players though to be able to rise to the occasion in the playoffs when that isn’t the norm asked of them during the majority of games of the season. Still like this team though! Week 4: vs 1A Rival Russellville (2-1). Another great Western Kentucky Rivalry here! I just get the feel that Logan County is at a different level than the Panthers right not, but I do expect the first half to be close! 6) Daviess County (6A) – PR: 7; LW: 7 - 2018 Record 2-1; [District Record 0-0] Week 3 Results: Win: 20-18 vs 4A John Hardin (1-2). Panthers storm out to a 20 to zip lead then put it in cruise control! Problem is John Hardin stowed away in the back of the bus and nearly came all the way back to compete for the win. Great news for Daviess as Star WR Marquel Tinsley is miraculously back one week after dislocating his shoulder. Wow! Don’t think I’ve ever heard of that short of recovery time for such an injury. More good news for Daviess is their defense really stepped up this week! Week 4: at 2A Hancock County (2-1). Should be WAY TOO much Panthers in this one! Looking for Daviess ShowTime offense to get going again! 5) Hopkinsville (4A) – PR: 6; LW: 6 - 2018 Record 1-2; District Record 0-0] Week 3 Results: Win: 35-20 at 3A Caldwell County (1-2). Hoptown won’t have to worry about a 0 and 4 start this season, as the Tigers played opportunistic football forcing 4 Caldwell County Red Zone Turnovers! DB Erick Grubbs started the turnover parade by intercepting Caldwell QB Joby Jaggers in the end zone on Caldwell’s first possession. Ultra-talented Ellis Dunn is now playing both ways and contributed significantly with 2 TD catches and added a key forced fumble to preserve the win for Hopkinsville! Week 4: Grudge Match vs 5A Christian County (1-2). You can throw out a lot of conventional wisdom for these type games as there will be A LOT of emotion on the field Friday night. It reminds me the first time Christian County played Bowling Green after Zion Kenner transferred to BG. I know that was a tough game for Kenner and County. So with Ellis Dunn now on a Tiger, this game will be amped up even more! I expect the Stadium of Champions to be rockin this Friday night! 4) Franklin Simpson (4A) – PR: 5; LW: 5 - 2018 Record 2-1; District Record 0-0] Week 3 GAME OF THE WEEK Results: Loss: 36-14 vs 5A South Warren (3-0). Well Wildcat Fans the GOOD part of last week’s game is that Owensboro’s loss was metrically worse than your and you get to advance in the rankings even though you got smoked on the field. Plus you won’t play another team like the Spartans all year! Hallelujah! The BAD part of last week’s game is that the points you scored were scored on the Spartan second team defense. The UGLY part of last week’s game is a running clock was placed on you at home late in the second quarter. But again Wildcat Fans just forget about this one and move on because no 4A team is like this Spartan club. Week 4: Vs 5A Greenwood (1-2) at 7pm. I think it’s going to be a long night for the Gators!!! 3) Mayfield (2A) – PR: 3; LW: 3 - 2018 Record 3-0; [District Record 0-0] Week 3 WESTSIDER - GAME OF THE WEEK Results: Win: 51-27 over 3A Paducah Tilghman (2-1). Cardinal fans may have been a little nervous after the first quarter with only a 1 point lead, but then the Cardinals went on to unleash 23 straight points to get a comfortable victory in the old rivalry. Thanks to our good friend @55RedDog for providing some stats for the Cardinals. You will see some of those below! Cardinals looking as good as anyone right now, especially the Cardinal defense. Week 4: At 6A McCracken County (1-2). Not too long ago this was expected to be a very tight game. As historically, several recent outcomes have been decided in overtime. The only thing settled in overtime this coming week is where to go celebrate the Cardinal Victory! Just teams on different levels at the moment! 2) South Warren (5A) – PR: 2; LW: 2 - 2018 Record 3-0; [District Record 0-0] Week 3 GAME OF THE WEEK Results: Win: 36-14 vs 4A Franklin Simpson (2-1). Another game another flogging/running clock by South Warren! QB Gavin Spurrier and company played well on offense; you will see his numbers later. But the key to this team to me is the tone set by the defense. I have said this before and I will say it again; I don’t think there is another team in the State that turns you over more than South and no one makes you pay for that turnover like South does. Case in point, JR DE Isaac Young scoops up a Wildcat fumble at the 8:23 mark of the first quarter and takes it to the house! That play sparked the Spartans; deflated the Wildcats and it was on to the running clock from there! Week 4: Vs 6A Central Hardin (1-2). This is a good team here for South to match up with. They have very good offensive and defensive lines and should test South in that regard. Still I look for South to roll in this game! 1) Bowling Green (5A) – PR: 1; LW: 1 - 2018 Record 3-0; [District Record 0-0] Week 3 Results: Win: 24-21 (OT) At 6A St Xavier (0-2). I have to admit; I couldn’t stop smiling after this game. What a win! On the other hand, my heart went out to Coach Wallace who as I watched him walk off the field could sense his pain. For BG, the first half was one to forget. Many missed opportunities again. But give the Purples credit for regrouping in the outfield grass of the State Champions baseball field (that’s where BG walked to at halftime!). And when they came out in the second half, they took the fight to the Tigers. JR Vito Tisdale was sensational against a defense that had 2 weeks to prepare for him. You’ll see his stats below. QB Beau Buchanon showed great leadership making key throws to keep the chains moving for BG. BIG Win! Week 4: PURPLEHAZE GAME OF THE WEEK - At 5A Owensboro (2-1). This is one of the games I look forward to every year! It is always a tough, hard fought affair. This year will be no different. I think both offenses will play well. But which defense will come up the biggest in this game? That could be the question. Vito Tisdale and Imonte Owsley have been leading their teams and playing against one another since at least the 7th grade. Both are really special athletes that only come around very seldom. Will one of these players make the difference? You tell me… My good friend PURPLEHAZE always would tell me – “You’re already down 7 to nothing when you walk into Rash Stadium”!!! Next 10 – 11 to 20: 11) Glasgow (2A) – PR: 12; LW: 12 - 2018 Record (3-0): Week 3 Results: Win 37-0 vs Poor Ole’ Ft Campbell (0-3). I don’t have any stats on this one, but don’t really need any as the Scotties are a good football team and Ft Campbell is still looking for their first win and if they don’t get one in the next 3 weeks (Murray, Fort Knox or Trigg County) they won’t get one all year – Rise up Falcons!!! I’m sure Glasgow dominated from start to finish. On to a game where they will be tested. Week 4 vs 4A Allen County Scottsville (3-0). This should be an interesting game! The Patriots are the one team I have likely left out of the Top 20 that have a grip to be in there. Maybe that changes! But Adair County, Barren County and Greenwood aren’t exactly Murder’s Row!!! I look for the Scotties to win this game handily; let’s see if they do! 12) Caldwell County (3A) – PR: 10; LW: 10 - 2018 Record (1-2): Week 3 Results: Loss 35-20 vs 4A Hopkinsville (1-2). Tough home opening loss for Caldwell County! But as I mentioned above 4 Red Zone Turnovers doomed the Tigers! I don’t have any stats on this one, but sets up a critical game vs a good team next week! Week 4: Vs 1A Crittenden County (2-0). Don’t let the 1A moniker fool you Tiger Fans as this Rockets team is very good. Hopkinsville had success passing last week and I look for Crittenden County to have success this week as well, but can Caldwell cut down on the turnovers? That’s the real question to me. Good Luck Tigers! 13) Henderson County (6A) – PR: 20; LW: 18 - (2018 Record 2-1) Week 3 Results: Win 28-7 vs 5A Christian County (1-2). Based upon the Christian County Stat Sheet, it appears that talented QB Donte Abrens likely was injured in this game as he had only 1 rushing stat and no pass attempts. Add that to the fact that Christian County only scored on an 88 yard fumble recovery scoop 6 by DB LRay Coleman and it appears Henderson County dominated this game. From the Hendo point of view – not my problem – win and advance! For the Christian County perspective, see below! Week 4: AT Gipson Southern (Fort Branch) IN (3-0). Gipson Southern is ranked about 1,000 points better than the Colonels in the MaxPreps National Rankings and have CRUSHED their first 3 opponents by a combined 184 to 7 score – Goodness! I wonder if Woody Hayes is coaching the Titans! It’s on the road in Hoosier-land so Hendo is going to need to be focused in order to pull this one out! Good luck Colonels – I’m pulling for you! 14) Paducah Tilghman (3A) – PR: 18; LW: 13 - 2018 Record 2-1: Week 3 WESTSIDER GAME OF THE WEEK Results: Loss 51-27 at 2A Mayfield (3-0). Tilghman came out on fire in this one with a Kick 6 to open the game and hung with the Cardinals in the first quarter. But Mayfield made quality adjustments and kept the Blue Tornados out of the endzone after that. Tilghman is a team on the rise. Take this game in stride and humble yourself. Because there are only 2 or 3 3A teams IMO that stand out as clearly above Tilghman this year! Keep going – this can be a special year for you! Week 4: Vs Graves County (1-2). This game can go 1 of 2 ways IMO. 1 – Tilghman’s ground game just pushes Graves off the field. Or 2 – Graves regains some form and makes a game of it! Don’t take ‘em lightly Blue Tornados! 15) Apollo (5A) – PR: 16; LW: 14 - (2018 Record 3-0): Week 3 Results: Win 21-18 vs 2A McLean County (2-1). Eagles Fans I’m prepared for the hate mail you will be sending me for dropping you a spot this week. Initially I would not have done that, but McLean fought back and most would say was the stronger team at the end of the game. But what does it matter what I say. Win and advance! You are 3 and 0 for the first time since 2006 when you started the season a Hot 6 and 0! Good luck Eagles! Week 4 at 2A Butler County (0-3). No contest here Eagles Fans! Be sure to bring all your JV guys as they will get plenty of work in this one! I think you can find another team closer to your current position for this schedule slot, but I do understand scheduling is difficult, but this game will not help you prepare for your district. Just being honest. 16) Christian County (5A) – PR: 11; LW: 11 - 2018 Record 1-2; [District Record 0-0] Week 3 Results: Loss: 28-7 vs 6A Henderson County (2-1). Christian County was outgained roughly 300 to 150 yards. But as was mentioned above, I believe the County starting QB was injured in this game. That had a big impact obviously on the offensive production for the Colonels. Hopefully he can make it back next week! Week 4: Grudge Match at 4A Hopkinsville (1-1) at 7:00pm. Both teams will be pumped up for this one! But for the Colonels will they have all their horses available? You tell me… 17) Crittenden County (1A) – PR: 17; LW: 17 (2018 Record 2-0) Week 3 Results – Win 46-7 at 3A Trigg County (1-2). I don’t have stats for this one, but for a 1A team to go on the road and crush a 3A team is impressive to me. Feel the Rockets have a lot of momentum right now! Week 4: At 3A Caldwell County (1-2) Likely a good time to catch the Tigers after a tough loss. But as our good friend @winterweather reports, the Rockets haven’t beaten Caldwell since 2009! But I also think this Rockets team may be better than all those teams! We shall see! 18) McCracken County (6A) – PR: 14; LW: 20 - (2018 Record 1-2) Week 3 Results – Win 38-27 vs 5A Graves County (1-2). This must have been a crazy game, as McCracken turned it over 7 times on the night AND STILL WON! Give the Mustangs credit for their resiliency, but from a Graves County standpoint it’s got to be disheartening and deflating not to be able to capitalize more on the Mustang mistakes! Way to rebound McCracken! Week 4 vs 2A Mayfield (3-0). This one used to be Must See in the West, but not so much this season. For Mayfield, I see business as usual. For McCracken, even with the resilient triumphant outcome on Friday night, Graves County is no Mayfield! Mayfield Running Clock! 19) Union County (3A) – PR: 19; LW: 19 - (2018 Record 1-0) Week 3 Results: Win 37-8 vs the 2A Webster County Trojans (0-3)! Union blitzed rival Webster with over 300 total yards to about 60 for Webster. That led to a running clock at halftime in this lop-sided game! Week 4: at 4A Madisonville-NH (3-0). It was this game last season that really put the Braves on the map! Now you go on the road to a Madisonville team that really needs this game IMO. But it’s there for the taking Braves! Let’s see what ya got!!! 20) Graves County (5A) – PR: 15; LW: 16 - 2018 Record 1-2: Week 3 Results: Loss 38-27 at 6A McCracken County (1-2). A really tough loss for the Eagles. I would think most teams that play an opponent that turns it over 7 times will win the game! Just get the feeling Graves is like an old pack of fire crackers with wet wicks; you just don’t know if they are going to fire or not! Week 4 at 3A Paducah Tilghman (2-1). I think this is going to be a tough spot for Graves as I look for Tilghman to be able to rebound more solidly than the Eagles. Am I wrong? You tell me… Others Receiving Votes: Allen County Scottsville, Russellville, Grayson County, Monroe County, McLean County, Hancock County WEEK 3 PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Darian Clay – QB – Hancock County – 6 TD runs of 44, 15, 12, 26, 79, and 10 yards vs Ohio County. Congratulations Darian! Other outstanding performances in the West: 1) Jaden Stinson – QB - Mayfield – 19 for 27 for 324 yards and 2 TDs vs Paducah Tilghman! 2) Vito Tisdale – RB – Bowling Green – 28 carries for 145 yards and 3 TDs vs St Xavier! 3) Gavin Spurrier – QB – South Warren – 9 for 15 for 163 yards and 3 TDs vs Franklin Simpson! 4) Drew Hartz – QB – Owensboro Catholic – 23 for 34 for 362 yards and 4 TDs vs Owensboro! 5) Marquel Tinsley – WR – Daviess County – 11 catches for 164 yards and 2 TDs vs John Hardin! *I don’t have all stats available, so please add as you see fit! Week 3 “Teams Trending Down” Owensboro (5A) – Down – While I realize OCATH is your rival, this is a foundation jarring loss to me. To be up 11 in the second half with as many weapons as you have and to (what appears from afar) have no answer at the end of the game is very concerning. You know you will be tested this coming week! Regroup and come out fired up on Friday Red Devils!!! Graves County (5A) – Down – I just can’t get over the fact that Graves was given 7 additional offensive possessions and still lost the game by 11 points! Just one to burn the film and start new! I think you can beat Paducah Tilghman, but you will have to really have a great week of practice with better execution to give yourself a shot next week! Rise up Eagles! Teams “Trending Up” Owensboro Catholic (2A) – Up – If I said the Aces win on Friday night was the biggest across the state – would I be wrong coming from a 2A school beating a 5A school standpoint? You tell me! Regardless the Aces are high as a kite right now and rightfully so! This is the type of win that will change your season (for both teams really)! I look for the Aces to be very sharp next week when their old Coach comes calling! Go Aces!!! Henderson County (6A) – Up – The Colonels are quietly starting to put some solid wins together! Played Evansville Reitz tough (lost by 6) and blew out Evansville North and Christian County! With the way their district is playing out, they could have a chance to challenge Daviess County for that District Championship! Keep it up Hendo!!! WESTERN KENTUCKY ROUNDUP!!! Calloway County – With the Lakers 19-14 win vs Metcalfe County last Friday night, it marks their first win since October 21, 2016 vs Logan County. Congratulations Coach Chris Champion & Laker Nation! Fulton County – The Pilots absolutely annihilated Poor ole’ Fulton City 70 to ZERO! While I’m happy for the Pilots on one hand, was a 70 burger really necessary? I think not! Come on man… Defense is Optional – Marshall County hung a 70 spot on Ballard Memorial while the Bombers put up 52 big ones in return!!! That’s a combined 122 points! Holy Hemlock Batman! Maybe this one was played on Nintendo instead of on the gridiron! Muhlenberg County – The Mustangs defeated Hopkins County Central 14-6 on Friday Night! Congrats to them! The Mustangs have 6A size and roughly 4A talent. No shame there as they continue to compete well and can likely compete for 3rd or 4th in their district this season! Good luck Mustangs!

Bluegrasspreps.com is giving you a chance to show off your football knowledge statewide! The Bluegrasspreps Regional Pick 'em gives you a chance to pick games in different parts of the state for prizes EACH WEEK. There will be five regional contests every week. You will have a chance to pick the winners in each region -- NKY, EKY, Lexington/Central Ky, Louisville, and WKY. Each region will have five games to pick from each week. We pick the games, and you will pick the winner of each game, assigning your picks a point value of 7-5-3-2-1. The first tiebreaker is picking the team (of the ten teams in the contest) that scores the most points. You don't have to pick the highest scoring team, you just have to pick a team that scores more points than the team(s) picked by the member(s) you are tied with. The second tiebreaker is time. This is a season long contest and you can enter in any or all regions that you wish. At the end of the regular season, the top two finishers in each region will compete during the playoffs for statewide bragging rights on Bluegrasspreps. If a contestant qualifies in more than one region, then the highest point total statewide from a non-qualifying contestant will advance as a Wild Card. The best part is, if you win a weekly contest, you will receive a quality prize. http://bluegrasspreps.com/new-member-introduction/contest-prizes-for-366882.html The overall state winner after the playoffs will get a grand prize custom made for you. The deadline for all entries is 5 p.m. (ET) Friday. Be sure to post your winners and assign each of them one of the following point values (7-5-3-2-1) based on how strongly you feel that that team will win. (Please note that if your selections are NOT in the specified format, your ENTIRE set of picks will be voided) 7 5 3 2 1 1st Tiebreaker 2nd Tiebreaker: Time of post. The games for Week 4 in the Western KY Regional contest are: Adair County at Metcalfe County Allen County-Scottsville at Glasgow Henderson County at Gibson Southern (IN) Fulton County at Stewart County (TN) West Jessamine at Russell County

Here are the results for this week's Western Kentucky Regional contest. As always, the results won't be final for 24 hours. All contestants should use that time to check their score for errors. After that time period has passed, the contest is final and the winner should use the following link to claim the prize of choice. If you think your score is incorrect, please send me a PM and I will look into your claim. Winners click HERE to claim your prize: http://bluegrasspreps.com/new-member-introduction/contest-prizes-for-366882.html Results of the games in this week's contest: Allen County-Scottsville 27 Greenwood 7 Bowling Green 24 St. Xavier 21 (OT) Hopkinsville 35 Caldwell County 20 Calloway County 19 Metcalfe County 14 Henderson County 28 Christian County 7 zoneblitz2 - 17 eaglepride924 - 15 tackle trap - 15 FSfan - 13 gchs_uk9 - 13 dmh115 - 12 DragonFire - 12 Rebelstat - 12 sealedpower - 12 Jlew - 11 Purple88 - 11 tommyjohn8400 - 11 winterweather - 11 Jumper_Dad - 10 NEERFAN - 10 ATLCat - 9 Czar - 9 Fishhead - 9 16thBBall Fan - 8 2-3-Zone - 8 All State Baseball - 8 AverageJoesGym - 8 Buckme - 8 jcarter - 8 newarkcatholicfan - 8 Rebel - 8 Squirrel - 8 15th Region - 7 mcpapa - 7 Randy Parker - 7 Call It Like It Is - 6 Jack of all Trades - 6 Mediocre Nachos - 6 Rebelpride64 - 6 BiggestFan - 5 plantmanky - 5 colonel-fan - 3 HSfootballfan18 - 3 MNCM - 3 psychicscubadiver - 3 WestDanville - 2 westernky - 2 Season Standings Czar - 42 eaglepride924 - 41 Rebel - 41 ATLCat - 40 gchs_uk9 - 38 DragonFire - 37 Purple88 - 36 zoneblitz2 - 35 tackle trap - 34 dmh115 - 33 Buckme - 32 winterweather - 32 sealedpower - 31 All State Baseball - 30 2-3-Zone - 28 colonel-fan - 28 FSfan - 28 newarkcatholicfan - 28 Rebelstat - 28 Randy Parker - 27 15th Region - 26 Fishhead - 26 mcpapa - 26 Mediocre Nachos - 26 NEERFAN - 26 Squirrel - 26 jcarter - 25 16thBBall Fan - 24 Jack of all Trades - 24 tommyjohn8400 - 24 HSfootballfan18 - 23 Jumper_Dad - 23 AverageJoesGym - 22 psychicscubadiver - 22 Jlew - 20 WestDanville - 20 westernky - 20 plantmanky - 19 coldweatherfan - 18 MNCM - 18 BiggestFan - 13 GrantNKY - 13 WESTSIDE - 12 Mayfieldsportsfan - 10 randya3339 - 9 Call It Like It Is - 7 Rebelpride64 - 6 BIG BLACK JACK - 5

Bluegrasspreps.com is giving you a chance to show off your football knowledge statewide! The Bluegrasspreps Regional Pick 'em gives you a chance to pick games in different parts of the state for prizes EACH WEEK. There will be five regional contests every week. You will have a chance to pick the winners in each region -- NKY, EKY, Lexington/Central Ky, Louisville, and WKY. Each region will have five games to pick from each week. We pick the games, and you will pick the winner of each game, assigning your picks a point value of 7-5-3-2-1. The first tiebreaker is picking the team (of the ten teams in the contest) that scores the most points. You don't have to pick the highest scoring team, you just have to pick a team that scores more points than the team(s) picked by the member(s) you are tied with. The second tiebreaker is time. This is a season long contest and you can enter in any or all regions that you wish. At the end of the regular season, the top two finishers in each region will compete during the playoffs for statewide bragging rights on Bluegrasspreps. If a contestant qualifies in more than one region, then the highest point total statewide from a non-qualifying contestant will advance as a Wild Card. The best part is, if you win a weekly contest, you will receive a quality prize. http://bluegrasspreps.com/new-member-introduction/contest-prizes-for-366882.html The overall state winner after the playoffs will get a grand prize custom made for you. The deadline for all entries is 5 p.m. (ET) Friday. Be sure to post your winners and assign each of them one of the following point values (7-5-3-2-1) based on how strongly you feel that that team will win. (Please note that if your selections are NOT in the specified format, your ENTIRE set of picks will be voided) 7 5 3 2 1 1st Tiebreaker 2nd Tiebreaker: Time of post. The games for Week 5 in the Western KY Regional contest are: Daviess County at Owensboro Murray at Marshall County Metcalfe County at Edmonson County Owensboro Catholic at Apollo Calloway County at Hancock County

Here are the results for this week's Western Kentucky Regional contest. As always, the results won't be final for 24 hours. All contestants should use that time to check their score for errors. After that time period has passed, the contest is final and the winner should use the following link to claim the prize of choice. If you think your score is incorrect, please send me a PM and I will look into your claim. Winners click HERE to claim your prize: http://bluegrasspreps.com/new-member-introduction/contest-prizes-for-366882.html Results of the games in this week's contest: Metcalfe County 8 Adair County 7 Glasgow 28 Allen County-Scottsville 7 Henderson County 23 Gibson Southern (IN) 0 Fulton County 38 Stewart County (TN) 37 Russell County 27 West Jessamine 21 BiggestFan - 18 Fishhead - 15 sealedpower - 15 winterweather - 15 eaglepride924 - 14 westernky - 13 FSfan - 13 Jack of all Trades - 12 colonel-fan - 12 jcarter - 12 plantmanky - 11 WestDanville - 11 Buckme - 10 DragonFire - 10 Squirrel - 10 Czar - 9 Purple88 - 9 Tones - 9 All State Baseball - 8 Jlew - 8 mcpapa - 8 16thBBall Fan - 7 NEERFAN - 7 Randy Parker - 7 tommyjohn8400 - 7 ATLCat - 7 Rebel - 7 15th Region - 6 2-3-Zone - 5 Mediocre Nachos - 5 zoneblitz2 - 5 Rebelstat - 3 AverageJoesGym - 2 Rebelpride64 - 2 MNCM - 2 newarkcatholicfan - 2 tackle trap - 2 HSfootballfan18 - 1 dmh115 - 0 Season Standings eaglepride924 - 55 Czar - 51 Rebel - 48 ATLCat - 47 DragonFire - 47 winterweather - 47 sealedpower - 46 Purple88 - 45 Buckme - 42 Fishhead - 41 FSfan - 41 colonel-fan - 40 zoneblitz2 - 40 All State Baseball - 38 gchs_uk9 - 38 jcarter - 37 Jack of all Trades - 36 Squirrel - 36 tackle trap - 36 mcpapa - 34 Randy Parker - 34 2-3-Zone - 33 dmh115 - 33 NEERFAN - 33 westernky - 33 15th Region - 32 16thBBall Fan - 31 BiggestFan - 31 Mediocre Nachos - 31 Rebelstat - 31 tommyjohn8400 - 31 WestDanville - 31 newarkcatholicfan - 30 plantmanky - 30 Jlew - 28 AverageJoesGym - 24 HSfootballfan18 - 24 Jumper_Dad - 23 psychicscubadiver - 22 MNCM - 20 coldweatherfan - 18 GrantNKY - 13 WESTSIDE - 12 Mayfieldsportsfan - 10 randya3339 - 9 Tones - 9 Rebelpride64 - 8 Call It Like It Is - 7 BIG BLACK JACK - 5

BluegrassPreps 2018 Western Kentucky Power Rankings - Week 1 Edition Well I hope you had a great opening weekend to the 2018 Kentucky High School football season and hope you got to go see some of your favorite teams lace em up one more time! We have gone from I think this and that to I saw this and that from THIS years squads. The top story line this week is anticipation. It is a fickle thing. Even if you say you don't know what to expect from your team, subconsciously you do and likely it is a continuation, to some degree, of last season minus the graduated 2017 seniors. Well the great (and leveling) thing about August is that it brings a completely NEW season and circumstances to ALL teams. And as we saw this weekend, ALL our teams have changed, but the anticipation for next week remains, whether you are looking to make big time adjustments and get your first win or to build on your Week 1 success! The season is Officially Underway! Get out to a game this week sports fans! AROUND THE STATE: On this opening weekend, Kentucky teams played 15 squads (played 13 on opening weekend last year) from Indiana, Tennessee and Ohio. Well the Commonwealth is hot as an August afternoon early this year as we went 3 and 2 vs the Hoosiers; 6 and 3 vs the Volunteers and 1 and 0 vs the Buckeyes. How bout that to kick off the year!!! Way to represent!!! Week 1 Games of the Week: #2 South Warren 49 at #6 Hopkinsville 17: This game was pretty close early in the first quarter as reported by our good friend @jcarter But the Tigers turned it over during a long pass completion and stalwart DB Clayton Bush picked up the fumble and rumbled roughly 70 yards for an early score a likely changed the completion of the game. Hoptown really couldn't run the ball so they went with their passing game, which is a good option. Problem is South countered with an extra DB and it tightened the passing lanes and made that difficult too. Couple things are likely true going forward: 1. Hoptown will be back and better for playing a quality team like South Warren so early in the season. 2. South Warrens defense is very, very good. They will be a difficult team for anyone to play this season. #13 Owensboro Catholic 26 at #7 Daviess County 49: With the Aces up 20 to ZIP in the second quarter you had to wonder about the WKY hype I've splashed on the Panthers. But to their credit they kept plugging away and actually led 21-20 at the half. Daviess County went on to outscore the Aces 28 to 6 in the second half. Couple things for both teams: 1. OCath is a very good team and playing quality teams similar to what Hoptown did above will pay off later in the season IMO. 2. Daviess County will continue to be a force to recon with. Depending on how the Playoff structure works this year, they should definitely be in the mix to play for the Regional Championship! Week 2 Western Kentucky Game of the Week: Hopkinsville (4A) (0-1) at Mayfield (2A) (1-0) next Friday Night August 24, 2018 (War Memorial Stadium). Dynamite game right here sports fans! The Mayfield Cardinals made some fantastic adjustments to overcome a determined Union City, TN squad tired of hearing of their 2017 defeat to the Cardinals. The Hopkinsville Tigers executed extremely well out of the gate against a stout South Warren squad but couldn't hang onto the ball. That will cost you versus a good team. But one thing is for sure Ellis Dunn is a flat out weapon on the outside. This game sets up to be one of the best in the West this week. I look for it to be more important to Hopkinsville. I don't expect them to win it, but I do expect them to keep it close and compete till the end. Get out to the Stadium early sports fans as the Cardinal faithful are serious about their football! Honorable Mention: Owensboro at Evansville Reitz, Indiana; Owensboro Apollo at Evansville Mater Dei; Bowling Green vs Pleasure Ridge Park; Caldwell County at Graves County. Great games here folks! Week 1 Top 10: 10) Christian County (5A) - Preseason Rank: 11 - 2018 Record 1-0; [District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Win: 11-6 vs 3A Caldwell County (0-1). This is what happens when you have too many baseball players on your team. KIDDING! But seriously, this is what happens when you lose a TON of quality players and your strength is defense. You get 1 TD and force 2 safeties while holding your opponent to 1 TD. County was outgained by 45 yards on the night 160 to 205. So if you like a defensive chess match, this was your game. It is unfair to expect Christian County to be an offensive juggernaut, as it will take time for the new faces to get more comfortable under the Friday night lights. But I anticipate a lot of ground and pound and field position defensive struggles for the Colonels going forward. Week 2: At Rossview High School from Clarksville, TN at 7:00pm. According to MaxPreps, the Rossview Hawks lost last Friday at home to Clarksville (TN) 35-17. Rossview is listed as the 5,426th best team in the country. Christian County is rated the 2,730th best team in the country to get you an idea of what MaxPreps thinks of both teams because I have no idea about Rossview honestly. Good luck Colonels! Beat those Volunteers!!! 9) Madisonville - North Hopkins (4A) - Preseason Rank: 9 - 2018 Record 0-1; [District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Loss: 41-13 at 5A Owensboro (1-0). In a majority of scenarios I would have dropped the Maroons here. But due to some turbulence below them and the fact that that they were on the road to a team I did not expect them to beat, I chose not to drop them. I did however expect them to keep it closer. But how good is Owensboro and how good is Madisonville? One game is not a sample set. It appears from afar that the Maroons were simply outgunned on the road. I think they will be better for playing a tough opponent later on. Interesting the Madisonville stats say they rushed for 223 yards and the Owensboro stats say they gave up 164 yards. I guess it's all about perspective! Week 2: Vs 5A Marshall County (1-0). Look for the Maroons to bounce back convincingly next week sports fans! 8) Logan County (4A) - Preseason Rank: 8 - 2018 Record 1-0; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Win: 57-0 over 2A Butler County (0-1). Poor ole' Butler County never saw what hit them! And unfortunately for them, Rex Henderson ain't walkin through that door! Logan County starts off blazing a trail they built all of last season. When you see total yard stats of 435 to negative 41, you know it's a lopsided game. Collier Kempf records 3 sacks for the Cougars. Not much more to know about this one. Week 2: At 6A Muhlenberg County (0-1). Apollo beat the poor ole' Mustangs 47-12 last week. I look for a similar score this coming week. But get up to Greenville Cougar Fans and stop by Aunt M's Cafe for a great pre-game meal! 7) Hopkinsville (4A) - Preseason Rank: 6 - 2018 Record 0-1; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Loss: 49-17 vs 5A South Warren (1-0). Love the early game plan Tiger Fans as you punched the Spartans right in the mouth. Unfortunately, you couldn't hold onto the ball and that cost you quite a bit. But I am still upbeat for Tiger Nation this season. Not many will beat South Warren this season and this game will make you better IMO later in the year, because how many teams that Hoptown will face are better than South Warren? You tell me... I don't have stats for this one, but know QB Bland and WR Dunn are stars for the Tigers! Week 2 GAME OF THE WEEK: The tough schedule continues as the gauntlet rolls on to Graves County to play 2A Power Mayfield (1-0). Another tough spot here for the Tigers! The good news is that Jacob Lacey isn't suiting up for Mayfield. The bad news is the Mayfield hasn't lost at home since 6A McCracken County came away with a 37-31 OT squeaker in September of 2015! Good luck Tigers! 6) Daviess County (6A) - Preseason Rank: 7 - 2018 Record 1-0; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Win: 49-26 vs County Rival 2A OCath (0-1). For Daviess County Fans, I'd say the finger nails are a little tight this morning after a chew-fest through the entire first quarter and early second quarter. But you can't hold the Panthers down long! And according to our good friend @Irish Cat, they broke out of a 20-0 deficit to storm to a 21-20 halftime lead and outscored the Aces 49-6 the rest of the way! I'm sure the Aces fans were pretty stunned by the turnaround also. I'd love to see a box score for this game. I know QB Joey Cambron played well (and Stud WR Marquel Tinsley) and you will see him later. This team has a higher gear than most. Question is can they get to that gear when they need it in tight games. After Week 1, I say they can. Let's see when competition increases. Week 2: at Evansville Central, IN (1-0). Central (MaxPreps #828 nationally) blew the doors off Greenfield-Central (MaxPreps #10,352 nationally) Friday night and likely have a really strong team. With the Panthers coming in at 2,730 on the MaxPreps national ranking, it looks to be a really tough game for them. But that's what you need if you want to go deep in the playoffs! Let's go Panthers!!!! Beat the Hoosiers! 5) Franklin Simpson (4A) - Preseason Rank: 5 - 2018 Record 1-0; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Win: 44-20 at 3A Elizabethtown (0-1). I'm putting 4A on notice right now. You can put whomever you want above the Wildcats in August, but when the weather turns colder, you are going to have to deal with the Champs!!! Etown lost a LOT of quality seniors off their 2017 squad, but so did Franklin. Etown beat Franklin in Franklin last year. So turning the tide this year on the opening game is significant to me. Many questions asked to open the season: who will be the QB, how are the lines going to do, etc. Well though Week 1 - All Systems Go! According to the Etown stats, Franklin had 501 yards on the ground (zero passing yards) vs 366 yards for Etown. You will win a lot of games with those stats. But a passing component will surely be necessary later on when better defensive teams come calling. You will see some Wildcat stats later, but this was pretty much a 3 score affair most of the game and no closer. That's with the Wildcats turning it over 3 times. Cut that out and it gets downright ugly. Week 2: Vs 2A Monroe County (0-1) at 7pm. The scrappy Falcons lost a tough one to Trigg County last week and will now have the unenviable task of traveling to Shadetree Stadium to try and get a handle on the hot Wildcats. I'm sure Coach Preston will have some things he would like to work on. He will get a lot of chances this week. Wildcats ROLL! 4) Owensboro (5A) - Preseason Rank: 4 - 2018 Record 1-0; [District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Win: 41-13 over 4A Madison-North Hopkins (0-1). Last year the Red Devils beat Madisonville 41-19, so they are consistent coming out of the gate! But last year that's where the wheels kinda came off with the Red Devils losing 4 of the next 5 and 7 of the next 10. OUCH! That doesn't happen often for Owensboro. But this year has a different feel for me. Not since the Nick Locher QB days have I known of an Owensboro QB capable of commanding a viable passing attack (no offense to any of the other QBs, but strengths are strengths). SR QB Will Warren has that ability IMO. You will see his numbers later. Standout Imonte Owsley was fantastic as usual with 1 rushing TD and 2 receiving TDs. LB Austin Gough is easily one of the best players on the Owensboro D and he will be very well known across the state by the time he is a Senior. Young man had 13 tackles and a fumble recovery on the night. Week 2: At Evansville Reitz, IN (1-0) on Friday August 24 at 5:00pm. Reitz pulled out a 41-35 win at 6A Henderson County last Friday. So this should be a good game. Make sure to check that start time Red Devil fans and go across the river to support your team! Let's Go O! Beat the Hoosiers!!! 3) Mayfield (2A) - Preseason Rank: 3 - 2018 Record 1-0; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Win: 43-27 over Union City, TN (0-1). Well it wasn't the 41-0 shellacking the Cardinals handed out last year at Union City, but to me this one will mean more later in the year for Mayfield. I'm sure the Golden Tornados were tired of hearing how they got smoked last season and came in and played inspired football and had a lead late in the game. But Coach Morris and staff made some key in-game adjustments to lock down Union City and get the Cardinal offense off and running! Thanks to our good friend @Mayfieldsportsfan who provided the total yards for the game at 460 for Mayfield vs 314 for Union City. It should be noted that Union City led in the 4th Quarter of this game. And Mayfield still regrouped and won by 16 points! Impressive! You will see more Cardinal Stats later! Week 2: GAME OF THE WEEK! Vs 4A Hopkinsville (0-1). Mayfield will come into this game pretty darn confident, but obviously are too well coached to take the Tigers lightly. Hopkinsville can cause Mayfield some problems early likely, but I look for the Cardinal coaches to make the adjustments needed to win the game by about 21 points. Great time to be a Cardinals Fan! Hey Cardinals Fans did you see where 2A Desales took down 6A St X! Wow!!! 2) Bowling Green (5A) - Preseason Rank: 1 - 2018 Record 1-0; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Win: 20-13 over 6A Central Hardin (0-1). Why would you drop Bowling Green after beating a 6A school Purple88? Basically, BG left A LOT of points on the field! Most were execution errors (holding penalties, catches that have to be made, etc.). Can those be fixed? Absolutely! Is it doom and gloom in Purple Land? Absolutely not! But you can not hide behind the fact that at 20-0 at halftime, you felt BG should have done more and that Central Hardin could and did come back. What can be fixed outside of the execution errors? Enhanced play calling? Did BG throw it past 20 yards from the line of scrimmage last night? You tell me... Guess what though: BG WON the game! I thought the BG D outside of 1 series played a heck of a game. Beau Buchanon is a leader at QB. He was 26 for 36 with 239 yards on the night. Vito Tisdale carried 16 times for 122 yards and took a punt to the house from 42 yards out. You have to remember this is the first real game for a new coach, all new WRs (with 2 starters injured). I said this last night: Central Hardin is a very good team and their offensive and defensive lines are outstanding. They will beat a lot of teams this season! BGs ceiling is high. MUCH work to do! Onward. Week 2: Vs 6A Pleasure Ridge Park (1-0). If I had to pick a non-district game that I really want BG to win this year, it would likely be PRP, as BG has never beaten them in 2 previous tries. Come out to El Donaldson Stadium and watch a great game this Friday night! 1) South Warren (5A) - Preseason Rank: 1 - 2018 Record 1-0; District Record 0-0] Week 1 Results: Win: 49-17 at 4A Hopkinsville (0-1). As our good friend @jcarter reported, South Warren is off to a Great Start to the 2018 Season. Hopkinsville had a good game plan prepared, but South Warren countered it and really was not threatened after that point early in the game. South Warren had significant contributions from all over led by SR stalwart Clayton Bush (you will see his stats later Spartan Fans). Also SR RB Cameron Harrison seems to have started where Christian Winn left off last year with 2 rushing TDs on the night. But the thing that makes South Warren special this year is their defense led by D1 standout Jacob Lacey who seemed to be in the Hoptown backfield as much as the Hoptown RBs! Is there anyone who makes you pay for your offensive mistakes more than South Warren? QB Spurrier was also very good on the night. My only cold water for you Spartan fans is to understand you scrimmaged 1A Russellville and beat 4A Hopkinsville - just for perspective purposes. Not cutting you down. Week 2: Play the Opening Act at the Citizens First Bowl at WKU vs 4A Warren Central (0-1). This game is Saturday August 25 at 5 pm. Absolutely no contest here. Next 10 - 11 to 20: 11) Caldwell County (3A) - 2018 Record (0-1): Week 1 Results: Loss 11-6 to 5A Christian County. Caldwell County is forced to play up if they want to compete deep in the playoffs. They were obviously in this game, but just couldn't find the offense or breaks to win the game. Shake it off Tigers - AND Quick! As you have to go to Graves County next week in what will undoubtedly be a physical affair. Good luck! 12) Glasgow (2A) - 2018 Record (1-0): Week 1 Results: Win 51-0 WOW! Glasgow put a 51 Burger on the poor ole' Panthers! Seems a bit harsh from afar, but this is football, not tiddly-winks! Glasgow stays at home to take on a surprising Bardstown club that blew the doors off poor ole' Spencer County last week. Which team takes their first loss on the season - you tell me... 13) Paducah Tilghman (3A) - 2018 Record 1-0: Week 1 Results: Win 35-6 over 6A McCracken County (0-1). Emotion and confidence may be the biggest uncontrollable forces our football teams interact with. But for Tilghman, they obviously harnessed the emotion around the loss of their Coach (Steve Duncan) and used it to fuel their efforts and stop cross-county rival McCracken County!!! A lot of upside to this Tilghman Team! And thanks to our good friend @truebluefan89 for giving the name of the week "Freeway" Freeman, who is reportedly a good RB with good wheels!!! Love it! 14) Owensboro Catholic (2A) - 2018 Record 0-1: Week 1 Results: Loss 49-26 to 6A Daviess County (1-0) OCath came out and punched the Panthers in the mouth and led 20 to zip-ola! Unfortunately it did not last and the Panther or Team Track Meet took over! But this will help OCATH get better for the tough playoff battles down the road. QB Drew Hatz is outstanding for the Aces and will have them turned around for the boat ride down river into Evansville to take on Memorial High School! Good Luck Aces! Beat the Hoosiers!!! 15) Graves County (5A) - 2018 Record 1-0: Week 1 Results: Win 41-21 vs 2A Murray. Always good to get a win vs Purchase Area opponents. I understand the Eagles started a little flat, but star QB Ryan Mathis turned them around and overwhelmed Murray. Tough game this week as the Caldwell County Tigers come calling. 16) Apollo (5A) - (2018 Record 1-0): Week 1 Results: Win 47-12 over 6A Muhlenberg County. The Philip Hawkins Era opens with a bang for the new Eagles Coach! Mariano McKenzie ran wild and a solid passing game was just that - solid! The Eagles now trek to Evansville to take on a solid Mater Dei squad. Good luck Eagles! Beat the Hoosiers!!! 17) Crittenden County (1A) - (2018 Record 1-0) Week 1 Results - Win 42-6 vs Stewart County, TN. The Rockets blasted off and Stewart County paid for the rocket fuel! I don't have any stats for this game. Rockets don't play again until they head south to face a surprising Trigg County squad on August 31. 18) McCracken County (6A) - (2018 Record 0-1) Week 1 Results - Loss 35-6 at Paducah Tilghman. What happened? I mean first game of the year and not much to speak of. I don't have Mustang stats, but likely not much to see. Is Tilghman that good or McCracken that bad? You tell me... We will find out... 19) Union County (3A) - (2018 Record 0-0) The Braves will wait another week to open their season when the hapless Marion County Knights come to Morganfield! The Braves ROLL in this one!!! Good luck Braves! 20) Henderson County (6A) - (2017 Record 0-1) I don't have any information on this game, but am encouraged by the score. In years past, I know Hendo would have gotten beaten much worse than this. I think they can have a good year; get second in the district and host a home playoff game. That's a win in my book!!! Evansville North comes calling next week. I like the Colonels in this one!!! Beat the Hoosiers!!! Others Receiving Votes: Allen County Scottsville, Trigg County, Greenwood, Grayson County, Ballard Memorial, Edmonson County Week 1 Players of the Week: *I don't have all stats available, so please add as you see fit! 1) Caleb Kimble - RB - Fulton County Pilots - 205 rushing yards and 4 Big TDs!!! Vs Gleason, TN 2) Joey Cambron - QB - Daviess County - 307 yards and 5 TDs vs OCath! Marquel Tinsley - WR - Daviess County - 9 catches 166 yards and 2 TDs 3) Clayton Bush - WR/DB - South Warren - 4 TDs including 2 70 yard (each) returns for TDs! 4) Carlos McKinney - RB - Franklin Simpson - 224 yards and 3 TDs Tre Bass - RB - Franklin Simpson - 210 yards and 2 TDs 5) Tavis Brown - WR/DB - Graves County - 94 yards rushing; 4 catches and a Pick 6 vs Murray! 6) Will Warren - QB - Owensboro - 18 for 31 for 254 yards and 5 TDs vs Madisonville NH! 7) Jayden Stinson - QB - Mayfield - 221 yards passing for 4 TDs Kade Neeley - WR/DB - Mayfield - 4 catches for 135 yards, but look at the HUDL link below. This young man was all over the field! Outstanding! Union City High School - Kade Neely highlights - Hudl Week 1 - Teams Trending Down Hopkinsville (4A) - Down - It is probably unfair of me to put Hoptown here as they played a team I know I expected to beat them. But they are also the highest ranked team to lose as well. I suppose it was the overall size of the defeat that troubled me (4 TDs). But I still think you have the best shot to challenge Franklin Simpson and go to the Grocery Bag in December and represent the West in 4A this year! Madisonville North Hopkins (4A) - Down - This is the exact same boat as above as I'm probably unfairly putting you here as I did not expect you to win. But the one thing that stands out to me is if other teams watch the Owensboro film and run the same defensive schemes can Madisonville win the bigger games? You tell me... Teams - Trending Up Fulton County Pilots (1A) - Up - You can't stop the Pilots! You can only hope to contain them!!! I bet the grape juice was flowing in the Pilots locker room after their big win on Friday night!!! Way to represent the State Pilots!!! Best of luck! I've got my eye on you when you travel to Stewart County TN on September 7th! After Crittenden County beat them 42-6, I think the Pilots have a real shot at a Road Win!!! Let's go Pilots!!! Paducah Tilghman (3A) - Up - How bout the Blue Tornados!!! Emotion is a Powerful Weapon! I'm sure Tilghman circled the wagons when Coach Duncan had to resign due to health reasons. This is a team to watch out for. Athletes have never been the problem. But as our good friend @TilghmanPride reports, the offensive and defensive lines are better than they have been in 5 or 6 years! Look out 3A!

Bluegrasspreps.com is giving you a chance to show off your football knowledge statewide! The Bluegrasspreps Regional Pick 'em gives you a chance to pick games in different parts of the state for prizes EACH WEEK. There will be five regional contests every week. You will have a chance to pick the winners in each region -- NKY, EKY, Lexington/Central Ky, Louisville, and WKY. Each region will have five games to pick from each week. We pick the games, and you will pick the winner of each game, assigning your picks a point value of 7-5-3-2-1. The first tiebreaker is picking the team (of the ten teams in the contest) that scores the most points. You don't have to pick the highest scoring team, you just have to pick a team that scores more points than the team(s) picked by the member(s) you are tied with. The second tiebreaker is time. This is a season long contest and you can enter in any or all regions that you wish. At the end of the regular season, the top two finishers in each region will compete during the playoffs for statewide bragging rights on Bluegrasspreps. If a contestant qualifies in more than one region, then the highest point total statewide from a non-qualifying contestant will advance as a Wild Card. The best part is, if you win a weekly contest, you will receive a quality prize. http://bluegrasspreps.com/new-member-introduction/contest-prizes-for-366882.html The overall state winner after the playoffs will get a grand prize custom made for you. The deadline for all entries is 5 p.m. (ET) Friday. Be sure to post your winners and assign each of them one of the following point values (7-5-3-2-1) based on how strongly you feel that that team will win. (Please note that if your selections are NOT in the specified format, your ENTIRE set of picks will be voided) 7 5 3 2 1 1st Tiebreaker 2nd Tiebreaker: Time of post. The games for Week 2 in the Western KY Regional contest are: Caldwell County at Graves County Warren East vs. Greenwood Pleasure Ridge Park at Bowling Green Apollo at Evansville Mater Dei (IN) Hopkins County Central at Ohio County

Here are the results for this week's Western Kentucky Regional contest. As always, the results won't be final for 24 hours. All contestants should use that time to check their score for errors. After that time period has passed, the contest is final and the winner should use the following link to claim the prize of choice. If you think your score is incorrect, please send me a PM and I will look into your claim. Winners click HERE to claim your prize: http://bluegrasspreps.com/new-member-introduction/contest-prizes-for-366882.html Results of the games in this week's contest: Christian County 11 Caldwell County 6 Daviess County 49 Owensboro Catholic 26 Marshall County 34 Fort Campbell 12 McLean County 44 Ohio County 14 Franklin-Simpson 44 Elizabethtown 20 gchs_uk9 - 18 (Daviess County - 49) (Post #9) colonel-fan - 18 (Daviess County - 49) (Post #32) winterweather - 18 (Franklin-Simpson - 44) sealedpower - 18 (Marshall County - 34) coldweatherfan - 18 (Marshall County - 34) jcarter - 17 Randy Parker - 17 Buckme - 17 dmh115 - 17 Purple88 - 17 Rebel - 17 mcpapa - 16 Czar - 16 newarkcatholicfan - 16 HSfootballfan18 - 15 16thBBall Fan - 15 ATLCat - 15 eaglepride924 - 15 Fishhead - 15 zoneblitz2 - 15 15th Region - 14 MNCM - 14 NEERFAN - 14 psychicscubadiver - 14 2-3-Zone - 13 DragonFire - 13 tackle trap - 13 Mediocre Nachos - 13 Jumper_Dad - 12 WESTSIDE - 12 All State Baseball - 12 Rebelstat - 12 AverageJoesGym - 10 FSfan - 10 GrantNKY - 10 Mayfieldsportsfan - 10 tommyjohn8400 - 10 westernky - 10 randya3339 - 9 WestDanville - 9 Jack of all Trades - 8 plantmanky - 8 Squirrel - 8 Jlew - 7 BiggestFan - 6 BIG BLACK JACK - 5

Bluegrasspreps.com is giving you a chance to show off your football knowledge statewide! The Bluegrasspreps Regional Pick 'em gives you a chance to pick games in different parts of the state for prizes EACH WEEK. There will be five regional contests every week. You will have a chance to pick the winners in each region -- NKY, EKY, Lexington/Central Ky, Louisville, and WKY. Each region will have five games to pick from each week. We pick the games, and you will pick the winner of each game, assigning your picks a point value of 7-5-3-2-1. The first tiebreaker is picking the team (of the ten teams in the contest) that scores the most points. You don't have to pick the highest scoring team, you just have to pick a team that scores more points than the team(s) picked by the member(s) you are tied with. The second tiebreaker is time. This is a season long contest and you can enter in any or all regions that you wish. At the end of the regular season, the top two finishers in each region will compete during the playoffs for statewide bragging rights on Bluegrasspreps. If a contestant qualifies in more than one region, then the highest point total statewide from a non-qualifying contestant will advance as a Wild Card. The best part is, if you win a weekly contest, you will receive a quality prize. http://bluegrasspreps.com/new-member-introduction/contest-prizes-sponsored-299747.html The overall state winner after the playoffs will get a grand prize custom made for you. The deadline for all entries is 5 p.m. (ET) Friday. Be sure to post your winners and assign each of them one of the following point values (7-5-3-2-1) based on how strongly you feel that that team will win. (Please note that if your selections are NOT in the specified format, your ENTIRE set of picks will be voided) 7 5 3 2 1 1st Tiebreaker 2nd Tiebreaker: Time of post. The games for Week 1 in the Western KY Regional contest are: Caldwell County at Christian County Owensboro Catholic at Daviess County Fort Campbell at Marshall County Ohio County at McLean County Franklin-Simpson at Elizabethtown

BluegrassPreps 2018 Western Kentucky Power Rankings – Week 2 Edition (Disclaimer 1: Sorry this is a bit late; I had to cook for 125 people yesterday afternoon and it threw my whole weekend off. Although I did go to a game on Friday night of course!) What a great weather weekend to get out and see a game! I hope you got to see a game this past Friday or Saturday night! The top story line this week is degree of difficulty! Different teams look at degree of difficulty in different ways and it shows in their scheduling. Some teams schedule very difficult out of district games and others not so much! I think most that’s been around long enough know that come playoff time the level of competition you play early on make a big difference. Let’s see if that continues to play out! AROUND THE STATE: On this second weekend, there were some TERRIFIC Matchups and I admit I took in the Trinity vs Warren Central game as it was only about 5 minutes from my office and BOY What a Game – Sports Fans!!! That game along with 16 others had Kentucky teams playing out of state teams. And like the Trinity game Kentucky came out on the losing end more times than not this weekend losing to every state, but tying Ohio. Better luck next week! Week 2 Western Kentucky Game of the Week: Hopkinsville (4A) (0-2) 7 at Mayfield (2A) (2-0) 35. To win AT Mayfield is a very, very difficult task! And frankly, I did not expect Hopkinsville to win this game, although I would have liked to have seen them keep it a little closer. Thanks to our good friend @Mayfieldsportsfan for providing great info for this game. It appears that early penalties and 2 interceptions allowed Mayfield to break a scoreless tie and gradually pull away with Big Plays. Hoptown QB Jay Bland did get the Tigers on the scoreboard late in the 3rd quarter though. For Mayfield, business as usual. For Hoptown, still not clicking like you want it, but I think the Cardinals had a lot to do with that. Head up Tigers!!! WESTSIDER - Week 2 Western Kentucky Game of the Week: (Disclaimer 2: Westsider was a friend to this website and all sports in Western Kentucky. This is mentioned in honor of his memory!) (Disclaimer 3: I am not picking the BG vs St X game because St X is not a WKY team and the fact that this game needs no hype help.) Paducah Tilghman 3A (2-0) travels to Mayfield 2A (2-0): I expect this OLD Rivalry to be extremely hard hitting and well played on both sides. Bragging rights at the local grocery store are on the line in the Purchase Area! The last time Tilghman beat Mayfield was back in 2005 (18-15 at Tilghman). The last time Tilghman beat Mayfield AT Mayfield was the year prior in 2004 (27-15). I get the feel this is the first time since the early 2000s that Tilghman really has a shot AT Mayfield. Going to be a GREAT Game! Get out to War Memorial Stadium early sports fans!!! South Warren (5A) (2-0) vs (4A) Franklin Simpson (2-0). Both teams have had similar paths this season in clearly handling their early opponents. Both also played significantly inferior teams to where they are last week. This will be a BIG step up for both as they look to up the competition dial to see where they are right now because other than really good, I’m not sure. Franklin has an advantage playing at Shadetree Stadium, but South’s offense is more balanced and I’m concerned for Franklin being 1-dimensional on offense. Will be a GREAT Game as it usually is between these 2! But you better get to Shadetree early as I predict a Big Crowd this Friday night! Honorable Mention: Owensboro at Owensboro Catholic; Warren Central at Monroe County, Bowling Green at St Xavier – Try to make it out to one of these great games! Week 2 Top 10: 10) Caldwell County (3A) – Preseason Rank: 10 2018 Record (1-1): Week 1 Results: Win 28-17 to 5A Graves County. Caldwell County may be Team Safety. Seems they are always involved with games with safetys (the 2 point kind). At least 2 in this game. Also a safety in last weeks loss to Christian County. With that out of the way; HUGE win for the Tigers! On the road and beat a really tough Graves County Team! Thanks to our good friends @Razor Ramon and @PtownDude for providing great info for this one! Biggest stat in this game was Graves turned it over 5 times to 1 for Caldwell. Jameer Riley and Joby Jagers played really well for the Tigers. But DeEric Hollowell breaks out with 25 carries for 128 yards and a TD! Great Momentum heading forward now for Caldwell! Week 3: Vs 4A Hopkinsville (0-2). Good spot to catch Hoptown coming off their toughest stretch of the season. They will come in angry, but like how Caldwell is playing right now! 9) Madisonville – North Hopkins (4A) – Preseason Rank: 9 - 2018 Record 1-1; [District Record 0-0] Week 2 Results: Win: 45-14 vs 5A Marshall County (1-1). Nothing says get better quick than a meeting with the Marshall County Marshals after going to Rash Stadium the week before! The Maroons got back to doing what they do best and that is running at you and then running at you some more. They totaled over 300 yards and 6 TDs on the ground. You will see a Maroon RB later on! Nice work Maroons! Week 3: At 2A Murray (1-1). A lot for the Maroons to a little for the Tigers! Just a bad spot for Murray I fear. However, a 2 hour bus ride has tightened games up before, but I just don’t see it this week. Maroons roll! 8) Logan County (4A) – Preseason Rank: 8 - 2018 Record 2-0; District Record 0-0] Week 2 Results: Win: 56-18 over 6A Muhlenberg County (0-1). I hope the Burger at Aunt M’s Cafe was good because I’m afraid that was likely the only interesting thing of your trip from whitewashing Poor ole’ Muhlenberg County! Lot to like from Logan Countys point of view, QB Tyler Ezell was very good as was RB Gary Hardy! Logan defense gives up less than 300 yards on the night and most of that was in mop up time. Week 3: Vs Poor Ole’ 4A Breckinridge County (0-2). Not much to see here! Cougars Roll! 7) Hopkinsville (4A) – Preseason Rank: 6 - 2018 Record 0-2; District Record 0-0] Week 2 Results: Loss: 35-7 at 2A Mayfield (2-0). As mentioned above, early penalties and a couple untimely interceptions really cost the Tigers in this game. I think they played with great effort so that in encouraging. Tigers with about 150 yards on the ground and 111 in the air. Just not enough against a very good Mayfield team. Week 3: The tough schedule continues as the gauntlet rolls on to Princeton to play at 3A Caldwell County (1-1). Another tough spot here for the Tigers! The good news is the last regular season home loss for Caldwell County was last year not several years ago. The bad news is that that Caldwell County loss was to the same Mayfield team that just beat you by 4 TDs. Brighter days ahead Tigers! Keep your head up! Playing tough teams in August will pay off in November! 6) Daviess County (6A) – Preseason Rank: 7 - 2018 Record 1-1; District Record 0-0] Week 2 Results: Loss: 49-13 at Evansville Central, IN (2-0). At first when I saw this score I was like, What Happened? But after a little digging and great info from our good friend @wkyhollywood, Marquel Tinsley was hurt on the first play of the game and did not return. Also reported Central had huge linemen and athletes. So Down Goes The Panthers!!! They gave up over 400 yards on the ground and their passing offense gained only a scant 78 yards on the night! Wow – that won’t get it done! Week 3: vs 4A John Hardin (1-1). Should be much more to the Panthers liking this Friday night. But what is the status on Tinsley? You tell me… Well our good friend @ApolloFan98 did tell us. Tinsley will likely be out roughly 2 weeks with a shoulder injury. We certainly hope the young man gets better soon! 5) Franklin Simpson (4A) – Preseason Rank: 5 - 2018 Record 2-0; District Record 0-0] Week 2 Results: Win: 57-7 vs 2A Monroe County (0-2). Just 2 teams at different levels right now. Really like the Falcons program, but this is just a really bad spot for them, but applaud them for playing all-comers! Everything positive for the Wildcats! On to a real test!!! Week 3 GAME OF THE WEEK: Vs 5A Old District Rival South Warren (2-0) at 7pm. This should be a Dandy of a Game!!! You do know Wildcat fans that the Spartans aren’t just going to let you line up and run at them. You know you will have to mix the pass and run here. But hey, that’s a good thing. If you can play with South, you can play with most anyone. 4) Owensboro (5A) – Preseason Rank: 4 - 2018 Record 2-0; [District Record 0-0] Week 2 Results: Win: 35-34 over Evansville Reitz, IN (1-1). Terrific Win for the Red Devils! And thanks to our good friend @Irish Cat for the great insight on the post game thread! RB/DB Imonte Owsley is special. You will see him below! Owensboro likely could have blown Reitz out had they finished 3 red zone second half drives, but turnovers did them in. Just a splash of cold water Red Devil fans – Owensboro is ranked about 1,600 in the nation and Reitz is ranked about 3,200 in the nation, so that says Owensboro should have won. But its easy to spin stats and much harder to cross the Ohio River into a formidable opponent and take a game on his home field! Week 3: At City Rival 2A Owensboro Catholic (2-0). This one should be interesting! As former Aces QB is now the SR starting QB for the Red Devils. Lot of story lines here! Get out to see the game Red Devil fans!!! 3) Mayfield (2A) – Preseason Rank: 3 - 2018 Record 2-0; District Record 0-0] Week 2 Results: Win: 35-17 over 4A Hopkinsville (0-2). Mayfield makes you play uphill. What do I mean by that? I just get the feel that especially at War Memorial Stadium, they put A LOT of pressure on the other teams offense and defense to keep up. Most teams simply can not do that. Mayfield took this game largely on big plays of at least 40 yards. And the Mayfield D forced some interceptions and Hoptown had some costly penalites and didn’t feel like Mayfield was ever threatened. Thanks to our good friend @Mayfieldsportsfan for the updates and game stats! Week 3: WESTSIDER - GAME OF THE WEEK! Vs 3A Paducah Tilghman (1-1). This has always been a good one in Western Kentucky. This year will be no different. A seemingly reinvigorated Blue Tornado squad will march into War Memorial Stadium for another battle with the Cardinals. Mayfield has to be considered the favorite, but something tells me this one will be much closer than I would have expected in the Pre-Season. Get there early or be prepared to stand!!! 2) South Warren (5A) – Preseason Rank: 2 - 2018 Record 2-0; District Record 0-0] Week 2 Results: Win: 39-22 vs 4A Warren Central (0-2). Not much good can come from 2 teams playing at so different a level. Why would you drop South when they put a running clock on Warren Central in the 2nd quarter Purple88? Well, I could have told you that last year. And I’ll tell you right now that this game next year will be a running clock again. Body of work does not support staying at #1 – that simple. But that could change! Week 3 GAME OF THE WEEK: At 4A Franklin Simpson (2-0). Now we are talkin Spartan Fans! This is a game that will help you get ready for the playoffs on August 31 at 7pm. Should be a great game. Old district rivals square off once again! South has always been a great run defensive team. Franklin is a terrific run oriented offense. Something has to give at Shadetree Stadium this Friday night! 1) Bowling Green (5A) – Preseason Rank: 1 - 2018 Record 2-0; District Record 0-0] Week 2 Results: Win: 44-7 over 6A Pleasure Ridge Park (1-1). I have to admit that I didn’t watch this game yet, although I plan to. It is exactly what I expected. BG ratcheted it up from an uneven performance against Central Hardin. Still some pesky holding calls and a few drops, but all in all the ramp points up for the Purples. Week 3: At 6A St Xavier (0-1). The Soap Opera producers have been calling me all week with all the story lines for this one! BGP Drama Central items to consider include: 1 You have to know it will be odd/difficult/strange for St X Coach Kevin Wallace to look across that field at the Purple & Gold and not think that he is on the wrong side line if at only for a minute. Heck he coached there almost a quarter century. 2 Coach Wallace knows all the BG players and at least 90% of all their plays. 3 St Xavier likely has the better offensive and defensive lines. 4 Bowling Green likely has the better skill guys. 5 St Xavier may have their starting QB back for this game. What luck Purple fans! 6 St Xavier laid an egg the opening weekend of the season and has had to think about it for 2 weeks because of where their bye week sits. That is St X lost to 2A Desales 19-16. 7 Don’t think the Trinity faithful or likely the St X faithful are going lightly on that, especially with a very questionable mishap at the end of the first half that cost X Big! So if you are a Bowling Green Fan, be sure to catch the next episode of New (Coach) and the Winless here on your WKY Network!!! All in good fun of course, as BG would not be the program it is today without the tireless dedication of Coach Kevin Wallace. Better get to Brother Thomas More Page Stadium early as parking is a bear! Next 10 – 11 to 20: 11) Christian County (5A) – Preseason Rank: 11 - 2018 Record 1-1; [District Record 0-0] Week 2 Results: Loss: 31-26 vs Rossview, TN (1-1). I don’t have any stats or know what went on in this one, but sounds like a good game where the Colonels just came up short in. Week 3: Vs 6A Henderson County (1-1) at 7:00pm. Big Game right here as both teams are likely close to being even. Don’t want to lose 2 in a row! 12) Glasgow (2A) – 2018 Record (2-0): Week 2 Results: Win 19-7 I think this is a good win for the Scotties as I feel Bardstown is better than most people think. Thanks to our good friend @Hearsay for providing great insight into this game. He reported turnovers were the name of the game with no team scoring in the second half. Glasgow rushed for over 300 yards but committed 4 interceptions. Sounds like a good hard hitting game to me! Week 3 vs Poor Ole’ Ft Campbell (0-2). This one will be out of hand quickly. Onward Scotties! 13) Paducah Tilghman (3A) – 2018 Record 2-0: Week 2 Results: Win 35-0 at Liberty Tech Magnet (Jackson, TN) (0-2). I think this is the team this year folks that we will look to that really changes the tone of their program. Last year it was Logan County. This year I’m going with the Blue Tornados, who drove down to Jackson with Johnny Cash and came up Aces! Tilghman basically ran it at Liberty and they couldn’t do a lot with it. Add that to the fact Liberty faked the punt or went for it deep in their own territory twice. Not sure what to make of that; but that’s their problem as Tilghman rolls with a running clock W! Our good friend @TilghmanPride reports this is the second 2 and 0 start since 2003! WESTSIDER Game of the WEEK - Week 3 AT Mayfield 2A (2-0). To me this is still a great rivalry even through Mayfield has won 12 in a row. I consider BG vs Owensboro the same way. When schools have been playing as long as these guys have Respect the Game! Good luck Tilghman! 14) Apollo (5A) – (2018 Record 2-0): Week 2 Results: Win 17-10 over Evansville Mater Dei (IN). The Eagles are in a nice groove right now! I really like what @coachhawk is doing off Tamarack Road. Mariano McKenzie is a super RB, you will see his numbers later and QB Colby Clark is a very good High School QB, smart and doesn’t turn it over much. The unsung hero is likely the Eagle Defense who are playing better each week! Thanks to our good friends @Irish Cat and @ApolloFan98 for providing great insight to this one! Week 3 vs better than you think 2A McLean County (2-0). Don’t go to sleep on the Cougars, as they can play. 15) Owensboro Catholic (2A) – 2018 Record 0-2: Week 2 Results: Loss 49-21 at Stout Evansville Memorial (IN)(2-0). Never fear OCath fans! I’m sure you may have been discouraged by this outcome, but do you realize Memorial is inside the top 500 schools in the nation? They are; while the Aces are around 5,700! So you have to hang in and see this through. You are still going to plow your district and head for tougher games in the playoffs! Steady Course Aces Fans! Week 3 vs Owensboro (2-0). Don’t like this spot for you Aces as last season was the year to catch the Red Devils. BUT emotions should be pretty high as you will meet your former QB! 16) Graves County (5A) – 2018 Record 1-1: Week 2 Results: Loss 28-17 vs 3A Caldwell County (1-1). As our good friend @PtownDude reported, 5 turnovers for Graves vs only 1 for Caldwell when the total yardage is basically even will get ya beat 9 times out of 10 for sure. Back to the drawing board Eagles! But to their good fortune they find what should be a good opponent for them. Week 3 AT McCracken County (0-2). 17) Crittenden County (1A) – (2018 Record 1-0) Week 2 Results – BYE Week. Time to get out of the hammock Rockets! Week 3 at Trigg County (1-1). Bring your fishing pole Rocket Fans; take in this game and then zip on down to KenLake for some bass fishing! I look for the Rockets to be well rested and ready to take this game. I do think Trigg is better than I thought they would be this year though and they are at home. So you better come prepared when you get to Cadiz!!! 18) Henderson County (6A) – (2018 Record 1-1) Week 1 Results: Win 48-7 vs Evansville North. I don’t have any information on this game, but am impressed by the score. I think Henderson is in a good spot to keep improving. Too bad you don’t play Daviess County next week with Marquel Tinsley on the sideline. Week 3: Good test AT Christian County (1-1). Hendo gave the Colonels all they wanted last year, so I expect another good game! 19) Union County (3A) – (2018 Record 1-0) Week 1 Results: Win 48-6 vs the hapless Marion County Knights (0-2)! No stats available. Week 3: vs 2A Webster County (0-2). The Trojans better gear up because I got a feeling they are going to get scalped by the Braves! Braves Roll in this one!!! Good luck Braves! 20) McCracken County (6A) – (2018 Record 0-2) Week 2 Results – Loss 40-10 at Northeast (Clarksville), TN (2-0). Just a bad spot for McCracken. I’ve seen Northeast play this season (Rafferty’s Bowl Opener) and they are a very tough team. So this score doesn’t surprise me. But what about this coming week? Lets see what you got Mustangs! You need to regroup and get some confidence before Mayfield comes calling! OOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFF Week 3 vs 5A Graves County (1-1) WEEK 2 PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Thomas Maxey – RB – Warren East – 308 yards 5 rushing TDs and a 90 yard Kick 6 return vs Greenwood. Congratulations Thomas! Other outstanding Week 2 performances in the West: 1) Mark Thompson – RB - Murray – 21 carries, 206 yards and 3 TDs vs Calloway County! 2) Mariano McKenzie – RB – Apollo – 227 yards and 1 TDs vs Evansville Mater Dei! 3) Travis Newsom – WR – Caldwell County – 10 catches for 96 yards vs Graves County! 4) Imonte Owsley – RB/DB – Owensboro – 140 yards rushing with 1 TD and 125 yards receiving and 2 TDs! 5) Jeriah Hightower – RB – Madisonville – North Hopkins – 174 yards rushing and 3 TDs vs Marshall County! *I don’t have all stats available, so please add as you see fit! Week 2 “Teams Trending Down” Daviess County (6A) – Down – Is it fair for me to call out a team that loses their best player on the first play of the game and then they kinda melt from there? You tell me… I guess I just expected more from the remainder of the team. Although I will admit to knowing VERY little about Evansville Central. Regroup and heal up Panthers! Christian County (5A) – Down – Rossview, TN is a team I know little about. Add that to the fact that the score was 31-26 and it likely seems unfair to put the Colonels here. BUT somebody has to lose and be here. Couple of pick-em games coming up for County prior to the District Buster Bash with Owensboro. Need that confidence high going into playing the Red Devils! Upward County!!! Teams “Trending Up” Caldwell County (3A) – Up – BIG Win for the Tigers will carry a lot of momentum for you into next weeks tough match vs Hoptown. If Caldwell can stop the run all together, I like their chances in that game! Carry on Tigers!!! Apollo (5A) – Up – The Eagles are makin hay while the sun shines!!! Love that old saying! Should take care of the next 3 games no problem before 3 Big District Buster games come calling (At Graves County, vs Christian County, and At Owensboro)! Ramp up Eagles!!!