[EKUAlum05]

Belfry is the team to beat in 3A this year and there is no arguing that, but if the "champs" are going to go down, I think the best chance of that happening could be Friday night. We all know Belfry is "dominant" up front, but if there is a weakness that sticks out to me, it's in the secondary. After watching the Johnson Central game, I thought to myself "Corbin can beat Belfry". Will this happen, I don't know, but I think the Redhounds have a shot. One of the things that stuck out to me, was the middle of the field being open "a lot" during this game. Johnson Central took advantage of this by hitting on a couple of long passes down the middle, but I think this was something they should have taken advantage of more often. Also, I thought Johnson Central should have thrown more to their running backs out of the backfield. This was open as well, and the two or three times they did throw to the backs, it hit for ten or more yards. I think Sizemore and the Redhounds can take advantage of this, but it all depends on how well they can run the ball against Belfry. I don't think Corbin's run game is as good as Johnson Central's, but they are good enough to keep the Belfry defense honest. With that being said, Corbin can't afford to turn the ball over in this game. If they turn the ball over, they have no chance of upsetting the Pirates. On the flip side, Belfry has turned the ball over in spurts, and if Corbin can create a couple of turnovers defensively, this will definitely help their cause. Corbin's defense has been very good this year, but they haven't seen an offensive line as good as Belfry's. If you are Greer, you stack the box and play man to man on the outside and hope for the best. Belfry will throw the ball a couple of times, but you have to trust your corners to stay disciplined. At the end of the day, it's going to be an uphill battle for Haddix and the Hounds, but if anyone can pull this off, it's Haddix. With that being said, my head says Belfry, but my heart says Corbin. I have always been told to follow your heart and I'm going with Corbin in the upset. Corbin wins 24-21!!!

This has been the best post in the thread so far and is getting overlooked.

One thing to note though is in that JC game Belfry had to move starting CB Woolum to Safety since both Adkins and Borwning were out at the same position. Johnson Central didn't necessarily "sustain" success passing, they primarily hit about 4 big plays for large chunks of yards. One was a trick play that Belfry took away the primary read but had a busted coverage on Frisby. The others were deep passes to Blanton, two on coverage busts between the Safety and Corner, the third just a great throw and catch that Blanton made a sliding catch. Can't make an excuse that the Woolum move was the reason (in fact Hunter made a couple game changing plays at CB to help them win), but it is worth pointing out he was playing Safety for the first and only time in his career.

With Browning back this allows Woolum to move to his natural CB position.

With all that said, there is absolutely no denying that if there is one question mark on this Pirate team this year it has been the deep pass. KnoxCath exposed it with Amari Rodgers and JC exposed it with Geordan Blanton.

It is worth noting though that with the exception of Browning replacing an injured Adkins, this is the same secondary though that shut down LexCath's big play ability last year in the Finals so they are capable of locking teams down if they can avoid the busts. It is also a secondary that has picked off 19 passes.