Bluegrassrivals

I .M.O.
1) Up grade the non-district schedule
2)Come up another wrinkle on offense, a passing game.

Learn how to eat up clock. Have long drives that take up 6-8 minutes and result in 7 points. the longer they can keep the ball out of the hands of an athletic team like central, the better their chances of winning

Central is typically going to be too athletic for Belfry. Playing a tougher non district or throwing the ball won't be able to close that gap. Long drives and no turnovers is the best bet.

North Oldham was able to move the ball on Central. Even winless Spencer Co scored points.
Not many teams in Class AAA will have the talent that Central has the next 3 years.
I do not see Belfry or anyone in AAA, maybe Tilghman, competing with Central for awhile.

Hold on to the ball?

Anyone who watched the game will know:

1) Hold on to the ball.
2) Tackle

Numerous times Belfry was able to string out the play and make contact with the ball carrier at or behind the LOS only to see him break the tackle and get off to the races. I'd say 3/4 of Wales' yards came after contact. The toss, stretch, and counter did all the damage against Belfry's Defense, between the tackles they were stout.

Offensively Belfry actually moved the ball more than the score would suggest. Belfry is not equipped to play from way behind and when you allow the defense to continually turn you over and score on you then you will be playing from behind. Belfry has got to find some semblance of an intermediate passing game. Belfry's passing game is either a homerun ball or a screen pass.. they need to be able to work quick hitters to the TE and SE's to force opposing Safeties and LB's to have to play flat footed.

Belfry also has to improve in Special Teams in every aspect. Punts of 15 yards are bad, but even worse when you don't even try to return a punt or pressure the punt and see it pin you inside the 20 every time.

Belfry will have the experience and pieces in place to get back to the Finals the next 2 years, but until they can do those two small things above they have no shot. It's going to be a dubious task to beat Belfry in the East the next two years as the Pirates will be absolutely loaded, but until they can do the things above then Central will be a hevay favorite each time.

Speed, speed, and more speed.

Belfry needs about 6-7 David Jones to keep up with Central. They might be the most athletic team in the state, regardless of class.

Umm.... Well.. I have never seen a game where the team with fewer points wins. So my guess would be to put up as many points as possible. Then pray. Because i have never seen a AAA defense be able to shut central down.

EKUAlum05 Wrote:Anyone who watched the game will know:

1) Hold on to the ball.
2) Tackle

Numerous times Belfry was able to string out the play and make contact with the ball carrier at or behind the LOS only to see him break the tackle and get off to the races. I'd say 3/4 of Wales' yards came after contact. The toss, stretch, and counter did all the damage against Belfry's Defense, between the tackles they were stout.

Offensively Belfry actually moved the ball more than the score would suggest. Belfry is not equipped to play from way behind and when you allow the defense to continually turn you over and score on you then you will be playing from behind. Belfry has got to find some semblance of an intermediate passing game. Belfry's passing game is either a homerun ball or a screen pass.. they need to be able to work quick hitters to the TE and SE's to force opposing Safeties and LB's to have to play flat footed.

Belfry also has to improve in Special Teams in every aspect. Punts of 15 yards are bad, but even worse when you don't even try to return a punt or pressure the punt and see it pin you inside the 20 every time.

Belfry will have the experience and pieces in place to get back to the Finals the next 2 years, but until they can do those two small things above they have no shot. It's going to be a dubious task to beat Belfry in the East the next two years as the Pirates will be absolutely loaded, but until they can do the things above then Central will be a hevay favorite each time.

Great post!:Thumbs:

Thought Central was moving up? I know from talking to a parent of a child that went to Central that there is NO WAY the ratio of girls to boys is 3 to 1.... He said if anything.. there are more boys than girls!

Belfry will be Belfry next year again in football. They have much more coming back talent wise than many would think. AND.... for the record, they do have the weapons to open up a passing game if needed.

NEWARKCATHOLICFAN Wrote:I .M.O.
1) Up grade the non-district schedule
2)Come up another wrinkle on offense, a passing game.

Belfry's non-district schedule included Prestonsburg, Covington Holy Cross, Ashland Blazer, & Johnson Central. Seems to be pretty tough there. Others being teams who are normally stronger but are in rebuilding years in Letcher County Central, Pikeville, & Whitley County.
I do however agree that they need more passing involved in there offense.

toussaints Wrote:Learn how to eat up clock. Have long drives that take up 6-8 minutes and result in 7 points. the longer they can keep the ball out of the hands of an athletic team like central, the better their chances of winning

That has always been Belfry football. Long drives eating up the clock year end year out.

The gap between Central and Belfry was not as wide as it appeared. Belfry fumbled over and over after having good drives. Central had a hard time stopping Belfry. Also Belfry should look into changing some things on defense. They gave way too many big plays up to Central due to blown assignments.

Central is good but not unbeatable.

Louisville Central has to beat Louisville Central.

Belfry, Paducah T, and Bell County will compete but Central is just better. Better teams win games, no matter what happens. If a team has turnovers, the other team still has to score off of them, and the defense still has the chance to stop it.

phs1986 Wrote:Thought Central was moving up? I know from talking to a parent of a child that went to Central that there is NO WAY the ratio of girls to boys is 3 to 1.... He said if anything.. there are more boys than girls!

Belfry will be Belfry next year again in football. They have much more coming back talent wise than many would think. AND.... for the record, they do have the weapons to open up a passing game if needed.

Central is not moving up & yes they do have more like a 4 to 1 female to male ratio.

Belfry will compete. They return several key players next year. Coach Hayward is the best coach in the mountains and has been for years. He is truely the King of the Mountains.

NEWARKCATHOLICFAN Wrote:I .M.O.
1) Up grade the non-district schedule
2)Come up another wrinkle on offense, a passing game.

Sometimes the other guys are just better than you. That was the case this year. Belfry wasn't expected to make it to the region finals this year, let alone win it, then move onto the finals.

Central was just that good this year.

Bobcat_Dad Wrote:The gap between Central and Belfry was not as wide as it appeared. Belfry fumbled over and over after having good drives. Central had a hard time stopping Belfry. Also Belfry should look into changing some things on defense. They gave way too many big plays up to Central due to blown assignments.

Central is good but not unbeatable.

totally agree , they moved the ball well expect for the turnovers, then it just snowed ball, and they didnt wrap whales up when they hit him, and when he reversed directions no one was home on that side of the field...

If you look at the games Between Central and Breathitt, there is not that much of a huge difference in strength. A couple plays here and there would had easily changed the outcomes. The momentum would be broken by a missed wide open receiver or a fumble at terrible times in the game that took all of the momentum away. Play good defense and take advantage of the many chances you have against an over-playing Central defense. But that is easier said than done obviously. There are more teams than just Central to beat now.

Bobcat_Dad Wrote:The gap between Central and Belfry was not as wide as it appeared. Belfry fumbled over and over after having good drives. Central had a hard time stopping Belfry. Also Belfry should look into changing some things on defense. They gave way too many big plays up to Central due to blown assignments.
Central is good but not unbeatable.

Depends on which side of the coin you are looking at there. Personally, what you say are "big plays due to blown assignments", I say "big plays due to Anthony Wales and a team full of kids that were just flat out more talented than the Pirates."

Which, goes back to that whole; sometimes the guys you're playing are just better than you. Here is wishing Belfry the best of luck next year, because they are without a doubt one of my favorite high school football teams in the state. The Belfry Football culture as a whole is 2nd to none.

Personally, I couldn't imagine suggesting what a coach like Philip Haywood should do differently.

A few blown assignments I saw as a casual fan.

1. 2 times Central's RB reverses field and nobody for Belfry has contain on the edge. That is basic fundamental football and a true blown assignment.

2. Central runs play action and the entire Belfry secondary is setting flatfooted nobody runs with the WR and the score an easy TD. Another blown assignment.

3. .Central goes to a 4 WR set the inside rec. runs up the hash the safety does not run with him. Guess what a TD is scored.

Those are blown assignments in little league.

To win the game they have to score more points than central durr guys.

However they would just have to stick to what they do best run the ball and do not make mistakes.

Bobcat_Dad Wrote:A few blown assignments I saw as a casual fan.

1. 2 times Central's RB reverses field and nobody for Belfry has contain on the edge. That is basic fundamental football and a true blown assignment.

2. Central runs play action and the entire Belfry secondary is setting flatfooted nobody runs with the WR and the score an easy TD. Another blown assignment.

3. .Central goes to a 4 WR set the inside rec. runs up the hash the safety does not run with him. Guess what a TD is scored.

Those are blown assignments in little league.

1. True. Fact is, it happens at the high school level. As a matter of fact, it will happen today in one of the NFL games.

2. Depending on how well Central ran their play action and Belfry's defensive reads are unknown. If Belfry's LB's and even some of their DB's read linemen, and Central's O-line really sold out the run, mixed with their speed on the edge, that's a deadly combo. Peyton Manning makes a living on play action. Why? A couple reasons, but one of those being that his offensive line makes it look like a run better than anybody in football.

3. If they were in a cover 2 zone look, a cover 2 zone w/ man principals, man under 2 deep or even a cover 4 look, then yes, that's a blown assignment. However, and I can't remember, but if Central caught Belfry in Cov. 3 look v.s 4 wide then that puts the free safety in a bind if Central ran four verticle/go routes. The free safety could have jumped the other slot receiver, and they might have hit the other going down the field untouched. 4 verticle routes is just a bit hard to cover in a Cov. 3 look (especially if the team you are playing have guys that can outrun yours backwards).


Point is, sounds to me like Belfry just needs to get those young kids better. They don't need to change their defensive schemes. No matter what your defense or offense for that matter, things look a lot better when you have a bunch of juniors/seniors out there, instead of sophomores with some juniors.

phs1986 Wrote:Thought Central was moving up? I know from talking to a parent of a child that went to Central that there is NO WAY the ratio of girls to boys is 3 to 1.... He said if anything.. there are more boys than girls!

Belfry will be Belfry next year again in football. They have much more coming back talent wise than many would think. AND.... for the record, they do have the weapons to open up a passing game if needed.

I was wondering the same thing about Central.
1,035 kids
376 Boys.

Harry Doyle Wrote:1. True. Fact is, it happens at the high school level. As a matter of fact, it will happen today in one of the NFL games.

2. Depending on how well Central ran their play action and Belfry's defensive reads are unknown. If Belfry's LB's and even some of their DB's read linemen, and Central's O-line really sold out the run, mixed with their speed on the edge, that's a deadly combo. Peyton Manning makes a living on play action. Why? A couple reasons, but one of those being that his offensive line makes it look like a run better than anybody in football.

3. If they were in a cover 2 zone look, a cover 2 zone w/ man principals, man under 2 deep or even a cover 4 look, then yes, that's a blown assignment. However, and I can't remember, but if Central caught Belfry in Cov. 3 look v.s 4 wide then that puts the free safety in a bind if Central ran four verticle/go routes. The free safety could have jumped the other slot receiver, and they might have hit the other going down the field untouched. 4 verticle routes is just a bit hard to cover in a Cov. 3 look (especially if the team you are playing have guys that can outrun yours backwards).


Point is, sounds to me like Belfry just needs to get those young kids better. They don't need to change their defensive schemes. No matter what your defense or offense for that matter, things look a lot better when you have a bunch of juniors/seniors out there, instead of sophomores with some juniors.

Belfry sets in cover 2. Reading OL is risky business and you will not see many teams doing that at any level these days. I doubt Coach Haywood does either.

Bobcat_Dad Wrote:Belfry sets in cover 2. Reading OL is risky business and you will not see many teams doing that at any level these days. I doubt Coach Haywood does either.

How many plays do you know that go where the linemen don't? Unless you're playing somebody that likes to influence block their offensive linemen quite a bit.

I heard a very good high school coach say one time that, "Reading running backs, well, they're a lot like you're girlfriend. They'll be honest with you most of the time or at least tell you what they want you to hear (ie: counters, with fullback going opposite of tailback). Now the linemen? Well, they are like your mom. Ole' momma ain't gonna lie to you." :Clap: That's one of my favorite football quotes of all-time.

I'm a fan of both (reading backs or line), it's all about what your kids are better at. I know two powerhouse programs just off the top of my head that read linemen, Danville and Highlands. With the constant evolution of these spread offenses, you're starting to see a lot more 3-4, 3-5 type defenses, which are almost all based around reading linemen (guards specifically).

I agree with LB's reading OL but DB's no thanks. Neither HHS or Danville run a 3-4 do they?

Highlands runs a 3-5 and danville runs a 3-4. LCA also runs a 3-5.

Benchwarmer Wrote:I was wondering the same thing about Central.
1,035 kids
376 Boys.

With around 110 or 120 dressed as football players??? That's what... about 1 out of every 2.5/3 boys play??? HUM....