Bluegrassrivals

Final

Congrats North, pretty much as expected

North early scheduling is going to catch up with them in the second half of the season.

Pretty much expected!

Congrats NL!

This schedule they are playing is going to get them beat handily in the first round of the playoffs if they make the playoffs.

Congrats NL

LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — After a sluggish first half led to a halftime sermon, North Laurel did what was expected to McCreary Central. The Jaguars scored 27 straight points in the second half for the 48-12 win.

Maybe it was the lingering effects from last week’s tough overtime loss to Wayne County. Maybe the Jaguars were stunned by a long opening kickoff return by the Raiders. Whatever the reason, North Laurel needed a touchdown as time expired in the first half to open a 21-6 halftime lead.

“They did not handle adversity well tonight and it took them out of their ball game. That’s why it was 21-6 at halftime. We were a lot better football team than McCreary Central,” North Laurel coach Chris Larkey said.

He also thinks his team is much better than the five personal foul penalties in the first half. The Jaguars finished the game with 14 penalties for 125 yards.

“Our kids did not handle adversity very well. They let the other team get to them. You can tell them all you want, but they are teenage boys and they’re going to do what their brain tells them to do at the time,” Larkey said.

For the second straight week, the North Laurel defense found itself pinned deep from the opening kick. Noah Duncan returned the ball to the North Laurel 17-yard line. On the first play, Arlis Dople had the Raiders on the 2-yard line. Although Justin Wibbles recovered a fumble to end the threat, it wasn’t the start North Laurel wanted.

“It’s just the momentum of the game. They started off good,” Larkey said.

It looked like momentum swung when North Laurel marched downfield on the fleet feet of Michael Nelson. Nelson’s got outside for a 48-yard touchdown run to open the scoring.

“The plan was to spread the wealth and have them all running the ball and catching the ball. We tried to throw the ball, but Nelson saw that it was more open to run and that’s what makes him such a dangerous quarterback,” Larkey said.

McCreary Central’s next possession ended with negative yardage and a botched snap on a punt attempt. The North Laurel coaches were calling for a bad snap prior to the play.

“They don’t line up very deep on their punts. We thought we might be able to get back there on one of their punts, but we didn’t,” Larkey said.

It looked like an easy night when Gabe Blair scored on a 7-yard run for a 14-0 lead. But it was about to get ugly.

Duncan found room up the middle and only the speed of Nelson saved a touchdown on the 50-yard run. It was just 1-yard less than the North Laurel defense had allowed rushing the first three games combined.

“Their tailback is a good runner. He’s fast. He may be the fastest runner we’ve played so far,” Larkey said. “And we just had a lot of missed assignments.”

There was more rising than rushing numbers, tempers led to flag after flag. North Laurel was called for a personal foul on three straight possessions. Then the Raiders drew a personal foul that led to a third-and-goal from the 23. Quarterback Dylan Cooper found Josh Bradley in the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown.

“Hats off to them. They played hard and they didn’t quit all night,” Larkey said.

The penalties continued on the next North Laurel possession before it ended in a fumble. The Raiders punted the ball with 20 seconds. That was enough time for Nelson to go 51 yards. He reeled off 39 yards on first down and 12 more for the score as time expired.

“It was very big and it wasn’t what it was supposed to be. Michael Nelson being the athlete he is just cut it back and made a play on his own. That’s what great players do. They make great plays,” Larkey said.

Larkey said he held nothing back at halftime.

“They got a good old-fashioned scolding at halftime. They came out focused and took care of business in the second half,” Larkey said.

Unlike the first half, the second half began with a full dose of Blair. Six straight carries by Blair ended with a 3-yard touchdown run. The second series saw Blair get the handoff on six of the first seven carries.

“The second half we just came out and lined up in our running formations and basically put the game out of reach,” Larkey said.

The touchdown came on another improvised play by Nelson. He saw running room on the left side, but as he sprinted to the sideline he spotted Cole Lewis standing alone in the end zone. Lewis reeled in the touchdown pass for a 34-6 lead.

“It was actually a quarterback run and he saw Cole wide open,” Larkey said. “It looked like a brilliant call, but it wasn’t my call. It was just a brilliant play by the kids.”

The Jaguars added a third touchdown of the third quarter on a 40-yard run by Nelson. The first possession of the fourth quarter was capped by an 18-yard scoring run by Isaac Napier for a 48-6 lead.

North Laurel should get test Friday when they travel to Russell County to face the high-scoring Lakers.

“From here on out, we’re going to have to play our ‘A’ game every game. We can’t have stupid penalties like we did tonight, chicken fighting back. They have to learn to be humble and just play football. It’s not like their outside trying to defend their family, it’s a football game,” Larkey said.

http://www.sentinel-echo.com/localsports...r-easy-win

weak schedule but still good win north.

These comments about "not being prepared for the playoffs" crack me up. North Laurel has only made the playoffs what, once ever? And thats when they "Played a good schedule" with knox, corbin, the pulaski schools

North over 25 years has averaged what? 2 wins a year? 3??

How bout MAKING the playoffs (have they EVER made the playoffs?) and building CONFIDENCE

Perry Central played the WORST SCHEDULE IN THE MOUNTAINS the past two years....knotts, caseys, NORTH LAUREL, etc....but they got better, built confidence, earned some swagger and are now one of the top teams around. Its called building a program.

Also, North plays in a 6 team district. They have to actually get into the playoffs before they can even think of winning one. Its a tough district too with Pulaski, Southwest and their rival South (who is pretty good this year). Lincoln and Southern have improved.

Ohio State played Akron and Toledo. I guess they are not "preparing for the big ten schedule"

Alabama and Florida pounded runt programs week 1. I guess they are not "Preparing for the SEC or the National Title"

Kids feed of WINS. Not "good character building games against tough playoff preparing opponents"

Baby steps. Teams need to be able to win/compete in about half their games, learn from their mistakes (but still win in spite of them to maintain confidence) and then apply those lessons in District.

Crawl before you walk, walk before you run, horse before the cart

^
Interesting post. I think there are two basic mind sets when it comes to scheduling.....there was a thread on scheduling a few days ago.

Seems like some coach's have the your only as good as your competition approach, and some, much like you're stating, feel that building confidence through wins builds winners approach.

I think both have there places. Take RunItUpTheGut's Whitley Co for example; that program has been there, experienced winning, has a history to come from. They play what I consider to be one of the toughest schedules out there, and they probably won't have much to show for come end of the year. But come next year, the kids that toughed it out this year will be battle worn & ready. Kind of the coach through toughness mindset.

Your North Laurel team hasn't had the history, success, etc in football. Doesn't have near the support that a Whitley, Corbin, Rockcastle team does. So the coach has taken the approach that they need to experience winning, even if it means playing a weaker schedule. Winning makes Winners, and the community, staff, administration want to be part of (or take credit for) a winning program and build on it. Is it good for your playoff season this year....probably not, but it could be one of the steps your talking about.

I think both approaches, and several combinations of the two, can be appropriate based on the team, school, conditions, etc. I also think RIUTG is right when he says it won't do much to prepare you for the playoffs, but like you say, that's not necessarily the goal. A successful year is based on the expectation you had going into it, and by your measure NL is on it's way....Congrats!:Thumbs:

Hoping to provide NL one of the tough lessons this Friday though, Good luck to you and your team, may they all return home safe.