My School is JCHS and I have saw all the recent Highlands teams but IMO the best team that ever played on JCHS feild was the 1986 Archbishop Alter OH team who was led by QB Jeff Graham who would go on to OHIO State and played many season for the Steelers as WR. In 1986 I was a skinny Freshmen DE at JCHS, I saw my first varsity action vs Paintsville were I lined up against Joey Couch (UK), the next week we Played at 86' 3A state runner-up Belfry and Wayne Fransisco (I will never forget Devil Webb runnin over our safety like H. Walker did Bates) the next week we were at Cumberland 1A runner-up and I got my first Start vs Fred Maggard (UK) I thought I was ready for anything after that but my 2nd start was vs Archbishop Alter OH and Jeff Graham an CO. the 86Belfry team was in slow motion compared to this bunch. My 2nd Pick for be the 1991 George Rodgers Clark team JC was in the district that year.
The two best teams I've seen at Prestonsburg were:
1. C.A.P.E (Cincy Academy of Phys. Ed.) ~ 1975. NO ONE in Prestonsburg had EVER seen a team like that...our first clue came when the opening KO went out the back of the endzone on the fly. They were huge, fast, and pretty much did anything they wanted.
2. Boyle County in 2000. The Blackcats were just happy to get to the Semi's. The Rebels may have been the best team in the state that year, regardless of class. Just an awesome team.
@ Russell
Lindsly Academy 1987
Probably the 2006 Johnson Central team. They were solid at every position.
I played against both of those 1986 paintsville and Belfry teams. Couch was good a that Paintsville was decent. Belfry that year was much better.
FBALL Wrote:I played against both of those 1986 paintsville and Belfry teams. Couch was good a that Paintsville was decent. Belfry that year was much better.
I agree the 86 Belfry team was much better than Paintsville that year.
Louisville Male came to Highlands in 2001 and were up 30-0 :redboxer: on Highlands when the game was called at halftime. (Weather issues, I believe.) I wasn't there for that game, but I think that might have been the best team to come into DCM Stadium in my time. I was there for a 48-22 loss to Saint Francis DeSales in 2005. I think they were out of Columbus. Very fast and they just came in and went to town on the Birds. Pretty brutal, as I recall.
In short, not too many teams to pick from. Highlands has generally been pretty decent, even when they weren't state championship stuff.
PaintsvilleTigerfan Wrote:Probably the 2006 Johnson Central team. They were solid at every position.
You must be pretty young I can't remember what years Pikeville played at Paintsville during the 3-peat years. I am a JCHS fan but to explain to you how good the 87 Pikeville team was , let me just say any of the good teams from the Matney era would be 30 point under dogs, JJ Jude is a great player best running back ever as JCHS but that Pikeville bunch had 3 Backs IMO better than him. As for size 87 Pikeville was bigger , stronger and much much faster. Pikeville had a guy named Tim Honaker that played guard and middle LB that benched 500lbs. JJ Jude runs about 11 to 11.4 in 100 meters in 1988 or 89 I saw Steve Baily from Pikeville run 10.8 Those great teams from Pikeville were wish-bone teams they were a Belly Option team too. They played a 4-3 lots of times like the pros and had the speed to do it. They had a nose guard named Bobby Deramus that would run that belly option down from behind. (ASK BELFRY FANS)If Jude and Deramus were to race at 100 Meters both in ther prime I would bet my house on Deramus, he was that fast. I never did hear were Bobby Deramus went to college at but they had guys go to EKU and UK. I think the 87 Pikeville team beat Paintsville like 59 to 0 and took it easy on them the 2nd half.
Austin East (Knoxville, TN) in the early 70s.
honestjchsfan Wrote:My School is JCHS and I have saw all the recent Highlands teams but IMO the best team that ever played on JCHS feild was the 1986 Archbishop Alter OH team who was led by QB Jeff Graham who would go on to OHIO State and played many season for the Steelers as WR. In 1986 I was a skinny Freshmen DE at JCHS, I saw my first varsity action vs Paintsville were I lined up against Joey Couch (UK), the next week we Played at 86' 3A state runner-up Belfry and Wayne Fransisco (I will never forget Devil Webb runnin over our safety like H. Walker did Bates) the next week we were at Cumberland 1A runner-up and I got my first Start vs Fred Maggard (UK) I thought I was ready for anything after that but my 2nd start was vs Archbishop Alter OH and Jeff Graham an CO. the 86Belfry team was in slow motion compared to this bunch. My 2nd Pick for be the 1991 George Rodgers Clark team JC was in the district that year.
That is the year that GRC won the 4A state title with wins over Trinity and St. X. By far the best team GRC has every had.
The Hopkinsville High team that beat Tim Couch and Leslie County 66-6 was the best team that I saw from my area. They had Miquel Merritt(Alabama) and an Overby(San Francisco College) kid that was a DB and was 6'9 with a 7'6 wingspan. Last I heard he was in the Kentucky Penal League now though. Such a waste of talent.
The best team I ever saw in my area was the 95 Hopkinsville High team with Miquel Merritt(Alabama) and a 6'9 receiver/DB named Overby(C.C. of San Francisco and KY State Penal League). They beat Tim Couch and Leslie County 66-6 and had Couch on his back and throwing to the wrong team all the way until his coach pulled him out in the 3rd quarter to "rest" his arm. Other than that there have been numerous Mayfield teams that counld have played up in the classes and beat nearly anybody in the state.
honestjchsfan Wrote:You must be pretty young I can't remember what years Pikeville played at Paintsville during the 3-peat years. I am a JCHS fan but to explain to you how good the 87 Pikeville team was , let me just say any of the good teams from the Matney era would be 30 point under dogs, JJ Jude is a great player best running back ever as JCHS but that Pikeville bunch had 3 Backs IMO better than him. As for size 87 Pikeville was bigger , stronger and much much faster. Pikeville had a guy named Tim Honaker that played guard and middle LB that benched 500lbs. JJ Jude runs about 11 to 11.4 in 100 meters in 1988 or 89 I saw Steve Baily from Pikeville run 10.8 Those great teams from Pikeville were wish-bone teams they were a Belly Option team too. They played a 4-3 lots of times like the pros and had the speed to do it. They had a nose guard named Bobby Deramus that would run that belly option down from behind. (ASK BELFRY FANS)If Jude and Deramus were to race at 100 Meters both in ther prime I would bet my house on Deramus, he was that fast. I never did hear were Bobby Deramus went to college at but they had guys go to EKU and UK. I think the 87 Pikeville team beat Paintsville like 59 to 0 and took it easy on them the 2nd half.
Deramus didn't go to college. Several off that team had scholarship offers, but it was the 88 graduates (juniors in 87) that got the most offers. McNamee to EKU, Deramus had offers from everywhere (grades were a problem though), Hackney was looked at by UK, ended up at EKU, back issues, transferred to Georgetown. Honaker had offers, but did not play, he had a younger brother (Deanthony) that went on to play for UK, Mickey Webster played for UK for a year or two before quitting for medical reasons, etc. Very loaded teams.
Anyway, to the point of the thread, the 1997 Ashland Paul Blazer team that came to Pikeville and beat them 70-28 in the Pike County Bowl was the best team in recent memory I've seen there. I've seen LAfayette back in the late 70's early 80's, Henry Clay, etc all come in, but no one put it to the Panthers like Ashland did that night. I don't know how that team didn't go further in the playoffs (Ashland).
That I actually saw play would have to be the '79 Paintsville team. But I lived away from Harlan for several years and there could have been someone better while I was away.
Highlands in 1982 at Cawood
In all honesty the best team ive seen play at Whitley was the Highlands team in 2008 and best player ive seen was Tim Couch and Leslie County when they came to Whitley in the mid 90s. Ive watched Whitley play A LOT of good teams on the road but there have been very few "great" teams ive seen come to Whitley.
The worst loss that I can remember happening at Rockcastle County, off the top of my head, with no research was against the Southwestern team that had Lee Renfro. It just seemed like he was unstoppable in that game.
However, the best team will require some thought. Highlands came down a time or two. I think they wiped the floor with them once and the last time they came Rock ran them off the field. I would guess that the best team would have been the Highlands team that won or a State Champ Boyle County or State Champ Bell County.
I will say this, MANY MANY great teams have came through Rockcastle County in the playoffs or regular season.
From a Belfry fan:
Of course the great Pikeville teams of the Mid-80's are at the top IMO.
The Juan Thomas Ashland team and that first Ironton team that Belfry played are a very close 2nd and 3rd.
'87 Pikeville
'90 Ashland
At Johnson Central - 2006 Covington Catholic. And that's since 1990-ish.
For Perry Central, i'd say the 2001 Rockcastle County Rockets. They beat us 76-0 at home. Fun fun. 2003 Bell County and 2006 Rockcastle County are honorable mentions.
For Boyle County: My votes are:
1) Corbin 1977. The Hounds were one of the biggest teams I've ever seen, even against this era. Steve Bird was in the backfield and they broke open a close game after halftime to thoroughly dominate us in the 2nd half. Corbin lost the state title to Mayfield that year by 1 point.
2) Danville 1980. Sounds crazy I know. This was Duffy's first year at Danville and the Ads had a perfect wishbone QB and great Defense. Lost 3 games that year (Henry Clay, Tates Creek and a 20-14 loss in the District to Woodford who was unbeaten in the regular season. Ads QB was stopped literally inches from scoring the tying TD). Despite that they won their last 4 in a row and though were not in the playoffs they finished ranked #5 in AAA going into the post-season. Defense was superb. Did I mention they defeated the eventual AA State Champs, Corbin, that year as well? That's the type of team they had.
I'll have to ponder some others that came to Boyle through the years. :Thumbs:
Fort Knox Eagles, undefeated state champs in 1983 led by future Wildcat Darren Bilberry. They looked like a small college team with their size and speed.