Bluegrassrivals

Whats your thoughts? What does your team return?

I think with Bwood losing a lot, Russellville and Holy Cross have to feel good about their chances.

mysonis55 Wrote:I think with Bwood losing a lot, Russellville and Holy Cross have to feel good about their chances.

You know what... Russellville returns a lot and I like there chances.

Look at the past few years. They are well coached. They always have lots of speed and the size to mix in. They have been right on the cusp of making it to BG for several years now. Last year they took us to the wire in the regular season game, which we barely won 16-8 due to a stupid personal foul. This year they challenged Bwood for the entire night losing by 9. Holy Cross is always big and well coached. They also gave Bwood all they wanted.

In the East I like Pikeville as the favorite again. They lose a big senior class including Pugh, but their QB is only a sophomore and has a handful of recievers that are all very good route runners, quick, and catch almost everything thrown to them.

Others I consider contenders are the same as most years.

Raceland-Should be quite a bit faster and this seasons Freshman class will have a greater impact as sophomores. Another big senior class will have to show more leadership, not only on the field, but in the weightrool during the offseason. Lots of changes need to be made to get the attittude of Raceland football back to where it needs to be. The tallent is there, but the leadership of the upperclassmen has to be there as well. They will still be in the thick of it all.

Hazard-Will be young again, but a bit more experienced. Smith is a really good rb and the Bulldogs were absolutely hammered by injuries, I look for them to get healthier and be able to challenge to win their district.

Williamsburg-Similar to Hazard, were very young this year, but started putting things together late in the season. They dont have the atheletes they had during their historic 2 year regin in the east, but they are well coached, and I look for them to win their district and be alot more competitive in the post season.

Paris, Paintsville, and the west i will give my thoughts later on. Breaks over, gotta get back to work....looking foward to another fun year of talkin smack with u goobers on here!

I would imagine Frankfort will get back to their normal selves also. Crittenden Co was awfully young and should be improved next year, too.

My buddy Smashmouth used to coach a bunch of the athletes that were the difference makers for Crittendon. It is my understanding from talking to him, that all those boys graduate this year.

One RB class A needs to keep an eye on, is Pikeville's Jesse Sparks. He'll be a Sophomore next year. This is one tough young man ! After another year in the weight room, he's going to be bigger, and stronger, and If he ends up anywhere near what Daric Pugh was, it will be great.

Pikeville represents the East again until someone proves otherwise.

HAIL PIKEVILLE! Wrote:Pikeville represents the East again until someone proves otherwise.

agree, as stated in other posts Pikeville has a QB that is very impressive and with his size looks to me should be a highly recruited football player. Not sure what Panthers have coming back on their line but until they lose they are class-A champs.

Harlan brings back a bunch

As long as Bataille is back at QB I like Pikeville's chances.

Very good game manager and very accurate. Has a great calm disposition as well.

Defending Champs will always get my #1 spot untill someone can beat them.

1.Pikeville
2 Russellville
3 I just don't no.
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:Cheerlead

Please tell me Daric Pugh has offers?!

Bataille was a surprise in the Belfry game. You just knew that young kid was the right fit for Pikeville. Even if Pikeville was being dominated in that game you could see he was cool under pressure.

Not looking forward to facing him the next two seasons!

AtlPirateFan Wrote:Bataille was a surprise in the Belfry game. You just knew that young kid was the right fit for Pikeville. Even if Pikeville was being dominated in that game you could see he was cool under pressure.

Not looking forward to facing him the next two seasons!

Yardage wasn't lopsided. Would have liked to have seen the teams play later in the year when Pikeville was a totally different team.

On a side note some Belfry fans cannot comment on an unrelated subject without throwing in a Belfry plug. lol.

Pikeville fan: "Check out that sunset!"
Belfry fan: "We beat Pikeville this year. Yeah that sunset is beautiful."

Pikeville fan: "What time is it?"
Belfry fan: "We beat Pikeville this year. It's a quarter to 6." nicker:

Raceland should contend , they have a really nice class that will be seniors next year and won't have the internal issues that popped up this year, they will miss Kane Snyder and Kyle Jamison those are two spots that someone will have to step up and take.

Paintsville loses some really good players but should be in the mix. Only 4 seniors on the defense with the Dline having a couple experienced kids who rotated in and played well. lot of youth on that defense this season that should be well seasoned by next campaign. Offensively there are probably a few more questions. we saw what the absence of Kash did to the offensive variety, but the team did not have much time to prepare considering much of the offense went through him. lots of skill is back though Phelps, Morris, the Allen boys, Grace, Spencer, and some other young guys who looked good when they had their chance. The Oline/Dline is where to watch, if the Tigers sure those up could be in great Shape next season

Big Five-0- Wrote:One RB class A needs to keep an eye on, is Pikeville's Jesse Sparks. He'll be a Sophomore next year. This is one tough young man ! After another year in the weight room, he's going to be bigger, and stronger, and If he ends up anywhere near what Daric Pugh was, it will be great.

Charles, Sparks, and the speedster Rhodes? Pick your poison....

I think Paris had their run. I dont expect them to duplicate this seasons success on a consistent basis. Paintsville returns alot of tallent and had some youth getting good minutes upfront, my question is "who will be Kash". Who will be THAT guy. Raceland has to answer the same question with the loss of Snyder offensively and Jamison defensively. That district should be wide open, I lean toward Raceland winning that one, but it should be yet another tough district with the winner likely going to the semis.

Bishop Brossart has a good thing going. This season should be a major boost in the programs numbers. Good staff, good fan base, i look for them to be in the mix as well.

Imo, Russellville has the best shot at BG as it stands right now out west. Beechwood will have their say, but I think Rville returns the most and is a very well coached team. The loss of Beechwoods three headed monster will be hard to replace.

Pikeville imo, is the favorite. Dont even have to give the "until proven other wise", they lose Pugh, but have a kid that will be a soph, that I expect to put up Pugh-esk numbers by the time he is a Jr. They have a nice Jr class from top to bottom.

Goina be another great season of 1A football. For now, im just glad that the title resides in the east and we can stop hearing about how much better the west is than everyone else.

i think "that guy" on Offense is without a doubt Phelps, defensively a leader will step up and there are a lot of candidates, first to mind is Morris , very physical player that should be ready to carry a bigger load.

Kash was a great player but I think the team will miss his intangibles the most. I think Paintsville will miss Kash's leadership and the energy he brought. He was one of those players that brought excitement and swagger to the team and he made everyone around him better. I look for Paintsville to have another good season but I don't think they will be dominate like they were this season. I think it might take the first half of the season to find their identity and they will hit their stride in time for the district games.

HAIL PIKEVILLE! Wrote:Charles, Sparks, and the speedster Rhodes? Pick your poison....

Agree. And what a combination !! When Sparks got some touches early on, he remind me so much of Daric Pugh with his toughness. Already looking forward to next season. Gonna enjoy this first, Though.

Brossart is a sleeping giant. I expect them to step up and challenge at some point. Next year could be that year.

I wouldn't want to play at Brossart , Raceland was at least 21 points better than them but the Refs kept it closer

I would love to see Raceland make a run next year but I'm not sure if we can. We always have good teams but just can't seem to put it together to take that next step forward. This year's team seemed to be missing leadership. In the past the Rams have had players who the team could rally around and the team this past season seemed to be lacking that element. Hopefully someone will step up this offseason to be the leader of this team. If not, it could be another disappointing year because the east is going to be very tough again.

I think the way Raceland ended their season with an (almost) upset of Painstville (scored the go ahead touchdown with about 2 minutes left but called back on terrible offensive pass interference call) they have a good chance to carry that success over into 2016. Bailey Walker is going to be a beast. Isaac Wallace will solidify the line and Nathaniel will sure up some things in the off season with coach Grizzle. Jared Manis will fill Jamison's spot (almost the same player with a little more size). I want to say Raceland is going to get their first win at Ashland since 2008 but I don't want to jinx us.

I think alot of Racelands success will be determined by how they develop the sophomore skill guys next year. Hunter Lacks and Judd Adkins need to hit the weights hard and be ready. There is some good tallent and size in the will be freshman class, but all either undersized or a bit Too slow to be major impact players. Jacob Wallace (Younger wallace brother...theres one more in jfl), Noah Davidson (i believe is his last name...big lineman played jr high ball as a 6th grader), the Massey kid is tiny but has the heart of a freakin lion, Pennington kid is a hardnosed runner, and Landon Mauk (older brother Logan should battle to replace Alex Neice on the OL), Landon is a good sized kid (5'8" 170ish with a big frame) with good hands, just needs to work on his speed. Thise kids should make for a good Frosh/JV squad.

On Varsity, I expect Manis, Logan Mauk, and Justin Fairchild to fill the holes left on the OL/DL, depth SHOULDNT be an issue upfront.

Damon Black, imo, really needs to step up. With Davidson at QB now, Damon is too good of sn athelete to sit on the sidelines.

In all, lots of promise again for the Rams, but their always is and we fall short. Next season starts NOW. Hopefully these kids and the rest of the team not playong basketball are already in the weightroom and getting ready. Lord knows the rest of the East will be. Can we just fast foward to next August?

A push off is a push off. The ref had the best angle. If the receiver had not pushed off it would have been a interception.
:truestory:

BigMelon63 Wrote:A push off is a push off. The ref had the best angle. If the receiver had not pushed off it would have been a interception.
:truestory:

If you watched the film, the defensive player held the entire way down the field, if any flag should have be thrown, it should have been defensive pass interference. Really a no call, but that's water under the bridge. Next fall will be upon these players before they know it and I expect to see Raceland back to where these seniors were their 8th grade year, competing for a State Title. Their are some excellent athletes in the underclassmen as well, but the senior class is laden with talent and they will have the Rams right back in the thick of things.