[LWC]

What team or teams will surprise many of us with their success or lack thereof?

[Strikeout King]

everyone is counting out Estill because of the Talent they lost but they will be better than most expect

[PaintsvilleTigerfan]

Paintsville should do a little bit better than the last two years.

[Mountain pride 10]

The Harlan Green Dragons may blow up this fall, I have been waiting on this group to get to this point for 5 years. This group may get the distinction of being the best, that longtime coach Donahue has had, during his time at HHS. The parts are there, the staff is talented and sound, only three weeks to go to get started. I hope that the kids realize what they are capable of, only time will tell.

[The Contrarian]

I believe that Sheldon Clark will do somewhat better than most think. I remember reading a post, on this forum, quite a while ago, where the poster thought they would be lucky to win three or four games in 2011. It seems that most feel this will be a down year for SC.

Granted, they lost a large group of seniors last year, but that can apply to many teams. Thus that puts one in the position of having to rebuild, and I think SC is working hard on that aspect.

Also, we can look at the glass as half-full, because SC does return some pretty fair athletes. So, we shall see as the 2011 season progresses.

[belldad2011]

bell ,everybody thinks we lost so much last year we are done keep thinking that way please.

[The Contrarian]

bell ,everybody thinks we lost so much last year we are done keep thinking that way please.

belldad2011, Bell has a fantastic tradition, and I believe that a team, such as Bell, that loses a large group of their players to graduation is not adversely affected. Because of tradition, a good feeder system, and good coaching,
I believe that Bell County will have a very successful team again in 2011.

[RoShamBo]

bell ,everybody thinks we lost so much last year we are done keep thinking that way please.

Not everybody. I expect them to drop off a little but they have been head and shoulders over the rest of the mountains so I don't see anyone jumping them. Bell will be Bell.

[King Leonidas]

Perry Central will be a team that comes out of no where!!! They have all the athletes and a tough schedule. This will be a different Perry Central team that anyone has seen!!!

[EKUAlum05]

bell ,everybody thinks we lost so much last year we are done keep thinking that way please.

Anyone I have ever seen has Bell as a Top 3 team in 3A and a prime contender for the State Title?

[tebow]

True Under Radar Teams

Betsy Layne, Allen Central, Leslie County

Also would say Phelps. They were junior strong!

[Tica]

In the west, I would look for Crittenden County to be tough in AA but not a lot was predicted for them this year. Also, don't count out Reidland High School and underrated running back Collin Spink.

[Dragonsdad]

True Under Radar Teams

Betsy Layne, Allen Central, Leslie County

Also would say Phelps. They were junior strong!

You gotta include Harlan in that list Tebow. This could be the best team we have had in twenty years. Next years team could possibly be the best in our history. We were a team of mostly sophomores last year and when this team realised they could play football they had flashes of excellence. we took Hazard into the 4th only down 1 score.Not many teams Hazard played last year can say that. Then we absolutely destroyed an undefeated Pineville team. Sophomore mistakes hurt us bad at pikeville in the second round of the playoffs. But,everybody,except three seniors,are back. Our quarterback set the school record for most td passes,6, in a game and tied the record for most td passes ,25,in a season,as a sophomore. Confidence is not a problem with this team anymore. I think people are going to be amazed at the improvement this year. Alot of teams will under estimate us early in the season and that could be a mistake for them. Our strength of schedule will have us ready for the playoffs this year and I feel we will give Hazard a much better game this time around. Who knows what the outcome will be,but it could be great.

[LClion4life]

Lewis County will be a lot better than everybody thinks.

[tebow]

Harlan Ind. will be tough. Coach Donahue always has a good team. I think you are right they could be that team to beat in district if they can get over the Hazard hump.

Good Luck

[HDE]

Best in 20 years?
Harlan could make a long run in the Class A playoffs if they can get past Hazard, but I don't know if they could physically match up with some of the teams of the 90s. I don't know who would tackle T.J. Dunson or block Thomas Goss. The Gary Greer-Frank Shope-Timbo Noe group from a few years later was awfully good, too.

[Dragonsdad]

Best in 20 years?
Harlan could make a long run in the Class A playoffs if they can get past Hazard, but I don't know if they could physically match up with some of the teams of the 90s. I don't know who would tackle T.J. Dunson or block Thomas Goss. The Gary Greer-Frank Shope-Timbo Noe group from a few years later was awfully good, too.

I think even you will be surprised this year HDE. You quoted some names and they were good players,but I don't think any of the teams of the names you mentioned could have even come close to standing up to the teams of the early 80's. T.j. Dunston,Goss,Greer,Shope and Noe together couldn't have stopped the '80,'81,'82 and maybe even the '83 teams that Harlan had.Imo,those were the best teams Harlan ever had. I'd put Duncan Jacobs up against Dunston any day and Vic Mills against Thomas Goss and John Lutrell or Tony Noble against Frank Shope and Timbo Noe and all those guys,among others to numerous to mention, were on the same team. Those were the days when you didn't get a chance at the playoffs if you didn't win the district. Harlan played for a regional title in '80 and in '82 and '83 lost to Cumberland by very slim margins in absolute dog fights and cumberland went on to be runner's up in the state. During that 4 year stretch Harlan only lost 3 regular season games. All 3 against great Cumberland teams. Respectfully,HDE,I don't mean to give a history lesson,but, I think this years and next years teams may just rival those teams of the early '80's. I could be wrong,but I played on those early teams and know a little something about it. Enough to compare. We'll just have to see as the season goes.

[Dragonsdad]

HDE, I want to add that Hazard is a great team and this years team may not get by them. But they will be much improved over last season. They will play with an agression level unmmatched in many years at Harlan. Imo, that and experience were the aspects that we lacked last season. Coach Lutrell saw to that in spring practice. The team in the spring that I saw would have destroyed the team from last season. Defensively especially. He will see to it that they are agressive,very agressive,this season. This truly is a special group of kids and I think they will achieve much this season and next. If they don't then they've missed a great chance.

[lion #1]

how are you so sure this team harlan team will be this good?

[Stardust]

Campbell County. Steve Lickert has a solid team to take over and with so many 2011 graduates no one will expect the Camels to do much. He has already put a discipline into a team that had very little. I expect CCHS to surprise a lot of teams this year.

[Dragonsdad]

how are you so sure this team harlan team will be this good?

I'm not sure of anything Lion#1. But in my opinion this years team has all the building blocks to build a great team. Nobody said we were going to win the state title or anything. We certainly don't have to win a state title to be the best team in 20 years or possibly ever. Pretty much just win the region and 1 maybe. I do think we could win the region and still not have the best team in the schools history. I'm just sayin' that all the parts are there and I feel we are going to do something special. But it's going to take a lot of hard work to get there. I just hope all the kids feel the same as I do. GO DRAGONS!!!!!

[HDE]

I think even you will be surprised this year HDE. You quoted some names and they were good players,but I don't think any of the teams of the names you mentioned could have even come close to standing up to the teams of the early 80's. T.j. Dunston,Goss,Greer,Shope and Noe together couldn't have stopped the '80,'81,'82 and maybe even the '83 teams that Harlan had.Imo,those were the best teams Harlan ever had. I'd put Duncan Jacobs up against Dunston any day and Vic Mills against Thomas Goss and John Lutrell or Tony Noble against Frank Shope and Timbo Noe and all those guys,among others to numerous to mention, were on the same team. Those were the days when you didn't get a chance at the playoffs if you didn't win the district. Harlan played for a regional title in '80 and in '82 and '83 lost to Cumberland by very slim margins in absolute dog fights and cumberland went on to be runner's up in the state. During that 4 year stretch Harlan only lost 3 regular season games. All 3 against great Cumberland teams. Respectfully,HDE,I don't mean to give a history lesson,but, I think this years and next years teams may just rival those teams of the early '80's. I could be wrong,but I played on those early teams and know a little something about it. Enough to compare. We'll just have to see as the season goes.

I'm pretty good with history, too, and I agree those were great teams. I didn't mention those teams though because we were talking about the past 20 years. I agree that the 82 and 83 teams were the best I've seen. I think the 68 team may be as good or better though because I think they tied Lynch that year and Lynch won the Class A state championship. It was brutal just getting to the playoffs then.
I think this could be a good Harlan team, but I don't know if it's a good idea to put that kind of pressure on them. Just winning six or seven games would be an improvement.

[jetpilot]

Color me skeptical on the Harlan hype. They lost 7 games last year by an average score of 45-16. They will have to improve by leaps and bounds to be considered a decent team.

[QBCoach]

Franklin County High School in 5A will end up bighting a few on the rear end this season.

Led by a ton of skill kids. This team is my pick to win the East in 5A.

[Dragonsdad]

You are right,HDE,6 or 7 games would be an improvement for a team that just came off a season like they had as far as the wins and losses column goes. But,if you were close to the team you could see that something happened during the Allen Central game,I believe it was,and it brought this group of kids to the realization that they could play at a higher level. I know the old saying "woulda,coulda,shoulda" but this team really could have won,I believe,3 more games than they did (Lynn Camp,Williamsburg and Lee Va.). I think they realized that after the Pineville game. It took them that long to come together as a team. Now,I don't want to put any undue pressure on this team by shooting for Bowling Green. But,I do think they should set high goals for themselves. I think these guys could go 6-3 in regular season and still be a powerful team in the playoffs because of the tough schedule they have. There's alot of hype going on about this team in the Harlan circle and I think these guys can live up to it. Because of last season's record,this team is going to have to earn thier respect on the field and I think they will.

[HDE]

I think even you will be surprised this year HDE. You quoted some names and they were good players,but I don't think any of the teams of the names you mentioned could have even come close to standing up to the teams of the early 80's. T.j. Dunston,Goss,Greer,Shope and Noe together couldn't have stopped the '80,'81,'82 and maybe even the '83 teams that Harlan had.Imo,those were the best teams Harlan ever had. I'd put Duncan Jacobs up against Dunston any day and Vic Mills against Thomas Goss and John Lutrell or Tony Noble against Frank Shope and Timbo Noe and all those guys,among others to numerous to mention, were on the same team. Those were the days when you didn't get a chance at the playoffs if you didn't win the district. Harlan played for a regional title in '80 and in '82 and '83 lost to Cumberland by very slim margins in absolute dog fights and cumberland went on to be runner's up in the state. During that 4 year stretch Harlan only lost 3 regular season games. All 3 against great Cumberland teams. Respectfully,HDE,I don't mean to give a history lesson,but, I think this years and next years teams may just rival those teams of the early '80's. I could be wrong,but I played on those early teams and know a little something about it. Enough to compare. We'll just have to see as the season goes.

Duncan Jacobs was one of the greatest athletes in school history, but I don't know if he could beat Dunson as a running back. I'd be interested to hear what J.B. Donahue says about that one. I think Thomas Goss could have played/starred on any team in Harlan history.
How many guys on Harlan's current roster could break into the starting lineup of those 81-82 teams?

[wildcats fan]

Pineville is under my radar

[Dragonsdad]

Duncan Jacobs was one of the greatest athletes in school history, but I don't know if he could beat Dunson as a running back. I'd be interested to hear what J.B. Donahue says about that one. I think Thomas Goss could have played/starred on any team in Harlan history.
How many guys on Harlan's current roster could break into the starting lineup of those 81-82 teams?

I think without a doubt that Dakota Morris could have started on the '83 team he would have made a great wingback and if we'd have had Ty Saragas at QB it would have really freed Duncan Jacobs up to do more with his abilities and it would have given us that bit of a passing game that we could have used to set up the run. At Leslie co. in '83,Duncan,instead of calling a play just told us linemen to block left and said "I'm going right for a touchdown" and sure enough he did for like 60 or 70 yards. He was the only back that I ever played with that had that ability. In '82 he had never played defense before and at Laurel co. Coach McCreary put him in late in the game at safety and he ran an interception back for a score that proved to be the winning score of the game. He was a very special player that you don't see very often. As for as others that come to mind that could have played on those teams I would have to say that Ryan Jones may not have started but could have played quite a bit. Maybe Overbay but because of the injuries we still haven't seen what he is capable of. Also, as far as the '81 team goes I'm not sure if any of these guys could have played and in who's place would you put Dunston,Vic Mills,or Goss,John Lutrell or Rozell Hollingsworth or mabey Kelly Raglin but don't get me wrong those guys were of the same kind of calibur as just about every one of our skilled players. From '80 to '83 our line averaged about 6'2'' 265 across the front 5 accept maybe our centers Mark Thompson who was like 5'11'' 300 or Will Adkins who was like 6' 220. Those days are long gone at Harlan. I also think those days are long gone in high school football in general. Harlan has some players that have alot of ability they were just too young for it to really show last season. This season should prove to be much better.

[SlantStrong]

What team or teams will surprise many of us with their success or lack thereof?

Morgan county will have the best team since that 8-4 team that Randy Wood coached in 2004. Look for at least 8 wins for Morgan this season minimum. The entire team is back.

[SlantStrong]

Leslie county will have a solid year.