[EKUAlum05]

- Can Belfry repeat behind returning the brunt of their defense that asserted itself as dominant during their playoff run?

- Will Central be back at the top, or will the loss of several talented defensive players put them in their second straight "down" year?

- Who will come out of the District 4? Bell, Corbin, or Wayne?


My Wayyyy Too Early 2014 3A Top 10:

1. Belfry- Should be very stout on defense... Oline should be solid but they must rebuild their backfield save a couple nice pieces.

2. Corbin- Redhounds return 8-9 Starters each way off a team who consistently was in the Top 10.. will the 2014 Redhounds resemble the team who started the season..or the team who finished it in 2013 though?

3. Wayne County- Cards lose a very talented Senior class..but their Junior Class is stout enough to keep them in the hunt.

4. Bell County- Bobcats offense was woeful at times, but they return considerable experience both ways.

5. Central- Yellowjackets defense was legit, but their offense struggled mightily. The Defense basically must be re-built.

6. Bourbon County- Colonels lose a very strong Senior Class but do have possibly the best player in 3A returning in Holman.. as well as Marqauze Hill

7. Pike Central- Hawks certainly were not playing amongst the 3A elite on defense, but their offense certainly was. PC returns most of their firepower if they can find a defense.

8. Mason County- O'Mara and Hill are a nice foundation to build off from a team who went 12-1.

9. Monroe County- Falcons rode a talented Sophomore class and saw a substantial dropoff in 2013.. a year later and Monroe should be back challenging

10. South Warren- The SW Defense was dominant all year but they never could quite muster the offensive firepower. Expect a dropoff..but still talented enough they should continue to remaina Top 10 team

[PRIDE101]

#2 and #4 is a shocker over Central and Bourbon. However ,I do not know what all they lost. Also, is there no one in the far west?

With this you are saying Corbin wins their district and Wayne 2nd, Bell finishing 3rd. That I do agree with.

[EKUAlum05]

#2 and #4 is a shocker over Central and Bourbon. However ,I do not know what all they lost. Also, is there no one in the far west?

With this you are saying Corbin wins their district and Wayne 2nd, Bell finishing 3rd. That I do agree with.

Central was not a very good offensive football team... even to the point they had to move their best defensive player to HB to generate any semblance of an offensive threat. Central's identity was defined by defense and if I am not mistaken they are losing 7 or 8 starters off that defense in addition to Francis..the aforementioned lone offensive threat.

Bourbon County loses their excellent QB, their two top WR's, the brunt of their line, and a good portion of their defense including Mitchell who was a phenomenal LB. What Bourbon does have back is one of the best RB's in the State in Holman.

I reserve the right to change my mind once the season approaches..but from the outside looking in I think AAA is a bit down in 2014.

- Belfry appears to be the clear cut favorite to open the season but they have to replace their QB, both HB's, and anyone who follows Belfry expects them to take a small step back from last year.

- Paducah Tilghman has heavy graduation losses and coaching turnover.

- Wayne County has heavy graduation losses including their superstar QB and most of their defense

- South Warren- Heavy graduation losses off a great defense... offense was not very good in 2013


With the exception of Belfry for the most part the graduation losses are substantial for all the top teams in 2013

Consequently, the teams who were in that 2nd Tier in 2013 seem to return a lot:
- Corbin, Bell, Pike Central, Monroe County, and Russell should all return the core of their teams
- Mason County was clearly in a second tier, but they return their QB and one of their top runners
- Teams like Lawrence County, Estill County, and Ft. Campbell should be improved

I see more parity in 3A in 2014.. in 2013 there were about 4-5 teams who distanced themselves..this year I think the pack catches up to the leaders a bit.

[TopCat]

I agree with none of it just b/c Pride said it. j/k

Not sure if the Bobcats should be #2 BUT they should certainly be above Wayne and Corbin. Bell returns everything. Wayne returns nothing. Will be very similiar to this year in reverse. Bell beat Corbin 7-0 this year and should have been worse so them over Bell is not very logical either??

The Pirates at #1 I agree with 100%. They are set to continue their very sucessful run.

[pjdoug]

I think the Redhounds will win their district.

[skully03]

Central was not a very good offensive football team... even to the point they had to move their best defensive player to HB to generate any semblance of an offensive threat. Central's identity was defined by defense and if I am not mistaken they are losing 7 or 8 starters off that defense in addition to Francis..the aforementioned lone offensive threat.

Bourbon County loses their excellent QB, their two top WR's, the brunt of their line, and a good portion of their defense including Mitchell who was a phenomenal LB. What Bourbon does have back is one of the best RB's in the State in Holman.

I reserve the right to change my mind once the season approaches..but from the outside looking in I think AAA is a bit down in 2014.

- Belfry appears to be the clear cut favorite to open the season but they have to replace their QB, both HB's, and anyone who follows Belfry expects them to take a small step back from last year.

- Paducah Tilghman has heavy graduation losses and coaching turnover.

- Wayne County has heavy graduation losses including their superstar QB and most of their defense

- South Warren- Heavy graduation losses off a great defense... offense was not very good in 2013


With the exception of Belfry for the most part the graduation losses are substantial for all the top teams in 2013

Consequently, the teams who were in that 2nd Tier in 2013 seem to return a lot:
- Corbin, Bell, Pike Central, Monroe County, and Russell should all return the core of their teams
- Mason County was clearly in a second tier, but they return their QB and one of their top runners
- Teams like Lawrence County, Estill County, and Ft. Campbell should be improved

I see more parity in 3A in 2014.. in 2013 there were about 4-5 teams who distanced themselves..this year I think the pack catches up to the leaders a bit.

I agree with everything you have said. Nothing else to add. Nice post.

[NoworLater]

Bourbon only loses 2 starting D Linemen and 2 O Linemen(the smallest at that) Holman and Hill should still have plenty of room to run.

[Downtown10]

Its only fitting for Belfry to win it all in 2014...

[goBIGblue82]

I agree with none of it just b/c Pride said it. j/k

Not sure if the Bobcats should be #2 BUT they should certainly be above Wayne and Corbin. Bell returns everything. Wayne returns nothing. Will be very similiar to this year in reverse. Bell beat Corbin 7-0 this year and should have been worse so them over Bell is not very logical either??

The Pirates at #1 I agree with 100%. They are set to continue their very sucessful run.

Bell and Corbin both struggled to move the ball at all, and Bell was lucky enough to score because of a blown assignment at the end of the game. The better team won that night but its absurd to say it should have been worst. It could have been 7-0 just as easily in Corbins favor.

[PaytoPlay]

I look for Lawrence Co. To take a step back. They lose their QB, RB, and FB to graduation,

[FBALL]

I believe Russell will take a step forward. I truly believe they will be significantly better this coming year and will challenge Mason for the district.

The year after watch out.

[PaytoPlay]

I agree that Russell should be a top 10 team this coming season.

Belfry really does return so many fine pieces on defense that I think it is fair to rank them #1. At the same time, gosh that is lofty expectation on a team replacing their QB, both tailbacks, and perhaps their game breaking SE (if Keaton Taylor takes snaps)

Offensively though I do look for the tremendous size up front they will bring next season to overpower 3a opponents. Hatfield will do what he does, if X Willis gets back to pre ACL level, #1 is warranted. Still, lots of questions on Pond Creek.

[FBALL]

Shew. One of these days Brlfry is going to hit a few years of average talent and Pond Creek may implode! Lol

It's been quite a run Brlfry has been on since 2000.

[PaytoPlay]

^ You only hope FBALL! This past years freshmen class and next years are stacked full of players. So it will be several more years of "up" times.

[FBALL]

Haha. I don't hope. I have a lot of respect for Belfry and the almost unprecedented run they have been on. It's really tough to sustain that level for that long. But it happens everywhere. That is a certainty.

I say that in this context. Russell has not had a losing season this millennium. Most schools would long for that kind of success. But because of what I consider a spoiled fan base and the fact that their two most bitter rivals have been up during the past 5 years while they have not, many Russell fans consider the last half decade a failure. If they are not contending for state titles there is something wrong. High expectations don't tolerate mediocrity.

[PRIDE101]

I agree with none of it just b/c Pride said it. j/k

Not sure if the Bobcats should be #2 BUT they should certainly be above Wayne and Corbin. Bell returns everything. Wayne returns nothing. Will be very similiar to this year in reverse. Bell beat Corbin 7-0 this year and should have been worse so them over Bell is not very logical either??

The Pirates at #1 I agree with 100%. They are set to continue their very sucessful run.

The Bobcats are not #2 they are #4, and that is way to high in 3A.

[PaytoPlay]

^ Tell us a little more about what Bourbon brings back to the table in 14'. It obviously is difficult to replace Pope/Cox and the WR's they lose, but as long as they are strong up front they will be just fine with those two running backs they return.

What about Garrard County? What kind of strength do they return for the upcoming season?

Fort Campbell? Trigg Co.?

[Tica]

I guess you never really know until fall, but I do not see much in far west 3A-1 at all. Ft. Campbell usually has some kids move in so that is always fluid to some extent but this year they were down. FC lost 14 seniors, but several skills return. Barring the unexpected, PT could be looking at (more) mediocrity and loses a bunch. Trigg and Webster are not expected to be breakout threats: Trigg's roster listed 12 seniors, not sure how many were starters. South Warren's roster listed 12 seniors. Not sure about Edmonson and Monroe.

[PRIDE101]

Sounds like you know more about Bourbon than I do. I think they should be #2 in East behind Belfry. I do think they play in the weakest district in 3A. They really need to play some teams like Lexington Catholic or Boyle, Us at knox or even Bell, to look at more of running teams that are pretty good to try to get ready for Belfry.

#1 Belfry
#2 Bourbon
#3 Corbin
#4 Wayne
#5 Pike Central
#6 Russell
#7 Mason
#8 Bell

Just to get some of Bells fans blood boiling!!!!! IDK Bell should be #5 in the eastern part of 3A . I know they are in the west, I am talking geographically, unlike the KHSAA brillant minds.

In the East. I do not know anything about teams out west.

[NoworLater]

I think Bourbon returns about 5-6 on both sides. As EKUAlum alluded to, the biggest loss IMO is Mitchell at LB, but I'm sure the rest of the region is happy Pope, Hilander and Johnson will also be big losses. There is a lot of young talent on the come up, have a very talented but raw frosh/JV athlete QBm and an 8th grade class that I've heard could be one of the best classes to come through. I think Bourbon is on the right track, have great feeder program going, and the community is becoming more interested in the program.

[Strikeout King]

Good post EKUAlumn. I enjoy reading all of your posts.

[EKUAlum05]

Monroe County is the dark horse to watch out for in AAA.

Monroe has been playing at a very high level in AAA until last season when they were very young. For those that remember they reached the Semi-Finals in 2012 and led Central most of the game until the Jackets came back late in the 4th for the narrow win. Their Sophomore class last year was the backbone of their team and they still fielded a competitive squad.

[WideRight05]

I think we will see a lot of flip-flopping in the AAA rankings this year in what appears to be an evenly balanced class. I would say Central, Belfry, Wayne, and possibly Bourbon will move around in the top rankings. A team like Bell County could be a nice surprise for 2014.

[Coachdad]

Central will re-load they NEVER have a problem attracting talent , for anybody to leave them unranked would be a farce at best.

[Go Big Red!]

It's going to be a battle in our district. I know Wayne lost a ton but I don't see them returning to their loosing ways next year. They have a very good coach and that's half the battle in highschool. Corbin will be loaded up with all of their skilled positions returning. They lose a few linemen and db's but should have plenty fighting for their spots. Bell will be Bell they have down years in which they finish second in the district but I don't ever count them out. One good thing is that Corbin gets Wayne and Bell at Corbin this year so if Corbin plans on doing anything in the district then 2014 should be the time.

[Jumper Dad]

Belfry and Central will be in the mix at the end again. I expect a Belfry Repeat as 3A Champ.

Corbin as usual this time of year is a top 3 or 4 program.

Wayne will win that District again.

[Bobcatsrocks]

Bell will win their district and make a strong stride to the championship to win it all

[proud44pirate]

Can't see belfry in the top 10. They are way to young, wait I don't think we can sell that again this year. But in all honesty this will be one of the youngest teams belfry has ever had. Yes we do return most of the team but they are still young.

[pjdoug]

I expect Corbin to win their district

[oldhound70s]

I expect Corbin to win their district

As much as I hate to admit it, Bell owns Steve Jewell and Willard Farris. I honestly feel both teams will be equal next year and coaching will win out. IMO, Corbin had more talent this year but coaching got them beat at Bell. Wayne will be the number three team in the district. I see Bell at about 4 or 5 in 3 A with Corbin right behind them. Corbin loses in the second round of playoffs and Bell loses in third round. Same old story for Corbin.