[Patriot1]

It was really nice to meet and speak to Patriot1 and PHSforever. You guys are tremendous men.

The pleasure was all mine and I love meeting you and nut. Great group of young men at Raceland and really enjoyed talking with some of the players.

[PHSForever]

Congrats to pikeville the better team Won , love the heart of the Rams it would’ve been very easy to pack it in being down 24-0 at half but they came out swinging super proud of the entire team .. and very nice jester by patriot to make his way to Raceland team give my son a hug , congratulate him and introduce himself . Very classy

Nut, those young men on Racelands side made it a hell of a game. I’m still coming down from nerves. I know we go back and forth on here, but definitely an outstanding team and program y’all have.

[PHSForever]

It was really nice to meet and speak to Patriot1 and PHSforever. You guys are tremendous men.

Thank you Doc. Great to meet you as well. Sorry we didn’t get to talk more but you’re a classy guy. Hope it was injury free for y’all tonight.

[sidelinedoc]

We play you guys game 3 in the regular season next year and then again in game 14. I know you won’t have anyone playing but I hope you and Patriot1 are still coming to games.

[RAM-A-DEVIL]

The call in the 4th with the fullback up the middle sank our ship. If not for that all the momentum was with Raceland. Pikeville had no answer until that happened. Great play call at that particular time because the game was getting away from pikeville quickly. Hope the mountain putty tats win it all!

[RAM-A-DEVIL]

Rams were absolutely lost in the first half. No blocking,no tackling, receivers running the wrong routes. What could go wrong did go wrong in the 1st half. We needed a map to get back to the locker room at halftime.

[HAIL PIKEVILLE!]

Two heavyweights slugging it out. Raceland never quit. That’s a big reflection on the type of kids they are and their coaching staff. I’ll agree with you Nut, Lewis is super fast. He flat turned it on on the Kick return. Congrats Raceland on a great season, I’m sure you guys will be right back in the mix next year. Now about the Panthers, how about Jon Collum? We knew he was a defensive star but that kid ran like someone stole his lunch. Great effort by tons of Panthers tonight . Celebrate for the night, then back to work . Someone just dropped the ole 96er on your plate and you’ve eaten everything but the fat and gristle......You ain’t done yet!

Big Bull Chase Me!!! 😂

[Patriot1]

We play you guys game 3 in the regular season next year and then again in game 14. I know you won’t have anyone playing but I hope you and Patriot1 are still coming to games.

I will mine is a junior hope it works out that way can’t wait to come to Raceland

[BuckeyeRam]

Great game rams showed a ton of heart in that second half agree with ram devil that run up the middle was the back breaker that kid ran with a ton of purpose on that play I wish pikeville the best next week I will be pulling for them I sat at the 50 yard line with a buddy of mine from pikeville u all have some great fans best of wishes next week again 👍👍

[PHSForever]

We play you guys game 3 in the regular season next year and then again in game 14. I know you won’t have anyone playing but I hope you and Patriot1 are still coming to games.

I will be at each game I can. Still a Panther forever.

[that's right]

I go to all of Racelands Games and always enjoy playing Pikeville. I talked to many of their fans last night during the game and they as always were classy! The way programs should be. If Paintsville had a fraction of that class, class 1A would be the best! Congrats Pikeville, you were the best team last night! Go win that 5th! Proud of the Raceland players for never giving up!

[Patriot1]

We play you guys game 3 in the regular season next year and then again in game 14. I know you won’t have anyone playing but I hope you and Patriot1 are still coming to games.

Hey Doc and Nut I forgot to mention in my other post about being at the future games ( and it was awful on my part) I also have a grandson that will be a freshman next year so you guys will have to deal with me for four more years and him. So hopefully I wil be able to say on here GO PANTHERS!!! For four more years.

[Slic Ric]

Pikeville ... hats off to you. Got up big & withstood the late RAM run. Proud of my RAMS for not rolling over & quitting when you got up 24-0. Great atmosphere to play in! Just wish we could have won, but the better team won last night.

Good luck against Beechwood. Represent the East by bringing home the big trophy! One day we will get there & win one hopefully.

Every Pikeville person I encountered last night was classy & respectful. Wish all HS Games were like that.

Look forward to coming back next season & doing it all over again!

[Slic Ric]

Pikeville ... hats off to you. Got up big & withstood the late RAM run. Proud of my RAMS for not rolling over & quitting when you got up 24-0. Great atmosphere to play in! Just wish we could have won, but the better team won last night.

Good luck against Beechwood. Represent the East by bringing home the big trophy! One day we will get there & win one hopefully.

Every Pikeville person I encountered last night was classy & respectful. Wish all HS Games were like that.

Look forward to coming back next season & doing it all over again!

Ashland Daily Independent Sports coverage of last night's game.

[Colley9288]

This is a game that I would've loved to have been at.

In typical Pikeville fashion, they come out and just take it to the opponent. In typical Raceland fashion, they never quit and show why they are so great and well-coached by showing a ton of heart by making a game of it.

Both communities should be very proud. Bet it was a good one! Hat's off to both programs!

[Scotty_Bronson]

I've had time to get over getting whipped lol. So I went back and looked at some stats from last year compared to this year. As last year our passing game was not existent at times. This year (fridays numbers excludes bc they havent posted yet) Heighton completed 111 of 176 passes for just under 1900 yards 25 TDs and 4 ints. Last year (excluding the championship game due to excluding the last game for Heighton) Black competed 141 of 237 for just over 1600 yards 13 TDs and 10 ints. So we actually attempted 61 fewer passes this season, but doubled our Passing TD total and had 6 fewer ints. This is not a comparison of the 2 QBs, it's a look at the offense as a whole. Our rushing game was almost the same in terms of production. Last year Adkins rushed for 1000 and Lacks just under 800. While this year Lacks rushed for almost 1130 and Adkins for almost 700 in 3 less games. So arguably could have had 2 1000 yard rushers. Our passing game was obviously more productive and effecient this year, and I would venture to say the fewer pass attempts were due to relying on the experience at RB and not putting as much weight on a first year Soph starting QBs arm. But against our best competition this year, Ashland, Somerset, Paintsville, and Pikeville, our numbers dont look that much different in terms of run vs the pass. We will lose our backfield next year, so the pressure will now lie on Heghtons arm and what he can do with his legs, he will be our leading returning rusher. Does anyone expect a discrepancy in those stats or will it still be a grind it out philosophy? In any event I'm proud of the boys this year and they fought like crazy to replicate last years results and make it to Lexington, it just wasn't in the cards. I just found it interesting to see that in terms of attempts, we had less this year than last season, but in big games, the results werent all that different. Imo, that's the next step we have to take to get to a consistent championship caliber team. A defense wins championships, but when the defense is on the field for almost a 3rd of the game, it will eventually break after being bent that long. Gotta be more explosive offensively imo.

[anotherfootballnut]

In the tougher games Racelands offense strugggjes I know competition is better just wonder if this is the offense to take Raceland where they wanna go , I like a 2 back set more so than 1 but not sure that’s the answer either just wondering

[Scotty_Bronson]

Im not either and that's Kind of what I was thinking too. And really outside of a few jets, we really dont attack the edges of the defense at all with the old green bay power sweep type plays. I really expected us to utilize a similar offense to the Carver/Denton backfield this year, but we didnt. Very little off tackle or sweep running. From the outside looking in though, it's hard to know if the backs are simply taking it inside bc that's what they see or if thats where the call is. Bc you probably can count on one hand the amount of times you saw us run something outside of c gap and it wasnt a screen or jet sweep.

[Scotty_Bronson]

We did throw in some traps and sweeps here in there in the playoffs and they were successful just didnt use them much.

[RAMDAD50]

If I’m putting things on a board as a coach to look at during the off season the number one thing is blocking! We just don’t do it very well! Our mind set of not blocking the backside and hoping that our back can get through the line is silly! We don’t possess the speed to had the ball off five yards in the backfield and try to beat a backside lb or a down lineman through the front side hole.We struggle putting points up against better teams because our coach calls a very tight game! It’s just the way he is and that’s never going to change! The second thing is special teams! I’m not even talking about kicking I’m off asking about returning kick offs! Look...we played some bad teams this year and we had one kick off return for a td??? That tells me we don’t spend time on blocking assignments...we had way to much speed to only return one kick off for six against the compatiation we played! That and our over all return yardage on kick offs was very displeasing!Bottom line...we will never be so good on defense that we can put up 14 points against a good team and win a state championship! We have to be more creative with the football and we need to attack more... not waiting for the other team to make a mistake

[RAMDAD50]

I know some fans will see this and take what we are saying the wrong way! We are just putting thoughts out there.Im very proud of what we have accomplished these past two years but sometimes you have to looks at your program without being a homer and ask what can you fix! There is always room for improvement and I believe we will keep getting better!Good year boys ....we won more then we lost and that’s more then most could ever wish for! Now we have to sit through this god awful thing called basketball season !

[Scotty_Bronson]

I agree. And before anyone gets on the whole "coaches dont want ur 2 cents" I know good and well they ain't reading these boards looking for help not are they on these boards saying. "Well these ppl just dont get it"...i onow some coaches have been or do get on here, but in the grand scheme if things, we r just has beens looking for somethin to chat about. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt each and every coach is doing all they can to do what's best for the program and I am proud to have each and everyone of them on our staff.

[bac2369]

I will give my 2 cents after I get back from picking up my son in Paintsville.

[RAMDAD50]

I will give my 2 cents after I get back from picking up my son in Paintsville.

Good ...maybe we should start a thread! What we expect from the east next year

[bac2369]

Good ...maybe we should start a thread! What we expect from the east next year

We will, but my 2 Cents will be on this game.

[bac2369]

After watching this game online I thought Judd Adkins never got a single carry in the first half but I was wrong. He had only 2 carries. I think he needed more carries and him and Lacks splitting those carries. I’ve criticized Raceland for years by not adjusting to there strengths. I think I saw maybe two passes in the middle of the field where I myself think Pikeville is a little vulnerable. They completed 1 and the other I believe was incomplete.

The second half they played much better distributing the ball better. They also used more of the two back sets which works to there strength in my opinion. They mixed those runs up with the quarterback and the backs up he middle and the after getting the defense to assume middle they called a run to the outside which give them the 2nd touchdown.They then capalized on a Pikeville mistake on the kickoff then turned it in to some point thanks to the running game and cutting the lead 24/19. After that responses with the fullback setting up the last two scores of the game. Raceland played hard to battle back and left it all out on the field. Pikeville seemed to always make big plays down the stretch in big games to give them the lead and the MO.

But congrats to both teams on excellent seasons and can’t wait to see how next year unfolds.

[Panther Thunder]