[jetpilot]

Here's one guy's (Belfry fan) opinion:

A few locks:

Already mentioned
QB Tim Couch, Leslie County
WR Gerad Parker, Lawrence County
SE Rick Kestner, Belfry
RB Arliss Beach, Ashland
RB JJ Jude, Johnson Central
OL Nathan McPeek, Russell


Other Names
DE James Ramey, Belfry (Played in NFL)
CB David Jones, Belfry (Cup of coffee with Ravens after UK)
DT Ray Horton, Belfry
OL Cole Bentley, Belfry
OL Austin Dotson, Belfry
ATH Doug Howard, Belfry

ATH Steve Bailey, Pikeville
WR Jeremiah Akers, Pikeville
RB Brent Coleman, Pikeville

RB Michael West, Lawrence County
DB Dante Wright, Lawrence County

QB Freddie Maggard, Cumberland
DL George Massey, Cumberland

ATH Seth Hyden, Prestonsburg
DL Jeremy Caudill, Prestonsburg
RB John Ortega, Prestonsburg


DB Tony Mayes, Paintsville (Played a few years in NFL)
ATH Kash Daniel, Paintsville
QB Joey Couch, Paintsville


ATH Juan Thomas, Ashland

RB Josh Gross, Russell
ATH Kasey Clark, Russell

DL John Rader, Breathitt County
RB Channing Fugate, Breathitt County
RB Jonathan Chapman, Breathitt County

WR John Olinger, Hazard

LB Durrell White, Bell County/Middlesboro
RB Shawn Robbins, Bell County

RB Chris Jennings, Fairview (Played at Arizona and some NFL run)

DL Joey Stepp, Sheldon Clark

K Aaron Pettry, Raceland

Steve Bird, Corbin

Jason Leger, Rockcastle County

[jetpilot]

Thoughts?

A lot of Pikeville guys better than the Belfry guys IMO:

Mark Littrell (Vanderbilt)
Bob Shurtleff (captain on UK teams that went to bowl games and won)
Neal Smith (Vandy, all-SEC, drafted by Dallas Cowboys)
Bobby Deramus
Greg Hackney
Chick Huffman
Chase Gibson
and many others

But will be a great thread and since it's a long time until football starts all opinions encouraged!!!

[OutlawJoseyWales]

trying to identify the all time best is a pretty tough job to say the least. a lot of great teams that have produced great players. IMO, there are few players everyone will agree on...but these SHOULD BE agreeable:

Tim Couch
Juan Thomas
Joey Couch
Bob Shurtleff
Rick Kestner
James Ramey
Jeremy Caudill
Tony Mayes
Chris Jennings
Neal Smith
Steve Bird
Aaron Pettrey

[RoShamBo]

John Cole from Somerset and Jake Johnson from Pulaski are locks at WR. If in doubt, refer to the Kentucky state receiving records.

[Westside]

What about the Honaker brothers Tim and DeAnthony from Pikeville. Tim was an absolute legend back when I played. DeAnothony was great and started a few games at U.K. Mickey Webster from Pikeville signed with UK. Bubba Combs from Betsy Layne was an All American lineman his senior year at Morehead State in the late 90's.

[jetpilot]

Well I sure thought this would stir up more action lol.
NFL draft tomorrow let the football talk begin.
Also a great article on Tim Couch in the Lexington paper today.
First time I saw him play was at Vipperman and it was awesome to say the least.

[Warriorhawk17]

Can't believe you I get deanthony honaker and deramus from pikeville

[jetpilot]

trying to identify the all time best is a pretty tough job to say the least. a lot of great teams that have produced great players. IMO, there are few players everyone will agree on...but these SHOULD BE agreeable:

Tim Couch
Juan Thomas
Joey Couch
Bob Shurtleff
Rick Kestner
James Ramey
Jeremy Caudill
Tony Mayes
Chris Jennings
Neal Smith
Steve Bird
Aaron Pettrey

Impossible task.

[jetpilot]

Thoughts?

A lot of Pikeville guys better than the Belfry guys IMO:

Mark Littrell (Vanderbilt)
Bob Shurtleff (captain on UK teams that went to bowl games and won)
Neal Smith (Vandy, all-SEC, drafted by Dallas Cowboys)
Bobby Deramus
Greg Hackney
Chick Huffman
Chase Gibson
and many others

But will be a great thread and since it's a long time until football starts all opinions encouraged!!!

Chuck Huffman (scholarship to Nebraska)
set rushing and scoring records in the day

[PHS DYNASTY]

What about the Honaker brothers Tim and DeAnthony from Pikeville. Tim was an absolute legend back when I played. DeAnothony was great and started a few games at U.K. Mickey Webster from Pikeville signed with UK. Bubba Combs from Betsy Layne was an All American lineman his senior year at Morehead State in the late 90's.

Tim Honaker was a hoss for sure back in the day. Started as a Freshman and led the team in tackles that year . Also played some FB and was hard to bring down. Both Tim and De Anthony would be on any HC wish list this day in time. I remember in Mickey Webster's senior year[89], he was like 6' 4" 240 lbs. and would line up at FB with Steve Bailey in the backfield and did a great job. I watched Bubba Combs play for BL in those days, and the man was a beast. Great players from the mountains.

[Easy Wind]

Scott Russell from evarts has to be on this list. He was an absolute beast

[dbcooper]

Cool thread...

OL: Phil Ratliff - Lawrence Co. Has to be a lock. 2 time All American at Marshall and National Champ.

QB: Jason Michael - Lawrence County. Best engineer of the option attack in EKY. National Champ. NFL Coach.

QB: Bill Allen - Morgan County. Bona fide HS slinger.

LB: Michael Tackett - JC. Don’t even know if he went to play college ball, but he was a sideline to sideline war daddy in HS.

WR: Chris Lofton - Mason Co. Obviously chose hoops and maybe Mason Co doesn’t count as EKY, but he was incredible.

And Doug Howard would top my list of all Belfry players ever and Deramus for all Pikeville guys.

And it’s Dontae Wright, not Dante.

Have a good one!

[OutlawJoseyWales]

Cool thread...

OL: Phil Ratliff - Lawrence Co. Has to be a lock. 2 time All American at Marshall and National Champ.

QB: Jason Michael - Lawrence County. Best engineer of the option attack in EKY. National Champ. NFL Coach.

QB: Bill Allen - Morgan County. Bona fide HS slinger.

LB: Michael Tackett - JC. Don’t even know if he went to play college ball, but he was a sideline to sideline war daddy in HS.

WR: Chris Lofton - Mason Co. Obviously chose hoops and maybe Mason Co doesn’t count as EKY, but he was incredible.

And Doug Howard would top my list of all Belfry players ever and Deramus for all Pikeville guys.

And it’s Dontae Wright, not Dante.

Have a good one!

Those are great additions. 👍🏼 Regarding Doug Howard....no doubt he was incredible...but IMO....no one tops the great Rick Kestner

[bac2369]

The names Daric Pugh and Brandon Jones are good choices as well with there Power Running Style and Speed as well!!

[Westside]

Cool thread...

OL: Phil Ratliff - Lawrence Co. Has to be a lock. 2 time All American at Marshall and National Champ.

QB: Jason Michael - Lawrence County. Best engineer of the option attack in EKY. National Champ. NFL Coach.

QB: Bill Allen - Morgan County. Bona fide HS slinger.

LB: Michael Tackett - JC. Don’t even know if he went to play college ball, but he was a sideline to sideline war daddy in HS.

WR: Chris Lofton - Mason Co. Obviously chose hoops and maybe Mason Co doesn’t count as EKY, but he was incredible.

And Doug Howard would top my list of all Belfry players ever and Deramus for all Pikeville guys.

And it’s Dontae Wright, not Dante.

Have a good one!

Phil Ratliff was absolutely a beast for sure.

[dbcooper]

Never got to see Kestner. From reading about him, he must have been something.

[Coupon21]

The greatest high school athlete to come out of eastern ky was Don Gullett and hasnt been mentioned. Still holds state record for scoring 72 points in one game. Also Chris Jennings should be on every list.

[ArJay]

Im surprised to see no David Jones. From Bell we have had a ton of good running backs and linemen. Shawn Robbins was a dandy. So was Scott Chaney

[RAMDAD50]

My only problem with these list is that you guys wanna put on the list where do and so went to College or what’s his name played in the NFL.Those are great achievements but we are talking about what kind of player they were in high school! Just because they went to college and had a great career Doesn’t mean that they didn’t get their but handed to them by some joe nobody one Friday night that didn’t go to college or the NFL.Im sure there are lots of good players left of this list because their Pedegree isn’t as good as others! Just a thought.... carry on

[Westside]

My only problem with these list is that you guys wanna put on the list where do and so went to College or what’s his name played in the NFL.Those are great achievements but we are talking about what kind of player they were in high school! Just because they went to college and had a great career Doesn’t mean that they didn’t get their but handed to them by some joe nobody one Friday night that didn’t go to college or the NFL.Im sure there are lots of good players left of this list because their Pedegree isn’t as good as others! Just a thought.... carry on

I see what you're saying, and I agree with you. Probably some of the best players in Eastern Kentucky high school football history never played college football, but you would have to agree very few players receive D1 offers so to get one you had to be one of the best high school players. On a similar note did Tim Honaker player college ball anywhere?

[Westside]

Im surprised to see no David Jones. From Bell we have had a ton of good running backs and linemen. Shawn Robbins was a dandy. So was Scott Chaney

David Jones was mentioned in the first post.

[RAMDAD50]

The greatest high school athlete to come out of eastern ky was Don Gullett and hasnt been mentioned. Still holds state record for scoring 72 points in one game. Also Chris Jennings should be on every list.

The people making this list don’t see Greenup Co as eastern Kentucky for some reason

[Blacksmith]

A D-1 scholarship is a rare bird. It pretty much assures you a place on the list.
A good player is liable to outplay anyone on a given night but to get that offer they have to had been an exceptionally talent

[OutlawJoseyWales]

The people making this list don’t see Greenup Co as eastern Kentucky for some reason

That may be because folks from Greenup (maybe not on this board...but folks in general from that area)seem to always push back and bristle when location comes up. They seem to want to be associated with Northeeastern KY....not Eastern KY.

[RAMDAD50]

Not me ...I’m problem further east then most of anybody on here

[OutlawJoseyWales]

Not me ...I’m problem further east then most of anybody on here

Gotcha. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[Hatz]

Roger Bird - Corbin.

[Cattleman]

Guys from Eastern Kentucky on this list may be a great reference point:

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/f...A&state=KY

[OutlawJoseyWales]

Guys from Eastern Kentucky on this list may be a great reference point:

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/f...A&state=KY

Unless my phone won’t pull up the complete....I’m only seeing two pages. This isn’t the total composite list.

[AnswertheBell]

That list is complete if you are born in Kentucky. Those Belfry, Pikeville players from WV, Texas and Cinci will not be on there. So the question comes, from Eastern Ky or played in Eastern Ky, what you are looking for?