[irishcard16]

Anyone on here saying Glasgow isn’t a good team just doesn’t know football. I may be biased being a Glasgow fan but we beat Taylor Co. twice, the only team to beat Russellville who’s in the state finals and an undefeated Bardstown team with the top QB in 3a. What most of you don’t realize and I heard this from the coach speaking after the game was that out of 22 starters only 6 played all the games. Against PT we were down our fastest player, best linebacker and best lineman. I’m not taking anything away from PT because they have an outstanding team but our injuries caught up to us as two of those were injured in the game before against Bardstown. With that being said I don’t think Belfry has seen the team speed from all positions including lineman that PT will throw at them. I’d say PT by two scores

All great points. I stand corrected Louisville Central team speed does not compare to PT.

[Tica]

The argument that "we would have won" if not for (pick a number) injured players has been the same since we bid farewell to leather helmets. Not far behind is "the refs robbed us of a win." At this point in the year, there will be injuries. There may be a disciplinary absence or an academic casualty. (When PT won the title in 2009 - something like 15 players (many of them starters) had quit or were dismissed during the year.) It's all part of the game. For whatever reason, it is these two teams that have prevailed over all this to meet Saturday. There may well be better 3A teams that are not playing. But they all had their chance. They all lined up and got to compete for a slot in the championship. These were the two survivors.

[OutlawJoseyWales]

The argument that "we would have won" if not for (pick a number) injured players has been the same since we bid farewell to leather helmets. Not far behind is "the refs robbed us of a win." At this point in the year, there will be injuries. There may be a disciplinary absence or an academic casualty. (When PT won the title in 2009 - something like 15 players (many of them starters) had quit or were dismissed during the year.) It's all part of the game. For whatever reason, it is these two teams that have prevailed over all this to meet Saturday. There may well be better 3A teams that are not playing. But they all had their chance. They all lined up and got to compete for a slot in the championship. These were the two survivors.

agreed 100%   

Both teams earned their way to Saturday.   Much respect from Pond Creek for Paducah Tilghman and the tradition and talent they bring to the game.    Should be a good one

[BlackcatAlum]

PT may have more speed than Belfry overall, but I think Belfry is stronger and more physical. I don't see PT stopping Belfry's run game, especially Dixon. He may wind up being the fastest guy on the field. I expect a big night from him on both sides of the ball. Game may go back and forth in the first half, but I look for Belfry to eventually be too much for PT in the second half.

Pirates win state, 40-28.

[bucslover68]

The argument that "we would have won" if not for (pick a number) injured players has been the same since we bid farewell to leather helmets. Not far behind is "the refs robbed us of a win." At this point in the year, there will be injuries. There may be a disciplinary absence or an academic casualty. (When PT won the title in 2009 - something like 15 players (many of them starters) had quit or were dismissed during the year.) It's all part of the game. For whatever reason, it is these two teams that have prevailed over all this to meet Saturday. There may well be better 3A teams that are not playing. But they all had their chance. They all lined up and got to compete for a slot in the championship. These were the two survivors.

I agree and that is why they have playoffs.  Nothing given, only earned!

[Truewords]

The argument that "we would have won" if not for (pick a number) injured players has been the same since we bid farewell to leather helmets. Not far behind is "the refs robbed us of a win." At this point in the year, there will be injuries. There may be a disciplinary absence or an academic casualty. (When PT won the title in 2009 - something like 15 players (many of them starters) had quit or were dismissed during the year.) It's all part of the game. For whatever reason, it is these two teams that have prevailed over all this to meet Saturday. There may well be better 3A teams that are not playing. But they all had their chance. They all lined up and got to compete for a slot in the championship. These were the two survivors.

I agree and that is why they have playoffs.  Nothing given, only earned!

The best 2 teams that peaked at the right time are playing this Saturday. No championship was ever won in September October. This is an even matchup. Whichever defense comes up bigger wins.

[Gtownfan]

My point wasn’t that Glasgow would have won based on injuries my point was that Glasgow had a really good season and I would have liked to have played with a healthy team as does everyone. I just didn’t think that saying Glasgow wasn’t any good was wrong. I do think PT with their speed is something Belfry hasn’t seen this yr from running backs, wide receivers, all the way down to the lineman. Belfry may win, Dixon is one of the best players in the state and I think it will be a good game but Belfry is one dimensional and PT is more balanced. Hopefully it will be a great game

[Bull got out!]

My point wasn’t that Glasgow would have won based on injuries my point was that Glasgow had a really good season and I would have liked to have played with a healthy team as does everyone. I just didn’t think that saying Glasgow wasn’t any good was wrong. I do think PT with their speed is something Belfry hasn’t seen this yr from running backs, wide receivers, all the way down to the lineman. Belfry may win, Dixon is one of the best players in the state and I think it will be a good game but Belfry is one dimensional and PT is more balanced. Hopefully it will be a great game

I'm going to chime in a little here. Belfry has played a schedule that you will never see many schools ever schedule ever. They actually IMO have seen the speed and talent with the teams they played.  I think you are mistaken saying Belfry hasnt seen speed from running backs, wide receivers, and lineman. The teams they played early all have that and then some.

---

Heck Belfry played Johnson Central, show me a team in the state comparable to Johnson Central from limeman size and running back speed?

[EKUAlum05]

My point wasn’t that Glasgow would have won based on injuries my point was that Glasgow had a really good season and I would have liked to have played with a healthy team as does everyone. I just didn’t think that saying Glasgow wasn’t any good was wrong. I do think PT with their speed is something Belfry hasn’t seen this yr from running backs, wide receivers, all the way down to the lineman. Belfry may win, Dixon is one of the best players in the state and I think it will be a good game but Belfry is one dimensional and PT is more balanced. Hopefully it will be a great game

Alright... your first post was a bad take. Then you try to correct yourself and make it a horrible take.


For the Bolded....
Belfry played Louisville Central this year.

Having watched both teams on video, Tilghman... who has very good team speed and more than enough team speed to hurt Belfry... is not in the overall class of team speed Central has across both sides of the football.

Point being, Belfry needs to respect that Tilghman has a team speed advantage, but there is nothing about what they bring that Belfry hasn't already experienced from Central. 

Also can we just stop with the "Belfry is too one dimensional" narrative?

Belfry has been to now the 9th State Championship games in the past 12 years in 3A, they have already won five state titles, and you know how many passes they have completed in those five wins?

They are 2/7 passing for 9 total yards.


Five State Titles, two pass completions, 9 yards.

Being one dimensional is not a bad thing if you are being successful doing so. Also worth mentioning, two of those State Titles were against Central teams who had more balanced offenses and that massive team speed advantage. All five Championships were against teams with substantially more balanced offenses than  Belfry on paper.

This isn't just some jackleg program from EKY making their first appearance in the State Finals. You are talking about one of the top 5 most successful programs in Kentucky over the past 10-15 years and they have been doing the same thing over the entire span of that time.

There is no issue in thinking the team who beat your team will win. Tilghman may blow Belfry out for all we know. With that said, it sells everyone short to chalk up the reason as being Belfry is too one dimensional.

[Gtownfan]

Im not saying Belfry won’t win or even blow PT out what I’m saying is all the teams that Belfry has played THIS SEASON with speed they have not only lost but blown out and all the the teams they beat are mainly running teams with very little speed. All the other yrs have nothing to do with this yrs team. Again Belfry is big and strong and Dixon is one of the best and no they’re not a jackleg program from eastern Lu but neither is PT in western ky. I’m not rooting for PT because they beat our team I just think their speed is gonna be the difference in a close game. Hopefully it’ll be a great game

[Spinado]

PT may have more speed than Belfry overall, but I think Belfry is stronger and more physical. I don't see PT stopping Belfry's run game, especially Dixon. He may wind up being the fastest guy on the field. I expect a big night from him on both sides of the ball. Game may go back and forth in the first half, but I look for Belfry to eventually be too much for PT in the second half.

Pirates win state, 40-28.

 I'm not downing Dixon or belfry, but this speed for PT is state champion track speed, dixon is tough and i'm sure he will be a nightmare

[FCSPY]

Interesting information I heard today, Central who owned Belfry, elected to play up into 4a? They may have ran table in 3a this year.. I thought they just were realigned into 4a.... Belfry had no answer for the speed of Central in an early game.

[EKUAlum05]

Interesting information I heard today, Central who owned Belfry, elected to play up into 4a? They may have ran table in 3a this year.. I thought they just were realigned into 4a.... Belfry had no answer for the speed of Central in an early game.

They did choose to play up for this alignment's entirety.

Central did elect to play up prior to the alignment. They were reclassified to 4A prior to this latest 2019-222 alignment and have been in it the past three seasons and will have to be in it next season as well. Central is a weird bird in terms of enrollment. You can't choose each year whether you want to play up or not, you have to ride a full realignment cycle out once you decide to play up. They are a magnet school and have a a much heavier female to male student population. 

With that said, 3A definitely has been weak the past couple years and Central probably would have added hardware a couple times if they were still a 3A team. I would have definitely expected them to win this year and last year and probably would have went toe to toe with Belfry in 2019 as well who proved to be the clear top dog that season.

FYI, here is the memo where it showed they were choosing to  play up during this alignment:
https://khsaa.org/football/realignment/2...ponses.pdf

I wonder if they wish they had done it differently in hindsight?

[FCSPY]

Gotcha, I am not sure they would be better late in the year, but early they handled Belfry easily. Not sure they would be a shoe in for 3a champs the last few.. .but being that is down this year and last in my opinion, they would have.. good luck to both teams in this contest! I am rooting for Belfry.

[EKUAlum05]

Gotcha, I am not sure they would be better late in the year, but early they handled Belfry easily. Not sure they would be a shoe in for 3a champs the last few.. .but being that is down this year and last in my opinion, they would have.. good luck to both teams in this contest! I am rooting for Belfry.

Belfry has improved dramatically and found their bread and butter and how to properly balance the use of Dixon while young backs have grown in their roles... Belfry also lost three fumbles that game and have been much better at protecting the football. Still yet, Central completely outclassed them.

With that said, even if Belfry replayed their schedule I am not sure any of the Win vs. Loss outcomes change all that much at this point. I think the Pulaski, Central, CovCath, and Pikeville games get considerably closer. Pulaski was the oddest bird of the group because Belfry fumbled everything, had Dixon at QB as essentially the only weapon and he only played for a Half due to cramps, and on top of that Belfry got slaughtered on defense with the short field working against them. 

The old saying is you are what your record says you are. Though neither team is currently playing like a six-loss team, they are still two teams who lost five games on the field and one game to COVID (against teams who most likely would have beat them anyway).

I am pretty confident that when people look back on the 2021 season it won't be to remember how PT or Belfry were these iconic buzzsaw of teams who emerged from a stacked class. Instead it will be more about two teams who proved that once you get to November you can throw records out the window and it is all about who is peaking at the right time.

[FCSPY]

I am well aware how the season can sharpen you, my flyers were 2-3 and almost made it to the big dance.. coaches can make it happen if your team responds.

[pjdoug]

Go Naders!

[pjdoug]

I don’t care who Glasgow’s RB is or how big he is. There is no comparison in 3A to Dixon.

With the emergence of Young and Hatfield, it only makes Dixon that much more lethal.

If we want to talk stats it is best to get the complete picture comparing a back to Dixon. For example the back from Glasgow not only has fewer yards, it took him nearly 50 more carries to get to that point. Dixon also did it in two less games against a superior schedule.

This doesn’t even take into account that Dixon also played QB for two games and basically only played half of those games due to cramps.

Tilghman may very well shut him down.  I haven’t studied them too closely but anticipate I will see a ton of team speed and sideline to sideline pursuit. With that said, Dixon has seen some crazy talented defenses over his career at Belfry and fared well.

At the end of the day:
1. Who wins the LOS?
2. Who plays clean football and limits mistakes?
3. Who performs better on 3rd Down?

Whoever wins those questions above wins this game.

The KHSAA does not put asterisks or explanations on stats. It is what it is. Otherwise - every player or coach would then have explanations as to why their stats were lower than they could or should have been. That's what boards like this are for-to support your favorite players and teams. I'm sure Dixon and the other rb's are as good as you say. They will soon have a public opportunity to prove it.

What’s a “public opportunity”?   You lost me there..

I have to agree with EKU on the keys to the game.....turnovers, penalties and controlling the LOS.  All three will be huge components to determining the outcome.  With both teams having 6 losses....this is a hard game to get a good read on.  IMO, after watching some film, both teams have their strengths and weaknesses.    Belfry can’t afford to play behind the chains.  Tilghman’s balanced attack will definitely put pressure on The Pirate defense.     Gonna be interesting.

---

I haven't seen a recent roster but I would assume Belfry outsizes PT at about every position. I'm not perfect either and I did not mean to imply that. I have typos too. Its just a name that is often spelled differently than it's pronunciation. I also grew up with an English teacher mom. Both teams have faced an improbable route to get to the finals. Two very different teams and styles of play.

I don't blame you on the pronunciation. I hate when the county I live in is called Whitely County.

Doug- What are you going to do this week with no Mayfield fans to get riled up?

Belfry fans are easy to get riled. they probably already have steam coming out their noses. lol

I actually think its just the normal snot    It is cold and flu season. 

I wish nothing but health and wealth for you.

[BlackcatAlum]

My point wasn’t that Glasgow would have won based on injuries my point was that Glasgow had a really good season and I would have liked to have played with a healthy team as does everyone. I just didn’t think that saying Glasgow wasn’t any good was wrong. I do think PT with their speed is something Belfry hasn’t seen this yr from running backs, wide receivers, all the way down to the lineman. Belfry may win, Dixon is one of the best players in the state and I think it will be a good game but Belfry is one dimensional and PT is more balanced. Hopefully it will be a great game

Alright... your first post was a bad take. Then you try to correct yourself and make it a horrible take.


For the Bolded....
Belfry played Louisville Central this year.

Having watched both teams on video, Tilghman... who has very good team speed and more than enough team speed to hurt Belfry... is not in the overall class of team speed Central has across both sides of the football.

Point being, Belfry needs to respect that Tilghman has a team speed advantage, but there is nothing about what they bring that Belfry hasn't already experienced from Central. 

Also can we just stop with the "Belfry is too one dimensional" narrative?

Belfry has been to now the 9th State Championship games in the past 12 years in 3A, they have already won five state titles, and you know how many passes they have completed in those five wins?

They are 2/7 passing for 9 total yards.


Five State Titles, two pass completions, 9 yards.

Being one dimensional is not a bad thing if you are being successful doing so. Also worth mentioning, two of those State Titles were against Central teams who had more balanced offenses and that massive team speed advantage. All five Championships were against teams with substantially more balanced offenses than  Belfry on paper.

This isn't just some jackleg program from EKY making their first appearance in the State Finals. You are talking about one of the top 5 most successful programs in Kentucky over the past 10-15 years and they have been doing the same thing over the entire span of that time.

There is no issue in thinking the team who beat your team will win. Tilghman may blow Belfry out for all we know. With that said, it sells everyone short to chalk up the reason as being Belfry is too one dimensional.

I like this version of EKUAlum05

[Patriot1]

Good luck to the Belfry Pirates and Coach Haywood in their championship game you guys have come along way this year and hope you guys bring it back to the mountains

[Bull got out!]

Game Day!!!

[irishcard16]

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face”
                                -Mike Tyson

[Belfry fan 75]

What’s the name of the seats in the middle of the field in the lower section called at Kroger field on home side

---

Central bank club or longship club

[truebluefan89]

Well I will throw my .02 in because thats all its worth-
There are several on both sides talking about some part of the game they feel is a superior edge-
Belfry and Paducah are separated by 418 miles so I seriously doubt anyone's ability to have a sharp assessment of what the other has to offer.
Both teams started slow, but have put in the work to get a shot at being the undisputed #1.
Belfry has a long record of a powerful running game and one of the greatest coaches in the state, he may be "old school" but he has proven his methods can work time and time again.
On the contrast PT comes in with yet another brand new coach and staff with a very young team that loves to mix it up with a balanced attack. PT is always a threat with their team speed and deep threats, as many have said they only need one good step to turn it into a track meet, but I'm sure Belfry doesn't plan on giving them that step.
Glasgow, and Central are not playing for the 3A title, PT and Belfry are, so I'm not sure either of those examples hold much water because both teams have came a long way.
Which style will win tomorrow? Both hold their merits, but it will come down to who executes their plan the best, limits turnovers, and eliminates mistakes.
Of course someone will pick the outcome prior to the game and claim they are a genius and they knew all along, but considering how both of these teams started as compared to how they finished, I seriously doubt anyone was following both programs close and saw this coming in September.
I just hope for another great game and a champ will be crowned tomorrow. Congrats to both for the incredible strides they made.


PT 33 Belfry 28

[BoondockSaint]

It’s everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

The simplest of quotes, and you dick it up. How?

Belfry 27 - Paducah 24

[PirateNation71]

Goodluck Pirates, Wishing both teams a injury free game, Go Big Red……..

[Belfry_99]

Go Big Red ☠️☠️☠️

[Slic Ric]

Good Luck Pirates!
Much respect from RAM Nation.

[bucslover68]

Well I will throw my .02 in because thats all its worth-
There are several on both sides talking about some part of the game they feel is a superior edge-
Belfry and Paducah are separated by 418 miles so I seriously doubt anyone's ability to have a sharp assessment of what the other has to offer.
Both teams started slow, but have put in the work to get a shot at being the undisputed #1.
Belfry has a long record of a powerful running game and one of the greatest coaches in the state, he may be "old school" but he has proven his methods can work time and time again.
On the contrast PT comes in with yet another brand new coach and staff with a very young team that loves to mix it up with a balanced attack. PT is always a threat with their team speed and deep threats, as many have said they only need one good step to turn it into a track meet, but I'm sure Belfry doesn't plan on giving them that step.
Glasgow, and Central are not playing for the 3A title, PT and Belfry are, so I'm not sure either of those examples hold much water because both teams have came a long way.
Which style will win tomorrow? Both hold their merits, but it will come down to who executes their plan the best, limits turnovers, and eliminates mistakes.
Of course someone will pick the outcome prior to the game and claim they are a genius and they knew all along, but considering how both of these teams started as compared to how they finished, I seriously doubt anyone was following both programs close and saw this coming in September.
I just hope for another great game and a champ will be crowned tomorrow. Congrats to both for the incredible strides they made.


PT 33 Belfry 28

I give you credit on the score prediction.  There was as you say a track meet.  Good thing for Belfry is that Isaac Dixon won most of the events!

[Truewords]

This was a 12 round main event heavy weight bout. Both teams played their hearts out and deserve every accolade given. It came down to the final knock down in the last round to give the Pirates the belt. PT keep your heads up and keep working. Everyone one gripes about the RPI system and I hate it but somehow the best 2 teams made it to Lexington and if you were there you got your money’s worth. Don’t be surprised to see this match up again in the future at Kroger Field.