[2000PHS]

I think Pikeville staff thought they could run it at Sayre like most outsiders looking in but someone else thought that too. Chad Pennington. He loaded the box. Linebackers shots gaps on the snap and the safeties came downhill. 8-9 in box all night. Manned up corners outside because they weren’t afraid of the pass and didn’t think Pikeville could beat them outside. Their skill may have been better than the skill Pikeville had healthy for this one. This wasn’t a novel concept. Every team played Pikeville this way all year. Take away Anthony and make someone else beat you. Left big gaps to throw the ball into. Problem is Pikeville couldn’t spread them out because multiple receivers were hurt. When Pikeville spread the formation this year, that’s when they played well. They would pass more and it opened up running lanes. Why they ever went away from it is questionable. Injuries were a bigger deal than anyone thought. The ‘23 team had some dudes but this team was as good or better than last year talent wise. This was on players and coaches. Pikeville loses a lot but I don’t doubt they’ll be back in the mix next year. Something to prove. Looking forward to see who gets their first title out of remaining teams.

Sayre did take away or at least limited what Pikeville was good at due to sound game planning and good fundamental tackling. Pikeville didn’t game plan for what Sayre was good at which is short timing passes that kept the chains moving with some runs mixed in to keep the defense honest. Injuries, lack of focus, and poor game planning was too much for the talent to override. 

Give me Raceland in a low scoring close game.

[Belichick]

I think Pikeville staff thought they could run it at Sayre like most outsiders looking in but someone else thought that too. Chad Pennington. He loaded the box. Linebackers shots gaps on the snap and the safeties came downhill. 8-9 in box all night. Manned up corners outside because they weren’t afraid of the pass and didn’t think Pikeville could beat them outside. Their skill may have been better than the skill Pikeville had healthy for this one. This wasn’t a novel concept. Every team played Pikeville this way all year. Take away Anthony and make someone else beat you. Left big gaps to throw the ball into. Problem is Pikeville couldn’t spread them out because multiple receivers were hurt. When Pikeville spread the formation this year, that’s when they played well. They would pass more and it opened up running lanes. Why they ever went away from it is questionable. Injuries were a bigger deal than anyone thought. The ‘23 team had some dudes but this team was as good or better than last year talent wise. This was on players and coaches. Pikeville loses a lot but I don’t doubt they’ll be back in the mix next year. Something to prove. Looking forward to see who gets their first title out of remaining teams.

Sayre did take away or at least limited what Pikeville was good at due to sound game planning and good fundamental tackling. Pikeville didn’t game plan for what Sayre was good at which is short timing passes that kept the chains moving with some runs mixed in to keep the defense honest. Injuries, lack of focus, and poor game planning was too much for the talent to override. 

Give me Raceland in a low scoring close game.

Absolutely correct about the defense. They played mostly zone and allowed quick short throws on a night when it would be very difficult to throw downfield. Didn’t adjust well on either side of the ball.

[jetpilot]

Wright, both Wilkerson's, Boykins, Bevin's played better in '23 than their replacements played in '24. We can debate talent and coaching all day but those guys played better. A lot better. All year.

[jetpilot]

Wright, both Wilkerson's, Boykins, Bevin's played better in '23 than their replacements played in '24. We can debate talent and coaching all day but those guys played better. A lot better. All year.

Plus Reed, J McNamee and I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple others. All dudes who played lights out.

[Orange Blaze]

Wright, both Wilkerson's, Boykins, Bevin's played better in '23 than their replacements played in '24. We can debate talent and coaching all day but those guys played better. A lot better. All year.

For the most part I respect your opinions but not this time.  Even if what you said is true this is one of those things best left unsaid especially on a public forum.  Just my opinion but I think it’s disrespectful to call teenage kids out like this in public.

[ArmChairHC]

We were told all year that Pikeville was more talented and better this year than anyone else in 1A. If that’s the case, it 100% falls on coaching and leadership.

[jetpilot]

Wright, both Wilkerson's, Boykins, Bevin's played better in '23 than their replacements played in '24. We can debate talent and coaching all day but those guys played better. A lot better. All year.

For the most part I respect your opinions but not this time.  Even if what you said is true this is one of those things best left unsaid especially on a public forum.  Just my opinion but I think it’s disrespectful to call teenage kids out like this in public.

You are mistaken. I just said they missed those guys and they played better. No shame in that. They also played better than anyone in Class A last year by a good margin.  I'm not calling out any of this year's team. I said thanks to the seniors for a hell of a run. The other guys have to step it up to win a championship and they don't need to read a chat board to realize that. I have also said I fully believe they will be back on top.

[Belichick]

It is obvious the ‘23 team played better. Offensive line played better. A few of those guys had better talent but definitely not all who replaced them. Some JP mentioned didn’t start. Leadership is hard to measure but it plays out on the field and it looks like that’s something that was missing from the guys they lost. The ‘24 team should have been faster outside of Boykins. Injuries played a big part. They showed flashes of that kind of offense but then they went back to almost exclusively running some games. I feel like they wasted the arm of their QB. 35 was awesome, one of the better high school players you’ll ever want to see, but the strategy of continuously feeding him the ball against a loaded box of 8-9 defenders was insanity. When the offense was more balanced, they put up big offensive numbers. 500 yards of offense against LCA without Anthony, Stanley, or Hall. LCA seems good right? Similar offensive results when they spread it out against Ironton, GRC, and Boyd Co. I’m aware of the play calling situation but why it was allowed to go on is really the question. At the end, yes, they had several kids sitting out hurt who make a huge difference but similar play calling wouldn’t have allowed them to help against Sayre (could insert Corbin, JC, Belfry here as well).

[jetpilot]

Just to be clear I only meant those '23 players played better as a whole, not that every player was better. Also that Sr class won 3 championships in a row, one of only 2 at Pikeville and a handful of classes in state history. Just saying that class was missed a lot more than a lot of people (like me) thought they would be. The "reload" I expected never materialized for reasons known and unknown.

[Belichick]

Just to be clear I only meant those '23 players played better as a whole, not that every player was better. Also that Sr class won 3 championships in a row, one of only 2 at Pikeville and a handful of classes in state history. Just saying that class was missed a lot more than a lot of people (like me) thought they would be. The  "reload" I expected never materialized for reasons known and unknown.

You didn’t say anything bad. You were 100% correct. If any parent or kid has their feelings hurt over what this board says, they are focused on the wrong thing anyway. They might wanna get better and try to prove someone wrong.

[jetpilot]

^^^Thanks. It's true, I never called out any kid on this team by name or said anyone was better than him. Expecting to see a very hungry team in '25 like we saw in '21 after losing to Hazard the year before.