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Belfry searching for opponent in Pike County Bowl

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The 27th Annual Pike County Bowl is less
than two months away, but Belfry has no opponent.
A late cancellation has left the Pike County
Bowl committee scrambling for a game.
Franklin County, which was scheduled to play
Belfry, canceled, leaving the Pirates without a
game.
Nobody knew about the cancellation until
around two weeks ago, when Franklin County
posted on its schedule a home game on August
26h against Western Hills, the day which
Franklin County was scheduled to play the
Pirates.
“A board member from Belfry noticed
Franklin County had a game scheduled with
Western Hills,” said Pike County Bowl
Committee member and Pikeville High School
athletics director Kevin Garris. “We called
Frankin County’s athletics director and got no
answer and we called Franklin County’s coach
Chris Tracy and he had no idea they were
scheduled to play in the game.”
The contract with Franklin County was
signed in 2009 and Franklin County coach
Chris Tracy took over last season as the Flyers
head coach, but athletics director Tracy
Spickard failed to inform Tracy of the game.
Instead, Spickard e-mailed Pike County Bowl
Committee chairman Virgil Osborne and

informed him that Franklin County wished to
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cancel the prior commitment.
“When they called me
about a week and a half ago
about the game, it was the
first I heard about it,” said
Tracy. “I guess our athletics
director assumed I didn’t
want to play in the game
since I didn’t sign the contract.
I’ve already filled my
schedule.”
The late notification has
left Belfry scrambling for a
game in this year’s Pike
County Bowl. The PCB
Committee met Thursday
and according to board
member Ancie Casey, the
committee isn’t giving up on
Franklin County yet.
“They are under a contract,”
said Casey.
“Community Trust Bank
has tried to contact representatives
with Franklin
County and are preparing to
send them a strongly worded
letter. If they don’t play,
there is a forfeiture fee in
place that they must pay.”
But according to Tracy
the forfeit fee of $2,500 is
something the Flyers don’t
have to pay.
“When the districts
realigned, all contracts went
void,” said Tracy. “Our athletics
director was in contact
with the chairman of the
committee, whose name
was on the contract. If I had
knew about the game I
would have been happy to
come play, but I didn’t
know.”
Garris noted that the
bank has tried to contact
Franklin County’s AD about
the forfeit fee and also
attempted to call Franklin
County’s superintendent.
But whether or not a fee
is to be paid, still doesn’t
answer questions of who the
Pirates will play on August
26th.
Several rumors have circulated
through the area
that Belfry would be playing
Ft. Thomas Highlands, a tradition
power from Northern
Kentucky. The Bluebirds
have only a nine game
schedule and that date is
open on Ft. Thomas’ schedule.
An atempt to contact
Highlands was made, but
officials received no return
call.
Another rumor was
Belfry would play the new
Mingo Central High School
in neighboring West
Virginia. A call was also
made to the Miners, but
there has been no return
call; Mingo Central’s schedule
is also complete.
“I started looking every
place I could for a game,”
said Garris. “We made several
calls. I did see
Highlands had an opening
and we contacted them, but
never heard anything back.”
Another possibility was
Eminence whose scheduled
to play Shawnee on the 26th
of August. Rumor has it that
Shawnee will not field a
team this year due to low
turnout, but the committee
hasn’t heard from
Eminence.
Belfry’s coaching staff
has also took part in helping
in the search for a game.
The Pirate coaching staff
has contacted several
schools in Kentucky, West
Virginia, Ohio, Tennessee
and Virginia.
Pikeville is scheduled to
play Montgomery County in
the Pike County Bowl. The
Panthers play Harlan
Independent the week
before the Pike County
Bowl. One possibility is for
Harlan to come and play the
Panthers a week earlier than
scheduled in the Pike
County Bowl, but the details
of that possible scenario is
still in the early stages.
“We called Harlan to start
Thursday’s meeting,” said
Casey. “That is a possibility.”
Next season Franklin
County was scheduled to
play Pikeville next season in
the Pike County Bowl and
Belfry is scheduled to play
Montgomery County.
Belfry, finished as 3A
State runner-up last season,
has high expectations for
this season. Tracy noted
that he knows what Belfry
football is all about and
would have been thrilled
about the opportunity to
play against the Pirates.
“We’re going to be pretty
good the next couple of
years,” said Tracy. “And I
know what Belfry is all
about. I admire their program
and tradition, it is
amazing what they’ve done.
Belfry is one of the premier
teams and if you want to put
your program on the map,
you beat a team like Belfry. I
would have loved the challenge
and opportunity to
played the Pirates, unfortunately
it didn’t work out.”
The Pike County Bowl is
scheduled to be Belfry’s
first game of the season.
The Pirates travel to
Lexington Henry Clay in
week two. The committee
remains hard at work in
effort to secure Belfry a

game.
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