[cat86]

First: An apology...

I stated after the scrimmage against Bryan Station that Prestonsburg probably wouldn't face athletes that good and fast all year... well, I was wrong.

Austin Pray is a MAN. He looked like the second coming of Vince Young in the first half. The other Prays (I assume they are all related???) looked great too, and Beatty played like the stud he is until getting dinged up a little. Those guys, and Robinson too, make the centerpiece for a very good PCC team.

Prestonsburg came out trying to throw it all over the place, and PCC was ready for it. The first 2 drives were atrocious for the Blackcats, and PCC looked nigh unstoppable. Pray is an outstanding player, and man he is hard to contain in space. PCC looked fresher and stronger in the first half and the Blackcats were very fortunate to still be in it at the half.

In the second half, Pburg made some changes on the defensive schemes...playing smaller quicker D linemen, and that helped to stem the offensive machine that PCC had become. The Blackcats also stopped blitzing the MLB's and allowed them to read, which helped tremendously. In the first half, Pray could take the snap and because our D linemen weren't getting any pressure, he could pick, read, and choose where to run. In the second half, our smaller faster linemen managed to get pressure, and Pray had to choose his holes almost immediately...thereby forcing him to commit earlier than he would have liked.

PCC just wore down through the game. Not a knock on them at all, but Prestonsburg's conditioning program is something akin to BUD/s training for Navy Seals. As the game wore on, Prestonsburg was able to seize momentum and that provided for a thrilling finish for the second year in a row for these 2 teams. This game ended almost exactly like last year's game: the home team scoring the winning TD within the last minute of regulation.

As nerve wracking as these last 2 games have been, it is always a great game between these 2 teams. Haddix is a great coach, and PCC always plays hard and aggressive.

Prestonsburg is a very, very young team. At least 3 freshmen start, and several others play promient roles. Jarrell looked a little shaky early, but found some composure late in the game after completing a few passes. He is just a Sophmore, and will improve as the year goes on. Freshman Dalton Frasure looked good at RB, but probably needs to be more Jerome Bettis and less Barry Sanders, given his size.

Congrats to PCC. The Robinson, Beatty, and Pray family combo will win them alot of games this year, and as Haddix works out the kinks with what he has, they will be a factor in their region.

Seems like the home team almost always wins this battle, so I hope we discontinue the series after this year...lol.