[HAIL PIKEVILLE!]

Putting the bias aside there really is a very cut and dry answer.

As it stands right now...as a sum of all the parts... it is Belfry and by a good bit.

Prior to the past decade it would have been Pikeville by and it wouldn't even be close. But you simply can't omit a decade from essentially a 50 year history since it is 20% of the time, and in that 20% increment Belfry has not only closed the gap but maintained an consistency of elite play the likes of which Pikeville had never enjoyed .

Pikeville gets bonus points for the fact that 40 years they went head to head with belfry being the smaller 1A school. In that case a tie has to favor the Panthers being as though they were a smaller school accustomed to playing smaller schools.

On the flip side, this also works against Pikeville in the fact their success on reaching the State Finals is almost entirely limited to one decade (despite still competing with 1A schools), whereas Belfry has been able to make runs in several decades.

I like HP's intangible point above to argue in Pikeville's favor..but I see that point and raise him Phillip Haywood, the State's Winningest Coach and a guy who himself has changed the shape of Mountain Football as well. I would also be remiss if I did not point out that the great Pikeville run under Howard was ended by Belfry.

It does bring up another interesting question:
If Coach Howard coached an extra decade where would Pikeville be now? Would they have ever had their lull over the past decade? Would they have another Championship?

So once again...as it stands now where you have to include Belfry's dominant run of the past decade it is Belfry by a solid margin. Yet, anyone who would try to argue it was even a tie prior to the 2000's is clearly not giving Pikeville credit as they were clearly the best PROGRAM overall until then.

I've often wondered what wouldve happened had Coach Howard and/or Coach Allara has stayed until Coach Mac was ready to take over as Head Coach. I'm sure the program would've been better for it yes a few more trips to state would have been on the resume. Then the John Chapman drama wouldn't have happened, and hopefully the Jackson/ Copley era wouldn't have happened either, as a matter of fact I know it wouldn't. Would the lull have happened? Maybe. All programs go through down years. Belfry experienced this in the 1990s when they didnt win a region title during the entire decade and had a few losing seasons as well. Most Belfry fans won't openly admit this but There were more than a few folks over on Pond Creek calling for Haywood's head during that time. But that continuity is what saw them through those down years and came back better than before. Now that Coach Mac is back to stay its no accident that our program headed back in the right direction...