[Tomcat68]

arliss beach would have had a few state rings with a better team around hinm

No, this is very much false. Arliss had a great offensive line (Adam Ferguson (West Virginia State and Campbellsville), Ron Gehringer (West Virginia State), Grant Layne, Josh Hayes (Thomas More and Morehead), Daniel Ramey, Kevin Duncan (Morehead), TE Clark Norris (Centre), a great QB (Ryne Salyer (Murray State), a great FB (Matt Johnson (Centre), and 3 very good receivers (Nick Schweitzer, Zach Davis, Sam Elliott).

Of all those players, only 2 were seniors besides Beach.

The defense wasn't great, but it was formidable. Arliss was surrounded by talent. The reason the team didn't achieve more was due to former Head Coach Larry Hall. He knew Arliss was a great athelte, and very, very rarely threw the ball, even in long yardage situations. If Coach Hall had opened up the passing game, that team would have had one of the most explosive offenses in the state. Remember that during Beach's season, the team finished 8-4. The next year, when Coach Hall used a balanced offense, their record actually improved to 9-3.

Arliss was a great player, but much of his talent was a product of the great offensive team with him. Granted, he also made them look much better. The fault with those Ashland teams not being able to proceed further into the playoffs during that time was due to the fact of Coach Hall refusing to open up the offense because he wanted to boost Beach's numbers, and the incredibe run defense Rockcastle possessed during that span.