[oneijoe]

Yes I was being sarcastic about the kicker. But I definitely would have tried it.

We must have watched a different game is all I know. I told you I give all the credit in the world to Pikeville for not giving up, but anyone that knows football, knows that Pburg should have won this game. But they didn't because of coaching decisions. Plain and simple.

Right or wrong, Coach D. is nothing if not consistent. It was 4th and 9 from the Somerset 16 with the score tied in last years Regional final and he wouldn't call for the FG attempt. Instead, we don't get the 1st down and you know the outcome. He plain and simply refuses to trust any kicker with the game on the line, outside a PAT.

And here's what I don't get about that... Prestonsburg beat a good Sheldon Clark team 5-6 years ago with a 38 yard FG deep in the 4th. He called it then, but never has again with a game on the line.

My thought is using the kicking game as he does might be a result of some kind of published statistical study somewhere or other he's read. hh:

It may be the same deal with the squib kickoffs. Prestonsburg never benefitted from them last year and instead kept giving up good field position. Ignoring the fact it actually worked as designed Saturday night (P-burg got a recovery), over the last 3 years Prestonsburg always does that squib kickoff looking for a magic bounce.

But ignoring all of that, IMO the worst call was calling a pass play on 3rd and long with about 1:40 remaining while Pikeville was out of time-outs (last one was used on previous play I believe). If the Blackcats call a run, the clock could conceivable get to 1:00 to play before kicking on 4th down (depending on how long it took to untangle the pile and mark the ball). While I'm sure Coach D. had faith in the call, it simply is NOT smart football. Perhaps he mistakenly thought Pikeville had another time-out...? I did notice the scoreboard changed to 0 timeouts remaining for the Panthers only after P-burg came to the line for the 3rd down play. It's certainly no excuse, as the coach isn't supposed to depend on the scoreboard for that info, but it's the only logical reason which makes some kind of sense.

The ensuing P-burg punt was poor (I think Jarrell was surprised there was no rush...lol), but that's another of those things which happen in a game.

Pikeville's offense simply outplayed/outgutted Prestonsburg's defense on that last drive.