[sstack]

What kills me is that Johnson Central has arguably had the third best 4A teams in the state during the 2006 through 2014 season. How many 4A teams that run a spread offense and/or have played stronger schedules than Johnson Central have been able to have more success against Highlands and Covington Catholic during that period than the Golden Eagles have?

(Collins won the state 4A title last season, but they lost to Highlands 47-0 in the 2012 title and did not make it past the first round this season. No other team has won a state title in the class that Highlands and Covington Catholic has played since 2005, other than the Bluebirds and Colonels.)

Two years ago, did you think that Harlan County and Perry County Central would be weak teams this season? HC was a state 5A semi-finalist in 2012 and Johnson Central escaped from Perry County Central with a 44-36 win in 2012. Nobody could have anticipated that Belfry would be so banged up when they were put on the schedule, and apparently Ashland was not as bad as many people thought, considering the trouble Highlands had putting them away in the second round.

I don't know why so many people have so much trouble giving Johnson Central credit for their success. Matney could have switched schedules with any team in the state and they still would have been a very young, inexperienced team playing a more experienced Covington Catholic team that returned most of its key players from a team that easily handled Johnson Central a year ago.

The Golden Eagles exceeded any reasonable person's expectations after losing its entire starting backfield and several other key players from last season. Expectation will be much higher next season for a team that should be loaded and in the state title hunt for the foreseeable future. That will be true, regardless of what offense Coach Matney chooses to run, and regardless of the Golden Eagles' strength of schedule.

I would find it hard to put JC as the 3rd best team 2006-2014, yes maybe one or 2 of those years but for sure not all those years. Just take last year and this year, I put Collins (last year), Lex Cath, Boyle and Cov Cath ahead of them. Still to be determined this year is if Owensboro and Madisonville are better, their body of work tells me they are better.