[EKUAlum05]

I know Belfry's accustomed to having size in the trenches but WOW, that's a lot of beef. Russell's defensive front has been pretty stout this year...as a former lineman myself, that's the matchup I would love to see.

Belfry definitely has the "Wow" factor and pass the looks test. The Line looks like a NAIA College, the backs pass the look test, and Hatfield is exactly what you want your FB to look like.

Belfry's DLine is also impressive with Horton, Bentley, Hall, and TJ Dotson passing the look test... Belfry LOOKS like one of the best HS teams in KY regardless of class.

With all that said, Belfry hasn't played as good as they have looked most of the year.

For the Russell fans who have only followed Belfry from a far this year the story thusfar has been INJURIES, INJURIES, INJURIES.

I have never seen a Belfry team have more injury issues than this team. It started in Game 1 when Catron (Starting HB, Starting S) broke his collarbone. He missed the entire remainder of the regular season. Catron's replacement was Deonte Joplin who transferred to Belfry prior to the season due to family/personal reasons. As those issues played out Joplin returned back to Mingo Central. Belfry lost to Pikeville in a game they were pretty much healthy but got dinged up with bumps and bruises.. at this point Edwards was now the #2 HB(Starting S, HB #4). In the wake of the Pikeville game Belfry wanted more passing and needed more HB depth so the decision was to move Taylor to HB and Corbett to QB.

Then all hell broke loose.

Belfry lost Willis (ankle) and Edwards(turf toe) in the same game. They played Lawrence County essentially without a HB even in the picture on the depth chart and had to move TJ Dotson. They were already paper thin in the secondary and LC exploited that on some big plays... then they lost Woolum (Starting SE, starting K) who was now the defacto #2 Safety as well.

It didn't get better! Against Pike Central Belfry then lost Horton and Bentley their dominant DT's and their top two TE's.

By the time JC rolled around Belfry was missing in essence 6 defensive starters and 5 offensive starters including their top two run stoppers. Belfry fans knew that game would be ugly and it was (though the score doesn't quite reflect the game as JC struggled to move the ball outside a long run and some trick plays). Then disaster struck as Corbett sprained his ankle in the 1st Half.

Long story short last week was the first time since Week 1's dominating win against Henry Clay that Belfry had their entire starting backfield that they opened the season with and their entire starting defense. It was probably the first time since the Sheldon Clark game you could even say Belfry was relatively healthy across the board.

With respect to LC... most Belfry fans knew if the Pirates executed they would win that game going away... but to me Russell has proven they are going to be a much tougher matchup for Belfry. So now the question comes to the forefront... What can we actually expect out of this Belfry team?

Belfry opened everyone's eyes when they dominated Henry Clay. Even without Catron (and playing sloppy ball) they obliterated a Top 5 5A team in Southwestern. This could lend itself that Belfry is what they appeared to be early on... a juggernaut who can play any team in the State

Belfry also lost to Pikeville when they were about 95% healthy. So there is that side of the spectrum.

For Belfry fans I think they are erring on the side of optimism...but to be honest I am not sure anyone knows exactly what may happen Friday especially if Russell brings the fight up front as I anticipate they will.