[nekysportsfan]

I have a serious question for the Russell fans? What happened over the past decade? Before 2006 Raceland probably never would have won this game and now we have completely owned the series. Obviously we have had some good teams during the past 10 years but something seems to have changed dramatically in the Russell psyche since this series started because the Devils just haven't been able to find a way to win.

From the early 2000's to mid 2000's, Russell had a core group of players who sacrificed and worked as hard in the weight room as any team in the state. They won state weightlifting meets during these years. To put it simply, they had some beasts on the field along with the 2 best skill backs they have ever had in Josh Gross and Kasey Clark. They also had some heady QB's during their state title appearances in Tommy Brown and Tyler Jones. Raceland caught the tail end of the last great Russell team in 2007.

That set up 2008 as the season to seek revenge on Russell football. Talent went down a little, work ethic went down a lot, and overall enthusiasm in and around the program all but disappeared. At the same time, Raceland entered some years where their talent was at an all-time high with players like Carver, Denton, Boyles, and Logan. Their coaching staff and fans were hungry for success, particularly after seeing their neighbor have so much of it the previous years. Russell players and parents saw the downturn in Russell football and some even moved to Raceland. At the same time, Ashland also had some incredibly talented athletic teams with players like Hunter, Salow, Withrow, and Whetsel. Russell got demoralized more and more by these 2 teams over the next few years, which ultimately led to the entire program just becoming stagnant. This led to the firing of Ivan McGlone and the hiring of TJ Maynard.

TJ has Russell back on the right track. Crowds are big, players look enthused, the team appears to be in shape, and Russell is playing with pride once again. Will the Devils beat Raceland this year? The task is tough because Raceland is as good as they've been since 2008 and Russell, while having all the effort of the early to mid 2000 teams, just doesn't have the superstar players like Gross or Clark to lead the way. I personally think Russell gets the win this season and keeps their progress going up while this is Raceland's pinnacle season for a while.