[Hoot Gibson]

Hightower averaged just under 6 yards per carry, with no touchdowns, and JC averaged over 10 yards per carry as a team. In the meantime, JC pressured MNH's quarterback all night long and had 4 sacks and 4 interceptions.

Side note: For the season, Johnson Central is averaging a full 2 yards more per carry than Boyle County. For an offensive line that is supposedly every bit as good as Johnson Central's and a team that has a huge speed advantage, those facts are hard to reconcile, are they not? Two yards per carry is nothing to sneeze at.

Based on my limited observation of Boyle Country's quarterback and on the fact that he had rushed for -25 yards coming into last night's game with Central, I also believe that Riley Preece's superior mobility will be a big factor next week. Preece has rushed for 610 yards (9 ypc) on the season. Preece is one of the most underrated players in the state, IMO.

Johnson Central will not be trying to run the clock and shorten the game next week, they will be aggressively trying to score with one of the state's most explosive offenses.

Very interesting info. Can you also include the passing and receiving numbers for both teams? One team is run heavy and one team is pass heavy so it’s hard to only compare the running game.

You can view all of the season stats by going to the KHSAA scoreboard and clicking on the link labeled "Latest Game Stats Report Summary," which is located just under the roster link. (You will have to divide the yards gained by number of attempts to get the average gain numbers - the percentages are not included in the stats.)

As for comparing stats, IMO, a good team that runs or passes less than another good team will generally gain more on a per-play basis. For example, Johnson Central completes the same percentage of its pass attempts (74 percent) as Boyle County, but it passes far less often and averages 24 yards per reception. BC averages 18.4 yards per completion but has far more passing yards for the season.

Johnson Central's opponents know that the Golden Eagles are going to run the ball until they are stopped or until there are so many players in the box that the temptation to throw down field is just too great to pass up. The fact that JC still manages to average 9 yards per carry is pretty amazing.

Opponents will either stop JC's running game and force a few punts, or the Golden Eagles will run the ball down their throats the entire game, punishing the linebackers along the way.

Coach Matney subscribes to the Woody Hayes theory that three things can happen when you pass and two of them are bad - but Coach Hayes never had a rushing attack at Ohio State that averaged 9 yards a carry.