[Hoot Gibson]

It's great to see so many people writing off Johnson Central so early in the season. Because of their weak district schedule, they were probably going to finish no better than fourth in the 4A RPI no matter how they did with the non-district schedule. People do not seem to remember how JC struggled early last season against Cahokia, IL and Rock Creek Academy of Maryland, and that team had an experienced offensive line and returned a senior starting quarterback.

This team has what is potentially the best and deepest backfield in school history. The offensive line needs to improve but it does not have to be as string as last season's line to make a strong run in the playoffs. The Golden Eagles will enter next week's game against Ironton as a solid underdog. Ironton lost to Moeller last season 25-7 and CalPreps rates this Ironton team 10 points better than last season's team. Moeller lost in the Ohio Division 1 semifinals to Springfield 22-21.

North Laurel reminds me of Coach Matney's first Johnson Central team, which finished 7-3 but missed the playoffs. Johnson Central had finished 1-9 the previous season and had won a total of only 5 games during the previous three seasons before Matney's arrival. The story of last night's game was the impact that Coach Chappel has had on North Laurel's football program.

According to Bull and others, North Laurel played short handed against Bell County because of injuries but with two weeks of preparation and the return of several injured players, the team was at full strength last night. Coach Chappel is just the latest reminder of how much impact a great coach can have on a football team blessed with raw talent.

I also don't fault Coach Peck's decision to go for it deep in JC territory on fourth down. Johnson Central had struggled with long snaps last week and punting would not have been without its risks. Also, if JC had punted and North Laurel had taken the lead, then there would have been very little time for JC to come back. The measurement was very close, so JC was a couple of inches at most away from clinching the win. Normally, I think that JC would have probably punted in that situation but I don't think that the choice was clear cut at all.