[BlackcatAlum]

Prestonsburg come out flat and like others mentioned, Middlesboro hit on a big pass play and then Pburg made a mistake on their next drive and Mboro got an easy scoop and score and so the Blackcats were down 14-0 right off the bat. I don’t know if it was the long bus ride or being off two weeks or what, but Pburg just had zero energy in that first half. Never did have much good field position in the first half either and Mboro had their way passing. I think Grigsby ran maybe 1 designed run the first half and it was pretty obvious Prestonsburg was prepared for their running game, but was not for the their passing game. 1, 3, 8, and 18 won their 1v1 battles all game. Prestonsburg just couldn’t match up in space with those guys.

Prestonsburg played much better in the second half and cut the lead down to 28-14 midway through the 3rd, but the 4 touchdown hole was just too much to overcome like others have said because I don’t think Pburg’s defense was going to be able to do enough to complete a comeback against that offense.

Hats off to Ethan Jarvis. That dude absolutely deserves to nominated for Mr. Football. I’ve not seen many running backs play with as much toughness and grit than that guy at Prestonsburg and there’s been some great ones. He deserves to be mentioned as one of the best to ever suite up for Prestonsburg.

Middlesboro has a very good football team. I was very impressed with them and thought they played with a lot of energy and toughness. They brought it and that made a huge difference in this game.

All in all, Prestonsburg had a really great season compared to years past under coach Brewer. And like another posters said, the program is headed in the right direction. There’s still a lot of challenges the staff needs to face going forward to continue making improvements, but building this program back to its former glory days is going to take time and a lot of dedication from more athletes, their families and the community. Folks just need to be patient and slow down on expectations. There’s talent coming up and they’ll have to play freshman on varsity going forward for a few years so again, expectations shouldn’t be high. Biggest problem that this program has had to deal with (other than transfers) is the negativity from folks who don’t have a clue at what they’re talking about. It’s toxic and makes things more challenging for all involved.

I’d also like to thank the 13 seniors that played their last football game as a Blackcat the other night. Those guys have been through more losing and negativity than any other class in my lifetime and they continued to show up, works their butts off, and play football. They played in some fun and great football games these last two years and brought a lot of life back in the program that’s been missing. I’m proud of those guys and I’m thankful they chose to be Blackcats.