[16thregioner]

^^^Raceland had 1 or 2 dudes that might start for Pikeville
You are the guy who said OL and DL were equal and both got blown to bits again
So blame the coach
Men vs boys

The difference in players I saw was the Pikeville players seemed smoother and more refined their movements.  Pikeville was also stronger than us and were able to push us around late in the game when we got tired.  Bottom line is Pikeville was just better and there is no shame in getting beat by a team that has destroyed most of their competition all year.

I found this year to be an interesting experiment.  Raceland did have perhaps the oldest team to ever step foot onto a field in the 16th region.  That goes a long way as we saw from their success this year.  Other areas of the state, whether due to population or genetics, seem to have better athletes, though.  When faced with a team of likely equal age, Pikeville ultimately prevailed in a big way, largely due to the fact they had a guy who could break an 85 yarder on the first play.  Raceland just simply didn’t have anyone who could do that.

Whenever modern era teams from our area have won state championships, Ashland in 2020 and Russell in 2005, it seems they have had 1 or 2 elite athletes like Keontae Pittman or Kasey Clark AS WELL AS an extremely fortunately easy path to the title.  For example, those weren’t Belfry’s best years and the western side of the state didn’t have a powerhouse team.  

Raceland has the easy path down as 1A and their district is as easy as it gets.  I suggest they search Ohio and West Virginia in the off-season looking for a few of those elite athletes who can change their fortunes.  It’s the piece of the puzzle they are
missing.  I don’t see any game changing athletes at the other local schools right now.  It’s really hard for a team from our area to pull off the feat as you can see by how often it actually happens.