[BlackcatAlum]

Once Prestonsburg basically had the district locked up, I knew Somerset was likely going to be a team Pburg would face and now here we are.

The Blackcats are basically playing with house money at this point. These players and coaches should feel absolutely no pressure going into this game because everyone outside of Prestonsburg is going to pick against them. To me this means these boys can come out and play loose and leave it all out on the field and hope to have more points on the scoreboard at end of this game.

The Briar Jumpers have a very impressive running back, quarterback, and linemen, but what stands out most is their DL & LBs. 51 & 52 are monsters and they will punish you if given the opportunity. Somerset likes to run the ball in different ways, they’ll mix in the pass to keep teams from loading the box. They like the RPO. They have an excellent team and program.

Prestonsburg enters this game with 2 seniors that play, a sophomore quarterback, 2 freshman on the line, 1 sophomore also on the line, and 2 juniors. The Blackcats arguably have the youngest and smallest team physically left in the playoffs regardless of class. What the Blackcats lack in size though, they can make up in skill and speed. The linemen can move, Elliott is a state champion sprinter, Harris is fast, Kain Patton has come on as a big offensive weapon lately, and Holbrook is making plays at QB. Defensively, Prestonsburg is coming off a game where they played perfectly. Give up less than 100 yards total and held BL to 10 yards of offense in the second half. They’ll need to be just as prepared and play just as perfectly as they did this past Friday night in order to have a shot in this one. The margin for error for the Blackcats will be very slim. 1st & 2nd down will be huge for Pburg in a game like this. Can’t afford penalties or negative yards.

While Bracken Co is bigger than Pburg, the Blackcats have more speed and Hager will scheme up an offense that is a little more challenging to defend than the Polar Bears.

I know a lot are going to look at the Breathitt County game to gauge Prestonsburg (I would too if I was an outsider), but Pburg played horrible that night. A lot had to do with Breathitt’s size and physicality. But watching film back from that game, Pburg had opportunities, but that night the underclassmen played like underclassmen and the Blackcats made a lot of mistakes they hadn’t been making.

Going to be tough, but anything can happen. Briar Jumpers gotta make the 3 hour drive east, they’re going to be the favorites, therefore I hope they underestimate the Blackcats.

Hoping for a great game and awesome atmosphere.

Blackcats pull off the shocker and win, 28-21.

Hail Blackcats!!!