[oneijoe]

Its not the players..

It IS the coaching. Seriously. In 04, Prestonsburg had more talent folks! They just weren't as well coached as Belfry.

Derrosett needs FAR superior talent against Haywood IMO. Pburg is smart to stay away.

You have this backwards, IMO.

Prestonsburg has never had a problem with numbers at the skill positions, and I agree, could even have been better there than Belfry in '03 and '04.

But as Matman mentioned, there's a significant difference between the two in numbers of big, strong lineman-type players. In 2004, Prestonsburg lost its starting MLB in the Breathitt game, which forced its starting DE to switch positions. Then in the 1st quarter vs. Belfry, P-burg's best offensive lineman sprained an ankle. The two things together made it impossible for the Blackcats to move the ball on the ground from then on (P-burg had been ahead early 12-0).

I don't think there's anything unusual with P-burg's situation, as I've seen the same problem with diminishing numbers of players in most all schools over the past few years.

The big football schools (4A and up) simply have more students in which to draw to counter the problem. Belfry is fortunate to be right on the border against a WV county that doesn't have a good football program. Good players will naturally gravitate to a good program like Haywood's. This is why the Pirates never lack for numbers of football-inclined big players. It's a great setup for Belfry football.

Don't know what to say about your assertion that "Derrosett needs FAR superior talent against Haywood" other than give you a "what if":

This year...if P-burg and Belfry were to magically exhange offensive and defensive linemen and the reconstituted teams played, who do you think would win ? THAT makes the point better than anything else I can think of.

I believe you give a head coach wayyyy too much credit/blame for the success (or lack thereof) of a team. If what you say is true (Haywood's "coaching" is superior), why did it take him 13 years, as a head coach, to get to a state final when it only took Derossett 6 years to take a team that far ?? My point is NOT in proving Derossett is a better coach (FWIW, I think Haywood has an edge due to his many years of experience), only that it's not "coaching" that's been the deciding difference in the two teams in recent history.