[doubledown]

Thought JC played a super game against one of the most storied programs in the state.
Highlands quickness made it difficult on Jude running the ball but I thought he played a terrific defensive game (at least a couple of sacks on the QB).
The 2 burnt TO's came back to haunt JC as given the time I believe they would have punched in the TD & given themselves a chance for the W.
Pulling for the Bears next week

[Wideleft01]

Give credit where credit is due, the only smash mouth player on your team was towels and i saw him hump up 5 runs or more like grade school kids do. I think HHS is a great team and even better program but dont take nothin away from JC...they were the more smash mouth of the two teams. You guys were one dropped pass in the endzone from the loss, might wanna think your lucky stars because the kid who dropped that pass made 2 college caliber catches earlier in the game

I thought we went over this. JC was a fluke fumble TD by Highlands at midfield from getting blown out on their home field.

[HazBeen10]

I thought we went over this. JC was a fluke fumble TD by Highlands at midfield from getting blown out on their home field.

Wow, fluke fumble...excuse the almighty bluebirds fumble and it was a fluke. come on man, everyone fumbles. what about Jude truck sticking two bluebirds into the endzone, take away the "fluke" fumble and its still not a blowout. I say JC was a FLUKE dropped pass away from sending the bluebirds home crying.

[Intimidator]

Wow, fluke fumble...excuse the almighty bluebirds fumble and it was a fluke. come on man, everyone fumbles. what about Jude truck sticking two bluebirds into the endzone, take away the "fluke" fumble and its still not a blowout. I say JC was a FLUKE dropped pass away from sending the bluebirds home crying.

Excellent Post.

[whackem'n'stackem']

Wow, fluke fumble...excuse the almighty bluebirds fumble and it was a fluke. come on man, everyone fumbles. what about Jude truck sticking two bluebirds into the endzone, take away the "fluke" fumble and its still not a blowout. I say JC was a FLUKE dropped pass away from sending the bluebirds home crying.

There was nothing "flukish" about the Bluebird fumble. Contrary to the announcers, nobody popped it loose. The back lost the handle on it. Classic case of chronic fumblitis for this young man. He's a great individual, but unfortunately that doesn't cut it when you're trying to win championships. Dale obviously has loyalty to his seniors. Trouble is, it's almost cost him wins. Highlands has tremendous talent lying in wait, but barring an injury, they'll continue to have to wait. Hope it doesn't bite them this year. :eyeroll:

[BaseballIsLife]

I was just letting them have the what if? I do think it would have been tough to stop the fullback up the middle on a 2pt. Did he get less than 2yards on any of his carries? Jude wasn't getting the ball on the 2pt play. It was coming up the middle with the fullback.

And im gonna go ahead and say they werent stoppin the #42 train in those circumstances. Bratton is a man child. He could have got those 3 yds blind folded

They stopped him several occasions for less than 2-3 yards. The one that most noteably comes to mind is the 4th and 1 they had on the HHS 10 in the 1st half.

[BaseballIsLife]

Yes you are correct in your post. However I think that if you play a team that has to play most of their players both ways, dresses out only a third of what Highlands did, and that team still manages to hold HHS to 3 touchdowns against their best QB and then only looses by 7 points its really not a lot to feel superior about. Yes it was a a victory but I just don’t think that it gives you alot to brag about. Maybe this is a game big numbers won not big talent. IMO, But congrats anyway and good luck.

Oh, I'm not bragging and I'm not a Highlands fan although I'm interested in seeing how they fare in the playoffs. I'm actually far from a Birds fan. I'm actually a Scott High School alumni/fan so my team is the one who takes but whooping every year from a lot of NKY teams including Johnson Central since we tend to face them every year in the 1st Round.

[Hoot Gibson]

They stopped him several occasions for less than 2-3 yards. The one that most noteably comes to mind is the 4th and 1 they had on the HHS 10 in the 1st half.

You seem quite a bit more confident than Coach Mueller that Highlands would have stopped a two-point conversion.

[INDENT]

“What was going through my head was, gosh we sure were lucky,” Mueller said. “If they would have scored they would have went for two and we would have had a hard time stopping them.”

[/INDENT]

[Stardust]

One of the team buses in Highlands’ four-bus caravan to Paintsville broke down Friday afternoon about 90 minutes from Johnson Central High School, where the Bluebirds football team was playing the Golden Eagles in a Class 5A regional playoff.

The Bluebirds unloaded the broken-down bus and crammed everything into three buses and made it to Johnson Central on time.

Once they got there, they came together as a team on defense and shut down the powerful Johnson Central offense while holding off the rallying Golden Eagles for a 21-14 victory.


Highlands (12-1), the three-time defending Class 5A champion, plays at Harlan County (11-2) next week in a Friday state semifinal. The Bluebirds are two victories away from becoming the first Highlands football team to win four consecutive state championships.

Highlands, with 19 titles overall, is tied with Louisville Trinity for the most in state history.

"That’s the goal. Keep winning," safety Ty Seidl said.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll...311190094/

Highlands held 3,000-yard rusher J.J. Jude to 95 yards on 28 carries by filling running lanes, gang-tackling and hitting Jude around the ankles. But the Bluebirds needed three straight pass defenses in the end zone over the final 40 seconds to avert the upset and assure victory.

On fourth-and-10 from the Highlands 15 with 9.0 seconds remaining, Johnson Central quarterback J.K. Hall rolled left to avoid Highlands pressure in the pocket and threw a pass to tight end Cody Parker.

"It hit his hands and I knocked it away," said Seidl, who was covering. "We knew that they had to come up with a play. And when they want a play, they go to their biggest guy (Parker). He came to my side and I was able to keep him from catching it."

On the previous third-down play, Hall threw a strike to receiver Ross Sanor in the end zone, and fate smiled on the Bluebirds. The football hit Sanor in the numbers and bounced to the ground. Hall couldn’t hit Parker on second down from the 15 because Highlands cornerback Ethan Bishop was able to get a hand on the football.

"We all just did our jobs," Seidl said.

The Bluebirds held the Golden Eagles to 236 total yards. Jude had more than twice that total while rushing for a state-record 584 yards Oct. 15 against Woodford County. Jude amassed 465 yards on the ground in last week’s second-round playoff against Covington Catholic.

"The defense just played great tonight," Highlands coach Dale Mueller said. "They were so disciplined and stuck to their assignments. We held a guy who had 1,000 yards in two games to runs of 5, 4 and 2 instead of him taking off on 40- and 50-yard runs for touchdowns."

Highlands, which totaled 273 yards, led 14-0 at halftime on a Patrick Towles 17-yard first-quarter run and Towles’ 31-yard touchdown pass to Austin Sheehan with 7.7 seconds left in the first half.

Towles finished 9-of-16 passing for 152 yards with one interception. He added 60 yards on 18 carries and scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 5-yard run with 8:34 to play.

His top receiver, Daniel Gold, had four catches for 88 yards, with a long grab of 41, followed by a catch for 16, which helped set up Towles’ go-ahead score.

Johnson Central was able to get back in it when Hall picked up a fumble by Jordan Streeter on Highlands’ second play from scrimmage in the second half and bolted 55 yards for a touchdown. Jude capped a sustained drive and scored on a five-yard run with 11:20 to play in the fourth quarter. The Golden Eagles tied it at 14 on the extra-point kick.

"We had a 14-point lead then they scored two touchdowns and had all the momentum in the world. But we were able to stop them," Mueller said. "We played hard-nosed Highlands football on defense. They did their jobs, ran to the ball, wrapped, and tackled well."

Highlands 7 0 7 7 -21
Johnson Central 0 0 7 7 -14

H-Towles 17 run (Weinel kick)
H-Sheehan 31 pass from Towles (Weinel kick)
J-Hall 55 fumble return (Davis kick)
J-Jude 5 run (Davis kick)
H-Towles 5 run (Weinel kick)

Records: H 12-1, J 10-3.

[Hoot Gibson]

Highlands edges Johnson Central

For the third year in a row, Highlands defeated Johnson Central in the playoffs, but Friday was the first time in the series the Bluebirds had to sweat out the ending.

The Bluebirds scored less than four minutes into the fourth quarter and halted a late Golden Eagles drive to advance to semifinals of the Class 5A state tournament with a 21-14 win at Eagle Field.

Highlands will play Harlan County in Baxter next week for a shot at its fourth consecutive state finals berth.

Johnson Central coach Jim Matney said the score reflected the whole night: so close.

“We came up short on some plays and it wasn’t our night,” Matney said. “It was the kind of night where things seemed like they weren’t going our way.”

That way of thinking was evident on the second to last play of the game.

Johnson Central had the ball in the Highlands red zone with 12 seconds left trailing by seven.

Quarterback J.K. Hall took a snap and fired into the right corner of the end zone to a wide-open Ross Sanor, who guided it into his hands.

The ball didn’t stay there, as the Johnson crowd erupted thinking it was a touchdown, but it was incomplete.

Highlands forced one more incomplete pass and gained way to its fourth straight regional title, and Bluebirds coach Dale Mueller knew his team dodged a bullet after he saw the ball hit the turf.

“What was going through my head was, gosh we sure were lucky,” Mueller said. “If they would have scored they would have went for two and we would have had a hard time stopping them.”

But Johnson Central had the hard time stopping Highlands’ quarterback, junior Patrick Towles.

Towles accounted for all three Bluebirds’ touchdowns en route to finishing the game with 164 yards passing and 64 yards rushing.

Mueller said with Towles it’s easier to get these close wins.

“He came up big when we needed him,” Mueller said. “He’s a great quarterback, he’s just big for us.”

Towles led Highlands to a 14-point lead in the first half with an 17-yard scramble for one touchdown, followed by a 39-yard bomb to receiver Austin Sheehan.

Towles also found his favorite target, Daniel Gold four times for 88 yards, including a 51-yard bomb that the Golden Eagles defense couldn’t knock out of the air.

Down by 14, Johnson Central capitalized on a Highlands mistake after Hall took a fumble back 55 yards to bring the Golden Eagles within seven.

Hall was big for the Golden Eagles all game on both sides of the ball. He was 5-for-8 for 57 yards under center and he intercepted a pass in addition to the key fumble recovery.

Matney said that level of play is something he expects from his seniors, especially Hall.

“That’s what you expect from your seniors, for them to come up big on these nights,” Matney said. “J.K. played that way all night, and I hate for our seniors, to put up a chance to win state, but it wasn’t our night.”

The Eagles tied the score, 14-14 in the fourth quarter on a five-yard run by junior J.J. Jude.

But Towles put Highlands ahead for good on a five-yard touchdown run with 8:34 left in regulation.

Jude ran for 103 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries, while fullback Tanner Bratton added 66 yards on 18 carries.

Highlands knew it would have to keep them from breaking the long run, keeping them to short carries. Mueller was proud his defense could stop the big plays from happening on the ground by a team know for electrifying runs.

“We really needed to contain them, so that was our plan: To make them drive it,” Mueller said. “They had been going 60 and 80 yards all year, so we were happy to keep them at three and four.”

For the third year in a row Highlands found a way to skirt by Johnson Central. The Bluebirds won, 35-21 in 2008 in Paintsville and 42-21 in Fort Thomas last season.

“Every game against them is a good game, but this one was the absolute best," Mueller said. "There is no quit in Johnson Central. I would love to have them on my team.”

Matney said that it was a war, and the dropped catch in the end zone was the latest and most devastating bomb of the series.

“The past three years it’s been a war,” Matney said. “Tonight we had an opportunity, but we couldn’t hang on to it. It just happens.”

HIGHLANDS 7-7-0-7—21
at J. CENTRAL 0-0-7-7—14
H-Towles 17 run (Weinel kick)
H-Sheehan 39 pass from Towles (Weinel kick)
J-Hall 55 fumble recovery (Davis kick)
J-Jude 5 run (Davis kick)
H-Towles 5 run (Weinel kick)
RECORDS: Highlands 12-1, Johnson Central 10-3.

[Can you dig it?]

I'm actually a Scott High School alumni/fan so my team is the one who takes but whooping every year from a lot of NKY teams including Johnson Central since we tend to face them every year in the 1st Round.

Not anymore. Now's your big chance.

[2dog]

Give credit where credit is due, the only smash mouth player on your team was towels and i saw him hump up 5 runs or more like grade school kids do. I think HHS is a great team and even better program but dont take nothin away from JC...they were the more smash mouth of the two teams. You guys were one dropped pass in the endzone from the loss, might wanna think your lucky stars because the kid who dropped that pass made 2 college caliber catches earlier in the game

Good luck trying to get a state championship without a balanced attack. When it comes to a state championship, smashmouth don't cut it. It's outdated and useless as doggy excrement.

[Bob Seger]

Good luck trying to get a state championship without a balanced attack. When it comes to a state championship, smashmouth don't cut it. It's outdated and useless as doggy excrement.

What a bunch of crock. :eyeroll:It was as close as a "slip through the fingers" of being good enough just last night. I think some of you blowhards just blow because you just dont know anything any better to blow about.

[eagle]

What a bunch of crock. :eyeroll:It was as close as a "slip through the fingers" of being good enough just last night. I think some of you blowhards just blow because you just dont know anything any better to blow about.

Good post, IMO this is the game that the blue birds and their double platoon team barely squeaked by JC by 7 points. As I said in an earlier post it took 22 fresh HHS players to beat 11 JC players, almost all going both ways and some playing on special teams as well.

[Wideleft01]

Good post, IMO this is the game that the blue birds and their double platoon team barely squeaked by JC by 7 points. As I said in an earlier post it took 22 fresh HHS players to beat 11 JC players, almost all going both ways and some playing on special teams as well.

Bottom line is Johnson Central has never beat Highlands. Apparently tried to get away from them in the re-classification. And lastly, couldn't beat Highlands in a so-called "down" year. I don't think they'll ever beat Highlands. A down year at Highlands seems to have become when they win a state championship, but don't have a perfect record. I'm okay with this "down" year.

[2dog]

Good post, IMO this is the game that the blue birds and their double platoon team barely squeaked by JC by 7 points. As I said in an earlier post it took 22 fresh HHS players to beat 11 JC players, almost all going both ways and some playing on special teams as well.

Remember, JC lost. HHS advances. If JC uses 11 players, thats their problem. HHS is a 3A school playing 5A. JC is a 5A losing to a 3A. Without HHS mistakes, JC doesn't even score. Looked to me like HHS defensive lineman were much smaller than JC's O lineman. They looked like DB's but somehow didn't get their mouths smashed. HHS did what it took to win. JC did what it took to lose. It's like the civil war. Throwing old outdated methods at new modern weapons. Smashmouth has become a joke. Sorry boys, that duck aint flying to state.

[tradition]

Just curious, Bell being a mountain team, do they have a balanced attack or are they "smash mouth football"?

I really have not followed, and truely wonder what thier style of football is considered.

[potlimit2002]

You are right, JCHS uses the O that Highlands discarded back in 1968. I am JCHS fan and there football program has made a huge leap forward but to win vs Highlands a team must be sound in all phases of the game.

[BellCoBobcats09]

Just curious, Bell being a mountain team, do they have a balanced attack or are they "smash mouth football"?

I really have not followed, and truely wonder what thier style of football is considered.

Bell Co is SMASH MOUTH.... Here lately we have developed a passing game just incase the running game gets shut down. If it doesnt get shut down we will run, run, run to you stop us. :Thumbs:

[tradition]

Bell Co is SMASH MOUTH.... Here lately we have developed a passing game just incase the running game gets shut down. If it doesnt get shut down we will run, run, run to you stop us. :Thumbs:

Have you developed a passing game like Johnson Central has developed a passing game?

[Stardust]

Bell Co is SMASH MOUTH.... Here lately we have developed a passing game just incase the running game gets shut down. If it doesnt get shut down we will run, run, run to you stop us. :Thumbs:

Lol, C'mon BCB09, 6A football is all "Smash Mouth" football, let me repeat ALL. Teams like the 3A Highlands Bluebirds have had no problems with 5A and 6A Smash Mouth Football teams. I think it's laughable that teams think they have better ground games the the super-size schools like a Ryle. They have NO clue!

[BellCoBobcats09]

Have you developed a passing game like Johnson Central has developed a passing game?

We have had 1,386 yards passing and 21 TD's. 68 of 101 and only 2 Int's.

I have no clue what JC's stats are?

[BellCoBobcats09]

Lol, C'mon BCB09, 6A football is all "Smash Mouth" football, let me repeat ALL. Teams like the 3A Highlands Bluebirds have had no problems with 5A and 6A Smash Mouth Football teams. I think it's laughable that teams think they have better ground games the the super-size schools like a Ryle. They have NO clue!

When we played JC this year we had 316 yards on the ground. Doesnt that count for us? :biggrin:

[Eagle_Fan442]

Remember, JC lost. HHS advances. If JC uses 11 players, thats their problem. HHS is a 3A school playing 5A. JC is a 5A losing to a 3A. Without HHS mistakes, JC doesn't even score. Looked to me like HHS defensive lineman were much smaller than JC's O lineman. They looked like DB's but somehow didn't get their mouths smashed. HHS did what it took to win. JC did what it took to lose. It's like the civil war. Throwing old outdated methods at new modern weapons. Smashmouth has become a joke. Sorry boys, that duck aint flying to state.

Posts like these are classy???? The Bluebirds SQUEEKED by JC and anyone who watched that game honestly knows this.
As far as smashmouth being a joke, you may want to go back to the film and look again, maybe you can explain to me the hit that Bratton layed on #44.
Now, I'll give credit where credit is due and congratulate the Birds on the win. Towles is a very good Quarterback.
I'm having a really hard time believing that the "better" team won. Not trying to be disrespectful in anyway to the Bluebirds when I say that. I honestly think JC was the "better" team and Highlands happened to be the lucky team that night. Maybe my gold glasses are getting fogged up a little, but I don't think so. Anyways, it's over and I wish the best for every young man that was on that field that night from both schools. Words can not express how proud I am of this years JC's team. They will forever be :1: in my book!!!

[Hoot Gibson]

Remember, JC lost. HHS advances. If JC uses 11 players, thats their problem. HHS is a 3A school playing 5A. JC is a 5A losing to a 3A. Without HHS mistakes, JC doesn't even score. Looked to me like HHS defensive lineman were much smaller than JC's O lineman. They looked like DB's but somehow didn't get their mouths smashed. HHS did what it took to win. JC did what it took to lose. It's like the civil war. Throwing old outdated methods at new modern weapons. Smashmouth has become a joke. Sorry boys, that duck aint flying to state.

Enough with the Highlands is a 3A school. Based on current enrollment numbers, both Johnson Central and Highlands are 4A schools. I am sick of hearing that Highlands is a tiny 3A school competing with giant 5A schools. It's simply not true and it is dishonest to keep making the claim. They are a small 4A school and JC is a large 4A school.

[nky]

Oh, I'm not bragging and I'm not a Highlands fan although I'm interested in seeing how they fare in the playoffs. I'm actually far from a Birds fan. I'm actually a Scott High School alumni/fan so my team is the one who takes but whooping every year from a lot of NKY teams including Johnson Central since we tend to face them every year in the 1st Round.

Not anymore. Now's your big chance.

:Thumbs: not to get off thread but Scott does have an opportunity over the next few years but I feel the coaching carousel will continue

[horst muhlmann]

Wow, fluke fumble...excuse the almighty bluebirds fumble and it was a fluke. come on man, everyone fumbles. what about Jude truck sticking two bluebirds into the endzone, take away the "fluke" fumble and its still not a blowout. I say JC was a FLUKE dropped pass away from sending the bluebirds home crying.

Come on. Let's all count to 10 and play nice.

Give the kids kuddos. The game was hard fought on both sides, didn't play out like many expected (many posters predicted a much higher scoring affair), and was exciting down to the very end.

As they say in many sports, defense wins championships... and Friday night was a great example of that.

[Bob Seger]

You are right, JCHS uses the O that Highlands discarded back in 1968. I am JCHS fan and there football program has made a huge leap forward but to win vs Highlands a team must be sound in all phases of the game.

The funny thing is if that one little slip hadn't happened this outdated offense of Matney's would have been "all the rage" of the high school world. That's how fickle you "experts" are.

[Bob Seger]

Remember, JC lost. HHS advances. If JC uses 11 players, thats their problem. HHS is a 3A school playing 5A. JC is a 5A losing to a 3A. Without HHS mistakes, JC doesn't even score. Looked to me like HHS defensive lineman were much smaller than JC's O lineman. They looked like DB's but somehow didn't get their mouths smashed. HHS did what it took to win. JC did what it took to lose. It's like the civil war. Throwing old outdated methods at new modern weapons. Smashmouth has become a joke. Sorry boys, that duck aint flying to state.

I would have seen the look on your face if that ancient hand grenade that JC threw at your impenetraable modern radar defended end zone defense would have been caught. Again all you " self consumed expert" blowhards seem to not want to admit that the receiver was wide open and the throw was perfect. Where was that state of the art impenetrable defense then John Madden? HHS didn't stop those rock throwing neandathals on that play. Quite the opposite. Unfortunately what was a perfect night through the air up to that point turned humanistic. HHS was beat, and then, guess what?......................................yours was the "duck" with all it's "high tech wizardry" that was dead.....lol

How big of a "joke" would that have been? I'll bet Dale Mueller aint standing and laughing and making fun. I'll bet he is thanking his God in heaven that he was able to escape with his football life, because deep down in his heart, he knows he was beat.

[2dog]

You guys took that bait and swallowed it whole. You lost and still claim to have somehow won?????? That pass was knocked loose by the HHS DB. Highlands is a 3A class. Again, without HHS mistakes JC doesn't score at all. HHS made the mistakes and deserved to be scored on. You were beat by a HHS team that most admit isn't as good as some past years. Your claims to have somehow won are pathetic. That smashmouth works on most mountain teams, but it will not get you a championship. Wake up!