[Patriot]

Harlan County 11-2
Whitley County 3-8
Perry County Central 9-3
Letcher County Central 4-7

HC loses QB, RB, lineman, kicker
Whitley doesn't lose much
Perry loses QB, Robinson....
Letter loses Johnson....

Feel free to chime in on what your teams lost and who will fill their shoes

[Patriot]

Replacing Jordy Brewer will be Key!!! He was the leader of this years team. This is really the first time we have to replace a leader like this, in the past it's been a couple of Seniors leading but seems like Jordy really filled that role this year.

Jake Middleton is an outstanding back, but we will miss having a two headed monster someone could break out we have some promising young players. I look for Chitwood to be the other back along with Devin Daniels getting some time.

I'm guessing Tucker Lewis will be a ? at Full Back, so I see Chorak and possibly Fred Massey at FB.

QB will most likely be Jenkins, with Caldwell waiting in the wings. But if they both struggle look for Larkey to take a page out of Joker Phillips play book and play a Senior WR at QB (Austin Maggard)!!!!

Coach has done a great job replacing key players, Nathaniel Gilliam left we had TJ Green, Dylon Smith, & McMillan. Dylon left we had Jake Middleton, McMillian leaves.....we'll see.

The defense will be better, don't forget the Black Bears lost a lot of defense the year before last.

Replacing Michael Smith will be a task, when he wanted to he could block anyone!

I believe the Black Bears will be okay and leave it to the players who wins the district.

[RunItUpTheGut]

Whitley will return some key players, but as a lot of people know, finding and producing good linemen is just as hard if not harder to do then replacing the skill positions. This is especially true for an offense that ran for nearly 3400 yards (88% of total offense) and only passed for a mere 500 yards (12% of total offense).
Whitley loses 10 seniors, 7 of which were offensive linemen and defensive linemen, a couple of them played both ways. We also lose two WR (one was also a safety on defense) and IMO the most valuable SR we had, a kicker. While 10 is actually a pretty low number, for it to wipe out our entire offensive line pretty much hurts us in the trenches.

With that said, Whitley will return 16 Seniors this year, or should anyways.
Mix that with 11 Juniors, and hopefully we'll be able to cut back on so many kids playing both ways.


On offense, our entire backfield will look pretty much the same with Sophomore Austin Ysido at QB (90 Carries for 650 yards and 13/27 with 199 yards passing).

At fullback, Senior Boston Bryant (225 carries for 1512 yards) will start in Whitleys fullback heavy system. Anyone who played Whitley this year knows this kids a load and i dont expect that to change.

At Halfback i expect a couple of guys to return and maybe even a freshmen to see some time as we rotate a lot of RB's into our system to keep up with the amount of jet sweeps and toss sweeps we run.
Senior Josh Nichols (75 carries 556 yards) will be expected to step up his game from a pretty good season last year.
Junior Chase Rose, who many thought would have been the starting QB this year before Ysidro took over, will also see some time running the ball, but i think he will be relied on a lot more on the defensive side of the ball.
Tyler Sears is another option at RB for Whitley. Kid has good speed but like Rose, we probably see some time on defense as well.
Zach Mills, a freshmen, led his team to a state runner up crown this year and is one of the most electrifying 8th graders ive seen play the game. The kid is a game change and im sure Black will use him the right way to get ready for future years.
I expect Junior Cody Lewis to be playing wide out for most of the year. I could go over reciever stats and all that but in this offense, your reciever might as well be a skinny offensive linemen as he will be used to block more than anything.

Defense and the kicking game is what scares me about this team. We do return Bryant, but id love to see him only playing on the offensive side of the ball and like anyone, would love to see as many one way players as possible.

Junior Austin Hooper will be needed to step up big time on defense and along with Bryant will prbably lead the team in tackles again this year. The Freshmen i referred to is also a good linebacker and may see some starting time on the defensive side of the ball.


I know we struggle this year, but with a schedule like we had, it was to be expected with such a young team. What a lot of people dont know about this past year is that our starting RB quit after the Johnson Central scrimmage and didnt play and we also lost our best defensive linemen who moved before the season began and it hurt us bad with depth since we were this young.
I think as long as the kids stick with it and get better we will compete for a district and region crown this year.

The Schedule
Russell County Home
Rockcastle Co. Home
Bell County Away
Clay County Away
Lynn Camp Home
Somerset Home
Perry Central Home
Harlan County Away
Letcher County Away
Boyle County Home

[Patriot]

Any chance Bryant becomes an O lineman?

Is it difficult for the younger players to figure out that Whitley offense?

Harlan County loses our 3 year kicker as well, I fill like he was a great weapon had we got close at Southwestern in regulation I think he could have won the game for us, he hit a 42 harder there at Whitley this year.

That looks like a pretty tough schedule!

[RunItUpTheGut]

Any chance Bryant becomes an O lineman?

Is it difficult for the younger players to figure out that Whitley offense?

Harlan County loses our 3 year kicker as well, I fill like he was a great weapon had we got close at Southwestern in regulation I think he could have won the game for us, he hit a 42 harder there at Whitley this year.

That looks like a pretty tough schedule!

Theres no way theyll move Bryant to the o line.He played tightend his freshmen and sophomore year, but only because we had Bramlett. I can almost guarantee you the Bryant will be the starting fullback once again. The hardest thing about deciding what to do with him is that he's also out top returning defensive player.
I wouldne be surprised to see Black move some more people in on offense and sub him out a lot more than we did this year, because he will be needed greatly on defense this year.

I wish Whitley took the Bell or Highlands approach to the high school offense. Those schools start teaching there kids to run that type of offense when there in the 3rd and 4th grade. There aready adjusted to it. In Whitley schools, theres six different elementary schools with different coaches running different offenses and they dont relly get a taste of it until they get in 8th grade. With that said, Whitleys offense is all about motions and sending the players to certain spots each play. Timing is key in Whitleys offense and its something very few pick up on really quick.
Ysidro picked it up good, but it still took him all season to get used to it enough to where he looked comfortable and even then he still looked confused at times.
I love the option, but Black went away from the true option last year a lot, and rightfully so as we were so young and i dont think the backs were ready for it.
Thats the same reason you seen Bryant carrying it up the middle every other play. Simple and to the point.

The kicker we had was amazing. I will go down as saying that was the best kicker in our schools history. For the first time, we had a soccer player playing football and it paid off in a big way. (Remember, Whitley just started a soccer program 3 years ago and he transferred in from out of state and already knew how to kick).
He played with the soccer team and kicked for Whitley on Fridays, which i think a lot of good kickers around the state do when there not used for anything else other than kicking. He set tons of school kicking records this year.

The non district schedule will only help us play up to our competetion which IMO will go along way come playoff time. Bell on the road and Rock and Boyle at home.

Hopefully a few more kids will fall into the right places.
Im excited about this coming year, i also think this is the most seniors weve had since 2001.

Will Harlan County still be playing the same amount of out of state teams this year?
What about Perry and Letcher, will there schedules look the same?

[JAFO]

Whitley gets back a load in my opinion... and the QB was just coming into his own toward the end of their season...

Letcher... who knows.. but without johnson i look for them to struggle...

Harlan County will re-load.. they will miss Mcmillians speed and the QB's leadership but from what i've seen they have a slew of running backs...

Perry.. loses more than anyone.. (unless you count johnson as the entire offense for letcher) and this will tell the tale of coaching for this team...

[GetChili]

I think Harlan County will be the team to beat once again in the district. Whitley County, led by Boston Bryant, will be pretty good, as well. They will surprise a lot of people in 2012. PCC loses everyone, so I don't see them doing much next year. LCC will struggle without Johnson at QB.

[geauxtigers75]

I think Harlan County will be the team to beat once again in the district. Whitley County, led by Boston Bryant, will be pretty good, as well. They will surprise a lot of people in 2012. PCC loses everyone, so I don't see them doing much next year. LCC will struggle without Johnson at QB.

I hope everyone keeps thinking that.

[HDE]

How good was the Perry Central JV?
Who did the play last year?

[Patriot]

Theres no way theyll move Bryant to the o line.He played tightend his freshmen and sophomore year, but only because we had Bramlett. I can almost guarantee you the Bryant will be the starting fullback once again. The hardest thing about deciding what to do with him is that he's also out top returning defensive player.
I wouldne be surprised to see Black move some more people in on offense and sub him out a lot more than we did this year, because he will be needed greatly on defense this year.

I wish Whitley took the Bell or Highlands approach to the high school offense. Those schools start teaching there kids to run that type of offense when there in the 3rd and 4th grade. There aready adjusted to it. In Whitley schools, theres six different elementary schools with different coaches running different offenses and they dont relly get a taste of it until they get in 8th grade. With that said, Whitleys offense is all about motions and sending the players to certain spots each play. Timing is key in Whitleys offense and its something very few pick up on really quick.
Ysidro picked it up good, but it still took him all season to get used to it enough to where he looked comfortable and even then he still looked confused at times.
I love the option, but Black went away from the true option last year a lot, and rightfully so as we were so young and i dont think the backs were ready for it.
Thats the same reason you seen Bryant carrying it up the middle every other play. Simple and to the point.

The kicker we had was amazing. I will go down as saying that was the best kicker in our schools history. For the first time, we had a soccer player playing football and it paid off in a big way. (Remember, Whitley just started a soccer program 3 years ago and he transferred in from out of state and already knew how to kick).
He played with the soccer team and kicked for Whitley on Fridays, which i think a lot of good kickers around the state do when there not used for anything else other than kicking. He set tons of school kicking records this year.

The non district schedule will only help us play up to our competetion which IMO will go along way come playoff time. Bell on the road and Rock and Boyle at home.

Hopefully a few more kids will fall into the right places.
Im excited about this coming year, i also think this is the most seniors weve had since 2001.

Will Harlan County still be playing the same amount of out of state teams this year?
What about Perry and Letcher, will there schedules look the same?

I noticed he was pretty tired at the end of the Harlan County Game, it's rough for those big guys to play both sides of the ball the whole game. Harlan County's schedule should be the same since this is will be year two of a two year schedule. We will travel to Morristown TN to start the season to play Morristown West (We played East this past season). West is the better team. Gate City VA will also come to Harlan County this year. I heard someone say the Lee High VA game would not be this year but we are very close to them if not their closest game. After that it's GRC in Harlan County, district play, and Bell. Hopefully Harlan County will be playing on their new field. Work is coming along the spot for the turf is flat and the home bleachers are up!

[cougarpride08]

Letcher Centrals QB will probably be Zane Blair. This kid will surprise a lot of people, but as far as the rest of the team it is too early, but they are going to have some talent there is no doubt about it.

[RunItUpTheGut]

I noticed he was pretty tired at the end of the Harlan County Game, it's rough for those big guys to play both sides of the ball the whole game. Harlan County's schedule should be the same since this is will be year two of a two year schedule. We will travel to Morristown TN to start the season to play Morristown West (We played East this past season). West is the better team. Gate City VA will also come to Harlan County this year. I heard someone say the Lee High VA game would not be this year but we are very close to them if not their closest game. After that it's GRC in Harlan County, district play, and Bell. Hopefully Harlan County will be playing on their new field. Work is coming along the spot for the turf is flat and the home bleachers are up!

We did overplay him way too much. IMO hes a bigger help on the defensive side of the ball and a better defensive player. But when hes your only option on offense, hes of course going to get the ball and at 3-4 yards a carry he got it a lot.

Im excited to see HC's new field. I hope someone can post some pics of the progress being made on it and share them with us.

Any chance of HC scheduling teams like Corbin, Mboro, or Knox in the near future?

[RunItUpTheGut]

Letcher Centrals QB will probably be Zane Blair. This kid will surprise a lot of people, but as far as the rest of the team it is too early, but they are going to have some talent there is no doubt about it.

How many kids, and starters did LCC lose?

[RunItUpTheGut]

Letcher Centrals QB will probably be Zane Blair. This kid will surprise a lot of people, but as far as the rest of the team it is too early, but they are going to have some talent there is no doubt about it.

What grade is he in?

[Gummie Bear]

We did overplay him way too much. IMO hes a bigger help on the defensive side of the ball and a better defensive player. But when hes your only option on offense, hes of course going to get the ball and at 3-4 yards a carry he got it a lot.

Im excited to see HC's new field. I hope someone can post some pics of the progress being made on it and share them with us.

Any chance of HC scheduling teams like Corbin, Mboro, or Knox in the near future?

We play Knox.
As for, Corbin, Middlesboro, Hazard you'll have to ask them. We tried to schedule them. Heck we can't even get Letcher to play us in jv or freshmen for some reason.

[RunItUpTheGut]

We play Knox.
As for, Corbin, Middlesboro, Hazard you'll have to ask them. We tried to schedule them. Heck we can't even get Letcher to play us in jv or freshmen for some reason.

i figured Knox And Harlan Co. would eventually get a game together.
Didnt you all scrimmage HC last year? Are you going to again this year?

[Norm Peterson]

I would rank them like this:
1. Harlan County
2. Whitley County
3. Perry County Central
4. Letcher County Central

[Tailback44]

Perry losing Robinson, their D will be back to like it has been the last 10 years. Horrible They will have to outscore everyone to win like when browne was there. PCC is out of the question to win district. I will rank them.

1.Whitley
2.Harlan
3.Letcher
4.Perry

[Patriot]

i figured Knox And Harlan Co. would eventually get a game together.
Didnt you all scrimmage HC last year? Are you going to again this year?

Harlan County played Knox this year in Harlan County and we will travel to Barbourville this year.

HC scrimmaged Corbin last year, and I believe they have a few times in the past. My understanding is that Corbin just don't want to play a home and home, just want HC to come to Corbin. That's just what I've heard. We also have played Middlesboro, Leslie Co., and even Lynn Camp in the past but the smaller schools offer nothing but a local game for the Black Bears! Not talking down about these schools but they are smaller schools and generally the games weren't close.

I know it will never happen but I would like to play Harlan Ind. just because, but the better situation would be to play a City/County Bowl like Bell and M'boro. HC playing Knox, Bell, Corbin and Harlan Ind. could play M'boro, Leslie, or any other local team. What a gate that would be!!!

[Daddycat27]

That will never happen! HCHS vs Harlan Ind. would be totally one sided. It would be a 40 pt win for HCHS. I'm not haten just stating the truth! HI just don't have the horses!

[geauxtigers75]

Perry losing Robinson, their D will be back to like it has been the last 10 years. Horrible They will have to outscore everyone to win like when browne was there. PCC is out of the question to win district. I will rank them.

1.Whitley
2.Harlan
3.Letcher
4.Perry

Yep. Matt Robinson was the only player we had, your right. :lame:

[Patriot]

Yep. Matt Robinson was the only player we had, your right. :lame:

Are you saying Perry Central will not miss Matt Robinson? By the way some Commodores talked during the season he's all PCC had on defense. To be honest I couldn't name another defensive player for them.

[geauxtigers75]

Are you saying Perry Central will not miss Matt Robinson? By the way some Commodores talked during the season he's all PCC had on defense. To be honest I couldn't name another defensive player for them.

Oh we will, players like Matt do not come around often, he was a special talent. But to say our defense will be atrocious and we'll have to outscore everyone to win is a stretch. Good bulletin board material for the off season IMO.

[Tailback44]

Yep. Matt Robinson was the only player we had, your right. :lame:

get over yourself. PCC D will SUCK without Robinson. Lose Huff in secondary lose big Deaton kid up front and Robinson at the 2nd level it is over the PCC D. Over! back to the 56-48 games for PCC.

[blackbearboy89]

im new to the site and i am a huge supported of hc black bears, but hc will lose qb-brewer and rb-mcmillian, ol-micheal smith, also chase calton who was super key but on the flip side several key players from the 8th grade class that came in the 2010 season who will juniors next year and will need to step up, rb postion will not drop off, yes they will miss mcmillian but jake middleton is a great player, look for zack chitwood to be the man that steps up and also corey chorak to also improve, also anthony jenkins will be the starting qb, he could at first take a while to get used to a bigger role, plus other posters say the d was really young compared to last year and that was true, i think the d will be better next year, i think hc and whitley both have a ton of talent

[RunItUpTheGut]

Harlan County played Knox this year in Harlan County and we will travel to Barbourville this year.

HC scrimmaged Corbin last year, and I believe they have a few times in the past. My understanding is that Corbin just don't want to play a home and home, just want HC to come to Corbin. That's just what I've heard. We also have played Middlesboro, Leslie Co., and even Lynn Camp in the past but the smaller schools offer nothing but a local game for the Black Bears! Not talking down about these schools but they are smaller schools and generally the games weren't close.

I know it will never happen but I would like to play Harlan Ind. just because, but the better situation would be to play a City/County Bowl like Bell and M'boro. HC playing Knox, Bell, Corbin and Harlan Ind. could play M'boro, Leslie, or any other local team. What a gate that would be!!!

Thats exactly the reason Whitley wont play them.
They actually have the nerve to ask Whitley to play, but only if its at Corbin every year. WTF is that.

[geauxtigers75]

get over yourself. PCC D will SUCK without Robinson. Lose Huff in secondary lose big Deaton kid up front and Robinson at the 2nd level it is over the PCC D. Over! back to the 56-48 games for PCC.

Well i'm glad a Breathitt fan thinks he knows more about our team than I do. Because you sure as HELL don't. Why don't you get off your high horse an quit acting like you know what the defense will be like. Yea, we lose some very good players, but it's not the end of the world. We got some good kids coming up and i'm sure Coach Haddix will have them ready to step into some of those vacant roles come August.

[HDE]

I can't think of another defense the past three years that depended on one more player on defense more than Perry did with Robinson. When he went out of the game over here two years ago Perry could not stop T.J. Green and HCHS rallied when it looked like the game was over.

So you know so much about Perry but can't tell anyone how the JV and frosh did last season?

[Tailback44]

Well i'm glad a Breathitt fan thinks he knows more about our team than I do. Because you sure as HELL don't. Why don't you get off your high horse an quit acting like you know what the defense will be like. Yea, we lose some very good players, but it's not the end of the world. We got some good kids coming up and i'm sure Coach Haddix will have them ready to step into some of those vacant roles come August.

I'm sorry no I dont know more than you. I'm just basing my opinion on what I seen last season on what will be returning. There is no one on the team that will be able to fill the shoes of robinson but we are talking bout PCC who loves to recruit so I wont be shocked to see a stud from the Bronx come down here and fill those shoes so PC will have a good defense.

[geauxtigers75]

I can't think of another defense the past three years that depended on one more player on defense more than Perry did with Robinson. When he went out of the game over here two years ago Perry could not stop T.J. Green and HCHS rallied when it looked like the game was over.

So you know so much about Perry but can't tell anyone how the JV and frosh did last season?

Yea, I remember that game. The LB we put in was a freshman, he's now a senior. I'm not a coach or even close to the program and I can't give an exact W/L on the JV team (we didn't field a freshman team), but i'm thinking the JV won a few games an were pretty competitive overall, and we have some pretty decent juniors to be coming up.

I'm sorry no I dont know more than you. I'm just basing my opinion on what I seen last season on what will be returning. There is no one on the team that will be able to fill the shoes of robinson but we are talking bout PCC who loves to recruit so I wont be shocked to see a stud from the Bronx come down here and fill those shoes so PC will have a good defense.

Yea we're gonna come get some players off Breathitt like you all did off of us in 2004. We're also going to get the top junior in Texas, and Emmitt Smith's son. Hell I even heard the 'UFO' that crashed in Hazard the other day was some of the kid's of the players on the Monstars team that MJ and Bugs Bunny played and we got them to come down an suit up for PCC in football and basketball. WATCH OUT IN 2012!