[panther nation]

The tiger's travel to Knox Central...thoughts

[Bobcat4years]

Not Even Close...

[walterwhite]

The tiger's travel to Knox Central...thoughts

Nothing to think about here. Move along.

[Granny Bear]

I believe the Panthers will have a running clock before half.

Good luck to both teams; no injuries!!

[64SUR]

Keep your head up clay it going to be a quick night after halftime. It happen to the best of teams. :popcorn:

Knox County Central 49
Clay County 07

[TheTigersEye]

How are we so behind everyone in football this year? Atleast in the past we were able to put some points on the board and not be totally embarassed. Combs was supposed to be coming here as a "defensive guru" but he is running the offense? Doesn't make sense, he is an inexperienced coach on the defensive side of the ball, why try to run the offense which is something he has never done? I may be totally off but thats just my observation. We have just heard the "We are Young" excuse for the last few years, do our kids not age and mature like kids at other schools? We were young with Roark(which was probably legitimate then because of the number of guys that graduated in 2010), We were young with Evan, now were young with Combs.

[bobcatsfan]

Well I look at your roster and I see a lot of freshman and sophomores. Did your last coach run off all the juniors and seniors or what? Because if not then yeah they are legitimately young. I love Justin and I know he can right the ship. You have to give the guy some time.

[The Eagle has landed]

A defensive guru????? He was the DC at Magoffin Co. and I believe gave up about 40 points a game. Who said he was a Defensive guru cause I would like for my team to schedule that guy!!!!

[The Eagle has landed]

Listen when you are getting beat to death by everybody you play with the kids you have something is wrong sorry if you love the guy but Clay Co. has some players and always has had players, no excuse getting running clocks every game.

[The Eagle has landed]

my bad 30 points a game

[bobcatsfan]

my question is this though. You claim that you all have always had players but yet have NOT had very many winning seasons over the past 15 years. Now I remember clay back in the 80s and early 90s and they were horses. But in the last 15-20 years never a long playoff run. So were these players there then or should they just miraculously be there this year. I see how stepp won there but after he went 0-10 in year 1. Playing Lynn camp, Harlan and letcher. Maybe the schedule should be cupcaked down a little more.

[LandoGriffin]

I tend to agree with a couple of Tiger Asst. coaches .Our middle school coaches are not preparing these kids for Highschool football. Proper techniques are not being taught as far as tackling and blocking.I keep hearing how the defense has improved every week , but when is it going to show on the field.Things will get better with time. There is a good group of middle schoolers coming up.

[walterwhite]

There always seems to be a "good group" of middle schoolers coming up. It hasn't translated to success at the high school level.

[UKCC]

Not that Clay County would by any means be a district title contender this year but you all do realize they are playing without Sexton, Fields, Farmer, and someone that gave up on the team, again? All of those guys were starters. Those additions would prevent all these running clocks for the most part. Nevertheless, the real issue lies at the roots. I remember a time when grade school football in Clay County was a spectacle. 4 or 5 teams with 4-5 kids that you knew would one day be really good high school players. Now, there's two elementary schools that dominate both major sports with 2-3 note worthy kids. Get mad if you want but let me break it down, in 2010 Clay County went 8-4 with all losses to very powerful programs (Knox, Harlan County, Hazard, and Pulaski), that's the Class of 2011. That team was dominated by seniors. When those boys were in elementary school, you knew they would one day be a legitimate high school team. John Wilson, CJ Miller, Noah Reid, Tanner Gilbert, John Vernon Hooker, etc. Not to mention the ones that stuck with other sports and eventually went to college in those. The
Class of 2010 never lost a middle school game. You want to fix the problem, get your grade school programs back on track or eat some more cornbread or something. I want to use the excuse that there's a ton of athletes walking around the halls but I can't even do that. I don't know if kids are staying back like they used to, and I've never been a fan of that. However, Clay County used to have grown men playing sports. Now, they look 14-15 as juniors and seniors.

[Hogsnot]

Or we could do like our basketball program and try to recruit the best players from neighboring schools. That way we will be competitive.

[UKCC]

Or we could do like our basketball program and try to recruit the best players from neighboring schools. That way we will be competitive.

True, getting Smith, Wolfe, and Sexton from another school was big. Also, Farmer, how in the world did Clay County get that lucky?

[jim rome]

Keep your heads up Clay County fans, things will get getter. I believe you guys pull the upset Friday night, 5-2 Clay County.

[TheTigersEye]

Clay is struggling because the kids don't like Wayne.. oh wait, that was last year. CLAY gets it done Friday and shocks the world 3-2.

[walterwhite]

Not an excuse at all, because other eastern Kentucky counties face the same problems, but the decrease in population has to be at least a small factor. Go from a middle enrollment 5a school to a middle 4a in a few years and that can be a problem. Couple that with all the artists (they just love to draw) and you have a problem. One thing's for sure, the problems will find you, it's the answers that are hard to locate.

[TheTigersEye]

A defensive guru????? He was the DC at Magoffin Co. and I believe gave up about 40 points a game. Who said he was a Defensive guru cause I would like for my team to schedule that guy!!!!

I am just going by what was said on here when he got the job. Although non of those guys that said it post anymore. I just don't know why he's calling the offense if in what little experience he has is coaching defense.

[LandoGriffin]

You are correct . I remember Jake Allen and House playing at Goose Rock and BurningSprings.Hogsnot is mistaken on this one.

[SKINNYPIG]

There always seems to be a "good group" of middle schoolers coming up. It hasn't translated to success at the high school level.

We do "almost" always have a good group of middle schoolers. Four years ago we had a good group of eighth graders. Unfortunately, it has translated into six seniors. I don't know how many seniors Wayne County had but I know they had a lot more of upper classmen than Clay. ANY time Clay has 10-15 seniors they will compete. I have confidence that the current/past staff can coach the fundamentals and X's & O's. Keeping 10-15 juniors and seniors has been and will be the greatest challenge ahead for Combs. I've been scratching my head over this for years and don't know the answer. Hopefully we get it figured out soon. Someone mentioned in an earlier post about weakening the schedule...at this point that is not a bad idea. Anybody that thinks its a bad idea simply isn't thinking. Winning solves a lot of problems and for whatever the reason is, Clay is indeed young and experienced. Winning a few outside the district is paramount at this point in the building process. Sorry guys, you can point fingers and criticize offensive and defensive schemes all you want, we simply ARE NOT going to compete with most of the teams on our schedule at our current starter average age. My statements in no way are being critical of those that do play, they're out there fighting.

[UKCC]

Not an excuse at all, because other eastern Kentucky counties face the same problems, but the decrease in population has to be at least a small factor. Go from a middle enrollment 5a school to a middle 4a in a few years and that can be a problem. Couple that with all the artists (they just love to draw) and you have a problem. One thing's for sure, the problems will find you, it's the answers that are hard to locate.

Good point, the students in the high school are some of the first to go through Clay County with only 7 elementary schools. We dropped two elementary schools in just a few years and a Class size down the road. A small portion of people have left the county but in my opinion, it's more the fact that people are no longer having 5-6 children, those that can support them anyway. Let's hope that this middle school group develops, ease up on the schedule, and in 2 years see what we have.

[Bird]

I don't know how much softer of a schedule you can get out of district than your opponents being 10-40. Other than Corbin, that is what Clay's opponents records combined to be last season. Corbin was a idiotic game to take. I understand that Haddix needed a game but why set yourself up in your home opener vs. a team like that? As far as being young, many of you might not realize, but starting the season Clay had 5 seniors and 3 juniors starting on Offense. With 6 seniors and 3 juniors starting on Defense. Granted most of those guys played both ways. There is absolutely no reason for the scores to be like they are. I don't believe we should have a better record than what we have right now but these beatdowns are ridiculous.

[TheTigersEye]

I think losing to Rowan like that was absolutely unacceptable, they are mediocre at best. East Jessamine and Harlan County are two more that we should have faired better against. I have been to every game this year and it's just ridiculous we can't compete, Corbin and Wayne are solid teams but the rest there is no excuse.

[Bird]

Furthermore, I believe a person should be held accountable for his/her actions, good or bad. I don't want anyone to say he said this or he said that on Rivals, like most do without revealing who they are. I am the parent of the kid who was "dismissed" from the team. I am the parent who saw to it that my kid was doing whatever he could to be prepared for this season. I am the parent of the kid who said he wanted the ball, after he was told he would get it. I raised my kid to be honest and to hold himself accountable his actions. He, just like me, can walk around school or the game without lowering his head when he sees someone because he knows he did all he could do to prepare himself and anyone else who would work with him. Without telling lies in the process.

[Mr. Pike Central]

Knox Central - 45

Clay County - 7

[Granny Bear]

I think losing to Rowan like that was absolutely unacceptable, they are mediocre at best. East Jessamine and Harlan County are two more that we should have faired better against. I have been to every game this year and it's just ridiculous we can't compete, Corbin and Wayne are solid teams but the rest there is no excuse.

I agree. Not only are we rebuilding this year, we have lost 6 starters since we played against Clay. Ball, our starting RB, just had knee surgery last week. The injuries this year have been devastating. I know every team has those things they must work through, but when you are already thin, the impact is felt more.

[pjdoug]

Knox Central 35-0

[Football1]

Multiple coaching changes, declining #'s, injuries, and players walking away create only one things for any program - many losses.

No coach can be properly evaluated in 1 year. See how and what he improves next year. And no matter what he can do with X's and O's it will not matter until he has the right Jimmy's and Joe's to block, tackle, and run it.