[Orange Blaze]

This is one of the more unusual circumstances that I’ve seen in a while. Raceland was supposed to host but our turf isn’t ready yet and the venue had to change.  Apparently it couldn’t be worked out for the game to be at Putnam Stadium (I don’t know the whole story and won’t speculate) and now we have two KY teams opening their season in Ohio.   

As for the actual football game, Raceland has been hyped up all off-season and now we can see how warranted it is.  Defensively Raceland seems solid but the offense needs work.  Ashland lost two of their best players to rival Ironton in the offseason and as an outsider looking in it looks like it will be a rebuilding year for the Tomcats.

Raceland beat Ashland last year but the Tomcats historically have had the Rams number.  I look for this to be a good game with the Rams pulling away late.

Raceland 21
Ashland 10

[RAM-A-DEVIL]

Rams by eleventy billion

[Micro-Brew]

Hahaha, love it.
Anyway I think the Rams should win by 3-4 scores. Good luck to both teams on an injury free game!

[Patriot1]

Rams by Ram A Devil score just kidding but I do look for the Rams to handle Ashland 21 to 0 my prediction

[Slic Ric]

RAMS by 2-3 scores.

---

This is one of the more unusual circumstances that I’ve seen in a while. Raceland was supposed to host but our turf isn’t ready yet and the venue had to change.  Apparently it couldn’t be worked out for the game to be at Putnam Stadium (I don’t know the whole story and won’t speculate) and now we have two KY teams opening their season in Ohio.   

$$$$$$$$$$

[RAMDAD50]

It all comes down to line play and special teams for the Rams in my mind. Will Raceland continue the short kick offs giving their opponents a short filed to work with ? Will the coaching staff keep the …this game means nothing mentally an go for it on fourth down every time we are around the 50 yard line? Will Racelands line be able to hold up for four quarters or will this be one of those Assland, Raceland games where the Rams are so tired in the fourth they can’t hold onto the lead? Nobody really knows but I guess we will find out come Saturday haha

Thanks to the Burg for allowing us to play at their place.They had no reason to say yes but they did…in my mind it speaks volumes for the type of people they have running their school district

[Scotty_Bronson]

Im going with the Rams. It will definitely be an odd setting, as neither team is the "home" team in actuality. Atleast the color scheme will be correct though!

Offensively we have to be consistent. Wheelersburg was fadt and atheletic defensively and they really kept us in check playing super balanced defense. But towards the end of the 3rd we found some momentum in the quick passing game. That, imo, will be our bread and butter. Lundy has to let the game come to him and not let the pressure and hype get to him. The kid is a stud, he doesnt need to do too much. I look for us to open up the playbook a bit more and diversify offensively. Defensively, we look alot like Ashland did the year they won state. Outside of Highlands and Pikeville games, I doubt we need to score more than 3 TDs a game to win this year.

Rams 24
Kitties 13

[16thregioner]

Raceland may be the most experienced team to ever take the field in our area. The Ram defense should be lights out considering every player on it has the equivalent of 2 full years of high school experience with a few having 3 and nearly 4 full years of experience of playing high school football.

They are facing a team in Ashland whose entire offense with the exception of a couple of players is getting their first career varsity start. Defensively, Ashland does have some experience returning but this is experience from a defense that gave up 262 yards rushing to East Carter, 394 yards passing to Russell, and 105 yards rushing to the Greenup quarterback in their last 3 regular season outings.

Put simply, this is as "David vs. Goliath" as you'll ever see in an Ashland-Raceland matchup where Raceland is actually playing the role of Goliath. They've done all the right things at Raceland as far as players taking the COVID year and holding back. Getting Lykins and Webb was icing on the cake. The only thing they haven't done right is getting their turf installed. That's a little disappointing as I would have thought they would have had the whole community out there trained in cutting and gluing numbers and hash marks round the clock to get that inaugural game played for this team. The field looks great. Whatever the case, though, Raceland is a 14 point favorite over Ashland no matter where the game is played.

There are no excuses for Raceland this year. It's state championship or bust.

As an aside, though, does Wheelersburg's field come with Ohio refs? If that's the case, expect flags any time a Kentucky team scores a long TD or hits a big play. This one could end up 0-0.

[RAMDAD50]

Raceland may be the most experienced team to ever take the field in our area.  The Ram defense should be lights out considering every player on it has the equivalent of 2 full years of high school experience with a few having 3 and nearly 4 full years of experience of playing high school football.

They are facing a team in Ashland whose entire offense with the exception of a couple of players is getting their first career varsity start.  Defensively, Ashland does have some experience returning but this is experience from a defense that gave up 262 yards rushing to East Carter, 394 yards passing to Russell, and 105 yards rushing to the Greenup quarterback in their last 3 regular season outings.

Put simply, this is as "David vs. Goliath" as you'll ever see in an Ashland-Raceland matchup where Raceland is actually playing the role of Goliath.  They've done all the right things at Raceland as far as players taking the COVID year and holding back.  Getting Lykins and Webb was icing on the cake.  The only thing they haven't done right is getting their turf installed.  That's a little disappointing as I would have thought they would have had the whole community out there trained in cutting and gluing numbers and hash marks round the clock to get that inaugural game played for this team.  The field looks great.  Whatever the case, though, Raceland is a 14 point favorite over Ashland no matter where the game is played.

There are no excuses for Raceland this year.  It's state championship or bust.

As an aside, though, does Wheelersburg's field come with Ohio refs?  If that's the case, expect flags any time a Kentucky team scores a long TD or hits a big play.  This one could end up 0-0.

Hahah all great points….even the Ohio refs hahah. All but the state championship or bust. Idk how people think you can erase a 36 point running clock in one year. Pikeville didn’t lose everyone. I don’t wanna get caught up in talking about the end of the year at the beginning of the year but I believe there will be a lot of upset people when they realize Pukeville is still better then the Rams. List of football to be played u til then….let’s have some fun!! 

BTW ….if this weather doesn’t get you ready for football you’re dead inside

[T-CATS]

Ashland will struggle to hang around in this game and many more this season as Ashland is in full rebuild mold under their first year head coach. Oh well at least the game is on Saturday Night so I can attend the game. Good to have some High School football back and good luck to the Rams as they are one of the favorites to win a Title. Hope I’m wrong but Raceland wins going away 35-14.

[Orange Blaze]

Raceland may be the most experienced team to ever take the field in our area.  The Ram defense should be lights out considering every player on it has the equivalent of 2 full years of high school experience with a few having 3 and nearly 4 full years of experience of playing high school football.

They are facing a team in Ashland whose entire offense with the exception of a couple of players is getting their first career varsity start.  Defensively, Ashland does have some experience returning but this is experience from a defense that gave up 262 yards rushing to East Carter, 394 yards passing to Russell, and 105 yards rushing to the Greenup quarterback in their last 3 regular season outings.

Put simply, this is as "David vs. Goliath" as you'll ever see in an Ashland-Raceland matchup where Raceland is actually playing the role of Goliath.  They've done all the right things at Raceland as far as players taking the COVID year and holding back.  Getting Lykins and Webb was icing on the cake.  The only thing they haven't done right is getting their turf installed.  That's a little disappointing as I would have thought they would have had the whole community out there trained in cutting and gluing numbers and hash marks round the clock to get that inaugural game played for this team.  The field looks great.  Whatever the case, though, Raceland is a 14 point favorite over Ashland no matter where the game is played.

There are no excuses for Raceland this year.  It's state championship or bust.

As an aside, though, does Wheelersburg's field come with Ohio refs?  If that's the case, expect flags any time a Kentucky team scores a long TD or hits a big play.  This one could end up 0-0.

Hahah all great points….even the Ohio refs hahah. All but the state championship or bust. Idk how people think you can erase a 36 point running clock in one year. Pikeville didn’t lose everyone. I don’t wanna get caught up in talking about the end of the year at the beginning of the year but I believe there will be a lot of upset people when they realize Pukeville is still better then the Rams. List of football to be played u til then….let’s have some fun!! 

BTW ….if this weather doesn’t get you ready for football you’re dead inside

I agree with what you said about the gap closing with Pikeville.  I know it’s still a long time from now but after seeing us play last weekend we don’t look like we have closed the gap with them from a pure strength standpoint.   But that is still a long time from now and a lot can happen between now and November.

As for this game I think the defense will carry our team for most of the season and I don’t see this game being any different. Maybe Wheelersburg’s defense was just that good but our offense has had a tendency to sputter in the past and right now looks more or less the same.  As always we will improve over the course of the year but we have a lot of work to do before anyone starts talking about being able to play with Pikeville.

[Fanman]

Heard (from a good source) Ashland wanted a lot of $$$ to move the game to Putnam, so Raceland decided to find somewhere else. I guess the scrimmage they had at Wheelersburg gave them an opportunity to talk to them about moving it there.

Very strange start to the season, and will be interesting to see how the fan attendance is for both teams.

[jetpilot]

I will take the Rams by 14.

[Scotty_Bronson]

Imo, Raceland needs to put up some points in these first few games in order to get themselves in a legit conversation as being someone that can potentially dethrone Pikeville. The defense is ahead of the offense right now and where we may lack some actual brute strength upfront, we make up for with speed. But offensively we need to establish the run game asap.

[Warriorhawk17]

Ashland-20
Raceland-16

[EKUAlum05]

If Raceland is who we think they should be... and Ashland is who we think they should be... then Raceland should be able to come away with a win in a competitive game.

[RAMDAD50]

Ashland-20
Raceland-16

This is a fair prediction. Assland is more then capable of winning this game

---

If Raceland is who we think they should be... and Ashland is who we think they should be... then Raceland should be able to come away with a win in a competitive game.

Idk ….lots of pressure being put on young boys that hasn’t even scored their first touchdown of the season. A loss to Assland won’t make me think the Raceland won’t or can’t compete for a state championship. I’ll make my decision if they are capable after week 4

[2000PHS]

Raceland 21
Ashland 7

Good luck Rams.

[Scotty_Bronson]

Kind of have to agree with RD. This is really the most pressure the program has ever been under. As more than just insiders EXPECT Raceland to be a real contender this year. If the kids stay lose it will be a fun year.

[RAMDAD50]

Kind of have to agree with RD. This is really the most pressure the program has ever been under. As more than just insiders EXPECT Raceland to be a real contender this year. If the kids stay lose it will be a fun year.

Well hot damn…so far I have two Raceland fans agreeing with me before week one. I’ve met my quota for this season. I can now retire and drift off int lurking land hahaha …..nah

[Scotty_Bronson]

Lol the big thing is RD that we had what we all coined as "the year" vibes before. On paper there is little to no reason that this isnt really THE YEAR. Problem is, the games arent played on paper. I do however, have alot of optimism regardless of what the final score of the scrimmage at Wheelersburg was. The offense will be fine.

[Slic Ric]

Ashland-20
Raceland-16

This is a fair prediction. Assland is more then capable of winning this game

---

If Raceland is who we think they should be... and Ashland is who we think they should be... then Raceland should be able to come away with a win in a competitive game.

Idk ….lots of pressure being put on young boys that hasn’t even scored their first touchdown of the season. A loss to Assland won’t make me think the Raceland won’t or can’t compete for a state championship. I’ll make my decision if they are capable after week 4

What pressure? It's the same buildup RAM fans always push on the kids like they're rock stars. Should be used to it because it happens every year. Although I'll give RAMDAD50 credit for being the pessimist to counter that every year lol.

[Scotty_Bronson]

True that Skic Ric. I think it truthfully stems from all the years spent in the 4 class syatem playing against NKY powers and coming so close so many times to making the carpet. Then we finally made it there and IT did NOT go as planned. Ive taken a realistic approach the last few years andoing the same this year. And realistically we should finally have the horses to do what we have all been waiting on for so long. But again, its not played on paper.

[RAMDAD50]

Ashland-20
Raceland-16

This is a fair prediction. Assland is more then capable of winning this game

---

If Raceland is who we think they should be... and Ashland is who we think they should be... then Raceland should be able to come away with a win in a competitive game.

Idk ….lots of pressure being put on young boys that hasn’t even scored their first touchdown of the season. A loss to Assland won’t make me think the Raceland won’t or can’t compete for a state championship. I’ll make my decision if they are capable after week 4

What pressure? It's the same buildup RAM fans always push on the kids like they're rock stars. Should be used to it because it happens every year. Although I'll give RAMDAD50 credit for being the pessimist to counter that every year lol.

I’m a realist….there’s a different hahah

---

True that Skic Ric. I think it truthfully stems from all the years spent in the 4 class syatem playing against NKY powers and coming so close so many times to making the carpet. Then we finally made it there and IT did NOT go as planned. Ive taken a realistic approach the last few years andoing the same this year. And realistically we should finally have the horses to do what we have all been waiting on for so long. But again, its not played on paper.

We’ve had the “horses” many times in the past! I’m not gonna get into all that this early hahah. This conversation will surly be brought back up after the season haha

[Scotty_Bronson]

Im not so sure we have had these types of horses lol. Definitely not this many...

[Orange Blaze]

Ashland-20
Raceland-16

This is a fair prediction. Assland is more then capable of winning this game

---

If Raceland is who we think they should be... and Ashland is who we think they should be... then Raceland should be able to come away with a win in a competitive game.

Idk ….lots of pressure being put on young boys that hasn’t even scored their first touchdown of the season. A loss to Assland won’t make me think the Raceland won’t or can’t compete for a state championship. I’ll make my decision if they are capable after week 4

What pressure? It's the same buildup RAM fans always push on the kids like they're rock stars. Should be used to it because it happens every year. Although I'll give RAMDAD50 credit for being the pessimist to counter that every year lol.

I’m at a point to where I’m just going to watch the games and enjoy them for what they are.  If we win 12+ games and win a state title awesome and if we only make it to the 2nd or 3rd round that’s great too.  These crazy preseason expectations have only led to disappointment and bitter memories over the years.

Think back to the 2017 team that made it to State.  No one had high expectations for that team and they just went out and did their job and had an exceptional season.  Taking this approach keeps everyone loose and takes away and keeps the game fun.

[Scotty_Bronson]

Thats the big ticket item. Especially for Lundy. Staying loose. Trust his receivers, if it aint there, get upfiekd and get what you can. Live to throw another down.

[Orange Blaze]

Im not so sure we have had these types of horses lol. Definitely not this many...

Scotty we don’t disagree often but I’m not sure I agree with you on this one.  I won’t deny that we have a lot of skill on this team but I can think of other groups that were just as skilled if not more.  The 2013-2014 teams with Messer, Dixon, and Young were stacked and we definitely don’t have a Messer type of player and it would be difficult to match the other two I mentioned as well.  Again I am not knocking our current team and we definitely have some good players but there have been several teams throughout the years that were equally or more talented than the 2022 version of the Rams.  

That being said, that was in the past and this is now.  The team we have this year should have a really good season and I’ve been guilty of jumping in the hype bandwagon at times too but I think we should all pump the breaks on talking about how good we are until we actually prove it on the field.

[Gargamels]

Ashland-20
Raceland-16

This is a fair prediction. Assland is more then capable of winning this game

---

If Raceland is who we think they should be... and Ashland is who we think they should be... then Raceland should be able to come away with a win in a competitive game.

Idk ….lots of pressure being put on young boys that hasn’t even scored their first touchdown of the season. A loss to Assland won’t make me think the Raceland won’t or can’t compete for a state championship. I’ll make my decision if they are capable after week 4

What pressure? It's the same buildup RAM fans always push on the kids like they're rock stars. Should be used to it because it happens every year. Although I'll give RAMDAD50 credit for being the pessimist to counter that every year lol.

I’m at a point to where I’m just going to watch the games and enjoy them for what they are.  If we win 12+ games and win a state title awesome and if we only make it to the 2nd or 3rd round that’s great too.  These crazy preseason expectations have only led to disappointment and bitter memories over the years.

Think back to the 2017 team that made it to State.  No one had high expectations for that team and they just went out and did their job and had an exceptional season.  Taking this approach keeps everyone loose and takes away and keeps the game fun.

Expectations are real when we return EVERYONE off of a State Semifinal run & add an All State defender from across the river.  As for Ashland they have to keep Ironton out of their backyard lost to much to the Tigers All-Stars.  Rams 28 - Tomkittens 7

[tomcatlion]

Raceland may be the most experienced team to ever take the field in our area.  The Ram defense should be lights out considering every player on it has the equivalent of 2 full years of high school experience with a few having 3 and nearly 4 full years of experience of playing high school football.

They are facing a team in Ashland whose entire offense with the exception of a couple of players is getting their first career varsity start.  Defensively, Ashland does have some experience returning but this is experience from a defense that gave up 262 yards rushing to East Carter, 394 yards passing to Russell, and 105 yards rushing to the Greenup quarterback in their last 3 regular season outings.

Put simply, this is as "David vs. Goliath" as you'll ever see in an Ashland-Raceland matchup where Raceland is actually playing the role of Goliath.  They've done all the right things at Raceland as far as players taking the COVID year and holding back.  Getting Lykins and Webb was icing on the cake.  The only thing they haven't done right is getting their turf installed.  That's a little disappointing as I would have thought they would have had the whole community out there trained in cutting and gluing numbers and hash marks round the clock to get that inaugural game played for this team.  The field looks great.  Whatever the case, though, Raceland is a 14 point favorite over Ashland no matter where the game is played.

There are no excuses for Raceland this year.  It's state championship or bust.

As an aside, though, does Wheelersburg's field come with Ohio refs?  If that's the case, expect flags any time a Kentucky team scores a long TD or hits a big play.  This one could end up 0-0.

I know Lykins, but see mention of Webb.  Who is this?  Where did he come from?  Is he filling a void from the team from last year?