[Big- D]

That was a good game and its hard to win the game against anyone with that many turnovers....backbreaker......but russells D stood up to the titans high octane offense pretty well...things couldve been alot different if you take away the turnovers....good seasons for both teams and good luck next year

[GOREDDEVILS]

First off I want to give my congrats to Mercer for their state title.Second I can't say enough about the heart and effort put forth by this bunch of Devils.They proved alot of people wrong today and nothing for them to hold their heads down over.We have had a good season and I'm already looking forward to next year. I will miss seeing all these seniors play but I enjoyed seeing every single one for the last 2 or 3 years.Good Luck in the future seniors we will miss you.

[GOREDDEVILS]

I had to listen to most of this game on a head set since my power was out from about 4 mins to go in the 2nd quarter till about 6pm. It sure was starting to get cold in my house.

[dfblackcat53]

i figured that mercer would win by more than 3..

[DEVIL89]

First off let me congradulate the DEVILS on an outstanding 2 years. This game was an exciting game I was there freezing my tale off. The so called Mighty Titans may have won the championship, but it was not as easy as alot of people thought it was going to be. Now I am not complaining about the merger stuff anymore but in my opinion from what I saw they were overrated this year,I know this may start some stuff but like I said this is my opinion and mine only. This game just proved that Russell's D is just amazing. I cannot wait until next year. GOOD LUCK to all the SENIORS for a wonderful 2 years. I for one is going to hate to see you leave!!

[slugger9]

i wish i would have made it congrats to both teams good year for russell and even better for mercer by winning their first state title

[slugger9]

Those seniors had a great career i was lucky to watch them play in last years state title game nothing to hang your head about i played high school football and i know if you played like that im proud and you should be proud of yourself

[cobra67]

Congrats to Mercer but an even bigger congratulations to Russell.You may have lost but you showed the state what Eastern football is all about.SMASHMOUTH!!!!

[russelldevils54]

In all honesty Russell really should have won the game......im not saying anthing about the class thing or anything like that......but the turnovers and the kicking game led to Russell's demise.........I really hated losing that one....since Mercer had their undefeated t-shirts already made before the game because they thought it was over before Russell stepped into the pizza box.........wouldn't it have been nice Russell fans to see the looks on their faces if we would have won.....lol..............I am going to congratulate Mercer..they were good but not as good as everyone else made them up to be. dont get me wrong..im not taking anything away from them, but seriously hell of game Russell............and to cobra67 thats is what the east does and always will do........smash people's mouths for them......lol............and finally to all the Russell fans this ones over..but don't worry.....we'll be back next on the carpet next year.....

[RedDevilStXIUFan]

Congrats to the Mighty Mighty Red Devils!!:letsparty You guys played awesome. I believe that Mercer played well and deserved a lot of the hype they received prior to the game. I also think that Russell showed that they were the defending state champions for a reason. IMO Russell outplayed Mercer, however, Mercer won the catagory that mattered most. Russell made too many turnovers trying to force things and make big plays trying to keep up with Mercers big plays so in that sense Mercer "forced" Russell a little out of their game. Mercer took advantage of the Russell miscues by intercepting the ball and striping the ball causing fumbles. Mercer had excellent speed (:omg: those running backs were fast :yikes: ). I also think Mercer got a very lucky call on their first touchdown. The QB fumbled, the Mercer player recovered and crawled into the endzone. My son was in the pile and saw it. Unfortunately for Russell fans, the refs didn't see it so the touchdown stood. Too bad but that is part of the game. Russell still had opportunities to win the game but did not get it done. IMO Mercer was a more explosive team, Russell outplayed them today as a whole, BUT Mercer is a deserving State Champion.

It was a wonderful game and both teams need to be congratulated.:Clap:.

Mercer, welcome to the state title fraturnity, good luck next year in whatever class you'll be in (5A/6A).

[ukno08]

In all honesty Russell really should have won the game......im not saying anthing about the class thing or anything like that......but the turnovers and the kicking game led to Russell's demise.........I really hated losing that one....since Mercer had their undefeated t-shirts already made before the game because they thought it was over before Russell stepped into the pizza box.........wouldn't it have been nice Russell fans to see the looks on their faces if we would have won.....lol..............I am going to congratulate Mercer..they were good but not as good as everyone else made them up to be. dont get me wrong..im not taking anything away from them, but seriously hell of game Russell............and to cobra67 thats is what the east does and always will do........smash people's mouths for them......lol............and finally to all the Russell fans this ones over..but don't worry.....we'll be back next on the carpet next year.....

i agree with u 100% you wna tto kno what my favoritve part of the game was when we scored the first touchdown and i heard Absolutly nothign coming from the mercer county fan section.. we shut them up real fast.. good win merger on the 2a championship to bad u should have been in at least 3a well good luck trying to win a state championship within the next 50 years.. because if we hung around with u and ur going o 5a ur giong to get ur A**es handed to u.. As for russell the most heart, fight, and pride i've seen.. we dint quit until the clock read 0..Awesome season lets do it in 3A next year..O yea GOOD LUCK MERGER.. you'll need it...:devilflam

[belfrypride07]

So they're going from AA to either 5 or 6A and Lawrence County goes from 3A to 4A they just doesn't add up.

They are 2A my friend...:thumpsup:

[DEVILOLOGIST]

I took it upon myself to walk over to the Mercer Titans tailgate after the game to say that it was a great game..... These are the comments and actions of their fans:
1. 24 is the best back and player we have seen this year- PERIOD.
2. we have not seen a defense as powerful or big guys that can move as fast as Russell.
3. We did not know what to think when you guys ran the ball down our throats and scored. We just stood there watching.
4. !!!!! We had a shot this year but next year....I don't know????!!!!!
5. We have not been hit all year until we played today. Our kids are going to be sore.
6. I dont understand why you went to the pass after killing us with the run.
7. We have great speed on offense but your defense ate us up, besides the two long runs.
8. We thought we were going to be able to score alot more and I told some of our kids to be prepared to have to wrk... Russell not only made us work but wore us out...

These comments were from some of the fans that I spoke to and when asked about #4 especially , two gentlemen just hung their heads and lost eye contact... When your fans know that this is your chance and it has been handed to you,,, you better win or else....

So after watching this game from the front row behind out boys, yelling and screaming all the time.. questioning some calls on the field, like the fumble TD, Beeks so called fumble, when he appeared to be down already.....

We can all talk about what IF,, what if.... WHAT IF !!!..
I AM PROUD OF THE DEVILS.... THE 2006 AA EASTERN STATE CHAMPIONS.
1.HOLDING THE 760 POINT TITANS TO ONLY 15 POINTS....
2. AMASSING 305 YARDS OF TOTAL OFFENSE ON THEM.
3. HOLDING THEM TO 196 TOTAL YARDS.
4.BATTLE OF THE BACKS-- CLARK- 192 TOTAL YARDS,,JACKSON- 140
5. DEFENSE HOLDING BRANDON FORD TO ONLY 28 YARDS...
6. RUSSELL 14 FIRST DOWNS,, MERCER-7
7. Russell averaged 16.1 yards a completeion.
8. Out gained the Titans per play..

Kicking game hurt us, 5 turn overs hurt us........ I am not crying over anything and I really didnot cry today...... The Russell Red Devils out played, outgained, out passed and out right earned the chance to win this game... The final score did not reflect the game but the Titans had more points when the time ran out.... Good job Titans, I will wait to see where you end up next year......
Devils..... Great season, great showing,, great heart,, our fans are wonderful, best travleing fans in the state in my opinion.. Best DAMN bunch of kids I have seen in along time..... AWESOME GAME.... would not have missed it for the world..

[belfrypride07]

Please excuse my ignorance but I can't understand how a 2a school can be a 5or6a school over the course of one school year. I could see maybe moving up to 3a but 2 whole classes! Sounds to me like they shoudn't have been 2a this year.

You know how they take "roll" every two years and count how many kids each school has and that determines the ranking.
Well, Mercer is 2A, but this year they Joined all the high school's in to one...and they do a censer at the end of this year and that is why they are moving up..I heard they have over 1000 kids there.

[KLH]

I've got to say the best team dont always win , the turn overs killed Russell all game. Russell has a great team year after year & with that defense they will be very tough again next year.Russell you guys are very classy & you made all of eastern ky proud!

[belfrypride07]

This day Next year we will be in State Semi-Finals, they are pushing us back a week =(

[GOREDDEVILS]

You know how they take "roll" every two years and count how many kids each school has and that determines the ranking.
Well, Mercer is 2A, but this year they Joined all the high school's in to one...and they do a censer at the end of this year and that is why they are moving up..I heard they have over 1000 kids there.

They have about 900 and some.

[belfrypride07]

They have about 900 and some.

I heard it was up there... lol, Congrats on the game today!! =)

[DEVILOLOGIST]

You know how they take "roll" every two years and count how many kids each school has and that determines the ranking.
Well, Mercer is 2A, but this year they Joined all the high school's in to one...and they do a censer at the end of this year and that is why they are moving up..I heard they have over 1000 kids there.

The take a census, for enrollment,,,,,the high schools are not combined but the kids are counted as one school , there are actually 2 campuses, no high school built yet. I think the actual number of kids was around 960, but close to 1000.
I will never understand the reasoning to allow a football team to be able to play together when they go to different schools....
They are moving up to 5A because thats where they should have been playing this year but did not have a schedule set for AAA, my opinion is that that they should have had to pick up a schedule for AAA this year or wait until the merger actually happened to put a team on the field.. This would have not put the kids in the crosshairs of playing in a lower division or placing the blame on the school. THE KHSAA approved this and the Tiatns were allowed to play.. Not their fault, but not fair either.... Cant blame the kids.....

[belfrypride07]

The takey a census, for enrollment,,,,,the high schools are not combined but the kids are counted as one school , there are actually 2 campuses, no high school built yet. I think the actual number of kids was around 960, but close to 1000.
I will never understand the reasoning to allow a football team to be able to play together when they go to different schools....
They are moving up to 5A because thats where they should have been playing this year but did not have a schedule set for AAA, my opinion is that that they should have had to pick up a schedule for AAA this year or wait until the merger actually happened to put a team on the field.. This would have not put the kids in the crosshairs of playing in a lower division or placing the blame on the school. THE KHSAA approved this and the Tiatns were allowed to play.. Not their fault, but not fair either.... Cant blame the kids.....

Yeah, I don't think it's pretty fair actually, I just know that they are building a school and stuff.

[JFLDAD]

Turnovers killed us,but it does for every team.WOW,our kicking game wasnt up to par today.first PAT missed,theres one point...probably would not have went for two on our next touchdown,because of the first missed PAT.theres two,and the missed 41 yard field goal in the wind.There's five points...wonder why Dolly didnt come in.Dont get me wrong thats not the only reason we lost...should have,could have,wrong play,right play wrong time who knows .THE DEFENSE WAS GREAT,good luck next year... You to Mercer,in whatever class you play in.

[Devil68]

Great season Devils you played your hearts out til the very end. Keep your heads held high. Even if we didn't bring home the hardware, in my opinion we are still the best team in 2A.

[DEVILOLOGIST]

Great season Devils you played your hearts out til the very end. Keep your heads held high. Even if we didn't bring home the hardware, in my opinion we are still the best team in 2A.

I agree. best team in AA..

[Boomer86]

What a game! Congratulations to Mercer, and GREAT season for the Red Devils!

[warriorpride]

Congrats to Mercer.

[footballfan74]

Congrats to Mercer and to Russell.

[KLH]

I have to agree Russell was the best team in 2a this year.

[PureRedDevil]

Me and RedDevils54 were talking after the game, and were wondering which school gets to hold the trophy??
Like I said about ealier games, we needed to work on our kicking game, b/c it woudl catch up to us if we didnt. And it could have made a diffrence. Also turnovers killed us tonight to. Over all a good game.
I have to say Mercer's pre game sportsman ship was terrible. I'm sorry, they had no respect for Russell's team. Having confidence coming into the game is Key to winning a game. But walking in and having the coach say "Here comes the 2A state Champions" seems a little poor sport to me. And the pre game warms ups, lots of disrepect for everyone on Mercers part.
Congrats Russell, we ARE the best 2A team in the state.
"the REAL 2A state champions"

[DEVILOLOGIST]

I loved the cheer today....
we have a cheer that goes...
"We Are !!!!!!"
other side says- "RUSSELL"

Today it was like this--"We are"................... "2 A"
says it all.

[PureRedDevil]

I loved the cheer today....
we have a cheer that goes...
"We Are !!!!!!"
other side says- "RUSSELL"

Today it was like this--"We are"................... "2 A"
says it all.

That gave me a little laugh
Funny, but ture!!!