[Beetle01]

I'd like to see us win, defensively we just don't have the run stopping ability this year. LB's are getting caught up in traffic. DLine isn't trying to penetrate.

Oline has issues, Burgess needs to be at LT. Jones and Smith quit on their blocks too much. Our line needs to be trying to bury every Raceland player they see every time the ball is snapped. This team and thier players need to show they have a pair. Physically punish Raceland. They are actually smaller than us, except at 2 line positions. Their LB's are smaller than ours, their DB's are smaller. Set a tone for the playoffs. Now we just get to goto Belfry in the 2nd round and end their season early, then take revenge on Mason @ their house. I'd be aching to hit so bad Friday I could taste it.

No fighting, let the Raceland players and their fans show how much class the lack. Beat them physically on the field and on the scoreboard.

[russelldevils54]

This russell team better step it up this week because raceland whats to beat your brains out......the few that are the captains get it together and LEAD the team...there is no leadership on this team whatsoever and thats going to have to change or we arn't going to win another game this year.......

hate to say it but........raceland wins this one

[russelldevils54]

This russell team better step it up this week because raceland whats to beat your brains out......the few that are the captains get it together and LEAD the team...there is no leadership on this team whatsoever and thats going to have to change or we arn't going to win another game this year.......

hate to say it but........raceland wins this one

and another thing im sick of watching people play football who dont care if the win or lose......everybody pretends they care when its all going good, but when the **** hits the fan everybody falls apart and its somebody elses fault no matter what.......

i have to say that this is the worst team ive seen in a long time thank god were 6-3......i understand that its not a losing season and we goin to the playoffs and all that..........but lets face it guys this isnt the same program it was a few years back we we just crushed everybody and freshman were goin in in the 3rd quarter

now every body dont get all mad and shun me from the crowd i hjave been a devoted devil for a long time and i am just getting tired of the way things are

[PureRedDevil]

I picked Raceland for one reason alone: They beat Ashland, and Russell didn't.......

You can't say that Ashland in Week 1 is the same as the Ashland Russell played. You can't accuratly predict the outcome of games by who has beaten who. Russell just needs to work on the little things. Russell wins this one

[Beetle01]

and another thing im sick of watching people play football who dont care if the win or lose......everybody pretends they care when its all going good, but when the **** hits the fan everybody falls apart and its somebody elses fault no matter what.......

i have to say that this is the worst team ive seen in a long time thank god were 6-3......i understand that its not a losing season and we goin to the playoffs and all that..........but lets face it guys this isnt the same program it was a few years back we we just crushed everybody and freshman were goin in in the 3rd quarter

now every body dont get all mad and shun me from the crowd i hjave been a devoted devil for a long time and i am just getting tired of the way things are

Competition has gotten a little better than 3 or 4 years ago.

The state team didn't even beat anyone that was all that good to win state. Belfry was way down, and OC was an average team at best.

what teams aren't going to walk through a schedule that includes Powell, Estill, Lewis, West, and East. Heck our JV team can beat those teams most years.

Ill even go and say that I personally don't think the State team would be within 4 TD's of the 02 team. If that close. Or a few other teams Russell has had over the past 15-20 years. At a school like Russell with dwindliing numbers, the amount of talented players drops. This year you have a few outstanding players, but then there is a dropoff. This year's team has around 13 or 14 seniors I think. those teams had 20-25+ seniors. That's a major difference for a 3A school. Especially when the classes below aren't much of an improvement with the amount of players.

This team is still much better than 97, 01, or 04. If their lineman can get it together they can be pretty good. They also need to play like they care, not worry about what school they are going to. Because if this is all the effort some of these kids have, they better just focus on school, because no college coach will put up with the laziness that is shown by some of the players on this team.

[A Very Old Devil]

This will need to be the best game Russell has played this year, up to this date. Raceland has all the ability and talent to win this game as does Russell, it will depend on if Russell has anybody who wants to be a leader. This team does not revolve around 1 player. We are a team, and teams play together to reach a goal, be it the goal line, the playoffs, or whatever we strive to acomplish. Pat each other on the back, tell each other good job, get involved in the game and build unity with your teammates. This game is going to be exciting for both schools because both have a lot of pride. The question for the week is "Who has more pride"?

[The College One]

i dont play for the red devils but im a big red devil fan. i will pull for them anyday of the week no matter how big the game is if they are a favorite or a underdog. i was there to root them on when they played mercer co for state whaich they should have won. but anyways im going for russell on this on friday night. play with your heart and pride guys. stick your blocks and run the ball hard.

russell-35
raceland-28

[DevilsWin]

If all the players from Russell do the following 3 things they will win this game.

1) Play your position to the best of your ability from the opening kick to the final snap.

2) Play for the guy beside you!

3) Never Give Up!

If they don't do these 3 things it is all for nothing.

[BO1988]

Russell's passing has not been too great this season. I've been watching Cordle over the past few weeks and he has not been looking as good as he did at the beginning of the season. I think that coach McGlone needs to give Sparks a shot to show what he can do... If Russell is able to run the ball well against this Raceland Defense they might have a chance to win. Abrams has been showing how good of a threat he is to the opposition and once he gets on a roll, I don't see how Raceland is going to stop him.
My prediction:
Raceland-14
Russell-24

not trying to cause friction, just want to hear the elaboration. Dominique hayden's avg is 176 yds/game giving him the 4th place spot in the entire state, classes 1-6. raceland held him to 48 yards. true their passing defense was lacking to say the least that week, they still pulled out the win. last year i felt it was a great game at ram stadium, with russell getting the W i believe that it will be a flip flop of last year. i dont think the score will get to high, should be an incredible smash mouth football game.

[BO1988]

Raceland 31
Russell 20

[BO1988]

I think this game will come down to defense. Who ever can stop the run will win the ball game. I think Raceland is the stronger team upfront. Who ever can control the line of scrimmage will get the upper hand.

[bizmark]

i honestly dont think raceland will have positive yards at the end of the game. they are terrible!!!

[kybaseball]

Bizmark is your avatar of when Russell laid the smack down Belfry a couple of years back?

[bizmark]

yeah i need to change that to a raceland player breakin his arm tho

[bac2369]

Raceland 35
Russell 21

[beast]

this will be a wild game, i think russell will come out on top though

russell - 14
raceland - 10

[FBALL]

This will be the largest crowd to ever assemble at Henry R Evans Stadium!

I doubt it.

Think back to some of the old Russell/Ironton games or the Russell/Belfry game a few years ago. There will be alot of people there friday but I doubt its even close to a record crowd.

[DEVILOLOGIST]

I hate to say it but if we dont play as a team it is going to be ugly.................
I hate to say my prediciton.....

[kybaseball]

I hate to say it but if we dont play as a team it is going to be ugly.................
I hate to say my prediciton.....

Spit it out Devil.

[BO1988]

i honestly dont think raceland will have positive yards at the end of the game. they are terrible!!!

elaborate please? how can you say an 8-0 team avg 400 yards of total offense a game and scoring close to 40 each week and only giving up 2 scores terrible?

[DevilsWin]

I doubt it.

Think back to some of the old Russell/Ironton games or the Russell/Belfry game a few years ago. There will be alot of people there friday but I doubt its even close to a record crowd.

The Largest crowd to date officially is the 2005 Russell Belfry game.

Before that I belive it was the 1984 Russell vs Boyd Co game.

5,000 is a good crowd. But those games brought in 7,000 plus.

I say it's more than 5,000 is the weather is decent.

[sore_looser]

The Largest crowd to date officially is the 2005 Russell Belfry game.

Before that I belive it was the 1984 Russell vs Boyd Co game.

5,000 is a good crowd. But those games brought in 7,000 plus.

I say it's more than 5,000 is the weather is decent.

I look for a record crowd. Although the Ashland/Johnson Central game being the same night might take some spectators away from the Russell/Raceland game.
Was last years attendance for the Russell/Raceland game a record? Or even close.

[bizmark]

elaborate please? how can you say an 8-0 team avg 400 yards of total offense a game and scoring close to 40 each week and only giving up 2 scores terrible?

They are just a bad team disguised as an 8-0 team. Trust me on this one they're as bad as they've ever been.

[sore_looser]

They are just a bad team disguised as an 8-0 team. Trust me on this one they're as bad as they've ever been.

That so called bad team has a 8-0 record and beat a very good Ashland team.

But, GO RUSSELL!

[DevilsWin]

I look for a record crowd. Although the Ashland/Johnson Central game being the same night might take some spectators away from the Russell/Raceland game.
Was last years attendance for the Russell/Raceland game a record? Or even close.

Attendance was 6,000 at Raceland last year, the 2005 Belfry game was 10,000 according to Red Devil Sports dot com.

[devil58]

Competition has gotten a little better than 3 or 4 years ago.

The state team didn't even beat anyone that was all that good to win state. Belfry was way down, and OC was an average team at best.

what teams aren't going to walk through a schedule that includes Powell, Estill, Lewis, West, and East. Heck our JV team can beat those teams most years.

Ill even go and say that I personally don't think the State team would be within 4 TD's of the 02 team. If that close. Or a few other teams Russell has had over the past 15-20 years. At a school like Russell with dwindliing numbers, the amount of talented players drops. This year you have a few outstanding players, but then there is a dropoff. This year's team has around 13 or 14 seniors I think. those teams had 20-25+ seniors. That's a major difference for a 3A school. Especially when the classes below aren't much of an improvement with the amount of players.

This team is still much better than 97, 01, or 04. If their lineman can get it together they can be pretty good. They also need to play like they care, not worry about what school they are going to. Because if this is all the effort some of these kids have, they better just focus on school, because no college coach will put up with the laziness that is shown by some of the players on this team.

I think you may mean 03 instead of 04...04 was Gross's senior year and this years team, while similar in size, has not proven to be even close to as good as that team...04 went undefeated in the regular season and ran into the best Belfry team in a long time with Howard and Jones in the backfield or they would have probably won back to back titles with 05...BTW, I agree that 02 was probably the best team in recent history mainly because they were so strong but only slightly better than 04...05 and 06 where about even but 05 got the breaks that you often need to get over the hump and 06 had to play a 5A school in the final and still probably should have won...

Think about it, we are a missed XP in 02 against Breathitt and running into a buzzsaw Belfry team in 04 (both teams won the title the next week) from being in the title game 4 out of 5 years with good chances to win all 4...Thats a heckuva run...Hard to duplicate year in and year out in a school Russell's size unless you are drawing a lot of kids in from other schools...

My honest assessment is this team is about on the same level as 01 and 03...Those teams weren't bad teams, they just weren't on the same level as what we have seen in 02, 04, 05, & 06...Remember, 01 beat the heavily favored Arliss Beach led Tomcats behind the 100+ yard breakout performance of a freshman by the name of Gross I believe... The 03 team was a sophmore and junior heavy team that had to replace a lot off the very physical and experienced 02 team...At this point, I would also have to rate this team below the 07 team as well...While many hoped that this team would be a little better they just aren't as physical and lack that on the field take charge guy that helped last year's team probably exceed a lot of people's expectations...You can call it toughness or heart but the bottom line is this team has yet to really show it...

Obviously there is still time for this team to reach their potential but time is getting short...The playoffs start Friday against Raceland...That's right I said it...You won't have any more of a playoff atmosphere the rest of the way, with the possible exception of Belfry, than you will Friday...This may be Raceland's best team in 20 years and they want an undefeated season...They are going to come into your house and bust you in the mouth in front of your family and friends...How are you going to respond?? Obviously, we want you to win but even if you don't it is more important how you respond...If you stand toe to toe and still get beat, you can walk out disappointed but with your heads up because you gave everything but just got beat by a better team...If you lay down, they will jump on top of you and beat you by 3 or 4 TD's...

This is not meant to down this year's team...Those who know me know I would never do that...I'm talking to you just like I would (and did) talk to my own kids...I never sugar coated things with my kids and said they were doing great when they weren't...You don't get better when that's done...

Truth is, it's gut check time fellas...It's time to play with more than just the INDIVIDUAL talents that you have...It's time to come together and play with the same HEART that all the teams I mentioned above played with...You've been given an opportunity to continue the Red Devil legacy of playing championship level football...

How do you want to be remembered????

[ryanparker]

At this point, I would also have to rate this team below the 07 team as well...While many hoped that this team would be a little better they just aren't as physical and lack that on the field take charge guy that helped last year's team probably exceed a lot of people's expectations...You can call it toughness or heart but the bottom line is this team has yet to really show it...

Obviously there is still time for this team to reach their potential but time is getting short...The playoffs start Friday against Raceland...That's right I said it...You won't have any more of a playoff atmosphere the rest of the way, with the possible exception of Belfry, than you will Friday...This may be Raceland's best team in 20 years and they want an undefeated season...They are going to come into your house and bust you in the mouth in front of your family and friends...How are you going to respond?? Obviously, we want you to win but even if you don't it is more important how you respond...If you stand toe to toe and still get beat, you can walk out disappointed but with your heads up because you gave everything but just got beat by a better team...If you lay down, they will jump on top of you and beat you by 3 or 4 TD's...

This is not meant to down this year's team...Those who know me know I would never do that...I'm talking to you just like I would (and did) talk to my own kids...I never sugar coated things with my kids and said they were doing great when they weren't...You don't get better when that's done...

Truth is, it's gut check time fellas...It's time to play with more than just the INDIVIDUAL talents that you have...It's time to come together and play with the same HEART that all the teams I mentioned above played with...You've been given an opportunity to continue the Red Devil legacy of playing championship level football...

How do you want to be remembered????

It could not be put any better than that. Absolutely tremendous post! You completely summarized my thoughts and feelings. If they leave it all on the field, then they can walk away proud win or lose.

[BO1988]

They are just a bad team disguised as an 8-0 team. Trust me on this one they're as bad as they've ever been.

Interesting assesment. I disagree, I've played on and watched the "bad" raceland teams. I know for a fact they are as good as Raceland's best, if not better. But we will see what happens Friday night. I sit and think though, no matter what any of us on here have to say, its up to the blys on the field that control our outcome. They make us or break us. haha.

With all that said, I haven't seen Russell play this year. So I can't say from personaly watching , but i was told by a Russell alumni/former player/former player's father, that they seem to lack the leadership they've had in the past. Is the Russell team young? Just wondering, that doesn't sound like the Devil teams of the past. What has been their let down in teh last two weeks? Their stats haven't sufford, they've lead in the first down column as well as the rushing game, and even in most cases defense, minus the AShland game. Can someone elaborate?

[FBALL]

Interesting assesment. I disagree, I've played on and watched the "bad" raceland teams. I know for a fact they are as good as Raceland's best, if not better. But we will see what happens Friday night. I sit and think though, no matter what any of us on here have to say, its up to the blys on the field that control our outcome. They make us or break us. haha.

With all that said, I haven't seen Russell play this year. So I can't say from personaly watching , but i was told by a Russell alumni/former player/former player's father, that they seem to lack the leadership they've had in the past. Is the Russell team young? Just wondering, that doesn't sound like the Devil teams of the past. What has been their let down in teh last two weeks? Their stats haven't sufford, they've lead in the first down column as well as the rushing game, and even in most cases defense, minus the AShland game. Can someone elaborate?

Yeah I can elaborate.

Selfish play and silly penalties and mistakes. Poor special teams play. They just don't play smart. Really should have beat Mason County. Mason County is a good team but Russell was the more talented team even with Bailey out.

On another note. Nice post 58.

[EKUAlum05]

Attendance was 6,000 at Raceland last year, the 2005 Belfry game was 10,000 according to Red Devil Sports dot com.

WOW! I would have guessed 5000-5500 for that Belfry game... that is a wonderful number for a KY High School game!