[Spud6]

Final

[cuppett777]

congrats Ashland,what a diffrence in a yr---Back to work Belfry

[GOREDDEVILS]

Congratulations to Ashland.

[Blue_Bird96]

Congrats Tomcats!

[Ragnar]

Great game!

[BobcatForever]

Wow Congrats Ashland!!

---

Defensive slug fest!!

[Poseidon]

Great intensity on defense from both teams.  Really good football!

[BlackcatAlum]

Ashland come out ready to play and outplayed Belfry most of the game. The Pirates racked up a ton of penalties yards as well and had at least 1 fumble in the 1st quarter. Maybe had more, I just between a lot of streams tonight. The Tomcats swarmed to the ball all night and keyed on stopping Dixon.

Great effort and huge win for Ashland... good luck next week in the finals.

Great season Pirates!

[Spud6]

Ashland's defense dominated this game and never let Dixon get loose

[mrfootball03]

Belfry not as good as last year, and Ashland  much improved. Ashland definitely remembered that beating last year. Belfry lacked that big fullback all year who could pound it up the middle and get you 4-5 yard and pull everybody inside. Made Belfry a little one dimensional running the ball tonight.

As it was mentioned the other day in the prediction thread. Some said it wouldn’t affect them, But Belfry was definitely affected by the rough field conditions. It took some explosiveness, and the cuts that Dixon and a few usually use to break the big play. The game was an ugly, defensive battle which Ashland had hoped for.

Once Belfry gets down, they don’t have the offense to play from behind.

Congrats Ashland!

[T-CATS]

Ashland has the best D in the state 4.7 points a game. It went down tonight. Think about that. Don’t stomp on the A. Belfry still hasn’t won at Putnam since 89

[VELVET CLOSER]

Congrats Ashland! I stand corrected. Great game plan and their kids came to play. Belfry way to one dimensional. It probably wouldn’t have hurt to try and get another back involved. Even for a small gain here or there. Take some focus off Dixon and Coleman. Belfry offensive line had no push. Ashland beat them up front.

Go get those rings next week Tomcats. Good luck!

[Spud6]

Belfry not as good as last year, and Ashland  much improved. Ashland definitely remembered that beating last year. Belfry lacked that big fullback who could pound it up the middle and get you 4-5 yard and pull everybody inside. Made Belfry a little one dimensional running the ball tonight.

As it was mentioned the other day in the prediction thread. Some said it wouldn’t affect them, But Belfry was definitely affected by the rough field conditions. It took some explosiveness, and cuts that Dixon and a few use to break the big play. The game was an ugly, defensive battle which Ashland had hoped for.

Yeah, players were slipping and loosing their footing all night. They aren't use to that type of field

[T-CATS]

Belfry plays on turf they run a fast past offense. They had no chance tonight of running that offense. That being said Ashland’s D is Gooood.

---

Ashland man handled Belfry and was more physical.......... when the CATS do that game over.

[mrfootball03]

Belfry plays on turf they run a fast past offense. They had no chance tonight of running that offense. That being said Ashland’s D is Gooood.

---

Ashland man handled Belfry  and was more physical.......... when the CATS do that game over.

Well I mean, ?.. When someone man handles someone and is more physical, that’s usually what happens?   


Belfry don’t usually lose.. Just when they get out scored. 

[VELVET CLOSER]

Ashland always has good athletes...so with that being said, please invest and get those kids some good turf at Putnam.

[Joe Thomas]

Ashland has the best D in the state 4.7 points a game. It went down tonight. Think about that. Don’t stomp on the A. Belfry still hasn’t won at Putnam since 89

First, congrats on the win. Ashland just outplayed Belfry. Second, that’s correct what I will say is since 89 Belfry has 7 championships. How many y’all have.....1?  Win next Saturday against a tough E-Town or Cal and then say something. Best defense is the State might be an exaggeration.  Your basing that off of a mediocre schedule minus Russell and Belfry, who are terribly one dimensional.  Also y’all have never won at CAM just saying.

---

Ashland has the best D in the state 4.7 points a game. It went down tonight. Think about that. Don’t stomp on the A. Belfry still hasn’t won at Putnam since 89

First, congrats on the win. Ashland just outplayed Belfry. Second, that’s correct what I will say is since 89 Belfry has 7 championships. How many y’all have.....1?  Win next Saturday against a tough E-Town or Cal and then say something. Best defense is the State might be an exaggeration.  Your basing that off of a mediocre schedule minus Russell and Belfry, who are terribly one dimensional.  Also y’all have never won at CAM just saying.

[M&G]

Congrats tomcats... Was sure it would be a low scoring game...predicted 21-6 Belfry. Was wrong. Belfry looked uninspired and Ashland’s D- line was better than Belfrys O- line. Simple as that. Dixon never got untracked..and their passing game was not effective at all.

[eagles2011]

I love to give tomcats crap but I have to say congratulations bring home the trophy good luck from eagle fan.

[OutlawJoseyWales]

First off....congrats to Ashland. They were the better team tonight. Ashland appeared to be more focused and hungrier than the Pirates. While it was a physical game.....
Belfry did not bring their physicality with them from Pond Creek. I'll definitely have to eat crow on the field condition. I didn't think the field could be in poor enough shape to negate Dixon's effectiveness....but it was. Belfry's O-line got no push up front. Ashland definitely had something too do with that...but the field conditons certainly didn't help. However....I said early in the year.....after the Pikeville game that this Belfry team HAD TO FIND A FULLBACK. Unfortunately....they never really did. Way to one dimensional tonight. Coleman made some nices runs from the QB spot....but that was really the extent of it. In the pregame thread i mentioned 4 areas to watch:

YAC yards
Tackling
Penalties
Turnover

Belfry dismembered Ashland last year in YAC yards. Not tonight. Ashland won that battle easily. Ashland also won the tacking battle. Belfry spent alot of the night trying to strip the ball instead of wrapping up. Belfry also lost the penalty game....especially the face mask call on a no gain 3rd down deep in Ashland own territory. That was a huge penalty. Turnovers were about even.

Bottom line is this......ashland looked like a team that was hungry to get back to a championship game after a 30 yr drought. Belfry looked uninspired, slow and even confused at times offensively. Ashland was the better team tonight.

side note......whoever chose the individual running the clock......should be fired. The blatant clock errors in the first half were simply egregious and competely uncalled for. Without a doubt.....the Ashland timekeeper ran off 3-4 game minutes by either a) not understanding the basic rules or 23) simply didnt care about the rules. Either way.......that was totally uncalled for.

[Belfry fan 75]

The o-line can’t block everyone when they stack the box. Develop a slight passing game and maybe you could run the ball. Can’t throw the ball 2 to 3 times a game and only when the other team knows you have to pass and expect it to work

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And the time keeper was absolutely ridiculous as was a few of the spots.

[ethand]

Ashland always has good athletes...so with that being said, please invest and get those kids some good turf at Putnam.

i know nothing about their football field,but many moons ago ashland was a booming town with coal,steel,etc. jobs.so the money was there if the tomcats wanted a new field.but maybe the school chose to keep grass and the same field.dont know,but maybe someone from the ashland area will chime in and tell us.i would have thought that the tomcats would of had one of the better fields (grass or turf) in the state.

[Spud6]

The o-line can’t block everyone when they stack the box. Develop a slight passing game and maybe you could run the ball. Can’t throw the ball 2 to 3 times a game and only when the other team knows you have to pass and expect it to work

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And the time keeper was absolutely ridiculous as was a few of the spots.

Belfry has been doing this since Haywood has been there. Won 7 championships with this exact same mindset and is one of the most respected programs in the state. 

There won’t be a passing game in Pond Creek until Haywood hangs it up.

[Belfry fan 75]

I would never say anything negative about Haywood. He is a blessing to have here and a role model for these young men. Just saying you can’t blame the O-Line when the box is stacked like it was

[pirateforlife]

Belfry definitely didn't have the traditional fullback that they've had every year since they won their first state championships back in 2003 and 2004. Didn't have one of those dudes who could just plow it up in there to get a tough 3 or 4 yards and fall foward each time. What was the deal with the Webb kid? I know he was not a traditional fullback but I didn't see him getting any carries tonight or last Friday vs Bell. Dixon had to do too much and teams knew if they stopped him then there wasn't another threat in the backfield who could hurt them. One big question mark going into next season is who will be Belfry's go to guy in the backfield with Dixon gone. Will one of the Rash twins step up, the freshman Stanley kid, or someone else? I know Rudy Blackwell was a decent ball carrier in middle school but haven't seen him get any carries at the high school level.

[Mister D]

Congratulations to Ashland. This score is definitely a little surprising but Ashland is a tough tough team at home. Good luck to them at state!

[#55PirateFan]

The o-line can’t block everyone when they stack the box. Develop a slight passing game and maybe you could run the ball. Can’t throw the ball 2 to 3 times a game and only when the other team knows you have to pass and expect it to work

---

And the time keeper was absolutely ridiculous as was a few of the spots.

Belfry has been doing this since Haywood has been there. Won 7 championships with this exact same mindset and is one of the most respected programs in the state. 

There won’t be a passing game in Pond Creek until Haywood hangs it up.

I agree with you here Spud. Belfry Offensive Lines have been facing "stacked boxes" for the last 40 years. It's just the way it is. The Pirates rarely pass and everyone knows it but they've still won 7 championships despite this. Belfry does expect it to work and it has for the last 30 plus years.

Tonight Ashland just outplayed Belfry and seemed to want it a little more, plain and simple. Belfry is a running football team. Its the way their built. They live by the run and die by the run and have had great success doing it. Ashland stacking the box wasn't the reason Belfry lost tonight, Ashland was just better tonight. Congrats Tomcats and good luck the rest of the way.

[Belfry fan 75]

Mixing in a little pass here and there to just keep teams a little honest and maybe we have 9 or 10 rings. Ashland was well scouted and ready for what we was doing.

[pirateforlife]

To stop Belfry's offense a team must do 3 things very well.
1. Play very disciplined assignment football on defense. Don't get caught up with eye candy with the motions and misdirection.
2. Tackle well.
3. Have guys up front who can physically match up with Belfry's O-line and not be drove off the ball 3 yards every play.
Ashland done all 3 and as a result they will be playing at Kroger field next weekend.

[Belfry fan 75]

I do agree with this 100 percent. That’s why it would be nice to be able to mix it up just a little.