[Hoot Gibson]

If I may, this is the first year that Highlands has had a two platoon system, sort of. Last year the only player to play both ways in a game was Collinsworth and that was in a very limited number of games. The big difference between last year and this year, is that last year kids would practice both offensive and defensive positions, even if they only played one way in a game. This year, the kids not only play on only one side of the ball, they only practice either offensively or defensively, thus giving each kid a ton more time in practice to improve at that position.

It sounds like what you are saying is that Highlands changed its approach to practice this season but they basically used a platoon system last season too. I thought that was the case because some Highlands fans have criticized JC for playing players both ways not so long ago on this very forum. Thanks for clarifying the facts of the matter.

[sstack]

You never wrestled, did you? Because if you had them would not have disagreed with what Coach Matney had to say on this subject. There is no high school sport that matches wrestling for overall conditioning. Swimming probably comes closest to wrestling as an all around conditioning sport, so swimmers might take exception to what I have to say on the subject but I don't think many cross country runners who have wrestled will disagree.

To perform at a high level, wrestling requires aerobic conditioning, as cross country running does but it also requires anaerobic conditioning, strength, balance, and agility training. I wrestled in the very early days of the program at Johnson Central so I cannot say how their wrestling practices go now but at that time nearly all of our practices included calisthenics and stretching followed by scrimmaging within and across weight classes, distance running (usually laps around the gym, including the steps to the second level), weight lifting, and time on the trampoline and gymnastics equipment. A cross country runner stepping into a wrestling practice would have been quickly exhausted. Wrestlers get pushed to exhaustion every day in practice whether they are the top man in their weight class or not. A cross country practice was a breeze compared to wrestling practice.

I think anybody who has both wrestled and ran cross country would agree with Coach Matney. Every sport has different conditioning requirements but no high school sport requires the same level of both aerobic and anaerobic conditioning that wrestling does. I assure you that J. J. Jude could skip a wrestling practice and work out with the Golden Eagles' basketball team and feel like he had been given the day off physically. It takes most football players that also play basketball a couple of weeks or more to play themselves into "basketball shape," but by the end of a wrestling season a well conditioned wrestler can jump into any other high school sport and be among the best conditioned athletes on his new team from day one.

I am not knocking other sports for conditioning but when you wrestle, you use every muscle in your body in quick succession. I can tell you from experience, when you are over matched on a wrestling mat, your neck and abdominal muscles had better be in great shape to "bridge" for several minutes or you will get pinned quickly. :biggrin:

I have played every sport but wrestling (Highlands does not have a program), but my cousin was a state champion in wrestling,so I watched alot of it. I agree it is a great sport and a great sport for football players. I still think if you are only talking endurance, CC is best. It is a killer sport and not easy like it sounds you are trying to make it(can be easy practice if you are just casually jogging,but can't do that if you want to be good). If you watch a CC race you see the total exhaustion after the race of many of the runners (If you have a weak stomach, the finish line is no place for you as many will be throwing up). But, I do agree that if you are looking for a sport for all around best conditioning for football, that wrestling is best. There have been college wrestlers go on to play proball. All though some wrestlers do very unhealthy things to maintain lower weight class.

[Stardust]

I have played every sport but wrestling (Highlands does not have a program), but my cousin was a state champion in wrestling,so I watched alot of it. I agree it is a great sport and a great sport for football players. I still think if you are only talking endurance, CC is best. It is a killer sport and not easy like it sounds you are trying to make it(can be easy practice if you are just casually jogging,but can't do that if you want to be good). If you watch a CC race you see the total exhaustion after the race of many of the runners (If you have a weak stomach, the finish line is no place for you as many will be throwing up). But, I do agree that if you are looking for a sport for all around best conditioning for football, that wrestling is best. There have been college wrestlers go on to play proball. All though some wrestlers do very unhealthy things to maintain lower weight class.

You don't have to be a great physical specimen to be a wrestler. What about Dusty Rhodes....:biggrin:

[sstack]

It sounds like what you are saying is that Highlands changed its approach to practice this season but they basically used a platoon system last season too. I thought that was the case because some Highlands fans have criticized JC for playing players both ways not so long ago on this very forum. Thanks for clarifying the facts of the matter.

I think the criticism is for playing the star players (mainly QB and RB) both ways.

[Hoot Gibson]

I have played every sport but wrestling (Highlands does not have a program), but my cousin was a state champion in wrestling,so I watched alot of it. I agree it is a great sport and a great sport for football players. I still think if you are only talking endurance, CC is best. It is a killer sport and not easy like it sounds you are trying to make it(can be easy practice if you are just casually jogging,but can't do that if you want to be good). If you watch a CC race you see the total exhaustion after the race of many of the runners (If you have a weak stomach, the finish line is no place for you as many will be throwing up). But, I do agree that if you are looking for a sport for all around best conditioning for football, that wrestling is best. There have been college wrestlers go on to play proball. All though some wrestlers do very unhealthy things to maintain lower weight class.

As I suspected, you have not wrestled. I did both and the physical demands of cross country running does not even begin to compare to wrestling. Conditioning for football involves more than aerobic conditioning and that is where the emphasis of cross country training lies.

I am relieved to learn that Highlands does not have a wrestling program. Hopefully, they will not be adding one to their list of winter sports. Jim Matney has always given credit to the wrestling program for being a huge asset to his football teams, both at Sheldon Clark and Johnson Central. Not all of his top football players have wrestled for him but many of them have. The two sports compliment each other perfectly.

[sstack]

As I suspected, you have not wrestled. I did both and the physical demands of cross country running does not even begin to compare to wrestling. Conditioning for football involves more than aerobic conditioning and that is where the emphasis of cross country training lies.

I am relieved to learn that Highlands does not have a wrestling program. Hopefully, they will not be adding one to their list of winter sports. Jim Matney has always given credit to the wrestling program for being a huge asset to his football teams, both at Sheldon Clark and Johnson Central. Not all of his top football players have wrestled for him but many of them have. The two sports compliment each other perfectly.

I personally thought football practice was a breeze. You do alot of standing around,average play is only 3 seconds. I am sure you would agree, that wrestling practice is 10 times harder than football. Just curious, what kind of time did you run in a 5K?

[Hoot Gibson]

I think the criticism is for playing the star players (mainly QB and RB) both ways.

Matney puts his his best 11 players on the field. If he had players who were capable of playing better than Hall, Jude, Bratton, and his other starters, then they would be on the field. JC has been playing more players recently but their top players have been conditioned for a long playoff run that may require them to play both ways for entire games. The system has worked pretty well so far for the Golden Eagles. IMO, Bell County has been the only team that has really been able to wear JC down enough to take advantage in the second half but that was an early season game. JC's team is undoubtedly in much better shape now. JC's best players are in better condition than they would have been if they had run a two-platoon system all season.

[Hoot Gibson]

I personally thought football practice was a breeze. You do alot of standing around,average play is only 3 seconds. I am sure you would agree, that wrestling practice is 10 times harder than football. Just curious, what kind of time did you run in a 5K?

I was a very mediocre cross country runner who only ran for conditioning. I have no idea what my 5K time was decades ago. :biggrin:

I guess the physical demands of football practices depend on how well practices are organized. In my experience, starters got a pretty good workout but kids down the depth chart often spent long periods of time standing and watching on the sidelines. I always thought that was a waste of time but today's most coaches probably make much better use of practice time than my high school coach did.

Most of my ventures into sports during high school were just for off season conditioning for baseball. Wrestling was really the only sport that I participated in that I feel like had a direct impact on my performance in baseball. My interest in football picked up later when my sons began playing the sport. Unfortunately, Jim Matney turned down the Johnson Central job while they were in school and they never had the privilege of playing for him.

[Eagle84]

Let’s make sure I understand the logic of many of the Northern Kentucky Fans. Better Football is played in Northern KY, CC is much improved in 2010, and Highland, DH & CC are all better football teams than JC.
First, let‘s take better football is played in Northern KY? If you just look at the Demographics of NK vs. Johnson County it should be clear better football is played in NK just based on the advantage of the population. NK population for 2009 is listed as being 419,783 & Cincinnati of 2,161,116. Johnson County Population is 23,445. That is about 18 times the students to pick from just the NK area alone. Second, the close proximity of the school in NK allows the talent to pool at certain schools. (Highland, Beachwood, NCC & CC for a few)
Second, CC is much improved over the 2009 team. Reviewing CC 2010 schedule it is clear that CC was improved at the start of the season and have continue to improve through the season. However, CC has had 3 poor loses this season. CC lost to Ryle 67-7, LaSalle 50-7 and St X 40-19 all great teams but poor loses for CC. In addition, JC beat CC in 2008 49-14 and 2009 51-32 which the CC team will be made up with many of the same players.
Last we will find out Friday Night if 3 teams for the NK district are better than JC.
However, with the demographics, geographic and economic advantage NK has over JC it’s a tribute to Coach Matney’s coaching ability just to have competitive games.
Finally, good luck to both CC and Highland us JC hillbilly seem to be slow learners and continue to believe we will one day get past both.

[tradition]

Good Luck Cov. Cath.:CheerleadI really mean it this week.

[Wideleft01]

Good luck to both teams. Hopefully everyone comes out of the game in good health.

[Can you dig it?]

Finally, good luck to both CC and Highland us JC hillbilly seem to be slow learners and continue to believe we will one day get past both.

To be honest, I think the day will come if things continue as they have been. Good luck to Johnson County Central hh: in their quest.
BTW, it's HIGHLANDS. Still stuck in that slow learner mode?:eyeroll:

[BlackcatAlum]

Well folks, I'm skipping the Pburg/Middlesboro game in hopes that Pburg will win to see this one.

Hopefully it'll be a great game!

[MonsterMan]

To be honest, I think the day will come if things continue as they have been. Good luck to Johnson County Central hh: in their quest.
BTW, it's HIGHLANDS. Still stuck in that slow learner mode?:eyeroll:

Good post. I remember the days when JC was the whipping boy for even 1A teams. Now we are playing in a state of the art facility and against opponents with storied programs as CCH. We are not just playing them, we expect to beat them and bring a State Champoinship Trophy home.

[Stardust]

JC has two home losses in the playoffs since 2006. One of them to CCH. Signs are leading me to believe that CCH is likely getting the 2nd win on JC turf.

[Eagle_Fan442]

This should be a very good game, I still believe the Eagles have what it takes to take it to the next level. That 12th man will be loud and proud tonight.

[2dog]

I'd love to see this game. Voted for CC but a little worried. Could be very tight. Guess I'll stay home because deer season is on tommorrow. Guess I'll just listen to Highlands beat Dixie like a red headed step child. 20n10!

[whackem'n'stackem']

Go Colonels! Represent N K Y !!!!!:Clap:

[RIPKIN]

Go Colonels! Represent N K Y !!!!!:Clap:

Go Eagles! Represent E K Y !!!!!:Clap:

[mandolin-fool]

This should be a battle. Hope JC can defend the pass. Should be an awesome game....glad i"m gonna be there!!!

Eagleville - 38
Cov.Cath. - 27

[whackem'n'stackem']

Let's just hope no one gets hurt and that the best team wins.....I think we can at least agree with this statement.:argue:

[Eagle_Fan442]

Oh lighten up, don't let Eagle_Fan get to ya lol

[Eagle_Fan442]

Let's just hope no one gets hurt and that the best team wins.....I think we can at least agree with this statement.:argue:

Agreed!! Go EAGLES!!

[RIPKIN]

Let's just hope no one gets hurt and that the best team wins.....I think we can at least agree with this statement.:argue:

We will agree on that.Besides if we dont all the things we post will get deleted.Good luck Cov Cath.Have a safe trip.Lets hope JC can show them some East Ky football.:igiveup:

[whackem'n'stackem']

I hope that JC wins just so that we can have a Highlands - JC thread next week. (Of course, assuming that HHS beats Dixie). Pure entertainment.

I couldn't imagine...:eyeroll::argue::zzz::redboxer::ChairHit:

[tradition]

Wow, I believe there has been little or no talk about smashmouth football.:yikes:

Are the Johnson Central fans feeling ok?:biggrin:

[Emmit Brown]

Wow, I believe there has been little or no talk about smashmouth football.:yikes:

Are the Johnson Central fans feeling ok?:biggrin:

LOL....I'm sure they are feeling just fine. Games are won on the field, not on a message board. Best of luck to both teams in playing a hard fought game and may both teams come away injury free.

[squirrel63]

I think the game will be on ihigh.com.