Week Two Thoughts

The second week of Kentucky high school football looks much like the first week—a split of games on Friday and Saturday, several bowl events and very few district games. However, the third reason does not mean that there were not significant things that came out of this weekend.

--Some games this weekend that were supposed to be really good, well, were not. First of all, St. Xavier destroying Lexington Catholic comes to mind. I fully expected Catholic to hang with X, if not beat the team that struggled to beat a handicapped Bowling Green squad in week one. But it wasn’t to be, as the Tigers handed the Knights a 47-0 beatdown. X’s district toady, Male, was just as disappointing in terms of creating drama. The Bulldogs marched down to Hopkinsville and left town with a 56-7 win. I’m telling you, I’m looking forward to St. X-Male just as much as St. X-Trinity. Seriously.

--Two other teams that turned potential close games into big routs were courtesy of Henry Clay and Owensboro. The Blue Devils scored the game’s last 46 points against 3A power Boyle County, while the Red Devils laid claim to the best team in Owensboro by taking down cross-town rival Owensboro Catholic by a 51-20 count.

--Despite the select blowouts, several games went down to the wire. How about Bowling Green, beating a solid 4A team in Christian County in three overtimes, despite having major injury problems to start the season? Or Trinity, which led Montgomery Bell Academy of Tennessee for most of the game before falling late, 23-21? Or Ashland Blazer, which rebounded from a week one loss to Raceland with an overtime upset win over Belfry? Or Larue County, who likewise rallied from a disappointing opener to defeat 4A power John Hardin? Or Barren County, which went to overtime to beat rival Glasgow for the first time in eight years? Or Southwestern, who defeated rival Somerset in the Ray Correll Bowl by six points? Plenty of great games in week two.

--So two weeks in…which teams are most impressive at 2-0? Undoubtedly, Tates Creek is on its way to improving from last season’s 2-8 mark. The Commodores have scored big wins over George Rogers Clark and Ballard, but they will be tested again next week by Madison Central, who likewise is off to a quick start, including a 33-7 win over Dunbar. In southern Kentucky, Warren East has faced poor competition, but is averaging 58.5 points per game nevertheless. Can the Raiders challenge Bowling Green in 3A’s District Two? Several Eastern Kentucky squads are off to impressive 2-0 starts, including Johnson Central, Clay County, South Floyd and Sheldon Clark. Metcalfe County and Russellville are both off to quick starts, along with Fulton City and County. There are plenty of 2-0 records, but it’s a district record, not an overall record, that counts.

--On the other hand, plenty of traditional powers have stubbed their collective toes out of the gate. Some great programs that have dropped two in a row to start the year include Campbellsville, Somerset, Pikeville, Glasgow, Owensboro Catholic, Paducah Tilghman, Franklin-Simpson, Dixie Heights and Dunbar. However, not one loss by these teams is a district loss, and many if not all are playing challenging schedules. Perhaps the only team here who should be truly concerned by their start is Glasgow, as the Scotties were smacked by Metcalfe County and fell to cross-town rival Barren County.

--Last week, I documented how poorly Kentucky teams did against out-of-state competition. This week: much better at 8-8.

--Three districts went undefeated this week. Class 2A, District 7 (Middlesboro’s), Class 4A, District 2 (Owensboro’s) and Class 4A, District 4 (St. Xavier’s) all left the field happy after this weekend’s games. However, Class 3A District 1 (Hopkinsville’s) all went down. In fact, that district only got a single win during week one (Union County beat Webster County).

--As a Scottsville native, I want to give a big congrats to Allen County-Scottsville head coach Brad Hood, who picked up his first win as ACS coach on Friday when the Patriots won at Monroe County 20-6. It’s a big win for a program that has struggled mightily over the past few years. It seems Coach Hood has the Patriots steering back in the right direction. Good work.

--Finally, congratulations to Henderson County for their 16-13 overtime win over Evansville North, IN. As has been well documented, it’s been a tough off-season for the Colonels, so their first win of the year is a sweet one to be sure. Henderson County faces a Kentucky opponent for the first time next Friday as the Colonels travel to Owensboro to take on Daviess County.

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