[DEVILOLOGIST]

Giving up?

Sorry wrong choice of words.....

[Codeman]

sounds like they will be good/

[DevilsWin]

It may not have an immediate impact next season, but trust me it will have an effect. Ashlands senior class from this year went winless as freshman and that definitely contributed to their 2-8 record. When you have an entire class that is just less talented it is hard to overcome....

Coach Hart's inability to realize Thomas needed to be tailback and Royalty needed to be QB early on in the season was what hurt Ashland in 2007. Not a lack of talent.

[Tomcat68]

Coach Hart's inability to realize Thomas needed to be tailback and Royalty needed to be QB early on in the season was what hurt Ashland in 2007. Not a lack of talent.

Partially agree. But there was also an all around lack of talent from the upper classes. Hart did the same thing with McDavid playing QB to start the season last year instead of Mahan. He also did the same thing in 03 with the amount of time he let Adam Clark play RB over Chad Cook. He tends to let his pride get in the way sometimes instead of doing what would be best for the team.

[RedDevilRB]

Giving up?

how many games did ashland win this year?

[EkyLb]

Im not saying theres not talented players. There most certainly is. Just not very deep, even next year's senior class isn't very deep as far as numbers go. Since 99, I believ there has been over 20 seniors in each class

[jgrubby]

how many games did ashland win this year?

I can think of a couple of 1A schools that did win against them....

[DEVILOLOGIST]

Coach: Leon Hart
Class: 5A
District: 6
Latest Stats Report: November 7, 2007 [Image: http://scoreboard.12dt.com/scoreboard_gr...spacer.gif]
DATE [Image: http://scoreboard.12dt.com/scoreboard_gr...spacer.gif]
OPPONENT [Image: http://scoreboard.12dt.com/scoreboard_gr...spacer.gif]
SITE [Image: http://scoreboard.12dt.com/scoreboard_gr...spacer.gif]
SCORE Aug 24, '07RacelandAshland Blazer20- 23(L)Aug 31, '07PikevilleAshland Blazer21- 34(L)Sep 7, '07Ironton, OHAshland Blazer7- 27(L)Sep 14, '07RussellRussell20- 28(L)Sep 21, '07Montgomery CountyAshland Blazer28- 30(L)(overtime)Sep 28, '07Boyd CountyBoyd County40- 33(W)(overtime)Oct 6, '07Woodford CountyWoodford County13- 48(L)Oct 12, '07Greenup CountyAshland Blazer33- 12(W)Oct 19, '07Bryan StationAshland Blazer20- 34(L)Oct 26, '07Johnson CentralJohnson Central33- 67(L)Nov 2, '07OpenAshland Blazer- Schedule and scores last updated at Oct 29, 2007 1:58pm CDT

[FBALL]

Dear lord, wasn't this thread about Russell in 2008?

[UKCAT5FAN]

Oh yeah, 25. :o

Yeah, #24 was the other great back in Russell history. Probably the best back in Russell history.

:lmao:


LOL!!! Sorry guys! Couldn't resist.

[EkyLb]

Yeah, #24 was the other great back in Russell history. Probably the best back in Russell history.

:lmao:


LOL!!! Sorry guys! Couldn't resist.

Probably in the minority here, but I dont think either one is the best back at Russell. The lack of competition they played, really hurts them in my opinion. when they did play some decent teams, usually didnt have good games. Personally I think Ray Clark had the most talent of any back. Ran for over 1000 yds, on exactly 100 carries his senior year. Also, ran for 100+ yd games against Boyle Co, Parkersburg, Wheelersburg, Lex Cath. Other than him I still feel Jeff Frazier or Mike Jones were better all around backs. Its not either one of their faults they had to play 7 weak district games every year, so they couldn't schedule more quality opponents to showcase their talents. Plus after Lex Cath and Boyle moved up to 3A, it kinda left 2A a lot weaker. You know you had to be **** good to beat either of those teams.

[FBALL]

Probably in the minority here, but I dont think either one is the best back at Russell. The lack of competition they played, really hurts them in my opinion. when they did play some decent teams, usually didnt have good games. Personally I think Ray Clark had the most talent of any back. Ran for over 1000 yds, on exactly 100 carries his senior year. Also, ran for 100+ yd games against Boyle Co, Parkersburg, Wheelersburg, Lex Cath. Other than him I still feel Jeff Frazier or Mike Jones were better all around backs. Its not either one of their faults they had to play 7 weak district games every year, so they couldn't schedule more quality opponents to showcase their talents. Plus after Lex Cath and Boyle moved up to 3A, it kinda left 2A a lot weaker. You know you had to be **** good to beat either of those teams.

I understand where you are comming from. Ray Clark had more raw speed than either. But Gross and Kasey Clark where much better instinctive runners and also better recievers out of the back field.

If you want to start throwing other names in there than Tim Hammond, John Groves, Eric Day, Sam Watkins, Kelly Gipson, and Reno Gipson would warrant mentioning.

[UKCAT5FAN]

I think next season will be a rough one for the Devils. With their weak district they should still be atleast .500 and make the playoffs. It may be a tough few years for Russell with this years freshman class going winless.....

This year's freshman class is a bit deceiving though. They are much better than their record indicates when they're all healthy. Even if you say this class is weak, which I don't think they are but anyway, that is only one class and every other class ahead and behind them are going to be just fine!!! Russell has a .500 season maybe once in a decade and next year will not be one of those years. If they can fill the spots on the lines then they will be very good again next year.

[UKCAT5FAN]

Probably in the minority here, but I dont think either one is the best back at Russell. The lack of competition they played, really hurts them in my opinion. when they did play some decent teams, usually didnt have good games. Personally I think Ray Clark had the most talent of any back. Ran for over 1000 yds, on exactly 100 carries his senior year. Also, ran for 100+ yd games against Boyle Co, Parkersburg, Wheelersburg, Lex Cath. Other than him I still feel Jeff Frazier or Mike Jones were better all around backs. Its not either one of their faults they had to play 7 weak district games every year, so they couldn't schedule more quality opponents to showcase their talents. Plus after Lex Cath and Boyle moved up to 3A, it kinda left 2A a lot weaker. You know you had to be **** good to beat either of those teams.

I wasn't even going to respond to this crap but then I changed my mind. It always seems like you are downgrading someone at Russell, either the coaches or the players. To say the Kasey Clark didn't have good games against good teams is just complete BS and to say Josh Gross and Kasey were not two of the best backs ever at Russell is BS too. I seem to remember Kasey leading the way to a state title and then a runner-up finish the next year. Russell's district schedule over the past few years has not been the strongest, nor the weakest, but Russell has played some very good teams in the playoffs over the past few years. I'm not going to sit here and list Kasey and Josh's stats for you because they speak for themselves and the last person they have to prove anything to is you but to say that they were not two of the best backs in Russell history is just complete BS!!!

[UKCAT5FAN]

Probably in the minority here, but I dont think either one is the best back at Russell. The lack of competition they played, really hurts them in my opinion. when they did play some decent teams, usually didnt have good games. Personally I think Ray Clark had the most talent of any back. Ran for over 1000 yds, on exactly 100 carries his senior year. Also, ran for 100+ yd games against Boyle Co, Parkersburg, Wheelersburg, Lex Cath. Other than him I still feel Jeff Frazier or Mike Jones were better all around backs. Its not either one of their faults they had to play 7 weak district games every year, so they couldn't schedule more quality opponents to showcase their talents. Plus after Lex Cath and Boyle moved up to 3A, it kinda left 2A a lot weaker. You know you had to be **** good to beat either of those teams.

I was being sarcastic in my comment earlier about #24 being the best back. If you knew who I was then you would probably understand it. I'm sure the rest of the Russell folks on here got it. I didn't mean to spark a debate about the best back in the history of Russell football. There have been some very very good backs to put on that maroon uniform and narrowing it down to one is **** near impossible. Just leave it at that!!

[FBALL]

I was being sarcastic in my comment earlier about #24 being the best back. If you knew who I was then you would probably understand it. I'm sure the rest of the Russell folks on here got it. I didn't mean to spark a debate about the best back in the history of Russell football. There have been some very very good backs to put on that maroon uniform and narrowing it down to one is **** near impossible. Just leave it at that!!

I knew what you meant.

I threw a few more names out there and left out a few more as well. To say who was the best is tough.

I also agree with you about this years freshman class. There are some really good football players in that group. Its not a deep group though.

[RedDevil_TE]

I understand where you are comming from. Ray Clark had more raw speed than either. But Gross and Kasey Clark where much better instinctive runners and also better recievers out of the back field.

If you want to start throwing other names in there than Tim Hammond, John Groves, Eric Day, Sam Watkins, Kelly Gipson, and Reno Gipson would warrant mentioning.

Personally i think that ray clark had the most athletic ability out of the two and more quickness than the two put together he could stop on a dime something that they couldnt do. They may have size and ability to run over people but other than that ray clark has it won.

[FBALL]

Personally i think that ray clark had the most athletic ability out of the two and more quickness than the two put together he could stop on a dime something that they couldnt do. They may have size and ability to run over people but other than that ray clark has it won.

Gross had better cutting ability and could stop and start faster than anybody I have seen. Ray Clark did have more speed. If he got into the open field you could forget about it.

[DEVILOLOGIST]

I posted the AShland stats becasue someone asked about there record.

[DEVILOLOGIST]

Here we go again about the best back talk. I am not listening. Focusing on the future here...

[UKCAT5FAN]

Here we go again about the best back talk. I am not listening. Focusing on the future here...

DIDO!!!

[EkyLb]

I wasn't even going to respond to this crap but then I changed my mind. It always seems like you are downgrading someone at Russell, either the coaches or the players. To say the Kasey Clark didn't have good games against good teams is just complete BS and to say Josh Gross and Kasey were not two of the best backs ever at Russell is BS too. I seem to remember Kasey leading the way to a state title and then a runner-up finish the next year. Russell's district schedule over the past few years has not been the strongest, nor the weakest, but Russell has played some very good teams in the playoffs over the past few years. I'm not going to sit here and list Kasey and Josh's stats for you because they speak for themselves and the last person they have to prove anything to is you but to say that they were not two of the best backs in Russell history is just complete BS!!!

I just spoke on my opinion, I'm not always downgrading everyone, I said they were good, I just felt that the teams they played kinda hurts them in my eyes as far as ranking them as all time best. Stats don't mean anything when your playing Estill,Lewis, Powell,Morgan,East,West, and one other but I can't remember. All very weak teams, coach Mcglone could probably still run for 100yds on them with our team blocking for him. Lone Oak's QB set the national record for Td's, so I guess he's the best all time. He's probably not even top 50 in the nation this year. So stats don't mean a whole lot when the competition is weak. They were tremendous ball players, and Im glad to have watched them play. Glad they represented Russell well. Just because I don't feel they are the best backs of all time to ever put on pads, doesn't mean I'm downgrading the players.

[Jeepman]

I just spoke on my opinion, I'm not always downgrading everyone, I said they were good, I just felt that the teams they played kinda hurts them in my eyes as far as ranking them as all time best. Stats don't mean anything when your playing Estill,Lewis, Powell,Morgan,East,West, and one other but I can't remember. All very weak teams, coach Mcglone could probably still run for 100yds on them with our team blocking for him. Lone Oak's QB set the national record for Td's, so I guess he's the best all time. He's probably not even top 50 in the nation this year. So stats don't mean a whole lot when the competition is weak. They were tremendous ball players, and Im glad to have watched them play. Glad they represented Russell well. Just because I don't feel they are the best backs of all time to ever put on pads, doesn't mean I'm downgrading the players.

You know you may be right about the Lone Oak QB not being one of the best in the top 50. He still holds the record for TD's in a season. No one can take that away from him. At least not in 2007.

[Devil68]

One thing that is nice to know about all the talk of who is the best back and who was the best team at Russell. Everytime it is a topic it is always a long and entertaining thread. That goes to show we have a very strong football program whith a rich tradition. And you can never underestimate the Russell Red Devils. In 2005 they were a team that had just finished a season in 2004 that was probably one of the better teams in the history of Russell Football. Nobody had any idea what our season had in store for us that year. It was disapointing watching the pre-season scrimmages because it looked like it was going to be a long season by the way we looked on the field. As everyone knows it turned out to be a pretty good year. Year in year out our team continues to spoil our fans and we can continue to talk about who is, who was, and who will be the best. And we do it with hometown boys. The ones who grow up watching Russell football and dreaming of putting on that uniform and playing on that field on friday nights.

[Jeepman]

One thing that is nice to know about all the talk of who is the best back and who was the best team at Russell. Everytime it is a topic it is always a long and entertaining thread. That goes to show we have a very strong football program whith a rich tradition. And you can never underestimate the Russell Red Devils. In 2005 they were a team that had just finished a season in 2004 that was probably one of the better teams in the history of Russell Football. Nobody had any idea what our season had in store for us that year. It was disapointing watching the pre-season scrimmages because it looked like it was going to be a long season by the way we looked on the field. As everyone knows it turned out to be a pretty good year. Year in year out our team continues to spoil our fans and we can continue to talk about who is, who was, and who will be the best. And we do it with hometown boys. The ones who grow up watching Russell football and dreaming of putting on that uniform and playing on that field on friday nights.

Very well said.

[UKCAT5FAN]

It may not have an immediate impact next season, but trust me it will have an effect. Ashlands senior class from this year went winless as freshman and that definitely contributed to their 2-8 record. When you have an entire class that is just less talented it is hard to overcome....

Russell's freshman team has several players that are going to be very good football players. Several of those players were injured this year and you saw how good that they could've been when healthy in the Kiwanis Bowl. That is the team they should have been the entire year. I don't mean any disrespect but the winless freashman team that you speak of was pretty bad. I don't think that the Russell freshman class will hurt Russell in the future at all. They have several good players from that team and they have strong classes on both sides of that class too.

[UKCAT5FAN]

I just spoke on my opinion, I'm not always downgrading everyone, I said they were good, I just felt that the teams they played kinda hurts them in my eyes as far as ranking them as all time best. Stats don't mean anything when your playing Estill,Lewis, Powell,Morgan,East,West, and one other but I can't remember. All very weak teams, coach Mcglone could probably still run for 100yds on them with our team blocking for him. Lone Oak's QB set the national record for Td's, so I guess he's the best all time. He's probably not even top 50 in the nation this year. So stats don't mean a whole lot when the competition is weak. They were tremendous ball players, and Im glad to have watched them play. Glad they represented Russell well. Just because I don't feel they are the best backs of all time to ever put on pads, doesn't mean I'm downgrading the players.

But downgrading them is exactly what you were doing. You listed 6 teams on Russell's schedule in 2005. OK, what about the 7 other teams that Russell played that year such as Belfry, Mercer, Fleming, Owensboro Catholic, and Newport? Kasey Clark had 196 yds and 4 TD's in the state championship game against a very good Owensboro Catholic team. It's not Russell's fault that their schedule was rather weak except for Fleming and East that year. Both Kasey and Josh were done playing in those games sometimes by the 2nd quarter and always by halftime. I never said that I thought either one of these players the the BEST back ever at Russell but to say that they're not one of the best is just crazy. It does seem to me that everytime I read one of your post you are downgrading someone at Russell. Usually it is the coaches or the coaching though. You have your opinion but some people who know an awlful lot about football and evaluating talent think that Kasey and Josh are pretty good.

[UKCAT5FAN]

One thing that is nice to know about all the talk of who is the best back and who was the best team at Russell. Everytime it is a topic it is always a long and entertaining thread. That goes to show we have a very strong football program whith a rich tradition. And you can never underestimate the Russell Red Devils. In 2005 they were a team that had just finished a season in 2004 that was probably one of the better teams in the history of Russell Football. Nobody had any idea what our season had in store for us that year. It was disapointing watching the pre-season scrimmages because it looked like it was going to be a long season by the way we looked on the field. As everyone knows it turned out to be a pretty good year. Year in year out our team continues to spoil our fans and we can continue to talk about who is, who was, and who will be the best. And we do it with hometown boys. The ones who grow up watching Russell football and dreaming of putting on that uniform and playing on that field on friday nights.

Great Post!!!! This is soooo true. I was never saying that I thought Kasey or Josh were the best ever aat Russell. My point was that they both are a couple of the best. It's too difficult to narrow it down to 1 because each has his own style. Russell has had too many great backs over the years to narrow it down to 1 and that's a great problem to have.

[EkyLb]

But downgrading them is exactly what you were doing. You listed 6 teams on Russell's schedule in 2005. OK, what about the 7 other teams that Russell played that year such as Belfry, Mercer, Fleming, Owensboro Catholic, and Newport? Kasey Clark had 196 yds and 4 TD's in the state championship game against a very good Owensboro Catholic team. It's not Russell's fault that their schedule was rather weak except for Fleming and East that year. Both Kasey and Josh were done playing in those games sometimes by the 2nd quarter and always by halftime. I never said that I thought either one of these players the the BEST back ever at Russell but to say that they're not one of the best is just crazy. It does seem to me that everytime I read one of your post you are downgrading someone at Russell. Usually it is the coaches or the coaching though. You have your opinion but some people who know an awlful lot about football and evaluating talent think that Kasey and Josh are pretty good.

Ive never downgraded a player. Saying that the competition was weak is a fact, noone's fault however. I do downgrade the coaches some, because I feel like Russell could be much better with the talent they have. No mandatory weights, no conditioning. No contact in practice, or tackling drills. Russell is good mostly because they get an overload of talent, and have an awesome feeder system. Say what you want about how great our coaching staff is. Id take Ironton, Ashland, Wheelersburg, Boyd Co. over them any day of the week. It's almost 2008, its time to get out of the 60's and 70's way of highschool football. We run a peewee league offense, and a very base defense that never adapts to the teams we are playing. Ive seen Russell lose games against very good teams. in the last 8 or 9 yrs alone, Breathitt 2x, Lex Cath, Pburg, Boyle co. 4 very very strong programs, simply because Russell wouldn't switch to a common pass defense formation. Hold teams to less than 100yds rushing in a game, and lose. These are all games I watched and felt , if the coaching staffs were reversed, so would the scoreboard. To not have mandatory weights, is just inexcusable. I betcha Russell never even works on a 2 minute drill. Who doesn't work on a 2 minute drill? At least a little bit, have a different formation, not just stay in the wing t, its not designed to score like that.

[EkyLb]

Its not downgrading Russell players when you say Fleming, Mercer, Newport, Estill, Powell, East, West, Morgan, Lewis are not very good teams. If you think those are very good teams, then you need to get out more and watch some more football elsewhere other than in Eastern Ky, where football is weak, with the exception on a handful or programs. Look what happened to Lone Oak's QB in the state game. All time TD holder, punted for more yards than he threw today, lack of competition can make you look a lot better than you are. However, I dont think this about either 24 or 25, I think they would have been standouts anywhere, I just can't list them at the very top because of it. Its my opinion, to voice it, so get over it. What are you a family member of one of them or something?