[Scotty_Bronson]

Thoughts? Who will rise to the top? Who are the dark horses? Class A usually has a top 1-3/4 that can compete for the title, but this year looks like Mayfields to lose again with Beachwood, Pikeville, Raceland, Fairview, and Russellville to fight amongst themselves to see who can give themselves a chance to give the Cardinals a run for their money. Many of those teams strengthened their schedules this year. I look for it to be an interesting year in single A. Lots of potential in many teams, just a matter of who steps up and lives up to it all. I do though, believe that this is a good year for a sleeper or dark horse surprise in the state finals.

Here's my preseason Top 9 and team assesments(feel like there is a major drop off after that...):

1 Mayfield:
Defending champ and return a lot of starters from that team, lost RB Jackson, which could be a big loss, but always a lot of talent in Mayfield. Tough schedule as always, we always know by week 5 what kind of Mayfield team we are looking at.

2 Beachwood:
Started putting things together a bit late last year, a good bit of young guys returning. Just depends on who steps up to fill the wholes. History plays a big roll in them being at number 2.

3 Pikeville:
Nearly every player back, were a VERY talented young team last year. Chase Hall came on strong toward the end of last year. They have a tremendous qb tandem, can't recall the names, but they were especially mobile. Look for them to be even better this year. Thought they are younger, their overtime victory against Raceland in the playoffs after being defeated by 40 pts earlier in the season gives them the edge over Raceland in my rankings.

4 Raceland: Have all of their skill guys back, 3 year starter at QB, both leading receivers and a 1,000 yard rusher and a 800 yard rusher in Beach and Litteral. The line is bigger and more experienced this year, with only the center to be replaced. The key for the Rams will be if they can play with some passion, if the seniors can set an example for the underclassmen this year, the next several years in Raceland look very bright. Scheduled Ironton, OH and Bryan Dawson, OH to fill the gaps left by Pikeville and Russell on the schedule. Coupled with Ashland-Blazer and Fairview, it's a good schedule to get an assessment of what the Rams will be early on in the season.

5 Fairview: TBH, it's a toss up for me. We don't really know what Fairview may or not bring in, or WHEN they will bring they will do so. Last year they were an incredible team to watch. I know they have a lot of their line back, which was where they won their 2 big games last year against Raceland and seeing Tanner Dolen run some last year keeps me thinking that Fairview, while they won't be ANY WHERE NEAR to what they were a year ago, they won't go away without a fight. They are a hard nosed bunch, big key for them will be leadership. Their schedule was beefed up with an early Region Semi's rematch on Sept. 20th with Hazard. They also scheduled Bellvue, Lawrence County, and James N Gamble from Cincinatti. Nice to see them put a stronger schedule together.

6 Hazard: Last year lost the Johnson kid at RB/WR/DB and they lost all of their explosiveness. They were a big and physical team last year, but just didn't have enough finesse or speed to keep up with Fairview and barley had enough to defeat Williamsburg. I'm sure they will get things in order this year, it's just a matter if they will have enough speed to compete.

7 Williamsburg: There's ALOT of talk coming out of Williamsburg, much like at Raceland and Pikeville of how much talent and potential they have. Williamsburg, much like Raceland is still battling a monkey on their back. They are always athletic and throw the ball well, their success will depend on the line and what kind of balance they can have with the running game. Their loss to Hazard dropped them to number 7 instead of 6.

8 Frankfort: Last year they were an impressive team to look at. Lots of size and lots of speed. Was surprised when they lost in the playoffs tbh. I thought they were the dark horse to win it all. They have a lot to replace but the Dirty Thirty can't really ever be counted out. Look for them to struggle early on because of their tough schedule, but it will pay off IF THEY CAN STAY HEALTHY through it.

9. Russellville: They gave a lot of teams more than they thought they would last year. They are always a battling and never say die team. I think they could give Mayfield a shock if the Cards aren't ready. Being from that district though, and on the other side of the state, I don't know a whole lot on what they return, just know they were a fairly junior heavy team last year.

thoughts? and please, lets not turn this into a "recruiting" argument....change the record...its old.