[EKUAlum05]

Agree. We have 5A Ashland, Historically stout Ironton(OH), a rough and tough Coal Grove-Dawson Bryant(OH), then our district schedule. That leaves 3 games to fill. I say choose from:

Belfrey
NCC
Lexington Christian
Covington Holy Cross
Prestonsburg

Anyone that is a solid bigger class school. Greenup, Lawrence and the Carter Co schools arent enough anymore.

Only problem with this.... why would elite larger schools want to play a 1A school?

I respect Raceland's program, but if I am a Belfry fan and the Pirates have limited non-district games I would be a little upset that they schedule Raceland... especially with Pikeville already on the schedule. Just like Raceland, Belfry wants to push themselves with teams that typically are better than Belfry at some aspect.

Same can be said for a similar EKY team like Johnson Central. Let's be honest..most years this would be an ugly game to watch. I like Raceland a lot, but over the past decade or so Raceland and Pikeville have been pretty even programs.. over the past decade Belfry has pretty much had a running clock n Pikeville every year.

Now let's say for example Belfry goes to a 4 team district and adds another non-district game and they are having trouble finding opponents. I would be fine with maybe a 1 year deal where Raceland came to Belfry. Belfry had to play East Carter one year because of scheduling woes... Raceland would have been a much better game. Or in the case of Johnson Central I am sure they would have loved hosting Raceland instead of some of these Canadian teams they destroy that they have to pay a large sum to come down.

I think these are good/realistic match-ups for Raceland, a few you mentioned:
Pburg- Traditionally stout, 2A school, no brainer

Breathitt County- 3A program with tradition... usually would have over matched the Rams but program is in a bit of a slough. Typically struggle finding competition.

Bourbon County- 3A program rapidly on the rise. Very similar team to a Mayfield with great skill players and athletes. Their non-district schedule has been awful and they know they need to up their competition. Would probably be a bit lop-sided scores, but it would make Raceland better.

Cov Holy Cross- Just makes sense... CHC is typically a quality team but not an elite program to the level they are "above" this game.