[Big Five-0-]

class a, district 8

1. Pikeville (11-2): Longtime frontrunner pikeville remains the team to beat in the district.

2. Allen central (2-9): Allen central returns numerous young players at key positions.

3. South floyd (3-8): South floyd knocked off phelps and a pair of non-district foes in its previous campaign.

4. Phelps (1-10): Phelps managed to defeat district foe allen central for its lone win in the 2013 season.


preseason favorite: pikeville

tradition-rich pikeville played in its fourth straight regional championship game last season, losing to raceland. Now, six starters are back on both offense and defense for the panthers.

Quarterback austin charles and wide receiver cody estep, now seniors, connected 40-plus times in the 2013 season. Charles completed 82-of-127 passes for 1,589 yards and 21 touchdowns and only three interceptions. A go-to receiver, estep had 43 receptions for 1,025 yards and 15 touchdowns last season.

Ben maynard (18 carries, 242 yards, five tds; eight receptions, 151 yards, two tds) will also take carries out of the backfield and haul in catches for the panthers. Back from injury, junior running back daric pugh will also contribute. Fellow juniors kory stevens and anthony vanderback will aid the offensive attack as well.

Two starters-center logan coleman and right guard isaac lucas - return along with pikeville's offensive line.

Defensively, estep, maynard, pugh, stevens, vanderback, lucas, austin salyer and quenton little are in the group of leading players back for the pikeville football team.


team on the rise: Allen central

allen central will not be short of talented young players in the 2014 season. Despite losing quarterback cameron hamilton to graduation, allen central returns multiple skill players along with experienced linemen and defensive standouts.

Offensively, leaders trey aldrich, corey davis and steven howard all return for the rebels. Lineman tyler halbert is back on the field after suffering an injury.

Many allen central players will start on both sides of the ball. Defensively, linebacker chase soler and safety jacob barker are among allen central's additional key returnees.

The rebels knocked off familiar foe south floyd for their lone district win last season. Allen central also posted a non-district victory over jekins.


2014 preseason player of the year

cody estep, pikeville, sr., wr/s, 5-10, 175.

As a junior in 2013, pikeville wide receiver cody estep ranked as one of the state's top pass catchers. Drawing heavy coverage from opposing teams, estep delivered catch after catch. The productive estep also rushed for one touchdown and scored five other tds. From his defensive back position, estep also took on the role of a leading defender for the panthers.


players to watch

trey aldrich, allen central, jr., wr/db, 5-11, 165; austin charles, pikeville, sr., qb/db, 6-1, 200; brett daniels, south floyd, sr., wr/db, 5-11, 160; corey davis, allen central, sr., rb/lb, 5-10, 205; zack francis, phelps, sr., qb/lb, 6-0, 180; tyler halbert, allen central, sr., ol/dl, 5-10, 210; steven howard, allen central, so., rb/lb, 5-8, 185; hunter johnson, south floyd, jr., qb/db, 5-10, 170; mack little, south floyd, sr., ol/dl, 6-0, 270; ben maynard, pikeville, sr., rb/db, 5-11, 165; daric pugh, pikeville, jr., rb/lb, 6-0, 210; anthony vanderback, pikeville, jr., rb/db, 6-2, 190.

thanks!