[Hoot Gibson]

I completely understand this, but looking over Jc's scheldule, and the lack of a winning opponents they have demolished. I find a strain of hope. I guess until Friday that can call their "signature win" Lexington Catholic which isn't near as impressive as it would have been in previous years. I know strength of schedule means nothing, I'm not ignorant. But beating teams like Fairland OH and Harlan county to a pulp in typical Matney "run this score up" fashion doesn't impress me. I know Ashland is no Fairland, no Rowan or Greenup. Just let me hold onto this little string of hope, and maybe one day Ashland will be strong enough that their fan base including myself will have a valid argument against the 0 time state champion tradition rich state jaggurnaut that wipes the field with any opposing teams jersey. I know JC is going to win, they probably already have the trophy in their cabinet. But there is hope.........

I keep reading these comments about Matney running the score up and it is obvious that those who are making the comments really do not understand how most of JC's games go. Compared to Ashland, Johnson Central generally jumps out to a comfortable first half lead and then Matney begins substituting heavily to make sure that a running clock does not take effect early.

Ashland, on the other hand, has struggled in the first half with teams like Rowan County, Greenup County, and even East Carter(!) before pulling away in the second half with their first string offense on the field. The final margins may not be much different from JC's scores with common opponents, but Johnson Central has been much more dominant in games against those teams than the final scores indicate because Matney has repeatedly gone deep into his bench to avoid early running clocks.

So keep telling yourself that Matney runs up the score in every game but your are just lying to yourself. Nobody who can read a line score or a box score is going to believe you.