[FBALL]

Hope I don't depress everyone, but here is my two cents:

1. Someone mentioned Dustin May of Belfry and said he wom't be as big of a contender as David Jones was.... well the reason Dustin has no shot is the fact that David Jones was not even a contender for Mr. Football... he ddin't make any of the lists except for Class of the Commonwealth which was the Top 50 players. May may be the most dominant player in the state of KY next season in terms of his abilities on both sides of the ball, but sadly he will have no shot. This is due to several factors.... A) He is not a major college prospect B) Media coverage, especially TV, is scarce in East KY. I am willing to bet that if you polled the newspapers in Hazard and London as to who the best backs in East KY are they wouldn't mention May just absed on not seeing him enough, let alone across the state. C) Belfry's System... In Haywood's system it is a rarity for a back to run over 1500 yards in a season because Haywood usually equally disperses the carries, TD's, and yards. You also won't ever see Belfry "Running Up the Score" or "Stat Padding". Think back to the 2003 State Championship team who at the time finished with the second most rushing yards in state history. Had Haywood left Howard and Jones in past the second quarter against Magoffin County, East Ridge, Pike Central, Shelby Valley, Cawood, and Estill County.. Belfry would be the state's all time leader in single season rushing and Jones and Howard would easily have eclipsed the 2500 yard mark each with their yards per carry.

2. Tyler Jones of Russell. Once again the Russell system will not permit him to put up the eye catching numbers to be a contender. If Jones remains at QB he will probably see on average less than ten pass attempts per game, and less than 10-12 carries a game.McGlone will not run up the score, and he sure as heck won't be passign the ball with a big lead. What also works against Jones is shear name recognition...if you asked me to associate a player to Russell's team last season the first words off my tongue would be Kasey Clark.. if you asked me to name the next person to come to mind it would be Josh Willis, and this is coming from someone who followed Russell's progression quite a bit,,, let alone what Joe Bob Johnson at the Hopkinsville newspaper would think. It's a shame because my money says that Jones is the best QB East of 1-75 hands down, and maybe one of the best all around players in the state. But if Clark can't mount a serious contention for Mr. Football following his numbers last season in the season after being the Finals MVP.. I don'tt hink Jones has much of a chance either.

3. John Cole.... Bar none the best receiver in the state going into 2007 both statistically and on film. Gaudy numbers that haven't been seen in East Kentucky since Gerad Parker set national records at Lawrence County... a little bit better media attention being from Somerset (within Friday Night Flights range in Lexington)... but two things eliminate any chance of Cole winning Mr. Football. The first is the fact that he is the best RECEIVER in the state. Receivers get little love but the psychology is that they have to have the quarterback to put the ball where they can catch it. Secondly, he plays at a 1A school. Generally speaking, if you are not from a school with an enrollment over 1000 you have no shot... unless you sign to play football at UK.

4. Shawn Grimm... I have a little optimism in Grimm's case. First he is from a 3A (now 5A) school, so he passes the enrollment test. Secondly, his name got out last season. By leading the state in rushing, the constant propaganda from the hoardes of Eagles supporters across the state's message boards, the miraculous turnaround of the JC program and their undefeated run, and a very vocal head coach, Grimm did amass name recognition that at the very least stretches to Central KY and NKY (3A football hotbeds), even the Ashland Daily Independent adopted the Eagles as a local team.Grimm also made a statement in the playoffs by putting up big numbers against eventual state champion Covington Catholic. These factors puts Grimm where noone else in East KY has been in quite a while, that's a position to at least let his on the field results have a direct correlation with his chances.
Now for the pessimistic side. Grimm has an uphill battle to become a legit contender. First and formeost Matney is going to play a schedule condusive to winning , his toughest games will be against Intra-Mountain powerhouses which bodes well for preparing his team, but limits the media coverage. Say for example the JC vs. belfry matchup. The Eagles will more than likely be taking on a Top 5 team in 3A, it may even be a #1 ranked Belfry team, and more than likely JC will defeat them. If this was a matchup in your media hubs of CKY, NKY, or Louisville this game would be hyped immensely,,, but in all actuality the best statewide attention this game will garner will be a mention in the "Tonight's Top games" section of the Friday Herald-Leader in the lower left hand corner of the sports page. For every 100 yard 2 TD performance you see from a high profile Lexington HB or Louisville HB, Grimm needs to put up 200 yards and 5 TD's,,, and even then the arguement will always be "He did it against weaker competition". For Shawn Grimm to win this award JC HAS to make the state finals...PERIOD.

Very good and well thought out post:thumpsup: