Articles by Fletcher Long

About Fletcher Long
Two-time winner of Kentucky Press Association awards for excellence in writing and reporting news stories while Managing Editor of the Jackson (KY) Times-Voice

Slow Motion Replay: Kevin Wallace says the 2025 season will be his final tour around the KHSAA @CoachKWallace, @bigassfans, @minguabeefjerky, @khsaafootball, @KyHighFootball, @BGHSPurplesNews, @StXTigersFB, @PurplesFootball

May 10, 2025 Fletcher Long 3

How does one judge the greatest coach in KHSAA history? Is it wins? Is it championships? Is it the ability to consistently imbue men with the character befitting the proudest traditions of the commonwealth of Kentucky? Is it a combination of all of the above. Some might claim the KHSAA has never had a better coach than Marshall Patterson, Mike Glaser, Chuck Smith, Dan Goble, Ed Miracle, Mike Holcomb, Dudley Hilton, Sam Harp, and Phillip Haywood, and each of these could make legitimate claims (and for valid reasons). However, if someone were to claim Kevin Wallace, or Jim Matney, or Larry French, or Noah Rash, or Eddie Eviston, or Jay Cobb, or Mark Spader, or any other number of HFCs were “the best in KHSAA history” that would be just as difficult to discount. Point is; who knows? We do know this…Kevin Wallace was a HOSS! Enjoy this feature.

Friday Night Fletch

Slow Motion Replay: The architect of the 50-game win streak, Dennis Lampley, from Trinity High @BALampley79, @TrinityHSFB, @trinitysports, @bigassfans, @minguabeefjerky, @khsaafootball, @KyHighFootball,

May 9, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

There are families indelibly associated with the KHSAA and either one or all of its member institutions. The name “Jaggers” is such a name. So is the name “Lampley.” Dennis Lampley served the students and athletes of Trinity High in Louisville, KY for nearly 50-years. Along the way, he had a hand in nine (9) titles, five (5) titles as HFC, 50-consecutive wins, and three (3) consecutive, undefeated, 4A football titles in a row. Lampley had an 87% win rate at Kentucky’s largest classification of competition (4A) in his day. Is this guy a HOFer? If Retief Goosen is in “golf,” then Lampley is in football. Enjoy the feature.

Friday Night Fletch

Cameron Davis from Paul Blazer High in Ashland, Kentucky is the @bigassfans Kentucky Comfort Creator of the Week @CtackettC @J_maineKeyes @Tomcat_football @Sdowdy12 @KYHighFootball @minguabeefjerky @_camdavis_

May 9, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

Cameron Davis plays for one of the best football programs in the 4A classification across our great commonwealth. Paul Blazer High in Ashland is full of excellent athletes and the right men in place to lead them. Cameron Davis had a super junior year and may be a “Mr. Football” candidate in ’25 if he continues to improve along the same trajectory he has been improving. Like Sammy Davis, Jr. once sung, Davis just has to be Davis. If you read this feature the reference will crystalize for you. Enjoy the feature and let’s keep it comfortable out there, Kentucky!

Friday Night Fletch

Slow Motion Replay: William Kean, Central High, Floated like a Butterfly and Stung like a Yellowjacket @CHSJacketFB, @MuhammadAli, @KyChamber, @KyHighFootball, @khsaafootball, @bigassfans, @minguabeefjerky

May 8, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

Bill Kean coached at Central High in Louisville at a time when the Yellowjackets, because of the segregated school systems in Kentucky at the time, wouldn’t let Central compete with the “white” schools. Kean won five (5) Kentucky High School Athletic League (KHSAL) titles, and won four (4) National Negro High School titles and his 856-wins in basketball, coupled with his 225-wins in football, may make Bill Kean the winningest coach in the history of Kentucky high school sports. Enjoy this look at a guy who was posthumously inducted into the KHSAA Hall of Fame in 1988, thirty years after his death.

Friday Night Fletch

Storm Warning: Connor Miles, ’28 DE, looks to be setting into a role @bigassfans, @minguabeefjerky, @khsaafootball, @KyHighFootball, @HopkinsCentral, @_CoachManning, @evans02_mike

May 8, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

What can we tell you about Connor Miles? We can tell you he got three (3) games of run as a sophomore on the varsity. We can tell you he is putting in the work this offseason. We can tell you his coach tells us he is ready to assume a roll on the ’25 roster as a regular and (perhaps) a leader. We can tell you he may be a two-way guy this coming Fall. All of the above aside, Miles finished 5th in Kentucky in powerlifting at one of the sport’s toughest classes (220-pounds). We feel that says a ton (pardon the pun). Enjoy this feature about a kid you might not have know about prior.

Friday Night Fletch

Slow Motion Replay: Jim McKee knows two things, farming and football @cards_football, @HLpreps, @ScottCoSports, @_claymckee7, @KyHighFootball, @khsaafootball, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans

May 7, 2025 Fletcher Long 1

Jim McKee is a farmer. He is he son of a farmer. His kids like farming. Now, I don’t know much about farming, but my dad was one generation off a working farm. My granddad farmed and for a living. There are similarities between the practices which successfully harvest a bountiful yield and the practices which harvest a well trained and effective football team. McKee would know all about it, that it why he is approaching 300-wins and winning at a rate close to 80%. Enjoy this look at another of Kentucky’s greatest all-timers in the football (KHSAA) industry.

Friday Night Fletch

Myles Howze is the @minguabeefjerky Protein-packed Performer of the Week @HowzeMyles, @thsrocks_us, @trinitysports, @thsshamrocks, @Trinity_HSFB, @bigassfans, @KyHighFootball, @khsaafootball

May 7, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

We like to get out and tell you about future All-staters and candidates for “Mr. Football” and the Gatorade Kentucky Football Player of the Year before anyone else. We have accurately predicted “Mr. Football” winners years in advance. Are we predicting it or speaking it into existence and then making it happen with our PR machine? Who knows? This guy here will be in play for all the postseason accolades in a couple years. You can bet that. Enjoy this feature and don’t forget to pick up some world famous jerky products from Mingua Beef Jerky and “SavorTheFlavor.”

Friday Night Fletch

Slow Motion Replay: A salute to ‘yesteryear’ and the great coaches from ‘way back,’ stand and cheer for Ralph Mills and Preston Ty Holland @murrayhighFB, @MurrayTigers, @MurrayQBClub, @HopHighTigers, @HopkAthletics, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans, @khsaafootball, @KyHighFootball

May 6, 2025 Fletcher Long 3

I remember when I was a lawyer every town, no matter how small, had a big-timer amongst its people “before the bar.” There are hometown heroes in every small high school and there are former “greats” tied to every football program across the commonwealth. Today, we salute two coaches of whom you possibly have never heard but two guys (nevertheless) who had a ton to do with the programs which still exist and compete today. Ralph Mills was a guy for Hoptown in the 40s on an incredible “heater” and Preston “Ty” Holland won Murray its first title and the stadium is named for him. Enjoy this feature about two men who deserve being remembered and honored.

Friday Night Fletch

Slow Motion Replay: Dixie Jones may have been among the best defensive coordinators the KHSAA has seen and was dad-burn competent in the head job too @bigassfans, @minguabeefjerky, @KyHighFootball, @TriggFootball, @TriggCoAD

May 6, 2025 Fletcher Long 1

We were compiling a list once of the men we thought were the finest five defensive coordinators the KHSAA has ever known. On our list was Jeff Hester, Chuck Smith’s DC at Boyle County; John Paul Chapman, Mike Holcomn’s DC at Breathitt; Mark Spader, Kevin Wallace’s DC at BGHS and now its head coach; Jim “Red Dog” Daughtery, the DC for several years for Dale Mueller at Highlands, and (of course) Dixie Jones, who was the DC for some of Craig Clayton’s more formidable teams in his first run at Hopkinsville High. If we were compiling a list of powerlifting coaches, we might list Dixie five times, as he is the best the sport has ever known. Enjoy this look at an all-time “lifer” in this sport we all cherish and love.

Friday Night Fletch