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Slow Motion Replay: Alvis Johnson and an anecdote on acorns @KyHighFootball, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans, @driver_brock, @CoachHaddix11, @khsaafootball, @WoodfordFBall, @Woodfordsuper1, @mctitansfball

June 22, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

We keep running across coaches deserving of recognition. This guy here lent a tremendous amount of credence to the proverb about acorns not falling too far from its tree. Alvis Johnson played football at Christian County High School in the 60s and went on to become a football player for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Upon graduation, Johnson came home to Hopkinsville and began as an assistant football coach at his alma mater. Thereafter, Johnson got the head coaching job at Harrodsburg where he built them into a 1A powerhouse. Johnson won over 71% of the games in which he coached, totaling 194-wins against only 77-losses with three (3) trips to the finals, losing in 1996 to Beechwood in overtime. This guy here was among the greatest track coaches in the history of the KHSAA like yesterday’s feature Ben Pumphrey. Sons Derrick and Dennis Johnson were part of Harrodsburg’s huge run of success in the ’90s and both went on to play at the University of Kentucky. Enjoy this feature.

Friday Night Fletch

Slow Motion Replay: ‘Holy Toledo, Batman! It’s Coach Ben Pumphrey!’ @KyHighFootball, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans, @khsaafootball

June 21, 2025 Fletcher Long 1

We thought we had concluded our “Slow Motion Replay” series and then a colleague reached out to me and said “What about Ben Pumphrey?” We researched it and couldn’t have agreed more. Pumphrey was among the more fun and charismatic coaches the KHSAA has ever known. He was also a guy who traveled the commonwealth taking hard jobs, jobs many of his colleagues didn’t want. Pumphrey did it to make a difference and what a difference he made. Pumphrey was enshrined in the KHSAA Hall of Fame in 2004 and richly, deservedly. Today he is being featured by us. Again, his being featured by Friday Night Fletch and KPGFootball is richly and deservedly past due. Enjoy this edition of the Slow Motion Replay series. Be aware, there is no telling where this series will actually end and when. We will keep writing them as long as you care to read them.

Friday Night Fletch.

Mason Griffin has a pretty tight lid on the QB job at South Laurel @Masegriffin7, @JohnHines66, @CoachDGage, @Gtown_Football, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans, @khsaafootball, @KyHighFootball

June 21, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

His name is Mason Griffin and he may be the best QB in the KHSAA with whom you might not be completely familiar. He is 6’4,” weighs 215-pounds and has a 4.0 GPA. Griffin plays for Next Up 7X7 and passed for 2,199-yards and 18-TDs his junior year in only 10-games of action. Griffin made his first team all-district squad and finds himself playing for a legendary head football coach in John Hines who has won over 200-career games. South Lauren is coming off a 6-win campaign and played in its first playoff game in years. Enjoy this feature about a young man whose star is on the rise and who may show up on some “Mr. Football” lists before all is said and done.

Friday Night Fletch

KPGFootball’s Preseason Top-Five (4A) @KyHighFootball, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans, @driver_brock, @CoachHaddix11, @khsaafootball

June 20, 2025 Fletcher Long 1

It is that time of year. It is time to start figuring which teams, entering the ’25 season, figure to factor in the title chase. We have detailed what we think here and it is based on our study of the incoming, ’25 rosters, what players return, what players graduated, and other various factors we have perfected through the years to render such predictions. We had done this for all six (6) classifications as this is our sixth such article posted and published. We hope you enjoyed this series. There are good football teams in the KHSAA and there are bad ones and those teams span all of the six classes. Enjoy today’s look at 4A. Thanks for reading us.

Friday Night Fletch

KPGFootball’s Preseason Top-Five (3A) @bigassfans, @minguabeefjerky, @khsaafootball, @KyHighFootball

June 19, 2025 Fletcher Long 1

It is that time of year. It is time to start figuring which teams, entering the ’25 season, figure to factor in the title chase. We have detailed what we think here and it is based on our study of the incoming, ’25 rosters, what players return, what players graduated, and other various factors we have perfected through the years to render such predictions. We plan to do this for all of Kentucky’s six (6) classifications and there is no guarantee we will go in order from the top down, or the bottom to the top. There are good football teams in the KHSAA and there are bad ones and those teams span all of the six classes. Enjoy today’s look at 3A. Keep checking back as we may drop another class any time we feel like it.

Friday Night Fletch

KPGFootball’s Preseason Top-Five (5A) @bigassfans, @minguabeefjerky, @khsaafootball, @KyHighFootball

June 17, 2025 Fletcher Long 2

It is that time of year. It is time to start figuring which teams, entering the ’25 season, figure to factor in the title chase. We have detailed what we think here and it is based on our study of the incoming, ’25 rosters, what players return, what players graduated, and other various factors we have perfected through the years to render such predictions. We plan to do this for all of Kentucky’s six (6) classifications and there is no guarantee we will go in order from the top down, or the bottom to the top. There are good football teams in the KHSAA and there are bad ones and those teams span all of the six classes. Enjoy today’s look at 5A. Keep checking back as we may drop another class any time we feel like it.

Friday Night Fletch

Gary Daugherty, Jr from Central High is a ’27 looking for opportunity to prove himself @45pro6lems, @CoachDantzler, @khsaafootball, @bigassfans, @minguabeefjerky, @KyHighFootball

June 17, 2025 Fletcher Long 1

There are tons of players of whom you know absolutely nothing who will hit the field this fall and bedazzle you with their brilliance. We see it season after season. However, at KPGFootball we feel the term “expertise” requires something of us. We like to get out and look at the up and coming kids and predict which of these kids will be future stars before anyone else. We believe Gary Daugherty, Jr. from Central High has the frame and the brains to emerge from the summer camp/combine circuit with an opportunity to show everyone what he can really do. We think the show may prove breathtaking. Enjoy this feature and let’s sit on this a second and see if we don’t prove ourselves correct, yet another time!

Slow Motion Replay: Sam Simpson, over his 27-year career at Henry Clay provided Blue Devil fans lots of shining moments @HCHSDevilsFB, @HCHS_Athletics, @MarionCoKnights, @KyHighFootball, @khsaafootball, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans

June 16, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

Sam Simpson went 32-years coaching at two places not easy to win ball games. Marion County was five years and the other 27 were spent in Lexington at Henry Clay High. Simpson won 193-games at Henry Clay, taking the Blue Devils to one of its two visits to the title game. Henry Clay beat St. Francis DeSales back in 1981 for the 4A title under Jack Bell. Simpson would take the team on an improbably four (4) game run through the playoffs which ultimately ended in the title game against Mike Glasur’s Tigers. Well, that ended up like matchups with St. Xavier often do, with the Tigers leaving the field with victory. Enjoy this installment of our “Slow Motion Replay” series.

Friday Night Fletch

KPGFootball’s Preseason Top-Five (1A) @bigassfans, @minguabeefjerky, @khsaafootball, @KyHighFootball

June 14, 2025 Fletcher Long 1

It is that time of year. It is time to start figuring which teams, entering the ’25 season, figure to factor in the title chase. We have detailed what we think here and it is based on our study of the incoming, ’25 rosters, what players return, what players graduated, and other various factors we have perfected through the years to render such predictions. We plan to do this for all of Kentucky’s six (6) classifications and there is no guarantee we will go in order from the top down, or the bottom to the top. There are good football teams in the KHSAA and there are bad ones and those teams span all of the six classes. Enjoy today’s look at 1A. Keep checking back as we may drop another class any time we feel like it.

Friday Night Fletch

Slow Motion Replay: Walter Brugh was ‘The Big Blue Legend’ at Paintsville High @PaintsvilleFB, @PaintsvilleHS, @MichaelBrughArt, @CitadelFootball, @minguabeefjerky, @bigassfans, @KyHighFootball, @khsaafootball

June 13, 2025 Fletcher Long 0

I, for one, miss the old time football coaches like Walter Brugh from Paintsville. Often the “greats” from these days end up among the all-timers. This guy here fits that bill. Brugh went to the title game twice, in 1978 and in 1985. Each trip netted him a tight ball game which pitted him against two other Hall of Famers, Marshall Patterson in 1978 and Pat Gates in 1985. We have before mused around the magazine how often two hall of fame guys find themselves pitted against the other at that level. It is uncanny. Enjoy this look at a coach who retired in 1994 the KHSAA’s all time leader in wins. He has since been eclipsed but remains pretty high on the all-time wins list. The “Big Blue Legend” himself, Walter Brugh. Try to learn a thing or two.

Friday Night Fletch