The best thing about 1-0 is it’s the only path to 2-0!
Hazard kind of put it on Montgomery County 46-14 in the opener. Beating a 5A team, at its place, by 32-points is an accomplishment for any 1A program. Hazard has solidified itself as a legitimate title contender and looked every bit the part. Upcoming for the Bulldogs is Whitley County, itself a 4A squad who is also 1-0 heading toward the contest. They play a little football around Williamsburg, KY and playing a Whitley team coming off a double digit win over Knox Central in the Pioneer Bowl is no small task. We will take a look back at the opener against MoCo and then look at the next hill which needs climbing.
HB Lyon, Scouting Director, “KPGFootball”
Williamsburg, KY: They play some football around Williamsburg, Kentucky. Of course, Hazard would know this as well as anyone having played Jerry Herron’s Williamsburg High “Yellow Jackets” in the playoffs a year ago. That turned out well for the Bulldogs.
Of course, Whitley County is the 4A high school in Williamsburg, as opposed to its 1A counterpart, Williamsburg High. Playing 4A rosters can prove itself quite a different proposition than playing schools with roughly the same enrollment.
I really can’t confess that 1A teams playing 4, 5, or even 6A rosters makes as much of a difference as it once did. Programs have the same offseason training opportunities and some of these 1A programs have even better facilities than their larger counterparts.
Having a larger pool of students from which to pluck talent is NOT the advantage it once was. Ask MoCo, a 5A team Hazard just boat raced out of the opener this past Friday night, 46-14.
As Coach Chandler told KPGFootball via his text to us after the opener, “[T]he only route to 2-0 has to go through 1-0 first.” True that…
William Shoptaw, the intrepid sophomore QB for the Bulldogs had quite an opener. Shoptaw completed 24 of his 33-passing attempts (.727272727, ad infinitem) for 296-yards and three thrown TDs.
Having the KHSAA’s premier target in Gavin Johnson (’27), leaping tall buildings in a single bound (45-inch vertical), doesn’t hurt. Johnson caught nine (9) balls for nearly 100-yards (94) and a TD to go along with all his “other contributions” on the evening.
Having the KHSAA’s premier target in Gavin Johnson (’27), leaping tall buildings in a single bound (45-inch vertical), doesn’t hurt…
Friday Night Fletch in regards to Gavin Johnson
Korbin Fletcher snagged five (5) catches for 56 yards and a TD. Man, that Fletcher family can flat ball! Javion Fullwood (’28) also had a huge night, snagging seven (7) balls for 96-yards. Sometimes the Bulldog lineup card reads like an embarrassment of riches.
Looking ahead, the Bulldogs will travel to Williamsburg to play 4A Whitley County. Whitely County is coming off a double digit vanquishing of Knox Central in the Pioneer Bowl and are coached by Matt Rhymer, the former head man at the University of the Cumberlands.
Whitley may get caught looking past Hazard as the next week the Colonels draw the always tough Rockcastle County. “The Rock” has a “Larkey” back on the sideline (Chris and not Tom) and that spells trouble for opponents if tradition holds.
Rockcastle County was a 10-game winner in ’24 and has everybody returning. This means “The Rock” figures to be quite tough.
However, Whitley County would be foolish to overlook a Hazard team which may be considerably better than its preseason No. 4 ranking in the 1A classification. See you guys at the game!
This is Friday Night Fletch, reporting for KPGFootball, reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!
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