KPGFootball has a mission for Bell County should they choose to accept it…

I want to start out by disclosing how I voted in the 3A Classification in the AP poll which will come out tomorrow. Now, KPGFootball is just one of between 14-20 voters who participate out of some 40 plus eligible media outlets from across Kentucky. We give a lot of thought, study, and effort into voting responsibly and legitimately, as free from bias as we can possibly be. This week we voted as follows…

Class 3A;

1. Boyle County, 7-0, at Lexington Catholic;
2. Belfry, 6-1, at Lawrence County;
3. Corbin, 6-1, Home vs. Bell County;
4. Caldwell County, 6-2, at Fort Campbell;
5. Louisville Central, 5-2, at Bardstown;
6. Bell County, 7-0, at Corbin;
7. Lexington Catholic, 5-2, home vs. Boyle County;
8. Paducah Tilghman, 5-2, at Union County;
9. Powell County, 6-1, at Breathitt County;
10. Casey County, 6-1, at Betsy Lane.

There are several things here to notice. First, there are but two undefeated teams remaining in the classification. Boyle County is ranked first at 7-0 and is the defending Kentucky Football Champion in the classification. You may notice the only other undefeated team is Bell County which is also 7-0. So, why? How is it even possible we have ranked four teams ahead of Bell County which have all lost, with two of the teams having lost twice (Caldwell County and Louisville Central)? We are going to tell you then we are going to give Bell County a mission (a.k.a. Mission Impossible), should they choose to accept it. We are in the mood to make a deal with Bell County. We aren’t even going to post this article behind the pay wall and force Bobcats to subscribe to read it.

Before we get to the deal, we promise you our ranking of Bell County sixth has nothing to do with Head Coach Dudley Hilton. We know Coach Hilton is a coaching legend, the second winningest high school coach in Kentucky High School Football history, and has a present record of 375-120. KPGFootball has nothing but the utmost respect for Coach Hilton and what he has accomplished. It doesn’t have anything to do with Bell County’s tradition either. We know that Coach Hilton has won three state Football titles and has a perfect 3-0 record in title games with two of the titles being won while he coached at Bell County. In 2008, Bell County was the Class 4A State Football Champion at a time when there weren’t but four classes in Kentucky, going 15-0, and Coach Hilton’s charges were Class 3A State Football Champions in 1991. It really isn’t a knock on anything anyone within the Bell County Football program is or isn’t doing. Really, it’s the schedule.

Here’s the rub. Bell County beat a Middlesboro team which has been strong over the course of its program’s history but isn’t very good presently and ranked the 190th best football team in Kentucky out of 222 teams. Bell County beat Letcher County Central 40-22 and Letcher is ranked 104th. Bell County beat a Pike County Central team, 36-0, which is ranked 157th, a Whitley County team, 45-7, ranked 137th, and a McCreary Central team, ranked 207th, by a margin of 61-0. Now Bell County can point to beating a Casey County team in a battle of the un-beatens, 44-13, and Casey County, according to the MaxPreps.com computer algorithm (from which we have gleaned all of these overall KY rankings) is ranked 58th in the State of Kentucky. That is a good win, sure, but Bell County went the very next week and thrashed a Clay County team MaxPreps believes to be the 158th best team in Kentucky 72-14. So there it is, 7 straight wins against 7 teams ranked, on average, 145th out of 222 teams. Bell County’s schedule has lived in Kentuckys’ lower 40% or so of its high school teams.

But Friday night presents a real opportunity for Bell County, and hence the mission. Friday, October 12, 2018, Bell County and its hall of fame coach, Dudley Hilton, travel to play the Corbin Redhouds in Corbin, Kentucky. Corbin is ranked by MaxPreps, regardless of classification, the 15th best football team in all of Kentucky. Here’s the deal…Go into Corbin, Kentucky and beat Justin Haddix’s Redhounds and KPGFootball will vote you No. 1 in Class 3A in next weeks’ AP poll. That doesn’t mean you will gain the number one position, as KPGFootball casts but one vote, but you will have our vote for one week. Play competitively with Corbin and you will still move up, at least on our ballot. If this article gets 1,000 hits, which doesn’t make us any money (just so you know), then KPGFootball will know you have accepted the mission.

Reporting for KPGFootball, this is Fletcher Long reminding all of the ballers out there that #WeGotUCovered and to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE.