We got our start at KPGFootball covering middle school football. While we have branched into covering the high school game with increasing frequency, we don’t want to stray too far from the game which spawned us, so to speak.
This was a popular segment last season and we hope it will be widely read this year too. Baseball teams refer to the minor leagues as its “Farm system” because that is where they grow the next crop of stars. Middle school football programs are the “Farm system” of high school football.
The teams that recognize that and append some importance to developing a good “feeder system” in their middle school programs flourish. The high schools who don’t, struggle and are left pondering, year in and year out, why they continue to play so poorly.
We have said many times, the KYMSFA (Kentucky Middle School Football Association) playoff brackets look eerily similar to the KHSAA (Kentucky High School Athletic Association) playoff brackets. We don’t believe in coincidence. We don’t believe the similarity is the least bit coincidental.
Without further adieu, let’s take a look at what’s shaking down on the farm…
Breathitt County Middle School at Belfry Middle School…
Remember last week when we wrote, “…beating the Cavaliers and besting perennial KYMSFA, title-contender, Belfry’s Buccaneers are completely two different animals…?” Well, Saturday in Belfry, Kentucky sort of brought that message home with a resounding “thud.”
We want to be really clear, Breathitt County is still a formidable MS football team that will be heard from in the East as the season progresses. Getting beat by Belfry 36-6 is not as bad as that sounds, ask Hazard, another perennial contender who lost to Belfry by a similar margin.
How good is this Belfry team? Well, we talked to our friend Danny Oliver who has personally added three KYMSFA title rings to his jewelry collection. Oliver told us he thought the team he has right now is his best. That is a pretty scary thought for a team which has won the title 3 previous times under him and four times total.
Browning Springs MS at Hopkinsville Middle…
It is hard to describe for you how far from the top HMS has fallen since going 12-1 in 2016 and losing in the Semis to State Champion TK Stone 38-36. The former Region I champions, who were eliminated, last year, in the regional championship game, hasn’t won a single game on the season.
The Tigers, who still look as though they have the horses to compete with anyone, lost the opener to Franklin-Simpson by 4, lost to Todd County Central MS by 34, and now has lost to Browning Springs 14-6 in a game which wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicates.
We remember watching the 2016 Tigers beat Browning Springs 30-0 at the Owensboro Catholic Jamboree, preseason, playing two 9-minute halves on a running clock. My oh my, what a fall from grace.
Todd County Central at Logan County MS…
Todd County, with superstar QB Joshuah Keith, has blown out every single team it has played. Todd beat a Logan County team which perennially is a threat to win its region, and was our favorite to win its region a season ago, 36-6.
The parties were supposed to play a second game this season. Logan has backed out of playing it citing some reason they have attributed to being Todd County MS’s fault.
We can’t see the Rebels losing a single game on its remaining schedule this side of the playoffs and they are starting to resemble a State Championship contender in Division II. The Rebels will get Browning Springs, in a battle of unbeatens, this coming Saturday.
Report on Trigg County Middle School…
People can’t quit talking about the Trigg County football team and we are referencing the varsity version. However, while the “Big Cats” are rolling, so are the MS version. Team Kentucky’s Jordan Miles transferred to Cadiz, Kentucky in the offseason and we hear the Wildcats have built an entire offense around his skills. All we can say to that is…Good Move! Trigg County is undefeated and likely to come out of the West in Division III.
That is all we have for now, but we will continue to write a weekly feature about all the teams and players whose feats and exploits are sent to us. Thanks for visiting.
This is Coach HB Lyon, reporting for KPGFootball, and we’re JUST CALLING IT LIKE WE SEE IT!
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