Friday football digest, week 2
The Friday football fix comes late this week, but it’s all right because most of this week’s Advocate-area games do, too. Five of the six local teams will be playing Saturday, all of them in the bowls at Boyle County and Danville.
And don’t get me started on the fact that both of those bowls are being played at the same time for the second straight year. I ranted on that a year ago at this time, and I just don’t have the energy to do it again. But let’s just say my feelings haven’t changed.
As for Saturday’s games at Admiral and Rebel stadiums, the most interesting storyline is in the opener at Boyle’s Stuart Powell Ford Tough Bowl, where Mercer County faces Allen County-
Scottsville in Chris Pardue’s first game as Mercer’s coach. Because this matchup was set a couple of years ago, it’s purely coincidence that Pardue’s first game will be against the school where he played and was later an assistant coach — working for the father of Allen’s current coach, no less — and at the school where he worked as an assistant coach for 13 years and head coach for three years. Funny how life works, isn’t it?
Allen slipped last year after losing many seniors off the team that reached the Class 4A finals in 2010, but former Lincoln assistant Brad Hood’s Patriots should be better this year. Meanwhile, Mercer takes the field only nine days after its starting quarterback was lost to a broken collar bone, and knowing the way Pardue’s offenses have typically operated, that would seem to be a problem.
Boyle faces a dangerous Collins team that reached the 4A semifinals last year. The Titans are 23-5 since the school opened two years ago and have relied primarily on defense for their success, but that defense will be tested by a Boyle offense that mighty Highlands had trouble stopping last week. Of course, Boyle’s defense had its own problems at Highlands, and coach Larry French will be looking for signs of better tackling this week.
At Danville’s Bob Allen Pigskin Classic, Garrard County faces an Anderson County team that is trying to regroup after its own deep playoff run last year, when it reached the Class 5A finals. The Bearcats lost their opener to a good Bryan Station team, and they might have too much for Garrard, which is playing the first of two straight games against 5A teams while still trying to find its legs on offense. Defense will have to keep the Golden Lions in this one, as it did last week.
Danville would seem to have a decided advantage in its game against Lincoln County. The Admirals didn’t set the world on fire last week in their opener against Simon Kenton, but Lincoln is not Simon Kenton. The Patriots should again get better as the season goes on, but they’ll be noticeably slower and less experienced than the Admirals.
The only local game on tonight’s schedule sends Casey County to Taylor County in search of its first win. The Rebels wore the Cardinals out last year in Liberty, and an effort similar to their effort last week against Lincoln could reward them once again, but it will be much tougher sledding this year than last.
The picks:
- Taylor County over Casey County.
- Allen County-Scottsville over Mercer County.
- Anderson County over Garrard County.
- Boyle County over Collins.
- Danville over Lincoln County.
Last week: 3-1.
