The case for Boyle
Long before Larry French returned to this area in 2004 as Lincoln County’s coach, my colleague Marty Warren was singing his praises. I never saw any of French’s Mercer County teams, and I saw only one of his games while he was at Meade County. But I heard plenty from Warren about the kind of coach French was and what he got out of his teams.
Four years later, I’m convinced French is one of the most underrated coaches in the state, and one of the principal reasons why I’m picking Boyle County in its game tonight with Danville.
French won’t be the only top-flight coach on the field at Rebel Stadium — Sam Harp will be on the other sideline, after all — but it’s starting to look as if he has rejuvenated the Rebels in a way not seen since the early days of Chuck Smith. And remember, the Boyle program was in far worse shape then than it was when French came from Lincoln last winter.
Boyle’s first two wins this season may have been against teams whose brand name is better than the product on the field (Warren Central and Henry Clay), but I’ve got to believe the Rebels are well on their way to a season that will take them out of that category as well.
There’s a lot to like about both Danville and Boyle so far this season, though there are also still some question marks for both squads. But I made up my mind before the season that the Rebels would have made enough progress by this point to win this game, and nothing that has happened in the first two weeks of the season has changed my mind.
My call is Boyle 28, Danville 20.
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I promised I’d check the polls once more before the big game to take the temperature of local football fans, and here are the results as of about 2:15 p.m.:
On amnews.com:
- Boyle County, 380 votes (69.2 percent)
- Danville, 169 votes (30.8 percent)
On Bluegrasspreps.com:
- Boyle County, 64 votes (61.5 percent)
- Danville, 40 votes (38.5 percent)
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Here’s a statistical tale of the tape for tonight’s game:
- Points: Danville 70 (35), Boyle 80 (40)
- Points allowed: Danville 38 (19), Boyle 20 (10)
- Total offense: Danville 986 (493.0), Boyle 733 (366.5)
- Rushing yards: Danville 372 (186.0), Boyle 472 (236.0)
- Passing yards: Danville 614 (307.0), Boyle 281 (140.5)
- Rushing leaders: Danville, Simon 40-245-3 TD; Boyle, MacShara 28-270-5 TD
- Passing leaders: Danville, Grey 28-45-2-599-6 TD; Boyle, Mason 23-43-1-281-3 TD
- Receiving leaders: Danville, Henderson 6-171-1 TD, Dunn 6-40-2 TD; Boyle, Aumiller 6-34-0 TD
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Just for kicks, here are the scores from all 46 games in the rivalry, which Danville leads 32-13-1 (x-denotes playoff game):
- 1965 — Boyle County 0, Danville 0, tie
- 1966 — Boyle County 19, Danville 7
- 1967 — Danville 44, Boyle County 0
- 1968 — Danville 34, Boyle County 0
- 1969 — Boyle County 8, Danville 6
- 1970 — Danville 27, Boyle County 6
- 1971 — Danville 28, Boyle County 7
- 1972 — Danville 31, Boyle County 13
- 1973 — Danville 47, Boyle County 6
- 1974 — Danville 43, Boyle County 6
- 1975 — Boyle County 15, Danville 7
- 1976 — Danville 21, Boyle County 14
- 1977 — Boyle County 14, Danville 7
- 1978 — Danville 21, Boyle County 7
- 1979 — Boyle County 28, Danville 22
- 1980 — Danville 47, Boyle County 28
- 1981 — Danville 21, Boyle County 12
- 1982 — Danville 26, Boyle County 14
- 1983 — Danville 3, Boyle County 0
- 1984 — Danville 21, Boyle County 10
- 1985 — Danville 42, Boyle County 0
- 1986 — Danville 40, Boyle County 3
- 1987 — Danville 63, Boyle County 14
- 1988 — Danville 51, Boyle County 7
- 1989 — Danville 51, Boyle County 6
- 1990 — Danville 41, Boyle County 0
- 1991 — Danville 48, Boyle County 6
- 1992 — Danville 49, Boyle County 7
- 1993 — Danville 35, Boyle County 7
- 1994 — Danville 20, Boyle County 6
- 1994 — x-Danville 35, Boyle County 0
- 1995 — Danville 18, Boyle County 10
- 1995 — x-Danville 10, Boyle County 7
- 1996 — Danville 35, Boyle County 20
- 1996 — x-Boyle County 12, Danville 0
- 1997 — Boyle County 21, Danville 14
- 1998 — Danville 60, Boyle County 7
- 1999 — Boyle County 28, Danville 3
- 2000 — Boyle County 47, Danville 0
- 2001 — Boyle County 24, Danville 21
- 2002 — Danville 20, Boyle County 10
- 2003 — Boyle County 45, Danville 26
- 2004 — Boyle County 37, Danville 30
- 2005 — Boyle County 28, Danville 13
- 2006 — Danville 35, Boyle County 33
- 2007 — Danville 21, Boyle County 14
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Only one out-of-town link for you today, because four of the six area teams are playing other area teams. So here’s:
- A Casey County-Wayne County preview from the Wayne County Outlook.
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Finally, the picks, following a second straight 5-1 week:
- Boyle County over Danville
- Mercer County over Lincoln County
- Garrard County over Jackson County
- Wayne County over Casey County
Last week: 5-1; season: 10-2 (.833).
