The bowls are back
It’s one week later in the schedule than we’re used to seeing them, but this is the week for the two multi-game bowls hosted by Lincoln County and Danville.
Four local teams will play in the two doubleheaders, adding to the level of interest for local fans. Garrard County makes its third straight appearance in Lincoln County’s bowl, while Boyle County is returning to Danville’s bowl for the first time in 12 years.
Here’s the weekend schedule:
- Death Valley Bowl at Lincoln County: East Jessamine vs. Lincoln County, 6 p.m.; Rowan County vs. Garrard County, 8:30 p.m.
- Bob Allen Pigskin Classic at Danville: Rockcastle County vs. Boyle County, 5:30 p.m.; Franklin County vs. Danville, 8 p.m.
These bowls are the two survivors among three multi-game bowls that have been held at Advocate-area schools over the years. A third event, the Fort Harrod Bowl, was held at Harrodsburg in 2005 and featured Harrodsburg and Mercer County, but it didn’t survive the schools’ 2006 merger.
Danville and Boyle County both have winning records in the bowl formerly known as the Constitution Bowl and now known as the Pigskin Classic, although it should be noted that Boyle has made only one appearance. Garrard and Lincoln haven’t fared so well in the Death Valley Bowl, where
both teams have losing records.
Both bowls have usually featured good competition. This year’s out-of-town visitors are all Class 4A teams. Rockcastle was ranked 12th and Franklin was 13th in the preseason rankings by Bluegrasspreps.com, while East Jessamine and Rowan were in the lower half of the class at Nos. 23 and 27, respectively.
I stumbled upon a little information on BGP that had been compiled by friend and research department chief Daniel Hopkins of Lancaster, and did a little research of my own to put together the history of the local teams in their respective bowls:
Death Valley Bowl
Garrard County (1-2)
- 1998 – Garrard County 24, Newport Central Catholic 14
- 2007 – Washington County 33, Garrard County 28
- 2008 – Bell County 50, Garrard County 6
Lincoln County (3-8)
- 1998 – Marion County 33, Lincoln County 13
- 1999 – Lincoln County 41, Mercer County 14
- 2000 – Rockcastle County 24, Lincoln County 14
- 2001 – Bourbon County 40, Lincoln County 28
- 2002 – Lincoln County 21, Franklin County 0
- 2003 – East Jessamine 40, Lincoln County 8
- 2004 – Harrison County 34, Lincoln County 14
- 2005 – Lincoln County 19, Pulaski County 15
- 2006 – Pleasure Ridge Park 30, Lincoln County 13
- 2007 – Bell County 31, Lincoln County 7
- 2008 – Washington County 35, Lincoln County 30
Pigskin Classic
Boyle County (1-0)
- 1997 – Boyle County 32, Southwestern 0
Danville (10-4)
- 1995 – Danville 33, Russellville 6
- 1996 – Harrison County 13, Danville 12
- 1997 – Danville 41, Oldham County 7
- 1998 – Danville 75, Southwestern 6
- 1999 – Franklin-Simpson 41, Danville 13
- 2000 – Danville 35, Corbin 6
- 2001 – Danville 28, Glasgow 6
- 2002 – Danville 64, Washington County 0
- 2003 – Danville 22, DuPont Manual 7
- 2004 – Garrard County 1, Danville 0, forfeit
- 2005 – Danville 34, Rockcastle County 0
- 2006 – Danville 33, Southwestern 30
- 2007 – Madison Central 26, Danville 7
- 2008 – Danville 44, Russell County 31
East Jessamine has played twice in the Death Valley Bowl, beating Lincoln in 2003 and beating Casey County 45-6 the following year. Likewise, Rockcastle has played twice in the Pigskin Classic, following its 2005 loss to Danville with a 2-0 win over Corbin in 2006 that was one of the ugliest football games you could ever hope not to see. Let’s hope this weekend’s games are more entertaining than that one.
