PREVIEW OF THE WEEK

CLAY COUNTY AT WHITLEY COUNTY

When: 7:30 p.m.

Records: Clay County (3-2), Whitley Co. (2-4)

Coaches: Shannon Arnett (CC), Jim Black (WC)

Notes: The Youthful Clay County Tigers are having their troubles. They lost to the North Laurel Jaguars. It wasn’t so much about the loss, but about the score, 33-8. After rolling past South Laurel (30-13) and Knox Central (27-7), it looked like the Tigers were a definite contender in the district.

   Word is out that junior quarterback Jon Hooker hurt his knee and may be out. If so, the Tigers will have to adjust, they have too much talent. Noah Reid has been the workhorse on the ground. He had 11 carries, 83 yards and the only touchdown against North Laurel last week. He has eight touchdowns on the season for the Tigers.

   The Colonels looked good in their opening game of the district schedule beating Harlan County, 36-8. The Colonels are not just relying on one runner, not two or three. They have a stable of runners that can break open the big play. They used seven backs in the win over Harlan County, running for 354 yards and four touchdowns.

Jim’s Pick: Whitley County 34, Clay County 16

CLINTON COUNTY AT WILLIAMSBURG

When: 7:30 p.m.

Records: Cinton County (2-4), Williamsburg (2-4)

Coaches: Jamie Miller (CC), Jerry Herron (W)

Notes: Injuries have continued to hamper the Williamsburg Yellow Jackets, but a key injury to Clinton County quarterback Brent Durham threw the Bulldogs season out of whack.

   The Bulldogs are 2-4 with wins over Casey County (24-0) and Caverna (28-0). The losses have come to Hart County (18-6), Leslie County (40-0) and Grayson County (52-8) and Berea (28-20). Clinton County and Berea opened the season with a district game thus the reason the Bulldogs started the season in the district hole with a loss.

   Expectations were high for first-year coach Jamie Miller with nine veteran seniors on the team. But, a broken leg to quarterback Brent Durham has the Bulldogs searching for a leader. Brandon Durham, a senior wide receiver and brother to Brent, is the leader scorer on the team and senior Harley Brown has moved from running back to quarterback.

   “They will run the ball and throw a little bit,” said Williamsburg Coach Jerry Herron, who has seen  more than his share of injuries this season. “It’s just getting out of hand.”

   “Clinton County is a physical football team and they will make you throw the football,” Herron said. That fits right into the scheme of things for the Yellowjacks most of the time. However the Jackets were without several receivers including 6-4, 220-pound senior Daniel Pettit. Senior Dusty Brown stepped up and had his usual big night while J.P. Payne and newcomer C.J. Jones, stepped up for the Jackets to take some of the load off quarterback Ryan Moses and Brown.   

   The Berea Pirates will beat some teams in the district this year and it might come was early as this week against Campbellsville. Clinton County is not quite as good as they were that first gamer of the games, so I would be surprised to see a close game.

Jim’s pick: Williamsburg 44, Clinton County 20.

 CORBIN AT CLARK COUNTY

When: 7:30 p.m.

Records: Clark Co. (2-3), Corbin (5-0)

Coaches: Paul Columbia (CC), Steve Jewell (C)

Notes: Another old foe has been added to the schedule in the George Rodgers Clark Cardinals. It will be the first meeting for the two schools since 1998 when the Redhounds traveled to Winchester and romped, 56-14. Since 1988, the Redhounds have taken five of six games from the much larger school. The lone loss came in 1995 when Corbin was shutout, 21-0.

   The Cardinals have played a heavy schedule and have two wins in three games. GRC opened the season with a loss to Bryan Station, 56-24 then rebounded to beat Montgomery County, 49-35. They lost to Paul Laurence Dunbar, 13-7 but again rebounded and upset Lafayette, 13-10. Last week they were hammered by the Scott County Cardinals, 40-0. That means GRC is 2-0 at home and 0-3 on the road.

   No one has really just stood up and took charge for the Cardinals, but they do have quite a few weapons in the likes of running backs, Tavon Lay, Chris Gibson, Andrew Dini and Mason Jones. Dini is the quarterback and has thrown for three touchdowns. Jerrick Curry and Darius Skinner have two touchdowns each. Skinner also threw a touchdown pass on an option play. Eight players have scored at least one touchdown for the Cardinals.

   The Corbin defense continues to play big for the Redhounds and held the Hazard Bulldogs potent offense to just one TD. They will have another big test with the Cardinals.

Jim’s pick: Corbin 28, Clark 14.

OTHER PREDICTIONS

• Berea 26, Campbellsville 19

• Willliamsburg 22, Clinton Co. 20

• Harlan 32, Knott Central 22

• Hazard 33, Breathitt Co. 31

• Pineville 22, Estill County 16

• Belfry 44, Pikeville 20

• Newport Catholic 28, Newport 26

• Shelby Valley 42, Leslie Co. 14

• Corbin 28, Clark Co. 14

• Pulaski Co. 34, Lincoln Co. 22

• Southwestern 48, South Laurel 14

• Whitley Co. 34, Clay County 16

• Letcher Central 32, Harlan Co. 15

• North Laurel 27, Perry Central 26

• Bell County 32, Knox Central13

• Rockcastle Co. 33, Madison Southern 19

• St. Xavier 32, Trinity 14

• Last week’s record: 12-6

• Season’s record: 39-9