The 2011 Pikeville High School football team will try to compound on a relatively successful, rebuilding 2010 season. Gone from the 2010 squad that finished 8-5 with a loss in the Class A Region 4 championship game to, eventual state runner-up, Hazard are players like 4-year starter and dynamic play maker Taylor Ratliff, line-men Ben Staggs, Madison Coleman, and Taylor Mullins and RB/LB Ross McCoy. These losses are significant as all saw action on both sides of the football. The Panthers do return several keys players from the 2010 team, however. Quarterback/Safety Randy Maynard will once again lead the Panther offense and defense. Maynard had a solid season on the ground last season and improved week by week through the air. The Panthers will return Sophomore RB/CB Chase Hall as well. Hall showed signs of the ability to be a solid workhorse in the RB position even though his carries were partially limited playing behind upperclassmen. This season should be a breakout season for Hall who has really worked well in the weight room and could see many touches with the absence of Ratliff and McCoy. Senior Kicker Zack Burgy-Vanhoose will be in his final season as a Panther, but more than likely not his final season in pads. The strong-legged kicker has been rated the #1 kicker in America by the Ray Guy Kicking Academy. Burgy-Vanhoose is several spots ahead of kickers that have already committed to Iowa and Colorado.
Basic Position Breakdowns:
Offense:
QB- Randy Maynard (SR)- Excellent Runner, Average Passer. If He can Improve his passing game, he will be a dangerous weapon for Pikeville. He will have to be able to do a lot on his own and carry this team at times.
RB- Chase Hall (SO)- Hall is a smart football player. He does his best to get what he can and doesn't try to do too much. He plays a lot more mature than his grade. Hall will probably be asked to do a lot of different things, but his hands and strength will aloow him to excell at any position.
Offensive Line- The Offensive Line will be shown a few new faces this season. Kolby McPeek (SR), Gage Morrison (SO), and Brenton Belcher (SR) will return some experience and talent. Morrison whose size and strength are very impressive for a Sophomore may have the most potential of any lineman on the roster. A couple holes will need to be filled and some candidates are Zach Howell (SR), Nathan Gutierrez (JR), and Blake Robinson (SR). If Pikeville can get 5 solid lineman and have no injuries, they may be alright in this department for some games.
WR/TE- The most depleted position on the offensive side may be WR. The absense of Taylor Ratliff with be noticeable, but if Austin Black (SO), Wes Anderson (JR), and Cody Estep (FR) can run good routes and catch the football, it will hopefully be a minor notice.
Defense:
Defensive Line- The Defnsive line has a lot of question marks, but one question mark is not DT Caleb Campoy (SO). The sophomore-to-be wowed coaches and fans with his agility and energy as a freshman. Even though Campoy is undersized at DT, he makes his presence known against teams that are pass heavy. He has put on some more strength in the off-season and hopes to be a run-stopper as well this season. A couple of guys Pikeville will need to have good season on the defensive side of the ball are Nathan Gutierrez and Gage Morrison. Playing both ways will be necessary and if they can get a solid push, Pikeville has the athletes to stop the run.
Line Backers- Too early to guess who will be playing here. Pikeville lost almost all its linebacker depth and will probably rely on different people and some younger guys to step in and make an impact. There is probably a good chance you will see Randy Maynard getting time at LB if some underclassmen can handle responsibilities at Safety. Also look for Wes Anderson to find a spot on this side of the ball at LB.
Secondary- At this point, These positions will be up for grabs. Freshmen Cody Estep and Austin Charles have had success early in 7 on 7 and while that is not a great indicator, it did show they have good ball skills and speed. If they can grasp the coverages and hit, it would really help Pikeville as it would allow the bigger and stronger players to go to LB. Senior, Nick Jones, if he can learn to cover the pass as well as he does the run, he will be a great Corner. Sophomore, Austin Black will definitely be in contention for a spot at CB. Black, although undersized, is a tenacious player and fearless. Look for the secondary to change a lot in the early season as Coaches Shawn Thacker and Chris McNamee look for a rotation that works.
Special Teams:
K/P- Zack Burgy-Vanhoose (#1 kicker in America according to the Ray Guy Kicking Academy) will look to break records this season. He has the leg to do it. ZBV will be a huge weapon in the battle of field position. Field position may often go overlooked but over the course of a game ZBV will probably average a solid 60-80 yards against the opposing team that otherwise would be lost because of special teams.
KR/PR- There will several options to return kicks, but one could look for two players in particular. Nick Jones and Chase Hall will most likely be options to return kicks. Hall has good speed and great vision while Jones has near Elite speed and and hit a seam and be gone in the blink of an eye. If Jones can be more secure with the football and reliable, he will find his way onto the field a lot.
The Schedule and Predictions:
In 2011, The Panthers will be in familiar territory for the majority of their contests. Pikeville's schedule boasts 8 home games versus only 2 road games. The W.C. Hambley Athletic Complex will see the Panthers host (in chronological order) Harlan, Harrison County, Raceland, Sheldon Clark, South Floyd, Phelps, Allen Central, and Shelby Valley. The 2 lone road games will be held on back to back weeks as the Panthers travel to Pond Creek to face the Belfry Pirates and the following weeks as the Panthers load up the buses and head down for a Saturday 2:00 PM Kickoff against The Swain County Maroon Devils of North Carolina.
And for everyone's favorite part, the way too early predictions.
Week 0, Pikeville vs. The Harlan Green Dragons (Prediction W: Pikeville 28 Harlan 21)
These two teams faced off in the 2nd round of the 2010 KHSAA playoffs and Pikeville stormed out to a convincing lead before Harlan could regroup, it was too late. The game was close for the final three quarters, but the damage had been done as Pikeville claimed victory 49-19. In 2011, the contest will be very early for both teams and both teams will probably turn the ball over a couple of times at the very least. Points will be important to put up with any chance to cash it in. Harlan's junior RB, Demarcus Williams, was very impressive last year, and if he can get help from his O-Line, Harlan may be able to play keep away from Maynard and the Panthers. Ultimately, This will be a close game and a great way to start off the season. I will give Pikeville the edge by a TD will home field advantage and Randy Maynard leading the way by running the ball a lot in the early season.
Week 1, Pikeville vs. The Tellico Plains Bears (Pike County Bowl) (Prediction: W Pikeville 42 TPHS 14)
After a long debate over who would play who was finally decided in the Pike County Bowl, Pikeville gives their previous opponent Harrison County to Belfry and will now faces the Bears of Tellico Plains High School out of Tennessee. The Bears are coming off a 1-9 season in which they were shutout 5 times. Unfortunately, this may not be a competitive game. I was looking forward to a quality opponent, but because of the selfish actions of Franklin County's AD, this is which we are left. I'll take Pikeville in a televised blowout, 42-14.
Week 2, Pikeville vs. The Raceland Rams (Predtion: L Raceland 35 Pikeville 14)
The Raceland Ram fans have been teeling everyone to wait... Just wait... Finally, their wait is over. Raceland is a legitimate top 5 team in Class A. The Rams bread and butter will be their running game. The Rams return a lot of experience and talent on the lines. And early in the season, when you control the trenches, you control the game. This could easily be a preview of the Class A Region 4 championship game. But I think as Pikeville is learning and maturing, Raceland has already gone through that and will take Round 1 in fairly convincing fashion. If Pikeville can compete, it should do a lot for the Maroon and White's confidence.
Week 3, Pikeville vs. The Sheldon Clark Cardinals (Prediction: W Pikeville 21 Sheldon Clark 13)
In 2011, The Panthers played what could be considered the best game they have played in the last 3 years. Even though late turnovers cost the Panthers a win, it was the turning point for Coach Mac and the program. It showed that there is still fight left in the program and that Pikeville has the ability and coaching to compete at a high level. If Pikeville can bring that same mentality to this seasons contest, i believe the home field advantage and matchups are actually pretty favorable for the Panthers. The Cardinals do not allow many points, but the Pikeville coaches dialed up a great gameplan last year, and if they can control the ball and punch it in when they get in the red-zone, this could be a nice win in the early season.
Week 4, Pikeville @ The Belfry Pirates (Prediction: L Belfry 56 Pikeville 21)
The Pikeville Panthers and The Belfry Pirates. Pike County's two elite programs with face off in what has been called "the Real Pike County Bowl". The series has been dominated by the Pirates over the last decade and with Belfry's influx of young talent, it appears it may unfortunately stay that way for another 3-4 years. Belfry is on the verge of being very, very good and this season will be a good chance for Belfry to make it back to the Class AAA State Championship. Pikeville will move the ball and score late, but I think it will be Belfry early and often 56-21.
Week 5, Pikeville @ The Swain County (NC) Maroon Devils (Prediction: Toss Up)
I plead ignorance on this one. Even after doing a little bit of research, I can't make assumptions based on teams I don't know one thing about. The Maroon Devils do have a traditionally good program and have won a state championship as recently as 2004. This will be a fun and good trip for the Pikeville faithful and hopefully the excitement of the road trip will be compounded with a W as well.
Week 6, OPEN
Week 7, Pikeville vs. The South Floyd Raiders (Prediction: W Pikeville 63 Sotuh Floyd 0)
After 6 Weeks of tough football, the schedule will soften up considerably to help get the Panthers well rested and healthy for the playoffs. In all honesty, Pikeville will probably be able to use Weeks 7-9 to work on issues that had come up in Weeks 1-6. It will be great for preparation for the post season and a potential rematch with Raceland. Those practices can not be overlooked at how important they will be to Pikeville's improvement in the 2nd half of the season. Pikeville should easily handle South Floyd at home, I'd set the spread at at least 7 TDs.
Week 8, Pikeville vs. The Phelps Hornets (Prediction: W Pikeville 56 Phelps 0)
Look above for the importance this week will have for Pikeville. Much needed time to work on weaknesses instead of game planning. This is another game that superior coaching and depth will win for the Panthers. I like the tune of 56-0. Shut outs do a lot for a Defense's confidence, even if it is Phelps.
Week 9, Pikeville vs. The Allen Central Rebels (Prediction: W Pikeville 49 Allen Central 14)
In the last 4 years, Allen Central has been fairly competitive compared to the two programs histories. But, With the loss of AC's 2009 seniors, the series appears to be heading back to Pikeville dominance. This week is included i nthe 3 week period that Pikeville will have to get healthy and work on weaknesses revealed in Weeks 1-6.
Week 10, Pikeville vs. The Shelby Valley Wildcats (Prediction: W Pikeville 35 Shelby Valley 14)
In what may be the biggest eye opener to a SV or PHS fan, Pikeville and Shelby Valley will finally meet up on the Gridiron for the first time in over a decade. Shelby Valley had for a short time shown a commitment to its football program, but admist of kinds of basketball success, it appears to have been misplaced. Shelby Valley handled a coaching transition very poorly and the program has felt the damage. Shelby Valley lost a lot of talent off their 2010 team that exited early from the playoffs. I think that with the easy schedule for Pikeville leading up to this game and the potential easy Round 1 and 2 opponents for Pikeville in the playoffs, Pikeville can put a lot of focus into this game that is important for county bragging rights and to be honest, the future decisions of some parents when making a choice where they want their children to play football. I think Pikeville can out-coach and out-talent the Wildcats at home to the sound of 35-14.
With all of that Pikeville should end the season either 7-3 or 6-4. 8-2 would be exceptional, 5-5 would be very, very disappointing.
This is just the first installment of Pikeville previews. There will some more stuff to come out and hopefully some pretty fun stuff soon. And I'll post the videos I produce here as well as soon as they come out on Youtube. Good Luck to all area teams, But HAIL PIKEVILLE!
PS- For the Pikeville Fans, THIS is what it is all about!
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