Paintsville Tigers: 2011 Season Preview & Outlook

The Paintsville Tigers enter the season coming off of a rather disappointing 3-8 year. From the looks of things this season will be an improvement due to a few factors, the most important of which is playing a easier schedule. For years the Tigers have had one of the tougher Class-A schedules in the mountains, and to me at least it was time for this to change. The only problem is this leaves the Tigers with no real rivalry games, hopefully though they can foster some new rivalries. I can see both Betsy Layne and Magoffin County as future rivals. The team will be lead in the trenches on both sides of the ball by senior Tyler Spriggs, who is a hoss up front and will give opponents nightmares. Sophomore Blake Williams will be the newcomer to the line and should add some impressive strength up front. Quarterback will be a question for Tigers this year, but I believe Junior Matt Daniels will do a fine job leading the offense. As for the rest of the backfield the biggest bright spot should be sophomore Prater Helton, who had a stellar freshman season until he suffered a season ending injury in the fourth game of the year. He reminds one a lot of Kyle Sublett in has attitude and approach to the game. The receiving corp will be headed by juniors Dawson Smith, and Adam Plumley. Smith is very speedy, and will be a coverage nightmare on deep routes, while Plumley is a instinctive route runner with great hands. Both will benefit greatly from having a true pocket passer in Matt Daniels, I predict breakout seasons for both. The Tigers will be running a more I-based offense this year with a lot of double tight sets. This will probably do a world of good for the Tigers who will have a solid running game, if they can take occasional deep shots to Smith and Plumley the offense should do very well in Class-A and keep opponents guessing. I haven't heard much about defense but the players tell me they are looking to do a lot more hitting this year. So take that for what you will.

Season Outlook.

@ Paris- I look for the tiger to get a road win and start the season off on a positive note.

Magoffin County- Last year the hornets got their first ever victory over the Tigers. This should be a good game, I could see it going either way but I will take the tigers in a revenge game for last years loss.

Jenkins- This game could very well have the tigers matching last season's win total. Paintsville rolls.

@Allen Central- This should be a very hard fought game I give the edge to the Tigers but would not be at all shocked to see AC get their second win against The Ville.

Pineville- Last year the Mountain Lions crushed Paintsville. This year it will be closer but I still see Pineville winning by at least two TD's

Betsy Layne (Apple Bowl)- This game will be huge for the Tigers as they will need a morale boost entering into district play. This should be one for the ages, but I see the tigers getting the W on their homefield.

@Fairview- The Tigers should put up a good fight in this one but will fall by 3-5 td's to the eagles.

@Nicholas County- The tigers get a district road win and secure better seeding in the playoffs.

Raceland- The rams are not their usual selves this year, if they take this game off they could very well lose to the tigers. This one is a toss up

Berea (Senior Night)- The tigers should send the class of 2012 off in style and win this game in blowout fashion.

All in all this year will be quite an improvement on the last two seasons, I see at least 6 wins in the regular season with the legimate possibility of 8 wins, and a home playoff game.

My prediction 7-3 regular season with the tigers winning their first round playoff game, and losing out in the second round. So they should finish the year at 8-4.

Good Luck Tigers lets bring back the tradition, pride, and respect to this program.