Woodford v. Johnson Central

The Yellow Jackets will play a huge district game tonight against Johnson Central. This is a big rivalry, the teams don't like each other very much and I’m looking for an intense game. Woodford coach Chris Tracy makes no secret of the fact that he doesn't care much for the Golden Eagle coach, adding to the drama.

Woodford embarrassed Johnson Central 43-22 in Paintsville last season and the Golden Eagles will seek revenge at Woodford County.

I’m expecting a lot of scoring tonight. Both teams have prolific offenses, but there the similarities end.

The two teams are polar opposites. Woodford runs a passing oriented spread offense. They are currently ranked 15 in the state in passing offense, averaging 214 yards per game. Johnson Central keeps the ball on the ground. They run an old school two back wishbone offense and they hold a number five ranking in rushing offense, averaging 348 yards a game.

When the Golden Eagles come to town, everybody knows what they will do. Last week against Shelby County, they threw for a grand total of zero yards. They threw only one pass all night in their 35-31 win over Bryan Station.

So theoretically, a team should be able to simply stack nine players in the box, and that’s probably what Woodford will do. Problem is that things that look good in theory don’t always work in reality. Everybody knows Johnson Central will try to run the ball down their throat, but nobody’s been able to stop them.

I’m looking for a high scoring game tonight.

I don’t think the Golden Eagles can slow down Steven Duckworth and the Jacket offense. Shelby County threw for over 200 yards on Johnson Central last weekend.

The Woodford D has really stepped up over the last two games, but I can’t get the image of Bardstown running the ball right down their throat three weeks ago, and Bryan Station had late game success last week running the ball, so the jury is still out on the Woodford run defense.

But Woodford has a lot of momentum and a lot of heart, and I expect their defense will bring it tonight. I don’t see them shutting down Johnson Central, but I think they can slow them down enough to win. Woodford fans will be geared up too, giving them that intangible home field edge.

My pick:
Woodford 45 Johnson Central 28