A small sip of blue Kool-Aid

I have to admit, the UK defense is for real. The Cats did give up a lot of rushing yards; Glen Coffee rushed for 218 yards, but they kept Bama out of the end zone and that's what counts in the end. It's a shame UK doesn't have the offense to go with the defense. Rickey Lyons Jr. is fun to watch, but the rest of the receiving corps pretty much sucks. Hartline may well develop into a good quarterback. He showed some nice flashes in the game, but also shows some inexperience at times. He could probably develop really fast if he had more than one target to throw to.

I kept hearing commentators talking about how Alabama didn't play well. I have to think some of that was the UK D. Some of it may have been a little letdown after the Georgia game.

I have to say this, I got a little frustrated with the ESPN guy talking about how Alabama should drop in the polls. He gave Kentucky no respect and acted like Bama should have walked over Kentucky like Oklahoma did to Baylor.

We all know that I am no UK apologist, but I can recognize a good football team when I see one, and I do think UK has a good football team. Not great...but a solid mid-tier SEC team.

MY UK prediction

Sorry UK fans. I just don't see it.

I may well be wrong about this, but I don't buy into the Kentucky hype. Their 4-0 record proves nothing. We will see what UK is all about today.

I don't expect the Cats to score more than 10 points against the Alabama defense. The UK offensive line will struggle against the Tides D line. Besides Dickey Lyons, the Cats receiving corps is awful with dropped passes and bad routes.

On the defensive side of the ball, UK should fare better, but we really haven't seen them tested either. I was pretty impressed with the way Alabama hung points on a pretty good Georgia team.

I don’t think Alabama will suffer a letdown. They’ll be playing in front of a raucous home crowd coming off a big win.

In my mind it all ads up to the UK loss.

If the Cats pull it off…I promise I’ll take a big chug of Big-Blue Kool-Aid.

My call:
Alabama 21-UK 10

Woodford Co. 38 Franklin Co. 14

Yellow Jacket quarter back Steven Duckworth found a groove last night against the Flyers and put up career numbers as Woodford County rolled to a 38-14 win over visiting Franklin County on homecoming.

Duckworth completed 40 of 49 passes for 416 yards and four touchdowns and one interception.

The Jackets got off to a quick start, blocking a Flyer punt after forcing Franklin three and out on their first possession. Duckworth took advantage of the short field, throwing a 12-yard strike to Nick Vanderpool.

But the Flyers took the ball and drove it right up the field to tie the score and it looked like the defense might struggle again.

Franklin briefly took a 14-10 lead midway through the second quarter.

Woodford clung to a 17-14 lead at the half, but pulled away in the second and cruised to on for the win.

Steven Peavler, Bobby Neal and Alex Forkner caught the other three Duckworth TD passes. Duck also ran for one.

In what was probably the play of the game, wide receiver Chris Jones laid an awesome block to spring Peavler on his touchdown catch.

The defense really stepped it up in the second half and shut down the Flyer attack. They got a good push up the middle and spent a good portion of the second half in the Flyer backfield.

Flyer quarterback Sean Thompson injured his leg in the first quarter. He missed one series, but came back, gutted it out and finished the game. The injury clearly hampered his mobility and made the Woodford pass rush that much more effective.

Woodford coach Chris Tracy told me last week that he wanted to shut the Franklin running game down and make them one-dimensional, and that’s exactly what the Yellow Jackets did. Even early in the game when Franklin was moving the ball, Woodford had success in containing the run. After the Jackets scored on their opening possession of the second half, the Flyers virtually abandoned the run, allowing the Woodford D-line to tee off on the Franklin QB.

The Jacket D forced the Flyers to turn the ball over on down in four straight series in the second half.

Woodford running back/linebacker Jordan Carter injured an ankle late in the first half. He said he could come back if needed, but with Woodford holding a lead, Tracy held him out as a precaution. Tracy said he expects Carter to be ready to go next Saturday against Ashland Paul Blazer.

A few more football notes

Woodford County ranks 15th in the state in passing offense with an average of 214 yards per game. Apparently the Johnson Central game was not included in this weeks stats, although the Jackets were a little above their average with 276 yards.

The Jackets are ranked eighth in the state 5A poll as of Sept. 30.

Woodford County Franklin County preview

The Yellow Jackets will try to bounce back after literally getting run over by Johnson Central last weekend when they face 4A Franklin County (3-2) Friday.

Woodford (3-2) will come into the game with plenty of motivation. This weekend marks homecoming and that always seems to get the crowd into the game early. The Jackets also have revenge on their minds. Woodford County was undefeated when they traveled to Franklin County last year, and the Flyers upset them 17-14.

"We owe them one," Yellow Jacket coach Chris Tracy said. "But the most important thing is getting off the snide now."

The Yellow Jackets will face a mirror image in Franklins' offense. The Flyers run an identical system, and that should help the Woodford defense. Several of the Jacket players said they had a difficult time preparing for Johnson Centrals' power running game because they had no way to replicate it in practice.

Franklin comes in with a balanced offensive attack, averaging 146 yards per game rushing and 182 through the air. If you take out the loss against Lafayette, their passing average jumps to over 200 yards per game.

Despite Franklin’s high-powered passing attack, Tracy said Woodford will key on stopping the run and forcing the Flyers into a one-dimensional attack.

Defensively the Flyers do a good job stopping the run, allowing an average of only 86 yards per game. They are a little more vulnerable through the air, allowing an average 126 yards passing.

This game will say a lot about Woodfords' character. Can they bounce back after getting steamrolled by Johnson Central?

I think this team has a pretty strong psyche and they are definitely tight in the locker room. There was no finger pointing or blame-game after the loss last week.

I look for Woodford to play tough tomorrow night. I expect the Jacket defense to really come out hard after getting embarrassed last week and I think they will shut Franklin down. Woodfords' D can create turnovers in bunches, as we saw when they played Bryan Station, and I could see Franklin getting frustrated early and falling victim to the turnover bug. On the offensive side of the ball, nobody has been able to really stop Steven Duckworth and crew and I don't think Franklin will fare any better.

My pick:
Woodford 42 Franklin Co. 17

Lady Jacket soccer

The Lady Jackets won 4-0 last night over Owen County.

It was an odd game. Woodford lost 3-2 to sixth ranked Highlands the night before in N. Kentucky and didn't get home until after midnight. They were also playing their fourth game in eight days. The team was tired and it really showed on the field.

But despite their weariness, the Yellow Jackets still dominated the game. It was strange to see a team totally control a game without any real intensity.

Woodford played a lot of players and most of the starters were on the bench by half time. Callie Reichenbach and Rachel Edenstrom notched their first varsity goals.

The loss in Highlands was a tough one. The Jackets held their own in a hostile stadium after a long bus ride. Highlands got the winning goal with under a minute left.

Coach Dave McIver said that it was one of the best high school soccer games he's seen and he was very proud of his teams' effort.

"I think it gives them a confidence that they can play with anybody in the state."

The Lady Jackets have one more game on Saturday at 1 p.m. against a good South Laurel team (11-3-1 and undefeated in their region).

The district tournament will take place in Anderson County the week of Oct. 13.

American League East standings

Yankees
Red Sox
Blue Jays
Orioles
Rays

No, that isn't the order of finish in the regular season. The list represents payroll from highest to lowest.

Yankees: $209 million
Red Sox: $133 million
Blue Jays: $98 million
Orioles: $67 million
Rays $44 million

In fact, in all of Major League Baseball, only the Florida Marlins had a lower payroll than the Rays.

You can see the whole list here.

It doesn't happen often, but sometimes the little guy does finish first.