ASHLAND — Congratulations to Fairview, Raceland and Paintsville for making the 2012 KHSAA Playoffs.

Yes, I know we’re only at the halfway point of the season. And yes, the playoffs are over a month away. And yes, I know Paintsville has only won one game.

But the thing is I could have told the teams congratulations for a postseason berth before the season started.

That’s what happens when you’re a Class A school in the state of Kentucky. No matter how bad your record is, you’re in.

Kentucky’s Class A has eight districts with four teams in each district.

The current playoff structure sends four teams from each district in each of the six classes to the postseason.

And with other classes having more than four teams in some districts, getting into the playoffs is considerably harder in the different classes.

The Class A playoffs should change. Maybe instead of all four teams from each district getting a shot, take the top three teams, shortening it from a 32-team playoff into just a 24-team field.

The Nos. 2 and 3 seeds could face off in the first week of the playoffs, while the top seed gets a bye.

Something needs to happen to make the playoffs feel interesting and in all honesty more worthy of playing for a championship.

If you look at the records right now, 15 of the 32 teams in Class A have zero or one wins so far this season.

One final note on this subject: Raceland and Fairview fans, please don’t take what I said the wrong way. Both teams are very talented and could very well meet in the playoffs.

And from what I’ve seen from the two teams this season, I feel whoever wins that game will have a strong shot at bringing home a state championship.

Game of the week

‰Lawrence County at Raceland, 7:30 p.m. Last season these two teams were separated by two points and Raceland escaped Louisa with a 14-12 win.

This year the Bulldogs come north for a visit, and bring a very potent run game featuring fullback Ricky Goble and quarterback A.J. Cyrus.

Raceland, though, is coming off a game against Sciotoville Community in which it limited the Tartans’ 1,000-yard rusher to only 60 yards.

The Rams also bring in playmakers at every position, including one of the area’s top rushers in Daylin Beach, who has totaled 13 total touchdowns in the first five weeks of the season.

Week 5 things

to know

‰Fairview is undefeated so far this season. That’s not really a shock in and of itself. But the real surprise is that the Eagles are one of just two teams in Class A that are undefeated.

Fairview and Bracken County have unblemished records with both teams sitting at 4-0.

The Eagles, who are on a 15-game regular season winning streak, have a good chance at going 10-0 again this season with only a date with Raceland looking to stop them.

‰The pigskin will fly in Vanceburg. Lewis Carter will host Lewis County this week in a game that, on paper, seems like there will be a lot of passing attempts.

Fleming County quarterback Desmond McAdams is 89 of 140 for 1,381 yards and 14 touchdowns in five games this season.

The only quarterback in the area with comparable numbers is Lewis County quarterback Levi Clark, who is 43 of 82 for 752 yards and nine touchdowns in four games.

Look for this game to feature a lot of downfield movement.

‰Boyd County is building a run-first culture. Just look at the stats to see that Boyd County quarterback Billy McCoy has only eight pass attempts through four games.

Lions coach Ray Brooks wants to build his team around the running game. That includes a stable of running backs that feature Reid Dearfield, Gaje Ayres, Dylan Harris and Jacob Barnwell.

Tonight Boyd County will need all the yards it can get when the Lions host a very good Johnson Central team.

Shameless plug

Follow The Independent’s Quarterback on Twitter, @DindependentQB. He will be tweeting scores and updates from area games tonight. And if he gets enough retweets, he’ll tell us his favorite boy band. He has one and trust me, it will be worth knowing.

For your ears only

Tonight’s radio coverage:

Rowan County at Ashland (WBVB 97.1-FM, WMOR 106.1-FM); Johnson Central at Boyd County (wlgcradio.com, 98.9 WSIP-FM); Fairview at Greenup County (WZZZ 107.5-FM, wlgcradio.com); Fleming County at Lewis County (WKKS 104.9-FM); Ironton at Portsmouth (WIRO 1230 AM); Lawrence County at Raceland (WZAQ 92.3-FM); West Carter at Russell (WLGC 105.7-FM, WUGO 102.3-FM; webcast available at www.bmgnetwork.com).   

Final thoughts

Ashland suffered its first lost last week to a very good Ironton team.

Now what I want to see is how the Tomcats respond to the adversity of facing that first loss.

The Tomcats are young and feature youth in some of its prime spots. Junior quarterback Aaron Elam and freshman running back Quinton Baker faced their first losses as high school starters.

Tonight Ashland goes up against a good Rowan County team. The question: Can they rebound from last week?

I’ve been in the area long enough to know coach Leon Hart will have his team ready to go, but at the same time you never know what can happen with high school kids.

I expect a big game from Baker and I expect the Tomcats to get back on track.

KYLE HOBSTETTER can be reached at khobstetter@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2658.