Not many area teams survived Black Friday.
It wasn’t a great night for predictors, either.
But predictors, unlike high school teams who lose on Fridays in the playoffs, live to play another day.
Only four northeastern Kentucky teams made it out of round one last week.
A couple of area Class A powers – Raceland and Fairview – will have to win on the road to advance. Fairview already has one road win behind them, but the task of facing top-ranked Lexington Christian Academy is more than a bit daunting.
Raceland goes to Campbellsville to face a mirror image – both teams run The System that uses the pass more than the run.
Down the Big Sandy, Lawrence County tries to make it a dozen victories in a row against Knox Central. This will be the Bulldogs’ toughest test of the season without question.
Further down the Big Sandy, Johnson Central is home against Covington Catholic in a game that could be a shootout.
By the way, you do know tonight is Friday the 13th?
Across the river, Ironton plays Heath at Nelsonville-York on Saturday night.
It’s time to make some predictions, few as they are.
And away we go …
Playoffs Week 2
LCA 45, Fairview 7: At least the Eagles score in the rematch from a few weeks ago when LCA won 42-0. Fairview has had a great season — that’s two in a row for coach Nathan McPeek. Tradition is building right along with him. Fairview football is here to stay.
Raceland 28, Campbellsville 19: We’ll go with the passing of Tyler Farley and a Ram-tough defense in this one. Raceland gets what it wanted: a rematch with LCA in Lexington next week for the regional championship. Gulp!
Lawrence County 28, Knox Central 27: I told you it was going to be close. Knox will give the Bulldogs fits but the will to win is a strong thing. The home folks go crazy as Lawrence County goes 12-0. The clock is getting near midnight for Cinderella with big, bad Bell County waiting in the regional finals. Double gulp!
Johnson Central 44, Covington Catholic 38: It’s going to be a wild night in Paintsville. Be sure to bring a calculator to keep up with these offenses that know how to put up the points. Next up for the Golden Eagles? It’s a date with Fort Thomas Highlands. The Big Gulp!
Ironton 21, Heath 13: Who goes against Bob Lutz in November? Not me. Ironton makes it to the regional finals.
MARK MAYNARD can be reached at mmaynard@
dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2648.
