Ah, footbah

Highlights among this weekend's games:

Heath at Murray. Renewal of a great Class A, District 1, West Subdistrict rivalry. Reported the Nov. 22, 1985, real Heath Post, "On a rain-soaked field ... the game remained scoreless until the 7:46 point of the second quarter. Murray put the lone first half score on the board when Mark West pitched back to Rodney Skinner who then threw downfield to Chris Padgett who raced 75 yards for the score. Heath evened up the score on its first drive of the third quarter. ... The game remained deadlocked until the 5:53 mark of the fourth quarter when the Pirates drove 49 yards on 11 downs. The winning drive was capped off with an eight yard touchdown run by (Class of '86! quarterback Troy) McCann. (Jamie) Jones tacked on the two point conversion. Murray hardly rolled over and died, however. Murray drove 66 yards including passes of 19 and 13 yards to Mark Miller and Corey Huie, respectively. Huie put Murray within two points of the Pirates with an 11 yard run. Jimmy Hobby intercepted the conversion pass to leave the score at 14-12. The Tigers again came driving back when the Heath offense was stopped on three downs and Skinner was forced to punt. Murray received the ball at the Heath 29. Greg Armstrong broke through the Tiger line and sacked West for a five yard loss that was followed by an incomplete pass. On third down West hit Miller 20 yards downfield to give Murray a first down at the Pirate 14 with just over a minute remaining in the game. Two runs netted -2 yards then Murray coach Steve Franklin called a time out with seven seconds remaining. This was followed by two time outs by Heath. When things finally got rolling again, Murray kicker Rodney Payne set up for a 33 yard field goal. The kick flew wide to the left and Heath had won its fourth game of the season."

Lone Oak at Reidland. Can the visiting Purple Flash keep pace with Heath in the chase for the last McCracken County championship? Tune in to iHigh.com at 7 Central to find out!

Graves County at Mayfield (No. 1 in the Associated Press Class A poll). The first song I heard on WYMC 1430 AM this morning was "The Beat Goes On," by Sonny and Cher. Not a good sign for the visiting Eagles. Later, they played the original, entire theme to WKRP in Cincinnati, which, shockingly, I had never heard.

Louisville Trinity (AP 6A No. 1) at Cincinnati Saint Xavier. Hooray for the Trinity quarterbacks coach!

Monroe County at Glasgow. The Scotties' tight end, Hunter Bowles, is reportedly being pursued by both UK and U of L.

Louisville Central (AP 3A No. 1) at Louisville Western. So's Central's halfback, Anthony Wales.

Fort Thomas Highlands (AP 4A No. 1) at Mason County. It's the "Brian Payne State Farm Classic." Good for Brian Payne, husband, dad of four, hunter, golfer, 1995 WKU grad, etc.

Owensboro at Bowling Green (AP 5A No. 1). Purples coach Kevin Wallace Tweeted, "Friday will mark the 70th meeting of BGHS vs Owensboro. The Red Devils lead the series 38-29-2 but the Purples have won 18 of the last 24."

Hi Hat South Floyd at Morgan County. Will the visitors be mentally sharp after last Thursday's big Gingerbread Bowl victory?

Pikeville at South Williamson Belfry. Per Wikipedia, the motto at Belfry High is "Football Rules."

Cheer, cheer for Ole' Belfry High,
Come on boys let's get in and fight.
Send your falling cheers on High,
Shake down the thunder from the sky.
Whether the odds be great or small,
Ole'Belfry High will win overall.
While our loyal sons go marching,
Onward to Victory.
Rah!! Rah!!! V-I-C-T-O-R-Y
Victory, Victory, Belfry High!
We are the Pirates,
We're the Pirates of Belfry High!
We will defeat you,
And we'll even tell you why:
We are the P-I-R-A-T-E-S
We will fight to the end,
We will never give in.
We're the Pirates of Belfry High!

Prestonsburg at Casey County. Incidentally, Belfry racked up 512 yards rushing in its 48-30 win at Prestonsburg last Friday, but it was "PBurg" who got the love in "this week's UPike Top Five Play Contenders!"

Lee County-Jonesville, Va. at Harlan County. The finally home-standing Black Bears have opened the season with three straight road wins.

Fort Campbell at Christian County. "Friday Night Blitz" kicks off the festivities on www.Oldies1480.com at 6 Central this evening.

Newport Central Catholic (AP 2A No. 1) at Independence Simon Kenton.

Hopkinsville at Allen County-Scottsville.

Fulton County at Ballard Memorial.

Franklin-Simpson at Caldwell County.

Marshall County at Calloway County.

Union County at Madisonville-North Hopkins.

Crittenden County at Paducah Tilghman.

Todd County Central at Russellville.