Spread Offense

Garrard County could be without its senior quarterback Friday when the Golden Lions host Lloyd Memorial. Billy Abney, who went out with a knee injury late in Saturday's loss to Anderson¿County, is listed as day-to-day, and Garrard coach Mark Scenters is not sure to what extent Abney's knee is hurt. “We will see what the doctor says as the week progresses,”¿Scenters said. “The doctors at Danville Orthopaedics provide outstanding care to many of our student-athletes and we trust them and know they are looking out for the good of our young people.

Mercer County didn't look nearly as overpowering as it did last season, but it still was able to outman Russell County 34-7 in the opening game of the Bob Allen Pigskin Classic on Saturday night at Admiral Stadium. Gone was the explosive speed of Cory Jackson and Brandon Ford - the lightning-quick duo that helped Mercer become the state's single-season team rushing leader - and quarterback Justin Morgan. But Titans coach Marty Jaggers still saw his team run for 288 yards against the Lakers, and junior quarterback Trevor Short passed for two touchdowns, something Mercer seldom did all of last year.

It all boils down to three things. Actually, just one thing. There are many potentially positive components within the Centre College offense, but coach Andy Frye can group them into three categories. Within those three groups is a common ingredient ? experience ? that figures to make the Colonels more successful at moving the ball and reaching the end zone this season for an offense that scored over 28 points only once in 10 games last year. Experience is the precious commodity in all three keys that Frye cited: The players are more familiar with the system installed last year by offensive coordinator Tony Joe White.

HARRODSBURG - Since the Mercer County-Harrodsburg merger was announced last summer, the expectations of Mercer football fans, players and coaches have been focused on winning the Class AA state title. Now the Titans are one step away from meeting those lofty expectations. Behind a dominating performance on both sides of the ball Friday, Mercer earned its first state final berth with a 43-0 semifinal win over last year's Class AA runner-up, Owensboro Catholic. Brandon Ford ran for three touchdowns and eclipsed the 2,000-yard rushing mark on his second carry of the game, finishing the game with 194 on just 19 carries.

STANFORD -- Lincoln County coach Mike Settles knew Washington County's spread offense would be hard to stop. The Patriots found out how hard in the second half. The Commanders rolled up 228 of their 374 yards during the final two quarters Friday and held off the host Patriots 35-30 in the PBK Death Valley Bowl. "That offensive scheme is tough to defend, and that's what a lot of high school teams are going to," Settles said. "If you're successful throwing the ball, then your defensive line gets a pass rush mentality and then they start running the football.

Once again it's time to clean out the e-mail bag, which contains a variety of responses from readers this week. Remember, if you have a comment or opinion to share, send it to me at larry@amnews.com. It can be in response to a column or story I've written, or just about anything else. Boyle County senior cheerleader Nicole Jameson sent me "some important information" about senior cheerleaders who are going on to college to cheer. "I think cheerleaders overall are not given enough credit for the year-round hard work.

For Terry Barker, it's hard to put into words what it has been like to see his son go from a relatively unknown player to a high-profile national recruit. Barker is the father of Conner quarterback Drew Barker, who announced Friday during a ceremony at his school that he would sign with Kentucky in February. “As a father who grew up a sports fanatic and loved every sport and played sports, you dream one day of having a son that maybe will surpass you and what you accomplished,” Terry Barker said.

Since Ohio receiver Derek Kief is considered one of the nation's best high school receivers, it's no surprise that he has Ohio State and Alabama - in no certain order - as his top two schools. However, he has a surprise at No. 3 - Kentucky. “I would say Kentucky is No. 3, but he had definite interest in Kentucky,” said Cincinnati Lasalle High School coach Tom Grippa. “He is 6-5 and runs a 4.5 (second) 40 (yard dash). He is a great receiver and special kid. He is a legit 6-5, is long and can jump and run with great body control.” Kief, who went to the Ohio State spring game instead of UK's Blue-White Game, has related well with UK assistant coach Vince Marrow, Kentucky's primary recruiter in Ohio.

Mercer County football fans may notice a familiar look in some things that new coach Will Weaver tries to incorporate into his program. "I modeled what we did at Madisonville(-North Hopkins) after what Chuck (Smith) did at Boyle County. After I got that job, I talked to him a long time about how he did things," said Weaver, who accepted the vacant Mercer job Monday. "He told me about overall program organization and things like that. I admire what he did and felt that was a great plan to use to model my program after.

Centre College coach And Frye said his team needed last week off. Centre has played more than half of its schedule, and Frye used last week's open date to get players healthy and work on fundamentals. "We just needed to heal up and just needed the time off," said Frye, whose team is coming off a 29-7 loss to Millsaps. "We were able to emphasize more of the fundamentals, especially with the younger kids. We really tried to get some evaluations on those guys. " Centre (3-3, 2-2 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference)