Spread Offense

HARRODSBURG - It seems all Mercer County has seen this season has been passing offenses. And that suits the Titans' head coach Marty Jaggers just fine. "It seems like that's the fad. It tickles me to death, to be honest," Jaggers said. "Not too many people do what we do. We see a lot of (passing), so it's not something new. " Class AA's top-ranked team (7-0, 2-0) will see another district opponent try to air it out here Friday when Henry County and its spread offense comes to town.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky finds out Saturday if it got more than just a loss against Louisville.The Cardinals dominated Kentucky thanks to their speed and aggressive play. Now the Cats hope the lessons they learned in that game can help them win a Southeastern Conference opener for the first time since 1987 when they host Mississippi on Saturday. "I think we learned (at Louisville) that you have to come out from the get-go as hard and fast as you can. We came out a little slow, a little tentative," Kentucky linebacker Ben McGrath said.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky finds out Saturday if it got more than just a loss against Louisville. The Cardinals dominated Kentucky thanks to their speed and aggressive play. Now the Cats hope the lessons they learned in that game can help them win a Southeastern Conference opener for the first time since 1987 when they host Mississippi on Saturday. "I think we learned (at Louisville) that you have to come out from the get-go as hard and fast as you can. We came out a little slow, a little tentative," Kentucky linebacker Ben McGrath said.

When Matt Kitchie was the offensive coordinator at Bradenton (Fla.) Southeast High School, he fell in love with the spread offense. Kitchie, now the new wide receivers coach at Eastern Kentucky University, was on hand here Thursday to tell area high school coaches about that offense during the first morning session at the Kentucky Football Coaches Association's annual clinic at Centre College. But offense wasn't the only item on the agenda Thursday morning. Former Boyle County coach Chuck Smith was on hand to discuss linebacker play and show some film of proper techniques from the University of Kentucky's spring practice, where Smith is the linebackers coach.

LEXINGTON - While it may have looked like Kentucky's offense only came to life last week when the Wildcats used more wide receivers to spread the defense out, UK coach Rich Brooks says not to be fooled into thinking that's what the Cats will do Saturday against Arkansas. "We are going to put the offense on the field that gives us the best chance versus a certain opponent," said Brooks. "If you play that offense against some teams, there would be a lot more quarterback sacks and negative plays.

HARRODSBURG - Mercer County didn't do exactly what coach Duane Hammons expected. Neither did Anderson County. "It was tough on us coming off the loss to Harrodsburg. We had a pity party Tuesday and felt sorry for ourselves after getting beat so bad. I didn't know how we would play," Hammons said. "Then Anderson County changed its offense totally. We didn't expect that. It was just one of those games where you didn't know what to expect out of either team. " The Scotties quickly put the loss to rival Harrodsburg behind them by scoring on their first two possessions in a 26-6 win over Anderson here Friday.