The Best Seat In The House

ESPN has its Rivalry Week, Judgement Week and other silly marketing gimmicks for its college sports, and now we have Reunion Week for local high school football.

Four of the five area games tonight pair teams that were once in the same district but aren’t any more. Here’s the rundown:

• Boyle County and Southwestern were in the same Class 3-A district from 2003-07. The Rebels won the first four district and playoff games between the schools and the first seven meetings overall, but Southwestern won the last two meetings, 28-7 in the regular-season last year and 18-9 in a second-round playoff game.
• Scott County won its first meeting with Lincoln County in 1974 and the last meeting in 1999. But the Patriots won all eight games in between when the teams were paired in a 3-A district from 1987-93. Most of those years were lean ones for Scott, which was shut out in three of those eight district games and held to seven points or less in three others.
• Danville and Frankfort were placed in the same Class A district in 2003, and the Admirals have won three of the five meetings since. They split two games last year, with Frankfort winning 33-13 in the regular season and Danville winning 35-6 in the playoffs
• Mercer County and Rockcastle County haven’t played since 1981, but they met annually in the 2-A wars for several years up to that point. The Scotties won the last four meetings and six of the last seven, and their last meeting resulted in a 7-6 Mercer victory.

The only exception in our Reunion Week is the Garrard County-Pendleton County game, which is the first meeting between the two teams. That’s understandable in light of the facts that the two schools are some 95 miles apart and that Pendleton’s first varsity season was in 2003.

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Now for some links to preview stories from other newspapers for some of this week’s games:

• The State-Journal of Frankfort says Frankfort star E.J. Fields is questionable with an ankle injury for tonight’s game at Danville.
• Scott County has a district title wrapped up, but the Georgetown News-Graphic says the Cardinals still want to finish strong, starting with their game against Lincoln County.
• The Commonwealth-Journal of Somerset says Southwestern is playing for pride in its game at Boyle County, particularly on defense.

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Finally, the picks, as I attempt to rebound from a disappointing week:

• Boyle County over Southwestern.
• Danville over Frankfort.
• Rockcastle County over Mercer County.
• Garrard County over Pendleton County.
• Scott County over Lincoln County.

Last week: 4-2. For the season: 36-11 (.766).