Breathitt faces Knott Central in District finale
By James David Fugate
Voice Sports
The Breathitt County Bobcats close out the regular season at Mike Holcomb Stadium Friday night against the Knott Central Patriots. The Bobcats, coming off a disappointing loss to Middlesboro in a shootout last Friday night, need to win this game to solidify a second-place finish in the district standings. A win assures an opening round playoff game at home next weekend, more than likely against Leslie County. However, who knows what may happen in the topsy-turvy world of high school football.
If Leslie were to upset Middlesboro Friday night, a three-way tie for the district number one seed would exist between Breathitt, Leslie and Middlesboro. The tie-breaker format is too lengthy and complex to tackle in this story; consequently, we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.
And now back to the Knott County game. The Patriots will bring a 3-6 record to Jackson with wins over Jenkins, 52-14; Magoffin County 51-6; and Allen Central 28-8. Knott has three district losses and no wins, placing them in the district cellar once again. Leslie beat them 39-6, Middlesboro got them 48-0, and Cawood defeated them 27-14. Another disappointing year will see the Patriots watching the playoffs again this year, as they did last year, unless they upset the Bobcats Friday night. A win over the Bobcats would put them in a tie with Cawood for the fourth place finish. Knott finished last year with a 3-7 record and a loss against the Bobcats Friday would equal last year’s record.
This is Knott Central’s 25th year of playing football and the Patriots have yet to win a playoff game. They haven’t had a winning season since 1996 and this season has proven to be much of the same. Coach Joe Beder, former Leslie County coach and former Breathitt High School principal, is at the helm in Hindman and has one of the state’s top rushers in senior Bobby Owens (6-0, 170). Owens rushed for 1816 yards last year and garnered 20 touchdowns, which placed him tops in Class AA and third overall statewide.
Senior quarterback Michael Lindon (6-3, 190) is back from last year and passed for 926 yards and 11 touchdowns in his junior campaign. Despite lots of talent back, the Patriots haven’t been able to get over the proverbial hurdle. A win over Breathitt Friday night would go a long way toward giving credibility to Knott’s football program. Over the life of the Patriots’ program, 25 years, they’ve never been able to top the Bobcats on the gridiron.
Knott Central has been in the same district with the Bobcats the last two seasons with the Bobcats winning 56-0 and 50-20. The season prior to the past two, Breathitt got the best of Knott by a score 69-0. In 2002, Breathitt beat Knott 70-16. As is evident by these scores, the Bobcats have had little trouble with the Patriots; however, this year’s team is more dangerous than Knott teams of late.
This will be the last year that Breathitt and Knott will compete in the same district, as Knott moves out and the Patriots find themselves with Corbin, Leslie, Middlesboro and Somerset next season—needless to say, it won’t get any easier.
A win over the Patriots would give the Bobcats a record of 8-2, much better than most folks expected from this year’s Breathitt team. However, as the Bobcats have improved through the season, fans are anticipating an exciting playoff run beginning next Friday night against whomever. And if the Bobcats face Middlesboro again in the playoffs, you can expect another barnburner; possibly and hopefully with a different outcome.
