frog1212

Stratford may have lost their starting QB to an ACL against Goodpasture. There is conflicting info, maybe the Stratford staff was trying to keep it quiet. The kid was in uniform Friday against Whites Creek but didn't play a snap. I heard at the game that he was getting a second opinion. We shall see. That is terrible news for the kid and the team.

There are a lot of "IF's" in your point. The facts are Carter is as special as they come and he does play for SHS and because of all of that Stratford is very successful. SHS defense is as good as you will see anywhere with their big athletic DL and great secondary. Again, do they play down to their competition, sure! Do they raise their level of play to great competition such as Marshall County, absolutely. When you play hard (not always smart) and have a lot of talent, and have the best player on the field in every game you play(Carter) its just really hard to get beat. Thats the difference in Stratford and PC, it was the difference in Stratford and Marshall County to be honest. And again, Marshall County is the second best team in 4A in the state.

Thats funny, you are bragging on PC's wins but Stratford has the wins in common. The difference is Stratford beat the #2 4A team in the state and PC beat a .500 Hillsboro team in a very poorly played game. Which team has the better resume? It looks like Stratford to me.

Again, Carter is the best RB, WR and DB on either team. He didn't play RB in 3 games this year including a game he didn't play. He is the top cornerback in the state and as you said THE OTHER CORNER has 5 ints including a couple pick 6's. To debate that PC has anyone on the same planet as Carter is clearly foolish pride talking. I think they have 2 kids among the state leaders in sacks this year, most of the OL is soph's. No doubt Stratford plays up or down to their comp but they just win. PC doesn't have a win nearly as impressive as Marshall County on its resume, in fact Marshall County is 10 points better than PC.

In a jamboree? A scrimmage? A scrimmage over a year and a half ago almost? You are reaching now. You do realize that was when Fitzgerald first took over maybe the worst program in Metro. Much different program now, as you saw against top ten 4A schools this year and big time college prospects at every position group. Again, Stratford is bigger, tougher and more talented at almost every position than PC is this year. Better backs, better OL, much better DL, much better DB's, better QB, etc.

Marshall County has been ranked in the top 3 in the state in 4A. Maplewood was ranked in the top ten in the state in 4A. Stratford beat them both. The schedule was already set when Fitzgerald arrived. Catholic is in 4A, you got beat by 50. MBA was winning 49-0 AT HALFTIME! There is no excuse for that. No shame in losing, but as great as you make PC out to be, there shouldn't be a running clock and down by 50 in the 2nd qtr. This is the difference Fitzgerald makes in the two programs IMO. I never remember PC getting beatdowns anything like that when he was there. In fact they were the ones handing out beatdowns. PC is a big enough school with a big time zone, they should never get beat by 50 in 2 qtrs. Does MBA have more talent than PC? I don't think so.

After seeing PC being blown out by 50 points with running clock twice in the last 9 games is not really striking fear into other metro teams, Im pretty sure nobody will be ducking PC. This is hardly the PC teams that everybody feared in the late 90's. Those guys were brutal.

Common opponents is a poor way to judge teams. Bama beat Tennessee worse than UK. Does that mean UK is better than Tennessee? Stratford played CPA at CPA after a physical and emotional win over the 2nd best 4A team in the state. They got multiple tds called back and didn't execute on a bunch of scoring opportunities. With that said, Stratford isn't the most mature team week in and week out and play to their comp. But in a one game situation, like the Marshall County game, I would def take stratford over pc bc they are bigger, tougher and have the best player in Metro.

First of Carter is the top player in Metro by a wide margin, to argue otherwise is just not being honest. PC doesn't have a player on the same player as Carter. Lets be honest. Looking at the teams side by side Stratford would have better backs (carter), DB's, DL and OL. I would call QB play even and PC having better WR's. Stratford would beat PC up physically while having the athletes to and pass rushers to shut down PC pass game completely. By comparison I see Marshall County is being at least 10 points better than PC and Stratford beat Marshall County up pretty good physically.

My point is I have seen Pearl beat way too many times by 40 and 50 points with a running clock. They are not much better than any elite metro school IMO. Stratford matches up well with teams like PC and Marshall County. The bigger, as athletic and much tougher than PC. I thick this is where the Fitzgerald factor comes into place. Plus Stratford would have the best player on the field and probably 4 out of the top 5 kids on either team. I think the score at halftime of the PC/MBA game was 49-0. MBA could have beat them by 80 if PC didn't opt to stop the game. That doesn't happen to Fitzgerald coached teams and thats the big difference between those two programs.

Why would stratford not want to play PC? I think if they played this year Stratford would win. I am biased as I graduated from SHS. But I saw all I needed to see when Stratford beat Marshall County, and PC is not as good as Marshall County for sure. Stratford has a tougher kid than PC has. Two games told me all I needed to know about these two teams, Stratford beating Marshall County and PC getting beat by 50 by MBA. Fitzgerald is the difference in those two programs, and he is the reason those two programs are successful right now.