Hughes, Hunter leaders at KCU
Everyone knows success starts with a good foundation.
And when it comes to the building blocks of a brand-new college football program, you won’t find any better than Jake Hughes and Austin Hunter.

Raceland faces uphill fight against LCA
Both coaches agree on this much: Raceland will have to be at its best on Friday to even have a chance against Lexington Christian Academy.

Lawrence County set to battle Bell
The bus ride is long, but this year they don’t mind.

MARK MAYNARD: Jennings gets time on 'MNF'
Monday Night Football wasn’t so great for the Cleveland Browns.

A blanket of Herd warmth
Nathan McPeek, one of the top offensive linemen in Marshall University football history, will be honored Saturday afternoon at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.

Rose Hill gets reprieve
Rose Hill Christian School went to Lexington on Monday expecting sanctions but left with a reprieve.

Raceland 7th-grader receives honor
Connor Messer, a standout seventh-grade running back for Raceland Middle School, is in some elite company.
Messer has been selected to play in the 2010 second annual Football University Youth All-American Bowl in San Antonio on Jan. 10. The game will be broadcast live on the web.

Tomcats put on big finish
Phillip Caudill spread the five fingers of his right hand and smiled.
Ashland’s boys cross country coach had reason to be overjoyed. The Tomcats’ fifth-place finish (172 points) at Saturday’s Class 2A state meet at the Kentucky Horse Park was the best in school history, and it ended a season that included its first regional title last week.

Lady Eagles 3rd at state
The Fairview girls cross country team fared better than last year.
St. Henry easily won its eighth straight Class A state team title with 48 points Saturday at the Kentucky Horse Park, and Trimble County was second with 109. The Lady Eagles were third with 118 — one spot higher than last year’s fourth place — and they edged Louisville Collegiate by a single point.

Bulldogs rock Knox
Lawrence County’s rags-to-riches turnaround continued Friday night.

Cats cruise in Cal's debut
Kentucky guard Eric Bledsoe split between two Morehead State defenders, absorbed a bump and with his back to the basket flipped the ball toward the rim.

Rams rally back from 10 down
Raceland rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat Campbellsville 23-20 on Friday night in the second round of the Class A playoffs.

AARON SNYDER: New era begins for Big Blue
Kentucky fans didn’t get to see much of the dribble-drive offense on Friday night, but they didn’t care.

Connor earns Division I ticket
The Ashland Kittens’ trip to Coastal Carolina University two years ago for a summer basketball camp opened the door.
Katelyn Connor did the rest with her steady improvement on the court.

Eagles need ultimate effort at LCA
Fairview is playing its best football of the season.

MARK MAYNARD: It’s now just a game of survival
Not many area teams survived Black Friday.
It wasn’t a great night for predictors, either.

Dirty job ahead for Dawgs
For the Dawgs to keep rolling deeper into the postseason, they will have to stop the recent wrecking ball that is Knox Central.

Abdon’s shot comes clear
Greenup County senior Dagan Abdon didn’t think twice about where he would play college golf.

Cross, Cooper share EKC Player of Year
Rowan County’s Darrell Cross found all kinds of ways to the end zone.

MARK MAYNARD: Howard flying with Eagles
If you happen to see Rick and Kris Howard decked out in Morehead State gear at Friday’s Morehead-Kentucky game in Rupp Arena, don’t be alarmed.

MARK MAYNARD: Me and The Mick back in 1989
One great thing about this job is the chance encounters we have with the celebrity world.

Rams: Jitter ridders?
Last week, Raceland got its playoff blood boiling in time to stave off Lynn Camp in the first round after nearly watching a 19-0 lead melt away.

Rowan’s run comes to an end
Rockcastle County walked the length of Coach Paul Ousley Stadium before Friday’s Class 4A first round playoff game against Rowan County.

Unbeaten Dawgs keep it rolling
The game plan week-by-week has hardly ever changed for Lawrence County in the last two seasons.

Ironton powers past Sparta
Sparta Highland proved to be a made-to-order opponent for Ironton in the opening round of the Division IV playoffs.

Renneker, Tomcats run away to titles
Ashland’s boys put on a convincing show in the Class 2A Region 6 Cross Country Championships.

MARK MAYNARD: Arizona made prudent decision
There were a lot of reasons why the Arizona Diamondbacks exercised their option on pitcher Brandon Webb.

Laynes leads perfect day for Fairview
The Fairview Lady Eagles cross country team’s goal for Saturday’s the Region 7 Class A meet was a perfect score.

Devil downer
For a half, Russell appeared ready to make a run in the Class 3A playoffs.

UNCEREMONIAL EXIT FOR CATS
Dixie Heights saved perhaps its best game for the opening round of the Class 5A playoffs.

Late interception seals Rams’ win
Whew!
Raceland survived a fourth quarter rally to defeat Lynn Camp 19-13 Friday in the opening round of the Class A playoffs.

AARON SNYDER: Hold off on all those bowl plans
Rivals.com releases bowl projections every Wednesday, and, good news for local fans, even after the home loss to Mississippi State, Kentucky is still in, and after the devastating road loss to Central Florida, Marshall is still in.

D’backs take Webb option
In the end, the Arizona Diamondbacks figured the reward was greater than the risk with Brandon Webb.

Rowan’s run comes to an end
Rockcastle County walked the length of Coach Paul Ousley Stadium before Friday’s Class 4A first round playoff game against Rowan County.

Dawgs have blond ambition
One team will sport new hairdos. Another has some secrets in store.

Close to home for regionals
Fairview’s girls have perfection on their mind.
Ashland’s boys are running for a long-awaited title.

MARK MAYNARD: Solving puzzle of Cats on TV
Kentucky’s football game with Eastern Kentucky University on Saturday has a 1 p.m. kickoff and will be televised on WKYT only. Hopefully, the local cable companies will be able to keep the channel active since similar programming is not on any competing stations.

MARK MAYNARD: Pettrey made memories with Buckeyes 11/4/09

Eagles, Rams begin playoff march
Raceland and Fairview, both ranked in the top 10 in Class A, are fully aware that the playoff road travels through No. 1 Lexington Christian.

Lewis excited for opportunity
It has been a not-so-sweet 16 for Lewis County.

Cats ready for playoffs
One play removed from a perfect regular season, Ashland can’t wait to test its mettle in the Class 5A playoffs.

MARK MAYNARD: Flipping out over the action
There was plenty of drama while channel surfing around midnight on Sunday night.

Gillispie pleads guilty to DUI charge in Ky.
Former Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie pleaded guilty Monday to driving under the influence of alcohol.

Calipari wants some defense against Campbellsville
Kentucky coach John Calipari says he can't figure out if his team is really good on offense or just really bad on defense.

MARK MAYNARD: Flipping out over the action 11/3/09

AARON SNYDER: MMQB hands off sticker crown
The count is in. The wait is over. This year’s Helmet Sticker King is...

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS
The schedule for this week's area high school football playoff games.

Cross country: Ashland wins Meet of Champions
Ashland took five cross country runners to the Meet of Champions on Saturday and came away as champion in the Class AA division.

MARK MAYNARD: Time to give back to Putnam Stadium 11/01/09

Miss. St. bumps Cats
Anthony Dixon continued to erase the name Jerious Norwood from the Mississippi State record books, but his sights are on returning to a destination his predecessor never reached: a bowl game.

Reversed HR call helps A-Rod, Yankees beat Phils
Guess who showed up for Halloween dressed as sluggers?

Ashland youth baseball shifts
Ashland youth baseball needs a boost and area league officials say going to Junior League and Senior League divisions next year may do it.
Ashland’s struggling Babe Ruth League was having dwindling rosters and would have struggled to field four teams, according to Tim Royalty, the outgoing president of Babe Ruth, which will dissolve its charter after 52 years.

Pettrey sustains knee injury
Ohio State kicker Aaron Pettrey was helped off the field with an apparent right knee injury late in the second quarter on Saturday against New Mexico State.

Case closed
Ashland slammed the door on Boyd County with authority and closed the book on its 9-1 regular season.
The Tomcats blasted the Lions, 46-0, Friday night at Lions Stadium.

Backup QB runs wild for Mason
Mason County’s Colt Fearis has almost no experience playing quarterback at the varsity level, but you would never would have guessed that after his performance Friday night.

AARON SNYDER: Who dat? Who dat? ... Sounds a bit familiar
Might as well call the Saints the New Orleans Copycats.
Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?

Wall to miss 2 games
University of Kentucky's John Wall is eligible but will have to repay expenses and sit out Monday's exhibition game with Campbellsville and the season opener against Morehead State, the school announced Friday night.

Kiwanis Bowl tonight at Putnam
For Ashland and Russell’s freshmen football teams, the entire season revolves around this rivalry game.

Pride enough to fuel Ashland-Boyd
Friday night’s game between cross-county rivals Ashland and Boyd County means absolutely nothing, right?
Absolutely wrong.

Tomcats run away with it
The success of the Ashland football program is not likely to tumble any time soon.

Pride enough to fuel Ashland-Boyd
Friday night’s game between cross-county rivals Ashland and Boyd County means absolutely nothing, right?
Absolutely wrong.

Smith calling game involving former Tomcat coach
Now the whistle is on the other shirt.
Darryl Smith, a veteran Mid-American Conference college basketball official, will be working a game Friday where his former high school coach is on one of the benches.

MARK MAYNARD: Ashland played in '79 state volleyball
This year’s Ashland’s volleyball team is the first team in school history to win a regional championship.
But the VolleyCats won’t be the first team from Ashland to advance to the State Volleyball Tournament.

Crum, Huff win 16th Region awards
Ashland senior Sierra Crum and second-year head coach Jeffrey Huff have been selected as the 16th Region’s top player and coach by the Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association.

VolleyCats buzzing about historic season
Ashland volleyball coach Jeffrey Huff and his captains recognized all along the team had the ability to make school history.

MARK MAYNARD: Host emotional about honor 10/29/09

Bourbon edges LadyCats
Ashland’s dream of a state girls’ soccer championship slipped away Tuesday.

MARK MAYNARD: Tomcats, Boyd not so fierce
The Ashland-Boyd County football rivalry has lost its mojo.

Ashland outmatched by Montgomery Co.
Montgomery County’s quickness and skill took a toll in the Boys Sub-Section 6 soccer match.

MARK MAYNARD: Bowl game turns 30
Thursday will mark the 30th anniversary of the Kiwanis Bowl as we know it today.

MARK MAYNARD: Area long hitter competing against best
If chicks dig the long ball, then they must really dig Steve Thacker.

Trey tracks Tomcats to victory
The field at Woodford County Community Park had standing water and lots of divots in the turf, and Saturday’s game-time temperature was 47 degrees.

Lutz breaks Ohio’s win mark
Bob Lutz never wanted the individual attention.
This time he couldn’t avoid it.

Rams find stride in ‘team effort’
Raceland finally retrieved its mojo Friday night.
At least that’s what Rams’ senior Jeremy Barr called it.

LCA continues dominant ways
Lexington Christian Academy continued its streak of dominance over district opponents, defeating Fairview 42-0 Friday night at Fairview High School.

Carter, Greenup run into playoffs
Even on one leg, Rashard Carter is difficult to stop.

Dawgs Pack home district
What a difference a year can make.

MARK MAYNARD: Kentucky’s on TV, but where?
Finding Kentucky football games on television can be an exasperating experience.

Buck(ley) stops here; Ashland wins region in soccer
The Ashland Tomcats used a second-half goal by Chris Buckley to defeat Russell 1-0 and capture the 11th Region boys’ championship Thursday night at Rowan County High School.

Rail Cities Bowl picks up steam
The Rail Cities Bowl series, which has seen back-to-back wins by the visiting team, has become one of the top rivalries in the area since its formation just two years ago.

MARK MAYNARD: Almost back to perfect
Now that’s more like it.

Russell and Ashland in volleyball final tonight
Russell fought off a valiant effort from Rose Hill Christian, taking the match in two sets on Wednesday to advance to the 16th Region championship.

LadyCats’ ‘special’ season continues
The LadyCats kicked down the door and finally became 11th Region girls’ soccer champions.

MARK MAYNARD: Fighting spirit in Estep's corner
For years, while growing up on Grandview Drive, one of our playing palaces was Greg Estep’s yard.

Homefield on the line for Ashland
For coach Leon Hart, the message to his players is pretty simple this week: Win and play one more game at Putnam Stadium or lose and hit the road.

MARK MAYNARD: D-backs likely to keep Webb

SOCCER: Tomcats, Devils in finals

Russell, Rose Hill move on
For Russell, it was all about finishing strong.

Ashland, Rowan move on
The task was steep for Ashland: take down a Raceland team hot off of a district title and playing on its home court.

MARK MAYNARD: Baseball fever hardly contagious
Unless we have a Freeway Series between the Dodgers and Angels in the World Series — and that’s looking less likely by the day — don’t expect baseball’s showcase event to have a warm and fuzzy feel to it.

AARON SNYDER: Future of football in QBs' hands
Some might call this season the year of the running back.

A-Rod, Yankees edge Angels
Alex Rodriguez is putting all those playoff failures behind him. The Los Angeles Angels are turning the AL championship series into a defensive debacle.

Purdue shocks Buckeyes
Joey Elliott and Purdue shocked mistake-prone Ohio State.

Kentucky cashes in against Auburn
Randall Cobb scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 4-yard run with 3:17 to play as Kentucky came from behind to defeat Auburn 21-14 Saturday night.

West Virginia wipes out Herd

Morehead blanked by Jacksonville
Josh McGregor threw four touchdown and Jacksonville defeated Morehead State 39-0 on Saturday.

MARK MAYNARD: Webb gets HOF nod
Brandon Webb is going to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but not the one in Cooperstown.

Dawgs dig in again
Lawrence County is now just one win away from clinching its first district championship in eight years.

Lutz records 360th victory
Ironton coach Bob Lutz achieved milestone victory No. 360 in easy fashion.

Jones, Rice power Devils
A little bit of Travis Jones and Will Rice went a long way.