Rockets will play spring game May 5

With a tough Class 2A awaiting Rocket football this fall, third-year skipper Gaige Courtney is getting a leg up on normal progress. For the first time in years, Crittenden County is having spring football practice.

KHSAA regulations allow teams three weeks to get in 10 practice sessions. The Rockets began last week and held practice in full pads on Saturday. The spring workouts will culminate with a Blue-White scrimmage game at 7 p.m., Friday, May 5 at Rocket Stadium.

Courtney said there have been as many as 39 players in spring camp.

Also, Rocket Stadium has a new scoreboard courtesy of Farmers Bank and Trust Company of Marion. Employees of Kenergy donated their off-the-clock time to hang the scoreboard. It is expected to be working for the spring game.

Rockets prepare for move to challenging 2A

Rocket football coach Gaige Courtney has released the team’s 2023 schedule which includes some challenging opponents as Crittenden County makes the move up to Class 2A.

A traditional 1A team, the Rockets were bumped up a level when the KHSAA reclassified and shuffled district lineups across the state. There are six classifications in Kentucky from 1A to 6A.

Crittenden County spent four seasons in Class 2A from 2011 through 2014. The Rockets also spent a time in Class 3A more than 40 years ago. Otherwise, they’ve been a 1A team. 

Classification is based on enrollment of boys in each school. The KHSAA typically reclassifies every four years, but the current framework will be for only two years because pandemic era enrollments have skewed figures used to set the lineup. So, there is a good chance CCHS will only play in 2A for two seasons.

“Like everyone else, I was disappointed at first,” said Courtney, who pointed to longtime rivalries with Russellville and Fulton County in the Class A First District and playoffs foes like Bethlehem, Louisville Holy Cross and Kentucky Country Day in recent years.

“The more I looked at it, I think it’s exciting and a great opportunity,” the coach said. “We’ve added some non-district games that will help us get better to be able to compete at the level of Mayfield and some of the others in 2A.”

Crittenden’s district games will consist of matchups with Mayfield, Murray and Caldwell County. Only Mayfield will be on the road.

“For the first time since before the pandemic began we will have five home games,” Courtney said.

Non-district home games will include contests against 6A McCracken County and 3A Hopkins Central and Class 2A Second District power Owensboro Catholic.

There is a good chance CCHS could see O’Cath a second time in the playoffs.

Non-district road games will be at 3A Webster County and Union County and 5A Ohio County against a team CCHS hasn’t played since the 1969 and 1970 seasons.

Courtney had conversations with other teams in western Kentucky such as Tilghman, Owensboro Apollo and Henderson County, but settled on a 10-game slate that didn’t include those. He said six-team districts for other more traditional opponents like Trigg, McLean, Hancock and Marshall counties made scheduling those teams virtually impossible. However, the Rockets will see the Marshals in preseason.

The Rockets will return at least a dozen seniors this fall, including a strong core group of skilled offensive players – including returning Class A District 1 Player of the Year Micah Newcom – and on the offensive line.

Players have already begun off-season weight training and Courtney says the program is looking forward to the challenges ahead.

Rockets headed to Class 2A for at least 2 years

 The KHSAA Board of Control  this week approved the next two seasons of football districts in Kentucky. Typically classification is a four-year plan, but this one will be abbreviated to only half the number of years.
New KHSAA districts, classes

Class 1A
1- Ballard Memorial, Caverna, Fulton County, Russellville
2- Bethlehem, Campbellsville, Holy Cross (Louisville), Kentucky Country Day
3- Bellevue, Dayton, Newport, Newport Central Catholic
4- Bishop Brossart, Holy Cross (Covington), Ludlow, Trimble County
5- Berea, Eminence, Frankfort, Sayre
6- Fairview, Nicholas County, Paris, Raceland
* 7- Harlan, Lynn Camp, Middlesboro, Pineville, Williamsburg
* 8- Hazard, Paintsville, Pikeville
*The fifth place team in District 7 will become the fourth place team

Class 2A
1- Caldwell County, Crittenden County, Mayfield, Murray
2- Edmonson County, Fort Campbell, Owensboro Catholic, Todd County Central
3- Clinton County, Green County, Metcalfe County, Monroe County
4- Fort Knox, Lexington Christian, Shawnee, Washington County, WEB DuBois**
5- Beechwood, Bracken County, Carroll County, Gallatin County, Owen County, Walton-Verona
6- Breathitt County, Danville, Leslie County, Somerset
7- Floyd Central, Knott County Central, Martin County, Prestonsburg
8- Betsy Layne, East Ridge, Pike County Central, Shelby Valley
**Not eligible for district postseason competition until at least 2024

Class 3A
1- Hancock County, Hopkins County Central, McLean County, Trigg County, Union County, Webster County
2- Adair County, Butler County, Franklin-Simpson, Glasgow, Hart County
3- Central, Christian Academy-Louisville, Elizabethtown, LaRue County

4- Casey County, Garrard County, Marion County, Mercer County
5- Bourbon County, Lexington Catholic, Lloyd Memorial, Pendleton County
6- Bath County, East Carter, Fleming County, Lewis County, Russell, West Carter
7- Bell County, Clay County, Knox Central, McCreary Central, Rockcastle County
8- Belfry, Estill County, Lawrence County, Magoffin County, Morgan County, Powell County

Class 4A
1- Allen County-Scottsville, Calloway County, Hopkinsville, Logan County, Paducah Tilghman, Warren East
2- Bardstown, Breckinridge County, John Hardin, Nelson County, Thomas Nelson
3- DeSales, Doss, Jeffersontown, Valley, Waggener, Western
4- Franklin County, Henry County, North Oldham, Shelby County, Spencer County, Western Hills
5- Covington Catholic, Grant County, Harrison County, Holmes, Mason County
6- Ashland Blazer, Boyd County, Greenup County, Johnson Central, Rowan County
7- Boyle County, Lincoln County, Russell County, Taylor County, Wayne County
8- Corbin, Letcher County Central, Perry County Central, Whitley County

Class 5A
1- Apollo, Graves County, Madisonville-North Hopkins, Marshall County, Muhlenberg County, Owensboro
2- Bowling Green, Greenwood, Ohio County, South Warren
3- Atherton, Butler, Fairdale, Iroquois
4- Bullitt Central, Grayson County, Moore, North Bullitt, Seneca
5- Anderson County, Collins, Scott County, South Oldham, Woodford County
6- Boone County, Conner, Cooper, Dixie Heights, Highlands, Scott
7- East Jessamine, Madison Southern, Montgomery County, West Jessamine
8- Harlan County, North Laurel, Pulaski County, South Laurel, Southwestern

Class 6A
1- Christian County, Daviess County, Henderson County, McCracken County
2- Barren County, Central Hardin, North Hardin, Warren Central
3- DuPont Manual, Meade County, Pleasure Ridge Park, St. Xavier
4- Bullitt East, Fern Creek, Male, Southern
5- Ballard, Eastern, Oldham County, Trinity (Louisville)
6- Campbell County, Great Crossing, Ryle, Simon Kenton
7- Henry Clay, Lafayette, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Tates Creek
8- Bryan Station, Frederick Douglass, George Rogers Clark, Madison Central

Rocket Football Post-Season Awards / Honors

 

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Rockets likely headed back to Class 2A in 23

Although it will not be official until January, it looks like Crittenden County football is heading back to Class 2A, a place of great displeasure the last time the Rockets were classified in that division during the 2011 through 2014 seasons.

   SEE ENTIRE  REALIGNMENT PROPOSAL 

The Kentucky High School Athletic Association is realigning football, something it does every four years, in theory to provide equity in the competitive balance. 

Crittenden County’s school enrollment figures show an seven-student increase, which will vault the Rockets from Class A to 2A for the next four years starting in the fall of 2023, if approved at the KHSAA Board of Control meeting on Jan. 18. Enrollment figures used to divide the teams into classes are the average number of boys enrolled as reported on the Kentucky Department of Education second-month report for the 2019-2020 and 2022-2023 school years.

The last time CCHS was in 2A, it suffered some of the worst season records in the past three decades resulting in a cumulative 13-30 mark and four straight first-round exits from the playoffs, including three blowout losses at Owensboro Catholic. 

Crittenden has won the Class A First District champion five out of the last six seasons. In 2A, CCHS would be pitted against other First Region teams such as Mayfield, Murray, Fort Campbell, Caldwell County, McLean County, Owensboro Catholic, Hancock County and Metcalfe County. It’s unclear at this time how the districts would be broken down, but Crittenden would most likely join the other far western Kentucky teams.

CCHS had the largest enrollment in Class A over the past four years, but moving to 2A would put it among the bottom five schools based on enrollment figures. 

   READ KHSAA's Reclassification Guidelines 

AT A GLANCE: 2022 End of Season Review

BY: ANDY HUNT

Look at this week's post for a deep dive into the 2022 season!

               

Season Review

• The offense ran 46.1 plays per game this season which is the fewest a Rocket offense has averaged since 2010 (42.2).
• CC averaged 188.2 passing yards per game which is the second highest average for season in school history (2017, 212.9).
• Opponents this season averaged 11.8 pass attempts per game which were the fewest against the Rockets since 2003 (11.4).
• The offenses of opponents' this season averaged

PODCAST: Playoff Loss, Wrapping up Season

Rocket Season Ends with 24-12 loss to Holy Cross

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Pharmacists Mike Keller and Bradley Boone