The Whitley County “Colonels.”  The pride of Williamsburg and southeast Kentucky. The Cardinals have not not beaten Whitley County, in Williamsburg, since 2006.   The Colonels, like so many other teams around the mountains, have made it routine to whip up on South Laurel for many many years passed. It just makes for another pile of receipts to be collected on. It’s time to right another wrong. It’s time to again, #LeaveNoDoubt as to the status of Cardinal football from here on.

Getting your butt beat is a tough thing. When you go out in front of your home crowd, in a big bowl game, and really have a poor performance, it puts a severely bad taste in your mouth. Everybody makes mistakes in every game, and there are always things you’d like to do over.  However, the lesson and all of it is just to move on and take what you’ve learned and apply it to the next game.

“Bowl” games are always a special night. Usually early in the football season, the bowl games bring a special atmosphere and electricity to an early game. It’s gonna be a great opportunity for all of our fans to come out to Gilliam Stadium, and check out this year‘s version of the Cardinals. #Team57 will play the second game of the night, against the Somerset “Briar Jumpers.”

Chapter 3. The season begins this week. This will be the 57th team in the history of (South) Laurel County High School. All the talk of the Off-Season Program, Spring Practice, Speed Training, and Training Camp, has faded into the Gray,…..

As the calendar rolls over into Dead Period for the summer of 2026,  it becomes a time to turn your focus on summer “Training Camp.”  As in the NFL, Mini-Camp concludes in early June, and the summer break takes precedence. At the close of July, all football teams roll into “Training Camp.” 

Football in the spring!  Sounds a bit different.  However, it’s a longstanding football tradition.  It is more than tradition; it is a necessity.  We are allowed 10 practice sessions, (within a 3-week period of time) by the KHSAA.  We plan to utilize everyone.  

The 2026 “Off-Season Training Program” is progressing nicely. Attitudes are good, intensity is high, and all of the players are showing some tremendous improvements along the way. As we steamroll our way towards spring break, several things are happening. 

The 2026 football season is about to get underway.  We currently have 72 young men signed up to play football for the South Laurel Cardinals in 2026. We will get underway with these 72 young men, when school starts back on January 6. It is time for the “Off-Season Program.”

With the Awards Ceremony conclusion, on Sunday the 14^th of December, #Team56 has been officially retired.  A brand-new addition of the South Laurel Football “Cardinals” is set to take shape.

The South Laurel “Cardinals” season has come to an end. With the second round playoff loss, the Cardinals have finished the season with 9 Wins and 3 losses. It’s a bitter pill to swallow when the season comes to an abrupt end. 

Playoffs. We’re talking playoffs.  the playoffs are a magical time. It is quite simply, when or go home. 

8-2. The regular season is complete. The last game left an incredibly bad taste in all our mouths. Nobody wants to lose to the crosstown rival. Nobody wants to play as poorly as we did in the rival game. But for now, we have to put that aside and move onto what’s ahead.

Rivalries….Alabama vs. Auburn….. Ohio State vs. Michigan….. Florida vs. Florida State….. Kentucky vs Louisville…..Tennessee vs Vanderbilt….Notre Dame vs. Southern California….Texas vs. Oklahoma…. All of these are rivalry games….. All of them bring out the best of what the game of football is all about.

Comebacks. The world of sports is littered with them. Teams that were supposed to be down and out, after a big emotional loss, but pull themselves up and begin to play at a higher level.

The Cardinals are 7 - 0.  Ranked number 4 in class 5A in Kentucky.

It’s the first time since 2004 that South Laurel has won seven games in a season. All that is great, and wonderful, but it doesn’t mean a hill of beans to Pulaski County.

 Believing in each other is a key element in having a successful football team.

HOMECOMING. The Cardinals come home this week for a big game against Harlan County.  

Three amazing historical things came to light this past Friday night after the victory over Whitley County.

There’s something really special about starting the season 3 - 0. With each win, comes more and more confidence for the team. They begin to realize that they can play with the better teams in the mountains. It also is reinforcement, that the things we are trying to do, are being realized week by week.