Watching a much-discussed video out of Perry County this week reminded me of one of my favorite lines from a coaching friend who warns never to “poke a bear” before a big game, pointing out there’s no reason to give your opponent any added motivation.

Some of the Perry Central players, who were feeling good about themselves with a 7-1 record going into Friday’s game against visiting Harlan County, talked about killing Black Bears in the video and how this was finally the Commodores’ year, acknowledging that Perry Central had never defeated Harlan County in the previous 10 years of HCHS and had never won a district championship in the 24 years of Perry Central High School.

The Commodores took it to another level by playing “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive,” which the Bears run out to at HCHS home games, before Friday’s game, mixed with the video from earlier in the week.

While I agree with other coaches who point out that whatever intensity is brought into a game by pre-game talk soon disappears once the hitting starts, it did seem like a bad idea to waste so much time poking Bears and inviting the bad karma that often seems to come with it. Another coach once told me he thought it was a mistake for a team at his school to make T-shirts after beating a rival for the first time in many years, pointing out it gives the other team too much credit when the game means so much more to you than them.

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Harlan County’s victory combined with Letcher Central’s 21-20 win at Whitley County gave the Bears their first district title since 2013 and the fifth in 10 years of competing in 5A football. HCHS and Letcher tied for first with 3-1 district records, but the Bears won the head-to-head tie-breaker due to their victory at Letcher Central. There were four possible outcomes going into Friday’s games with all four teams involved in the tie having the chance to finish in any spot from first to fourth depending on what happened in the two games.

With their fifth district title, Harlan County broke a tie with both Cawood and Evarts for third place in county history.

District champions

Lynch — 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1976.

Cumberland — 1963, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1991.

Harlan County — 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2018.

Evarts — 1964, 1967, 1968 and 1990.

Cawood — 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1982.

Harlan — 1979, 1996, 1999 and 2015.

Region champions

Lynch — 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971 and 1974.

Harlan County — 2010, 2012, 2017.

Cumberland — 1982, 1983 and 1986.

Cawood — 1975.

Evarts — 1990.

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Southwestern has made a habit of surprising postseason losses during its history, and Friday’s night’s loss to cross-town rival Pulaski County will cost the Warriors home-field advantage this year. Southwestern has been the heavy favorite all season to win the Region 4 title, much like a year ago when the Warriors lost to Harlan County in the regional finals in Somerset.

If both teams win in the first round, the Warriors and Bears will meet again in the semifinals, this time at Coal Miners Memorial Stadium. Most expect Pulaski County and Southwestern to meet again in the regional finals, but Harlan County has made a habit of playing its best football in the postseason.

Harlan put together one of its best performances of the season in defeating Pineville 40-6 on Friday in the Battle of U.S. 119. The Dragons will go on the road in two weeks to play Hazard in the first round of the Class A playoffs.

If the Dragons have any chance of upsetting Hazard, Harlan will need a big game from senior receivers Caleb Adkins and Kilian Ledford. The duo combined for seven catches and 166 yards on passes from Will Varner in Friday’s win.

Ledford, who played quarterback the past two years, has made some of the greatest catches I’ve seen in my years of covering sports. Those two could be the best combination of receivers I’ve ever seen at Harlan. I was trying to remember a pair I liked better over the years but couldn’t come up with anything. I’d be interested in hearing other opinions if anyone wants to e-mail me at john.henson@harlan.kyschools.us

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Lynn Camp and Perry Central provided more proof of my theory of high school football success — “it’s not how you play but who you play.”

Perry Central brought a 7-1 record into last night’s game and lost 40-14 to a 2-5 Harlan County team. Lynn Camp brought an 8-0 record into last night’s game before falling 72-44 to visiting Williamsburg.

Playing a soft schedule can be a very good idea for rebuilding programs like Lynn Camp and Perry Central, but it always seems to trick fans into believing their teams are better than they are as they point to their record when arguing they should have a higher ranking.