article The Official Louisville Area Preseason Power Rankings

First I want to thank everyone who participated in the first thread where I asked for your opinion. After reading your posts and talking to others in HS football, I present to you the “official” Preseason Louisville Area Power Ranking.

1. Trinity – it was pretty much a given that the #1 ranking was going to go to Trinity or Male. Trinity gets the nod this preseason simply due to T returning more starters and how strong the JV team did last year. Yeah, I know, not the greatest research in the world but preseason rankings are like political promises, they don’t hold a lot of water. Trinity opens the season going to Nashville to take on always strong Ensworth who Trinity scorched at home last year 45-0. Don’t expect a repeat of such, Ensworth wants revenge bad.

2. Male – I am not a fan of AUTOMATICALLY giving the defending champ the preseason #1 ranking especially when they have lost as much as Male has. Saying that, the difference between T and H is very small and these two could easily flip. Male’s first game against Floyd Central (IN) probably will be easy for Male and not indicate much.

3. St. X – Some will joke that X is the red headed step child of the Big Three but those people will also have to admit that X is a team you have to look out for. Will this be the year X will to be an equal of T or H? Not sure, let’s see how the opening game versus Lexington Catholic goes. Most certainly an X win but how dominant of a win will it be?

4. Dupont Manual – Manual will get the number four spot primarily for the consistency they have proven over the years of being a solid team who can beat most of Jefferson Co. not named T, H or X. From looking at what they have coming back, I can see no reason to believe this year will be any different. They get tested early opening with a strong Central and then following up with last year’s Louisville darling Fern Creek.

5. Fern Creek – Were they a flash in the pan last year or are the Creekers for real? I am going to stay positive on the Creekers and round out the top five with them. They begin the season with winless (and with the exception of one game scoreless) Seneca which should be a very ugly game and show nothing. The next game is against Manual which looks to be the featured game of that week, looking forward to that one.

6. Central – Last year’s yellow jackets were very impressive, especially their win over St. X. They lose a few positions so they just miss the Top 5, but not by much. Their opening game versus Manual will be the feature of the opening week in the Louisville area. The next week the Yellow Jackets take a trip down to Corbin to play the Hounds in what should be a fun game.

7. Christian Academy – The Centurions seem to always start the season well, beat DeSales in the regular season before DeSales can regroup and take them in the play offs. So, for the OPENING ranking, I am going to rank LCA above DeSales and see if they can hold on to that ranking. LCA opens with 6A Northern KY Power Simon Kenton again who last year they played incredible against for three quarters before SK overwhelmed them in the 4th Q. They follow up with another (though not as strong) 6A team in Eastern and then face powerful Central.

8. – St. Francis DeSales - DeSales is loaded with excitement with the opening of a new stadium. Can such excitement translate into wins? They open the season with the opening of their stadium against Fairdale. Always smart to open your stadium with an almost guaranteed win. After the stadium opening, the Colts ride on for away games at Butler, Ballard and Southend Catholic rival Holy Cross. All of these games should be wins before welcoming dangerous 6A Fern Creek as a home game. If Fern Creek stumbles against Manual before going up against DeSales, the Colts will feel this is their game to lose. If the Creekers come in undefeated, Fern Creek will be the obvious favorite but the Colts should give them a great game and possibly pull out the home victory.

9. Central Hardin – Boy am I going to hear about it not mentioning Central Hardin or any other none Jefferson Co. team till now. There are some fine teams just outside of Louisville but I just don’t see them beating the eight listed above them. Last year I heard a lot of flak for not ranking Central Hardin earlier in the rankings and they proved themselves with some decent wins and losses only to quality teams (Boyle, South Warren, Bowling Green) and with their playoff run up until Male so this year they start with the #9 ranking and I will be watching them to determine if they should be higher or, didn’t deserve to be ranked in the first place. Their season starts at Mercer which is almost certainly a win and then face Paducah Tilghman which should prove interesting.

10. Elizabethtown – It really surprised me in my opening thread where I asked people offer their own rankings that NO ONE mentioned the Panthers in their rankings or even their honorable mentions. As great of a season as Etown had, I have to let them round out the Top 10. Everything points to Etown being a solid program which should be able to reload. Unfortunately, it will not be till Etown’s 4th game against North Hardin to determine if my prediction of Elizabethtown is correct.

Honorable Mention – these are the teams that just missed the Top Ten and positioned to step up when those ranked stumble and fall out of the rankings

John Hardin – John Hardin built an impressive program of the last two decades and are always a team to look out for. They will get the opportunity to prove themselves in their first games against (in order) Bowling Green, North Hardin, Warren Central, PRP and Central Hardin. They could be the best team in the Louisville area not ranked – yet!

Pleasure Ridge Park – PRP was a good team last year that just had an impossible schedule in the second half of the season. The season started well with wins over Valley, Meade Co, Doss and North Hardin then things got ugly when they lost six of the next seven. Those six being Trinity, St. X, Male, Manual, Central, and Trinity again in the playoffs. The schedule this season is unfortunately identical. If PRP could just flip one of those losses and be 6 and 6 would prove PRP is despite its record, a pretty decent team.

Shelby County – Shelby County had a great season last year only a close regular season loss to Franklin County, a great playoff win against John Hardin and an unfortunate playoff loss to South Warren. The rockets will definitely be a contender to break the top ten.

Featured Game of the Week - Manual versus Central

Agree or disagree, discuss!

Okay, I'll start.

I know I'm a little biased, but people are sleeping on Ballard. Only going 6-5 last year vs. a tough schedule was not what we were accustomed to, but that was a sophomore/junior-dominated team (and those juniors are now a 30+ member senior class).

A lot will think a head coaching change will hurt, but while the systems on O/D are new, they are going to be EXTREMELY scheme-sound. The discipline, off-season commitment, and focus on proper fundamentals has not changed one bit.

I strongly believe that in head-to-head matchups against the teams mentioned above, I'd feel very comfortable picking the Bruins in at least 8 of the matchups without even seeing any of them play a game yet.

A very fair critique. My leaving Ballard off had mostly to do with the difficulty of absorbing a new coaching philosophy. By the second half of the season, I would expect Ballard to be in the top ten. In the first few games of the season, I am guessing we will see the mistakes and brain farts common with learning a new system.

A very fair critique. My leaving Ballard off had mostly to do with the difficulty of absorbing a new coaching philosophy.

Sorry -- didn't mean to be critical of YOU at all. Meant to say the 'sleeping on Ballard' was being done more widely since you were basically doing a compilation of others' opinions.

(Thank you, by the way, for taking the time to process those opinions and produce such a listing!)

Oh, I take criticism well, just look at last year's thread, lol. I think people are overlooking Ballard just due to the unknown of the new season. The first game against Oldham, I really don't know what that will tell. Old Co is so inconsistent, I have no idea what to expect. The following week against Male will REALLY test how quickly the Bruin Boys have picked up the new system. The following week against DeSales will probably be the best indicator, looking forward to that game.

Who all does Central Hardin bring back from last year's team?

Who all does Central Hardin bring back from last year's team?

From what read, not a good amount but a decent amount comes back. Out Hardin Co members hopefully will chip in.

Really curious why South Oldham did not get any consideration. They only lost by one point to Fern Creek in the Regional Final and have a good amount of returning starters. Three teams scored 20 points on Fern Creek -- Manual, Bowling Green and South Oldham. Thats not bad company to be in. I guess we will see week 1 vs Anderson County where they stand.

Okay, I'll start.

 

I know I'm a little biased, but people are sleeping on Ballard. Only going 6-5 last year vs. a tough schedule was not what we were accustomed to, but that was a sophomore/junior-dominated team (and those juniors are now a 30+ member senior class).

 

A lot will think a head coaching change will hurt, but while the systems on O/D are new, they are going to be EXTREMELY scheme-sound. The discipline, off-season commitment, and focus on proper fundamentals has not changed one bit.

 

I strongly believe that in head-to-head matchups against the teams mentioned above, I'd feel very comfortable picking the Bruins in at least 8 of the matchups without even seeing any of them play a game yet.

As you can tell by my username, this post isn't what I HOPE happens. I see the Ballard game as a potential stumble for DeSales. As you mentioned, Ballard brings back a lot of talent. Meanwhile, the Colts have a lot of first-time starters, including the QB. They also have a returning starter at RB who is out for the first five games. I look for them to be much better toward the end of the regular season. On top of that, I feel sure that Ballard will want retribution for last year's game, plus they will be playing on their home turf. That being said, I picked Ballard to win the game against DeSales last year also.

Central Hardin had a couple of transfers come in to help. They should be strong; don't think as strong as last year though. They lost a lot from last years squad. Which brings me to the John Hardin spot. I think you're a bit off with the Central and Etown ranking above John. JH should be primed for a big year this year; barring injuries. They are absolutely loaded this year. Most people around the program have been pointing to this season for a year or two. They won't match up great with BG at the beginning of the year; but they will compete with them. They got some significant transfers in to fill some key spots for them. Shorter, Livers, and Cleveland make a formidable backfield. The defense will be stronger this year; they will need to find an outside LB, but Coach Lewis has an abundance of talent to choose from. I think JH got caught up with playing a couple of seniors last year that he probably shouldn't have. that younger group was much more talented.

As you can tell by my username, this post isn't what I HOPE happens. I see the Ballard game as a potential stumble for DeSales. As you mentioned, Ballard brings back a lot of talent. Meanwhile, the Colts have a lot of first-time starters, including the QB. They also have a returning starter at RB who is out for the first five games. I look for them to be much better toward the end of the regular season. On top of that, I feel sure that Ballard will want retribution for last year's game, plus they will be playing on their home turf. That being said, I picked Ballard to win the game against DeSales last year also.

Have (and did even before last season) a LOT of respect for the job they've done out at DeSales--who wouldn't? Love how gritty and determined their kids play. And the coaching is right on point with not trying to do too much but maximizing the strengths of their personnel.

No idea the outcome, but I know one thing is for sure on the Ballard end: their kids will NOT overlook DeSales! Not that they were coached toward that last year either, but sometimes a good butt-whoopin is the only medicine for a kid or two who doesn't quite believe what his coaches preach to him. Fortunate for the Bruins, any of the kids who would've been prone to overlooking a lower-division opponent are graduated.

Going to be a great one to watch for me -- the kids & coaches at Ballard are family to me and I LOVE the offensive system at DeSales. Great matchup early in the season for real football fans to go see.

Really curious why South Oldham did not get any consideration. They only lost by one point to Fern Creek in the Regional Final and have a good amount of returning starters. Three teams scored 20 points on Fern Creek -- Manual, Bowling Green and South Oldham. Thats not bad company to be in. I guess we will see week 1 vs Anderson County where they stand.

No problem at all with disagreement and respectful, well thought out criticism like we have seen. This would be a really boring thread if everyone agreed with what I said. This is what Ram and Guru were wanting to happen.

Central Hardin had a couple of transfers come in to help. They should be strong; don't think as strong as last year though. They lost a lot from last years squad. Which brings me to the John Hardin spot. I think you're a bit off with the Central and Etown ranking above John. JH should be primed for a big year this year; barring injuries. They are absolutely loaded this year. Most people around the program have been pointing to this season for a year or two. They won't match up great with BG at the beginning of the year; but they will compete with them. They got some significant transfers in to fill some key spots for them. Shorter, Livers, and Cleveland make a formidable backfield. The defense will be stronger this year; they will need to find an outside LB, but Coach Lewis has an abundance of talent to choose from. I think JH got caught up with playing a couple of seniors last year that he probably shouldn't have. that younger group was much more talented.

I may have not been fair to John Hardin due to last year. I ranked John Hardin Preseason and that really blew up in my face of I recall correctly and I won't lie, that was a bit in the back of my head.

Saying that, if Ram and Guru ask me to do this again next year, I may differ a little bit in my preseason request. This year I asked you guys to put together your own top 10 so I could learn a little about teams I really didn't know much about what they had coming back. The problem with that is many of you guys and gals may have been in the same boat, ie you could talk plenty about your program but didn't know enough about others to put together a top ten. Next year I I think I will ask for a top ten or ask you to give facts about your team and why they deserve consideration for being rankes.

Saying that, if I did short change John Hardin and they should have been ranked, winning will fix that.

I'll admit, I have a hard time seeing E-town as better than all the HM and Ballard. Other than that I'm happy with the rankings.

Is it possible to expand it to a top fifteen instead of top ten and some HMs? I dunno why, but I just have the feeling that such a format would fit really well.