article 1A Notebook 10/11 - Top Players

In week 7, district play was in full swing and 3 of the top 5 in the rankings had their open week. That made for a slow week in 1A but there were two upsets to note.

First, Kentucky Country Day made a big statement with a 34-0 shutout win over Louisville Holy Cross. Even though both teams entered the game with 4-2 records, Holy Cross was the 10-14 point favorite based on a higher strength of schedule. Country Day made some adjustments on both sides of the ball and showed Holy Cross different looks than what they planned for. That caught Holy Cross off guard and Country Day jumped to a lead. That made it more difficult for the Holy Cross offense as they are not a come from behind team. This district win put Country Day in the driver's seat for the #1 seed in the playoffs. Frankfort visits them in 2 weeks with the district title on the line in that one.

The second upset was Bishop Brossart getting a easier than expected win versus Bracken County. The Polar Bears traveled to Alexandria riding a four game winning streak and a big come from behind win over last year's district champs, Paris. The Mustangs took no warning from that and rolled to a 33-13 win. Even more impressive is the Mustangs got the win after losing starting QB Chase Keller to injury in the first half. This win has Brossart knocking on the door to the top 10 but they will need to back this win with one over Paris this week if they want to make that leap in the rankings.

Top Players in 1A

This week let's take a look at some of the top players in 1A. The stats provided are a week behind; they do not include last Friday's games.

Running Backs

Cory Smith, Hazard - Smith is the leading rusher in 1A. He is averaging 177 yards per game and is tied with Paintsville's Kent Phelps at 14 TD's scored.

Justin Blackburn, Ludlow - Blackburn is averaging 160 yards per game and has scored 11 TD's. He started the year at QB but was moved to RB.

Kent Phelps, Paintsville – Phelps is averaging 10 yards per carry and is tied with Smith for the lead in rushing TD’s at 14.

Elijah Montero, Eminence – Montero leads 1A averaging 14 yards per carry and has scored 12 TD’s.

Johnny Drumgole, Russellville – Second only to Montero, Drumgole rushes for a little over 12 yards per carry.

Quarterbacks

Nathaniel Davidson, Raceland – Davidson leads 1A with 18 TD passes and in yards per game at 252. He is also completing 63.3% of his passes.

Chase Keller, Brossart – Second only to Davidson at 203 yards per game, Keller has 16 TD passes and is completing 50.6% of his passes.

Wyatt Battaile, Pikeville – Battaile was considered the top QB in 1A entering the season and he has not disappointed. He has thrown for 13 TD passes and thrown only 2 interceptions. Battaile is over 1,000 yards passing on the season completing 56.7% of his passes.

Brayden Burch, Beechwood – Burch is averaging just under 200 yards passing per game and is carrying the load offensively for Beechwood. He is completing close to 58% of passes.

Aaron Maggard, Paris – Maggard also is over 1,000 yards passing on the season averaging 183 yards per game. The most impressive stat for Maggard is 14 TD passes against only 4 interceptions.

Receivers

John Cherry, Raceland – Raceland is leading the way in passing stats this year and Cherry is at the top of the list in both receptions with 50, and in yards at 664.

Cameron Webb, Raceland – Right behind teammate Cherry with 574 yards receiving, Cherry averages 18.5 yards per reception.

Jekobi Wells, Paris – Third in yards with 493, Wells averages an impressive 26 yards per reception.

Bryce Donnelly, Brossart – Donnelly leads all 1A receivers with 10 TD receptions and is just a notch behind Wells in yards per reception at 25.8.

Game of the Week

Holy Cross (Louisville) at Frankfort - Holy Cross had a stunning district loss to Ky. Country Day last week but they get no break in the schedule this week as they travel to Frankfort. Frankfort has won their last two games and hopes to make it 3 in a row this week. It won't be easy against Holy Cross who beat them 31-0 last year and has played a very tough schedule. This is a must win for Holy Cross.

Hazard is still yet to post stats from there game with Pike Central.

Bailey Walker?

As far as QB's go Alec Poore of Wburg is averaging 220 yards a game with 12 td's to 4 picks against some pretty good competition. Certainly better competition than what Paris has played and Bishop Brossart too for that matter.

According to Paintsville's stats on KHSAA, Phelps has 16 TDs (not 14 TDs as stated above) and a 2pt conversion.

The kid from Williamsburg is a player! On a side note, I think Kent Phelps has only played 4 qtrs in 1 game vs Pikeville this season. He has been pulled at or before the half in every game, I love that Chirico gets his guys out early! Phelps also did not play vs Bourbon Co.

It's a great first filter at some of the top players in 1a. And as the playoffs progress, many more folks will see kids from programs they don't spend a lot of time examining on a weekly basis.

That said, I've got a couple of players to add based on personal observations.

Jameson Hinkebein Bethlehem--good hands and size. Very solid young man who's in the mix in most plays....you know you've played against him after the game. Averaging more than 40 yards a game receiving.

Jarred Frank KCD--15 Touchdowns in seven games, receiving and rushing. Just shy of 1000 all purpose yards.

Josh Lifson KCD-- Surpassed last year's sophomore total receiving yards with three more games in his junior year yet to go. Averaging just shy of 50 yards per game receiving....tight end who's the best blocker on a 5-2 squad.

The stats are tough to come by so I just used what I could find. I know most of the stats posted in the article are not up to date. Keep posting info on other players. The article is certainly not all inclusive and there are more players out there that should be recognized.

Love the discussion of best players. Good topic, but these are all offensive players and CB Elijah Mckenney-JR. Beechwood is not only one of the best players in 1A but is currently leading the state in INT's for any class. 1a-6a. Defensive Players should definitely get more love.

How about Defensive Players? They control games as well. Elijah Mckenney- CB Jr. Beechwood is not only one of the best Players in 1A but is currently leading the State in Int's for any class 1A-6A.