article Class 2A Notebook 8/20- Come at Me Bro!

What an excellent week for Class 2A! After proving itself as perhaps pound for pound the toughest class last year, the 2018 season started with the top three teams all making a statement in a big way.

DeSales Serves Notice

No one in the State would doubt that DeSales had a football team capable of putting up a fight against one of Kentucky's elite large school programs. The Colts are perennially one of the Top 20 overall teams in Kentucky and have made a tradition of knocking off other 6A programs in Jefferson County.

With that said, very few people outside of fans of the Colts' program would have predicted DeSales to actually knock off St. Xavier in Friday's season opener. For the better part of the past three decades or more, it has been hard enough for some of Kentucky's proudest large school programs to knock off St. Xavier, let alone a 2A school who has seemingly been in the Tigers' shadow as a Catholic school.

Make no mistake about it, the win on Friday serves as an alert on multiple levels worth taking note of. On the small scale, it cements DeSales as a title contender this season and sets the bar high for where other 2A programs will have to be to beat the Colts on any given night. The fact DeSales held the Tigers to 16 points also should serve notice of the prowess of the Colts' Defense. Large picture, this win will resonate throughout Jefferson County as an indicator that you can compete at the Highest Level of the State at a private school not named Trinity or St. Xavier.

Another by-product of the win was the performance of QB Aaron Pfaadt. Pfaadt only tallied 103 total yards, but he made his contributions weigh heavy by accounting for all three of the Colts' TD's. His acumen running the Offense kept the chains moving and kept the clock rolling all night, and when he capped off a drive with 4:00 to go in the 4th Quarter with a TD plunge he officially served notice that the Offense is firmly in his grasp in his third season as the starter. Don't expect Pfaadt to ever be the guy putting up video game numbers, but with the stable of skill players surrounding him he is the perfect veteran player for his Offense to pivot around.

Centurions Put Out the Dragon's Fire

Just because South Oldham didn't have a "#1" or "#2" by their name should not take away from the significance of what CAL did Friday in their 21-3 win. South Oldham brought a veteran team with several of their top Offensive play makers back from a 5A team that was 10-1 before running into eventual State Champion Covington Catholic in the Regional Finals.

The Dragons averaged 38 points per game last year and averaged over 269 rushing yards per game, and we're expected to be equally proficient this season. CAL was a brick wall Defensively and held the Dragons to a meager 60 rushing yards on 36 carries and an astounding 101 total yards.

Milton Wright may very well be the favorite to win the Mr. Football award. He opened his Senior campaign with an absolute gem. Wright tallied 130 total Offensive yards and scored two TD's. The biggest of which was a 41 yard score on a 4th and Long play to extend their lead to 10-0 late in the 2nd Quarter. What is not present in his stat line was his role in patrolling the secondary. With South Oldham's bread and butter stifled, they were still unable to find any success throwing the football with a fear of Wright changing the game on any deep pass not on target.

The other story line many were intrigued about entering this game would be who the Centurions would trot out at QB and how he would fare. Anthony Sabatino put up a solid night against a quality opponent, completing 13/18 passes with those two scores to Wright. If Sabatino can manage the Offense and get the ball into the hands of Wright and returning starting HB Brandt Babin, the Centurions should be just as good as expected.

Kentucky 2A -2 Tennessee 2A -0

Mayfield served notice in last year's season opener that the Bluegrass State is no slouch when it comes to small school football. Mayfield shocked fans from the Volunteer State by pummeling traditional power Union City on their homefield. Union City would go on to win the Class 2A State Title and wanted nothing more than to find vengeance in the 2018 opener against Kentucky's Pre-Season #1 team.

Entering the 4th Quarter it appeared Mayfield may be in jeopardy of a rare season opening loss, but the Cardinals did what we have seen so many Mayfield teams do when a game is close in the 4th Quarter. The Cardinals Defense stepped up with key stops and the Offense found clutch conversions en route to an impressive 43-27 victory, outscoring the Golden Tornadoes 23-0 in the final 12:00.

Coach Joe Morris kept a revolving door of subs along his Defensive Line all night. For the first 3/4 of the game it seemed it may be a strategy to their detriment, the Golden Tornadoes churned up yardage running between the tackles. Come the 4th Quarter though, this strategy proved to be the difference as Mayfield wore Union City down like Muhammad Ali's "Rope-a-dope" strategy.

Jayden Stinson only completed 9 passes, but they went for 221 yards and nearly half of them ended up being Touchdowns (4). Kade Neely caught two of those scores, he lead the game with 135 receiving yards. Dynamic Kent Trey Matthews hauled in a receiving Touchdown as well as a rushing score as he paced the Cardinal ground game effectively with 194 yards on 16 carries.

There is no rest for the Cardinals as they must turn around and face a ranked 4A Hopkinsville team next week. The Tigers are smarting after a lopsided loss to an excellent South Warren team in their opener.

The Other Storylines from Around the State

EKY

Leslie County Stunned by 1A Pineville

Leslie County had an uncharacteristic 2017 campaign and most of their fans felt confident that with an extra year of mileage on their young talent that they could turn it around and compete for a District Title in 2018. Pineville not only beat Leslie County, they throttled them 50-12. The Mountain Lions were 2-9 last season and lost to Leslie 47-22 in the 2017 season opener

This Week:

Shelby Valley's win over Jenkins tells us nothing as the Wildcats beat the Cavaliers as you would expect they should. Pike Central is not a team that will be making waves in Class 3A most likely, but Shelby Valley needs to make a statement against their County rival to be taken serious as a team wishing to win their District.

NKY

Newport Central Catholic Impresses

After a poor showing in their scrimmage there were some grumblings among the fans of Newport Central Catholic. Whatever displeasure there may have been was quickly forgotten when the Breds dominated a ranked 4A Scott team 41-0. Coach Lickert could not have asked for a better start. This has been a close game in recent seasons, so the wide margin of victory should be an indicator that the Breds have indeed improved.

This Week:

Lloyd Memorial got the win in their opener, but didn't exactly turn heads. The Juggs will head to Beechwood to square off with the Defending 1A Champions. It would be unfair to expect a Lloyd win, but for Lloyd to be taken seriously as a contender in Class 2A they need to at least give the Tigers a strong effort.

CKY

Washington County Makes a Statement

Washington County had a successful 2017 season by their standards and with some strong talent returning, their goals for 2018 were to improve even further. The Commanders came out strong with a heavy handed 39-13 win over fellow 2A foe Green County. This may be a pre-cursor of things to come. The Commanders' schedule is pretty favorable to open the season and if they can beat an upstart 3A Thomas Nelson on September 7th it might be likely to see a 6-0 record before a final stretch of games against Western Hills, CAL, and DeSales.

This Week:

Keep an eye on the Lexington Christian Academy and Pikeville game. LCA looked solid against 3A Waggener and not like a team decimated by graduation, but Pikeville is one of the Top 3 teams in 1A. Last year LCA won this game with relative ease, if they can beat Pikeville this season the Eagles will certainly get a lot more notice.

SKY

Two Paths Diverged at the Scottie Bowl?

District 3 entered 2018 with two teams ranked in the Top 10 and both took the field in the Scottie Bowl at Glasgow. Glasgow and Monroe each faced teams outside of the rankings in their respective classes, Glasgow fell 34-20 to 3A Trigg County while Glasgow steamrolled 1A Russellville 51-0. For the Falcons the loss has to be alarming. Trigg was 5-6 last year and not expected to be a major factor in the 3A picture. Glasgow, on the other hand, looked every bit the form of last year's Semi-Finals team.

This Week:

Somerset looked good in their romp over 5A Lincoln County and will draw a ranked 1A Williamsburg team. Most view Somerset in a tier or two below the heavyweights of the class, but a statement win can go a long way in helping close that gap in many people's eyes.

WKY

O-NO! Catholic

No team in Class 2A had questions as big as Owensboro Catholic. With a new coach coming in following a roller coaster 2017 season, their season opener against a solid 6A Daviess County intended to serve as a nice measuring stick to open the season. The Aces' Defensive struggles the marred their 2017 campaign reared their head again as Daviess exploded for 464 yards and 49 points. All hope is not lost just yet. Daviess is very capable of a deep playoff run and will put up big points on a number of teams, and the Catholic Offense did an admirable job gaining over 300 yards. The road does not get easier for the Aces though, up next is Evansville Memorial, IN. The Tigers are the Defending 3A Champions.

This Week:

McLean County opened the year with an impressive 44-14 win over 6A Ohio County and will host the same Trigg County that just beat Monroe County. If the Cougars can defeat Trigg they immediately pop into contention for the Top 10 discussions.

Since there was no mention of the reigning champions, I’ll note that Danville thumped Woodford County 40-0. The Admirals have a long winning streak going as they prepare for a good Corbin team this week.

Since there was no mention of the reigning champions, I’ll note that Danville thumped Woodford County 40-0. The Admirals have a long winning streak going as they prepare for a good Corbin team this week.

Is that an accomplishment though, considering Woodfords past few seasons?

Since there was no mention of the reigning champions, I’ll note that Danville thumped Woodford County 40-0. The Admirals have a long winning streak going as they prepare for a good Corbin team this week.

Danville will be getting plenty of ink this season, beating a team who had lost 17 straight games heading into their matchup isn't exactly headline worthy, especially in comparison to the caliber of teams the Top 3 defeated.

I can assure you regardless of what happens against Corbin, Danville will get attention next week win or lose.

2A is looking strong again.. ..don't worry Danville, everyone is watching yall with respect.

Since there was no mention of the reigning champions, I’ll note that Danville thumped Woodford County 40-0. The Admirals have a long winning streak going as they prepare for a good Corbin team this week.