Bluegrasspreps Lexington/Central Kentucky Power Rankings - Sponsored by Grippos - KY Football (High School)

August 3, 201610 yr

Bluegrasspreps Lexington/Central Kentucky Power Rankings – Pre-Season Edition

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Sound General Alarm

Until the last few years, Fayette 6A schools were not seen as setting the pace in Central Kentucky high school football. Eric Shaw and his Generals of Lafayette are changing that. The Generals endured and survived a highly competitive regional playoff run in 2015, edging rivals Henry Clay and Scott County by a total of thirteen points. The Generals went on to the 6A championship in Bowling Green to cap an outstanding year. The Generals are reloading to fire another volley in 2016. With three of Kentucky’s top six 2017 college recruits Shaw would like to see a Patton-like breakout. But he will face stiff resistance in the campaign.

Right behind the Generals is Scott County. The Cardinals were atop of the rankings most of 2015. The road to Bowling Green for 6A teams will likely go through these two schools.

Three other Fayette County 6A teams are in the pre-season ranking – Henry Clay, Tates Creek and Bryan Station. The rivalries within Kentucky’s second largest city are as intense as they have ever been and 2016 should be an interesting year. In 2017 a new high school will open in Fayette County and drive some changes for these programs.

Anderson County (5A) returns to the rankings after a choppy 2015. Mercer County (4A) finished 5-6 in the second half of 2015 and comes in with high expectations. The Lexington Catholic Knights (3A) are back after making it to Bowling Green last year. The two teams from Title Town, Boyle County (3A) and Danville (2A), round out the top ten.

There are familiar teams sitting just outside the top ten as noted below.

The 2016 season is almost here - man your battle stations!

The Rankings

10) Danville (2A)

Coach Clay Clevenger guided the Admirals to the semi-finals last year. Zach Dampier should return as the starting quarterback for the Admirals. Also returning is Dampier’s favorite receiver from last season, junior Dmauriae VanCleave.

9) Boyle County (3A)

This is Coach Chuck Smith’s third season since returning as the Rebels head coach. The Rebels started 2015 with an impressive win over 6A Central Hardin last season and were on a roll until a trick play by rival Lexington Catholic handed them their first loss. Smith has to find a way back fill Josiah Robbins this season. This will definitely require a team effort. Smith has 11 returning seniors and a ton of juniors who have only played for Smith at Boyle.

8) Tates Creek (6A)

Commodore head coach Antoine Sims is in his third year at his alma-mater after he was named ‘interim head coach’ in 2014. The ‘interim’ label is gone and this may be the year that the Commodores re-establish themselves as a Central Kentucky power house as Sims has envisioned. Outstanding quarterback Peyton Burk (2651 yards) is gone. But Sims has a number of returning contributors. Last year’s leading receivers are back – Jackson Beerman and Turner Gentry. Also, last year’s leading rusher Laron Warner will be a junior this year.

7) Bryan Station (6A)

Coach Frank Parks will have some rebuilding to do in 2016. A number of high impact seniors have graduated. However, the Defenders seem to be reaching a solid level of consistency. Quarterback position may be a combination of two-way starter Quinten Floyd and Jalen Burbage. Desmond Bernard is expected to take the lead at the receiver position.

6) Anderson County (5A)

Coach Mark Peach and his Bearcats had a rare losing season record last year. The Bearcats are loaded with seniors and should be back in the mix in 2016. Cade Cotton takes over an open spot at quarterback. The offense should run a wing-T oriented formation this season. Brandon Labhart, who led the Bearcats in both rushing and tackles last year, also returns.

5) Mercer County (4A)

The Titans first five games under first-year coach David Buchanan lead to a 0-5 record. The Titans finished the season 6 – 1 and reached the second round of the playoffs. The Titans should get out the gates better in 2016 as Gunner Gillis, who started at Anderson County last year, has joined the Titans. Buchanan will have a large seasoned senior class of 20 this season.

4) Henry Clay (6A)

Coach Sam Simpson’s Blue Devils were 7 and 5 in 2015 and lost to eventual state runner-up Lafayette by only one TD in the second round. Greg Couch, nephew of UK great Tim Couch, will lead the Devils at quarterback. Demarcus Tyler returns as receiver. Returning defensive linemen Chris Benton and Karl Irving were second-team all-city in 2015.

3) Lexington Catholic (3A)

Coach Mark Perry enters his third season after strong run in 2015 that got the Knights back to the State Championship final. A potential battle for the starting quarterback position was avoided when Legend Brumbaugh moved to Florida for his senior year. This leaves senior Kirk Fagot as the Knights starting quarterback. In front of Fagot on the offensive line will be WKU-commit Woodford Lankford. The Knights defense will be led by Kirks brother Jack Fagot who had a team-leading 75 solo tackles and 109 total tackles in 2015.

2) Scott County (6A)

Coach Jim McKee’s Cardinals dominated the power rankings in 2015 and they look to be atop of them again in 2016. McKee has sophomore lineman and UK-commit Bryan Hudson anchoring the offensive line. At quarterback will be Josh Davis and Kendrick Hamilton figures to start at running back.

1) Lafayette (6A)

Coach Eric Shaw is showing how to build a program at Lafayette. The Generals reached the finals in 2015 and look to repeat in 2016. Leading the way will be three top recruits according to composite college rankings. Jedrick Willis is ranked as the #1 recruit in the state at offensive tackle. Senior quarterback Walker Wood is ranked third and has already committed to UK. Offensive guard Alex Simpson is also a top state recruit.

Waiting Their Turn

Franklin County (4A) – 7-4 in 2015 and just outside the final 10 ranking. The Flyers are usually in the mix at some point in the season.

Lexington Christian Academy (2A) - 8-5 in 2015. The Eagles finished 2015 strong and may be on the way back up as a program since moving to 2A.

Paris (1A) – 11-1 in 2015. Lots of talent to replace in 2016. Many did not like their high ranking in 2015. They will have to show they are a strong team to break into the top 10 in 2016.

Possible Breakthroughs

Garrard County (3A) – The Golden Lions were 7-5 in 2015. They have the challenge of being the same district with Lexington Catholic and Boyle. The Golden Lions could make a run.

East Jessamine (4A) – The Jaguars were respectable 7-4 in 2015. They look to go deeper in the post season in 2016.

Madison Central (6A) – The Indians were up and down in 2015.

Madison Southern (5A) – The Eagles won their first district championship in 2015. Can they repeat?

Mark The Calendar

Key early season games that will have impact on the power ranking.

#8 Tates Creek at #2 Scott County, August 19, 6 p.m. *

Wayne County vs. #7 Bryan Station, August 20, 5:30. Roy Kidd Bowl at Madison Central

Central Hardin at #5 Mercer County, August 20, 8 p.m.. Little Caesars Ft Harrod Bowl at Mercer Co.

#1 Lafayette at #9 Boyle County, August 27 8 p.m. PBK Rebel Bowl at Boyle County.

#10 Danville at #9 Boyle County, September 2, 7:30 p.m.

#3 Lexington Catholic at Covington Catholic, September 9, 7 p.m. (under the lights)

· - Game of the week

August 3, 201610 yr

Looks great BGC!

August 3, 201610 yr

Henry Clay may be a surprise team this year.

August 3, 201610 yr

Author

Quick note - Wayne County is part of the EKY group this year. They were in CKY last year but their district members were all in EKY group.

August 3, 201610 yr

Good stuff Bgcard.

August 3, 201610 yr

It's early August but I think Danville will be as good as they were last year and I think LCA will be pretty good too.

August 4, 201610 yr

Reading the Anderson County thread earlier they mentioned that both lines and linebackers could be a problem. Has that been solved and how much experience does this new QB have?

August 6, 201610 yr

Author

Was at the George Ewen Alumni game at LexCath last night that was followed by an intra-squad scrimmage and got some insight.

- LexCath looked good with Fagot at quarterback. He has the interest of a number of FCS schools.

- Brother Jack Fagot also has FCS interest and some FBS schools looking at him. He had a great camp at WKU but no offer yet. Also Cincinnati has expressed interest.

Tates Creek did beat LexCath in the semi-finals of the UK 7-on-7. Someone who knows Tates Creek coach Antoine Sims said that Sims is excited about this year. Sims main concern is his lines on both sides of the ball.

Also, there is article in LHL this morning that the Scott County second high school is back on hold after lack of public support in public meetings for a tax increase to the fund the new school. So Jim McKee and the Cardinals will likely stay strong for the next few years.

August 6, 201610 yr

Henry Clay

Very overrated and should do and should have done so much better considering the athletes they have.

August 7, 201610 yr

I'm looking forward to Anderson county at Mercer, week 3. Not only b/c of the obvious, but AC whipped MC pretty bad last year.... 50 something to 14. I feel like this will be a "measuring stick" type of game.

Great work on the rankings, btw

August 7, 201610 yr

Author

Henry Clay

Very overrated and should do and should have done so much better considering the athletes they have.

I think you are correct on the history. Actually after Lafayette and Scott Co. the confidence level in the remaining schools is not as strong. The Fayette 6As are difficult to figure out. But it does seem Shaw has Lafayette in a good place. Parks has gotten Bryan Station to be a contender. However, they graduated some stellar players from last season. Tates Creek could show that they are new Fayette contender, jumping HC and BS in the Lexington schools.

Next year a new HS opens in Fayette County. There will be new districts. This will likely have a disruptive impact on all the programs. So this is the year for the 6As in Fayette to get it done.

August 7, 201610 yr

Judging on Twitter it looks like Dunbar and Tates Creek both feel slighted. I'm interested in seeing how football in CKY turns out this year. Seems like there is more optimism in the air than normal for the Lexington area schools.