When my nephews went away to college, my brother's house was suddenly empty. The TV and living room furniture had found its way to the nephews' apartment. Dishes gone, tables gone, everything that my brother had for years had now relocated. 3A for next season seems the same way. Gone are Boyle Co, Central, Corbin, Lex Cath. On the surface it seems only a handful of teams can challenge for a spot at Kroger Field. From the west (at least I THINK they are west) You have CAL and Desales. In the East you have Belfry. Are there others that can make a strong push to be at Kroger field next season?

On paper, you named the three teams that are expected to be at the head of the class.

 

CAL has some big question marks losing Milton Wright and Coach Lefors, but they are also absolutely loaded with talent on the LOS and return their QB and two excellent RB's.

 

DeSales will be very stout and expect to see the Scroggins kid take a big step forward. DeSales always has a championship caliber Defense.

 

Belfry returns a very solid core from last year's team and will have one of the most electric players in the class in Junior Isaac Dixon.

 

 

 

The other names to watch for:

Bell County- The Bobcats return the brunt of a team that went 11-2 and their only losses were to Corbin. Bell should have an exciting Offense with some playmakers and getting out of Corbin's shadow will be a big help. The question with Bell though is who are they really? Bell's schedule was abysmal the past two years with Corbin being the lone exception.

 

Ashland- The Tomcats drop down from 4A and get away from the bully known as Johnson Central. Ashland has fielded some very stout teams the past few years, but do have to replace their Mr. Everything Quarterback.

 

Mercer County- Another 4A dropper. The Titans are always respectable but the new alignment is not favorable. They now enter a district with CAL and DeSales.

 

Etown- Perhaps the most underrated 3A program over the past five years or so. Coach Brown does a great job with the Panthers and they have made numerous deep pushes to the Regional Finals and Semi's.

 

Tilghman- Never short on talent but always a wild card. They showed some definitive positive steps last season and have a strong roster returning. They will be stout in the West.

 

Glasgow- The Scotties have re-emerged in recent years in Class 2A and have won a ton of games and made some nice playoff pushes. This Senior class has been winning together for a long time.

 

Taylor County- The Cardinals drop down in class after making a run to the 4A Semi-Finals last season. Taylor County will most likely see a tougher path ahead in their new digs, but they will easily be a Pre-Season Top 10 team.

 

Larue County- I love the job Coach Jaggers does. They made an upset run to the Semi-Finals last year and will parlay that momentum into another solid season.

 

If I had to throw a way too early Top 10:

 

1. CAL

2. DeSales

3. Belfry

4. Bell County

5. Etown

6. Ashland

7. Taylor County

8. Tilghman

9. Larue County

10. Glasgow

From the KHSAA.

 

2019 to 2022 Class 3A

 

District 1 – Paducah Tilghman, Trigg County, Union County, Webster County

 

District 2 – Adair County, Casey County, Glasgow, Hart County, Taylor County

 

District 3 – Bardstown, Elizabethtown, LaRue County, Nelson County, Thomas Nelson

 

District 4 – Christian Academy-Louisville, DeSales, Henry County, Mercer County, Western Hills

 

District 5 – Bell County, Estill County, Garrard County, Jackson County, McCreary Central, Rockcastle County

 

District 6 – Fleming County, Lewis County, Mason County, Pendleton County, Powell County

 

District 7 – Ashland Blazer, East Carter, Greenup County, Russell

 

District 8 – Belfry, Floyd Central, Lawrence County, Magoffin County, Pike County Central

This is a straight up homer pick, but Russell's a team to keep an eye on. Like most teams, they'll have some holes to fill - WR and D-line come to mind. But they return quite a bit more than they lose from a team that played really well down the stretch last season and battled hard (especially defensively) against eventual champion Central in a region final loss.

 

I'm confident the backfield's in good hands, as well as the offensive line. Defensively, Russell's got some quality bodies in the trenches and return all four starting linebackers plus a couple of three year starters in the secondary. Next season's juniors are a class that's been very successful as a group. I think they'll really start to assert themselves as a whole in 2019.

 

Greenup's another team dropping down from 4A that could be interesting to follow. Eli Sammons (Marshall commit) will be a four year starter at QB.

I believe this may be the year Tilghman puts it together after slowly building up the last 2 seasons.

 

This last Senior class played for 4 coaches in 4 years. Tilghman definitely has the right man in place now in Coach Smith who is going into his second season. Changing playbooks on both sides of the ball every year really took a toll more than one would think.

 

Although losing an extremely talented Senior class, I've always believed that the Senior class of 2020 is one of the most talented classes Tilghman has had.

 

There are several kids I see breaking out in a big way.

 

The top teams in the class are very good, but I can definitely see Tilghman making a run. The Tilghman/DeSales game during the season will be a great measuring stick to see how close they stack up.

On paper, you named the three teams that are expected to be at the head of the class.

 

CAL has some big question marks losing Milton Wright and Coach Lefors, but they are also absolutely loaded with talent on the LOS and return their QB and two excellent RB's.

 

DeSales will be very stout and expect to see the Scroggins kid take a big step forward. DeSales always has a championship caliber Defense.

 

Belfry returns a very solid core from last year's team and will have one of the most electric players in the class in Junior Isaac Dixon.

 

 

 

The other names to watch for:

Bell County- The Bobcats return the brunt of a team that went 11-2 and their only losses were to Corbin. Bell should have an exciting Offense with some playmakers and getting out of Corbin's shadow will be a big help. The question with Bell though is who are they really? Bell's schedule was abysmal the past two years with Corbin being the lone exception.

 

Ashland- The Tomcats drop down from 4A and get away from the bully known as Johnson Central. Ashland has fielded some very stout teams the past few years, but do have to replace their Mr. Everything Quarterback.

 

Mercer County- Another 4A dropper. The Titans are always respectable but the new alignment is not favorable. They now enter a district with CAL and DeSales.

 

Etown- Perhaps the most underrated 3A program over the past five years or so. Coach Brown does a great job with the Panthers and they have made numerous deep pushes to the Regional Finals and Semi's.

 

Tilghman- Never short on talent but always a wild card. They showed some definitive positive steps last season and have a strong roster returning. They will be stout in the West.

 

Glasgow- The Scotties have re-emerged in recent years in Class 2A and have won a ton of games and made some nice playoff pushes. This Senior class has been winning together for a long time.

 

Taylor County- The Cardinals drop down in class after making a run to the 4A Semi-Finals last season. Taylor County will most likely see a tougher path ahead in their new digs, but they will easily be a Pre-Season Top 10 team.

 

Larue County- I love the job Coach Jaggers does. They made an upset run to the Semi-Finals last year and will parlay that momentum into another solid season.

 

If I had to throw a way too early Top 10:

 

1. CAL

2. DeSales

3. Belfry

4. Bell County

5. Etown

6. Ashland

7. Taylor County

8. Tilghman

9. Larue County

10. Glasgow

 

I completely agree with this top 10.

Very thoughtful analysis. With a couple of transfers from North Carolina coming in to an already loaded CAL roster, they are definitely the team to beat. I would love to see your ranking and breakdown of 6A.

On paper, you named the three teams that are expected to be at the head of the class.

 

CAL has some big question marks losing Milton Wright and Coach Lefors, but they are also absolutely loaded with talent on the LOS and return their QB and two excellent RB's.

 

DeSales will be very stout and expect to see the Scroggins kid take a big step forward. DeSales always has a championship caliber Defense.

 

Belfry returns a very solid core from last year's team and will have one of the most electric players in the class in Junior Isaac Dixon.

 

 

 

The other names to watch for:

Bell County- The Bobcats return the brunt of a team that went 11-2 and their only losses were to Corbin. Bell should have an exciting Offense with some playmakers and getting out of Corbin's shadow will be a big help. The question with Bell though is who are they really? Bell's schedule was abysmal the past two years with Corbin being the lone exception.

 

Ashland- The Tomcats drop down from 4A and get away from the bully known as Johnson Central. Ashland has fielded some very stout teams the past few years, but do have to replace their Mr. Everything Quarterback.

 

Mercer County- Another 4A dropper. The Titans are always respectable but the new alignment is not favorable. They now enter a district with CAL and DeSales.

 

Etown- Perhaps the most underrated 3A program over the past five years or so. Coach Brown does a great job with the Panthers and they have made numerous deep pushes to the Regional Finals and Semi's.

 

Tilghman- Never short on talent but always a wild card. They showed some definitive positive steps last season and have a strong roster returning. They will be stout in the West.

 

Glasgow- The Scotties have re-emerged in recent years in Class 2A and have won a ton of games and made some nice playoff pushes. This Senior class has been winning together for a long time.

 

Taylor County- The Cardinals drop down in class after making a run to the 4A Semi-Finals last season. Taylor County will most likely see a tougher path ahead in their new digs, but they will easily be a Pre-Season Top 10 team.

 

Larue County- I love the job Coach Jaggers does. They made an upset run to the Semi-Finals last year and will parlay that momentum into another solid season.

 

If I had to throw a way too early Top 10:

 

1. CAL

2. DeSales

3. Belfry

4. Bell County

5. Etown

6. Ashland

7. Taylor County

8. Tilghman

9. Larue County

10. Glasgow

 

Great run down.

 

I would put Glasgow up there much higher, though. They return a ton of their playmakers, beginning with their RB who went for over 2,000 yards last year and their QB. They went 11-2 last year- only losing to Franklin-Simpson & Walton Verona, while beating a very good Elizabethtown team, who like Glasgow, returns the core of their 2018 playmakers.

 

I think 3A has three tiers.

 

1st) CAL, DeSales, Belfry- chances are more than likely that your champion is going to be one of them, if not your two finalist coming from these three.

 

2) Your group that isn’t those guys, but on a Friday night with some breaks, could knock the above three off.

 

In no particular order because the only thing separating them is likely where the game is played.

 

Ashland

Russell

Glasgow

E-town

Tilghman

Bell County

Taylor County

 

3) Like group two will hope to do to group one, these guys will hope to do to group 2. Winning a playoff game in the current line up and possibly slipping up and playing for a Region Title would be Cinderella worthy. Solid programs year in year out, some more than others- have their highs and lows over the years, but a lot has to fall in place for them to be serious contenders next year.

 

 

Bardstown

Mercer County

Larue County

Lawrence County

Powell County

Casey County

Union County

Trigg County

 

And probably some others that would fall very interchably in that 9/10-16 range.