BluegrassPreps Football Rankings (10/19)

[TheDeuce]

Class 1A

"They are who we thought they are." We all have heard that before. It aptly describes last weeks results in 1A. All of the Top Ten who played posted wins. There was one minor shift in our Top Ten though as the voters were more impressed by Bethlehem's strong winning margin over Campbellsville and boosted them up one slot ahead of Raceland. The most notable win of the week was Paintsville defeating 2A# 5 West Carter in a hard fought contest with Paintsville pulling away in the fourth quarter. 

There were also some other noteworthy district wins. Newport Central Catholic handed Dayton their first loss with an emphatic 34-6 win. Williamsburg got their first win of the season and showed they are still the team to beat in their district with a 40-0 win over Pineville, who was off to a good 2-1 start coming into the game. 

The Top Ten will suffer some losses this week. We have two Top Ten matchups on the schedule. Raceland will try to build on their lopsided win last week in their battle against #2 Paintsville. Raceland has had a tough season to date but this game offers them an opportunity to turn the year around. The Rams are hoping their strong schedule has them ready for the Tigers. 

The other Top Ten matchup features #6 Crittenden County traveling to #10 Russellville. Rhea Stadium has great history, unique features and its own persona. This will be a challenging road battle for the Rockets. The Panthers are working hard to reclaim their standing as a perennial top 10 team in 1A. This Friday their opportunity arrives. 

1. Pikeville - OPEN

2. Paintsville at #8 Raceland

3. Louisville Holy Cross at Campbellsville

4. Kentucky Country Day at Eminence

5. Newport Central Catholic vs. Bellevue (10/22)

6. Crittenden County at #10 Russellville

7. Bethlehem - OPEN

8. Raceland vs. #2 Paintsville

9. Williamsburg at Lynn Camp

10. Russellville vs. #6 Crittenden County

 

Class 2A

The statement has been made. Lexington Christian Academy took care of business against Somerset for three out of the four quarters to secure a huge win and claim to the top spot in the Class 2A rankings. Expect these two to meet again and Somerset has to keep a sense of optimism after flipping the script in 2019 after falling in the regular season to the Eagles as well. LCA cannot rest on their laurels though, as they still need to polish off tough Danville this week to avoid opening the door to a three-way tie. Speaking of avoiding three-way ties, that is all that is left to do for Hancock County after they stunned Owensboro Catholic and remained undefeated in the process. The Hornets still need to take care of business against the Wing-T offense of McLean County

Murray made a statement of their own by outlasting Caldwell County in a shootout. Murray now must go for an even bigger fish. The Tigers have not defeated Mayfield in several years but will need to do so to lock up a district title and assert themselves as a legit contender in the process. Breathitt County made their own statement but it may not be what they wanted. The Bobcats remained undefeated but they raised eyebrows in a negative way by struggling to put away Greenup County.

1. Lexington Christian Academy at Danville

2. Somerset at Washington County

3. Beechwood at Newport

4. Mayfield at Murray

5. West Carter vs. East Ridge

6. Danville vs. Lexington Christian Academy

7. Breathitt County at Leslie County

8. Murray vs. Mayfield

9. Hancock County at McLean County

10. Caldwell County at 4A Madisonville - North Hopkins

 

Class 3A

The Class 3A Game of the Week turned into the Class 3A "Take Notice of the Week" as Ashland used a dominant second half to rout Russell, 41-7. Keontae Pittman's 157 yards rushing and three touchdowns was the offensive catalyst, while the Tomcats defense held the Red Devils to 150 yards total offense. As a result, Ashland moves into the third spot in the BluegrassPreps Class 3A rankings while Russell slips to sixth.

Two top tier pairings spice up the 3A calendar this week. First, top ranked DeSales hosts Mercer County. DeSales has played once in the last four weeks due to COVID, a three touchdown loss to St. Xavier. Meanwhile, Mercer County has won four straight after a season opening loss to Boyle County, compiling a higher point total every week in each of the four victories. A Titans victory all but assures the number one seed in tournament play.

Just south of Louisville, numbers four and five clash when Elizabethtown travels to Bardstown. Both teams are undefeated and have dominated competition to this point. Elizabethtown is winning by 36 points per game while Bardstown is even more dominant, winning by an average of 43. Last year saw E-town win the regular season game in overtime before Bardstown romped in the playoff rematch. Could we see something similar in 2020?

Perhaps the most surprising result in Class 3A came from just outside the Top Ten as winless Union County rolled Paducah Tilghman, 49-7. Corinthian Seales-Portee rushed for 219 yards and three touchdowns giving the Braves their first win of the season. Don't let the record fool you, however, as Union's four previous opponents are a combined 19-5 and their average margin of defeat had been a mere 12 points.

1. DeSales vs. #7 Mercer County

2. Belfry vs. Pike County Central

3. Ashland at Greenup County

4. Elizabethtown at #5 Bardstown

5. Bardstown vs. #4 Elizabethtown

6. Russell -- OPEN

7. Mercer County at #1 DeSales

8. Christian Academy - Louisville vs. Western Hills

9. Rockcastle County -- OPEN

10. Bell County vs. Estill County

 

Class 4A

Nine of the top ten teams this week either won or were open, with no marquee games between ranked teams.  The most significant game was Corbin hosting Lincoln County.  The Redhounds were fresh off a dominating 34-7 win over Knox Central and perhaps could be accused of looking forward to Wayne County next week.  They scratched out a 14-8 win, stopping Lincoln County twice inside the two yard line.  That loss propelled Lincoln County into the Top Ten, and the win preserved the massive #5 Corbin/#6 Wayne County matchup this week.  Hopkinsville was the lone loss in the Top Ten, as their COVID derailed season finally saw them exit the top ten in an ugly 31-7 loss to Logan County.  This week is a week we've been looking forward to, with three games featuring Top Ten teams matched against each other, highlighted by #4 Franklin County hosting #3 Central.  That matchup is a classic strength vs. strength matchup, pitting Franklin County's high octane offense against Central's stout defense.  Last season the Flyers got the best of Central in the regular season, but fell in the postseason 18-7.  The aforementioned Corbin/Wayne County matchup will likely decide the #1 seed for District 7, as it did a season ago.  Wayne County got the best of both of those matchups, scratching out an 18-16 win in the regular season and a 63-49 win in the postseason.  Lastly, #9 Letcher County Central will become the latest team to take aim at #1 Johnson Central.  Johnson Central has won 20 games in a row and 33 of their last 34.  

1. Johnson Central vs. #9 Letcher County Central

2. Boyle County at Bourbon County

3. Franklin County vs. #4 Central

4. Central at #3 Franklin County

5. Corbin at #6 Wayne County

6. Wayne County vs. #5 Corbin

7. Lexington Catholic at Anderson County

8. Russell County vs. Allen County-Scottsville

9. Letcher County Central at #1 Johnson Central

10. Lincoln County vs. Knox Central

 

Class 5A

In the build up to volume #72 of the Covington Catholic/Highlands rivalry, the only thing certain, was uncertainty. The Colonels were unbeaten, but relatively unimpressive compared to their recent, sky high standard. And the Bluebirds had built confidence and belief on the strength of two running clock wins, but was it all a mirage? Predictions ranged from a tight four quarter affair, to a comfortable three score CovCath win. No one was calling for a six touchdown steamrolling. Whether it's talent or coaching, the events that unfolded in Park Hills last Friday indicate that the gap between the two programs is still substantial. 

The two Warren County heavyweights continued their march toward a November rematch. South Warren overcame a pick-six on its first snap of the game and another turnover-turned-touchdown to eventually dispatch previously unbeaten Greenwood. Bowling Green, on the other hand, was never threatened in its 42-0 blowout of Christian County. The Purples and Spartans swap opponents this week.

Graves County picked off Gavin Wimsatt twice and got a productive night out of running back Clint McKee to hang tough with Owensboro, but the Red Devils, who once again check in at #1 in the RPI, got big plays from their defense and special teams to help keep the Eagles at bay. This was probably Owensboro's last significant hurdle to sewing up home field for the district portion of the playoffs.

An intriguing inter-class match-up pits Scott County versus a battle tested Ballard squad. It gives the Cardinals a common opponent of quality to gauge Douglass on, a week ahead of their collision with the Broncos.

Southwestern and Pulaski County both won big in Week 6 to set the stage for the renewal of their Pulaski County civil war. This game started the Maroons' downfall last year, when quarterback Drew Polston suffered a season ending injury against the Warriors. History may be on the verge of repeating itself, as Polston left last week's game with an undisclosed injury. His status for this week is not known at this time.

The consistency in this class has been incredible so far. The order at the very top has changed a few times, but the top six positions have been held down by the same six teams every week this season.

1. Frederick Douglass vs. Montgomery County

2. Covington Catholic vs. Conner

3. South Warren vs. Christian County

4. Bowling Green vs. Greenwood

5. Owensboro at Grayson County

6. Scott County at 6A #7 Ballard

7. North Bullitt vs. Atherton

8. Southwestern vs. #9 Pulaski County

9. Pulaski County at #8 Southwestern

10. Highlands vs. Cooper

 

Class 6A

1. Trinity (4-0) remains at top spot after having an open week and will travel to winless Eastern where the reserves will play early and often.

2. Male (4-1) moves into #2 after dominating #10 Fern Creek 29-0 in 2nd half and final score of 38-6. Male will travel to Bullitt East looking to make it 5 straight wins.

3. North Hardin (6-0) struggled offensively for a half against Barren County before pulling away with a 38-6 win. North Hardin will host one win Central Hardin and look to remain undefeated.

4. Manual (2-1) has completed their two week COVID quarantine and will host struggling Butler who has given up over 50 pts their last three games.

5. St. Xavier (2-2) defeated struggling Butler 59-14 and will take a step up in competition hosting Pleasure Ridge Park.

6. McCracken County (4-1) is coming off a open week due to a COVID cancellation and will host district foe Henderson County who has won 3 straight games. 

7. Ballard (2-2) defeated Eastern 34-6 in a game stopped midway through 4th quarter because of 25 minute injury to Eastern player. Ballard will host 5A traditional power Scott County which could be the game of the week.

8. Bryan Station (5-1) escaped Buckner with a 25-20 win over #9 Oldham County. Bryan Station  will host struggling one win Madison Central.

9. Oldham County (3-2) came up short in a close 25-20 loss to #8 Bryan Station. Oldham County will travel to struggling one win George Rogers Clark.

10. Fern Creek (1-3) hung with #2 Male for a half being down 3 at halftime before Male kicked in gear resulting in a 38-6 loss. Fern Creek will look to get back on the winning track hosting one win Southern.

1. Trinity at Eastern

2. Male at Bullitt East

3. North Hardin vs. Central Hardin

4. Manual vs. Butler

5. St. Xavier vs. Pleasure Ridge Park

6. McCracken County vs. Henderson County

7. Ballard vs. 5A #6 Scott County

8. Bryan Station vs. Madison Central

9. Oldham County at George Rogers Clark

10. Fern Creek vs. Southern