Class 3A

With the penultimate week of football complete and one Friday night left in the regular season, its time to begin looking at the RPI in relation to potential playoff matchups. Third-ranked Elizabethtown, fresh off a 55-41 victory over ranked 5A power North Bullitt, holds an almost insurmountable lead atop the Class 3A RPI. E-town should be a heavy favorite this weekend over John Hardin and a top place finish in RPI would assure the Panthers of home field advantage throughout the postseason.

First in the BluegrassPreps rankings, but only second in RPI, Ashland did what they've done all season, whipping Rowan County, 46-0. The Tomcats have allowed a mere 35 points total in six games while averaging 45. Ashland is off this weekend and will open postseason play against either East Carter or Greenup County. Third place in RPI is Ashland's district mate Russell, who drops to eighth this week after a second consecutive loss, this time to West Carter for the first time in school history. The Red Devils have a lot of ground to cover to catch Ashland, who defeated them 41-7 two weeks ago.

Second-ranked Belfry took it on the nose against 4A #1 Johnson Central, 35-14, but the Pirates were competitive, which bodes well for yet another deep postseason run. Belfry is fourth in the RPI, second among potential third round competitors in the east. Belfry and Ashland are both favored to get to the state semifinals, where Belfry would have to travel to Putnam Stadium, a place they've won just once in eleven visits.

Fourth-ranked DeSales stays ahead of district foes Mercer County and Christian Academy - Louisville, although the Colts still have not played since October 9. DeSales is scheduled to play Western Hills this Friday. The RPI numbers in District 4, however, favor fifth-ranked Mercer County, who beat Western Hills last weekend and will face neighbor Anderson County this week. Sixth-ranked Christian Academy-Louisville is off this Friday, but barring any strange occurrences, will host DeSales in the playoff opener.

Finally, welcome back to the rankings Glasgow. The Scotties rolled Franklin-Simpson, 41-14, and crack the rankings at number ten this week, one spot behind district opponent Taylor County. Taylor County stayed hot, winning a sixth consecutive game over Bourbon County, and will face Class 4A surprise Russell County this week. Taylor beat Glasgow on October 16, although a second round playoff rematch is almost a guarantee.

1. Ashland -- OPEN

2. Belfry -- OPEN

3. Elizabethtown vs. 4A John Hardin

4. DeSales at Western Hills

5. Mercer County vs. 4A Anderson County

6. Christian Academy - Louisville -- OPEN

7. Bardstown -- OPEN

8. Russell at 1A #? Raceland

9. Taylor County vs. 4A #? Russell County

10. Glasgow vs. Adair County

53 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

8. Russell at 1A #? Raceland

9. Taylor County vs. 4A #? Russell County

8. Russell at 1A #3 Raceland

9. Taylor County vs. 4A #8 Russell County

20 hours ago, TheDeuce said:

Sixth-ranked Christian Academy-Louisville is off this Friday, but barring any strange occurrences, will host DeSales in the playoff opener.

CAL sure did a lot of maneuvering and backing down to play district foes in the regular season just to host a playoff game. Hope it pays off for them. They lost some respect for what they did. 

I'm not sure what CAL did wrong. They played 3 district opponents. Covid messed with their schedule a bit, but that happened to a lot of schools.  DeSales only got to play 4 games because of it.  I heard someone else talk about CAL "backing down", but I don't know what that means.  One thing I'm pretty sure of is that their football team is very underrated.  They have a lot of talent and should be very dangerous in the playoffs.  That game against DeSales should be a tough game. 

12 hours ago, coachb110 said:

One thing I'm pretty sure of is that their football team is very underrated.  They have a lot of talent and should be very dangerous in the playoffs.

They're ranked sixth. Ahead of them are two undefeated teams who have looked terrific all season, the defending state champions, a team that has already beat them, and DeSales. At best you would argue CAL should be fifth instead of sixth. Lets stop tossing around the word "underrated" when every ounce of evidence says they couldn't be more properly rated.

1 hour ago, gchs_uk9 said:

They're ranked sixth. Ahead of them are two undefeated teams who have looked terrific all season, the defending state champions, a team that has already beat them, and DeSales. At best you would argue CAL should be fifth instead of sixth. Lets stop tossing around the word "underrated" when every ounce of evidence says they couldn't be more properly rated.