North Hardin (9-0) will host St. Xavier (5-2) after defeating Barren County 42-6 and Meade County 36-7 in the first two rounds of the playoffs. St. Xavier advanced by beating Pleasure Ridge Park 37-0 and Manual 10-6. Both teams are ranked in the top 5 in scoring defense in 6A with North Hardin #1 at 6.2 ppg. and St. Xavier #5 at 14.6 ppg. North Hardin in scoring offense is ranked #9 at 30.6 ppg. and St. Xavier is #11 at 27.7 ppg. St. Xavier has faced some of the best running backs in the state with DeSales's James Johnson and Manual's JaWaun Northington but North Hardin's Lavell Wright maybe the best one yet with a impressive 126 yds ppg. Plus North Hardin has a good QB in Manie Wimberly who has passed for 1339 yds and 11 td. St. Xavier is led by QB Giles Pooler who has passed for 840 yds and 5 td. The key for North Hardin will be to stop the receiving combo of Mekhi Smith 7tds and Michael Duddy who recently returned from injury and scored the winning td against Manual. Defense is the calling card for both these teams and turnovers could be the difference. By all metrics, this looks like a close and low scoring game. I don't see either team scoring more than 21 pts. Both teams will be hungry to get to the semifinals so who wins?

North Hardin- 34

St. X- 27

What do we know about LaVell Wright's status? I've seen no indication that he played against Meade County.

At the risk of stating the obvious here, his participation may be of paramount importance for North Hardin to win this game.

12 minutes ago, DevilMayCare said:

What do we know about LaVell Wright's status? I've seen no indication that he played against Meade County.

At the risk of stating the obvious here, his participation may be of paramount importance for North Hardin to win this game.

I read news article on game from The News-Enterprise and Lavell Wright did not play due to injury but does not say if he is available this Friday or not.

I'm pulling for the Tigers in this one!

Calpreps project a matchup has it St. X 20 North Hardin 14.

Should be another close game, but I see the Tigers being able to do enough to win this game. If St. X can limit their penalties from a week ago I think they'll have more success on offense than they did last week. It seems the St. X defense is playing their best football, and I'm not sure how consistent North Hardin's passing game is. Manual obviously was a very good opponent and a win the Tigers can use to get themselves prepared to face North Hardin. Limit the penalties and control the line of scrimmage and it should be a good night for the Tigers. 

I hope North Hardin wins this one! I think it will be low scoring!

North Hardin - 17

St. Xavier -   13

How "real" is NH's 9-0 ?

How comparable is this year's NH team to last year?

1 minute ago, JIM SEYMOUR # 85 said:

How "real" is NH's 9-0 ?

How comparable is this year's NH team to last year?

Their win over Frederick Douglass gives their 9-0 record credibility. 

Agreed.

Wasn't it a last second win @ FD?    

Last year's Team gave T a game for half.

X may have their hands full.

10 minutes ago, JIM SEYMOUR # 85 said:

Agreed.

Wasn't it a last second win @ FD?    

Last year's Team gave T a game for half.

X may have their hands full.

Maybe for the first quarter. It was 29-7 @ halftime. 

2 hours ago, JIM SEYMOUR # 85 said:

How "real" is NH's 9-0 ?

How comparable is this year's NH team to last year?

I think Manual might be better than North Hardin. 

1 hour ago, LongTimeReader said:

I think Manual might be better than North Hardin. 

I just watched NH vs. Meade Co. and I think Manual is definitely better. They were missing Lavell Wright so I’m sure that made a difference. They had 7-0 lead on Meade at halftime and eventually wore them down. Meade Co QB had plenty of time to throw so not much of a pass rush but NH did good job covering receivers. NH QB is huge and is good passer and has some athletic receivers. I believe it will be competitive game but I still think St.X wins after watching that game.

There was a play in the Meade County game that I haven't seen in a game ever and the referee made I think the right call. At the end of the first half, Meade Cty was running a 2 minute drill and completed a pass and needed to run to the line and spike the ball. The lines got set, the ball got snapped quickly but loose and the quarterback took his right hand and slapped/threw the ball downward and the ball went to the ground. The North Harden defensive player jumped on the ball and the referee gave the ball to North Hardin.  I don't think the QB had the ball at all so I think it was a good call.