Way Too Early Kentucky High School 6A Football Rankings

[BBN_34]

Now that basketball has finished up I figured I’d get the chatter started with next season. The 6a class intrigues me the most with lots of moving pieces. My rankings are under the assumption that all current seniors graduate as planned.

1. Male

2. Saint Xavier

3. Trinity

4. Manual

5. Bryan Station 

6. Henderson County

7. North Hardin

8. Ballard

9. Oldham County

10. Bullitt East

I don’t know much about many teams outside the top 3 so feel free to discuss and fill me in on any teams I missed.

[Voice of Reason]

I am going to predict Dixie Heights gets into the top 10.

[LongTimeReader]

One and two seem right. Wouldn’t be surprised if Manual didn’t sneak their way into the top 3 as the season progresses. 

[snakesnot_2000]

McCracken County might be a top 10 team.

[Tkinslow]

Seems weird Trinity not ranked first I just assumed they would be as good as ever not that slotting them third means they ain’t just not used to seeing them anywhere but first.

[DevilMayCare]

From skimming the surface:

1. Male - The Bulldogs boast three of the top prospects in Kentucky - Selah Brown (DL), Vinny Anthony (WR), and Elijah Manning (LB). They return Nic Schutte at QB and Daniel Swinney looks like a very suitable replacement for Jaylin Bross. Entire o-line is back. Loaded and a firm #1, imo.

2. St. Xavier - Questions at QB. Smith and Duddy give the Tigers one of the best WR duos in the state. Jaxon Panariello looks like a future FBS linebacker. On paper, they should get the better of Trinity this year, but with the level T's program is at right now, I'm not as confident putting X at #2 as I probably should be.

3. Trinity - The Rocks should come back to earth after a historically great 2020 season, but even a reloading T is still among the favorites in 6A. Armon Tucker is one of the top RBs in the state. No Bob Beatty for the first time since 1999.

4. Manual - They have a pair of elite talents in Jawaun Northington (RB) and Malachi Lawrence (DE). The Crimsons lose enough quality bodies that I've got them at least half a notch below Louisville's Big 3, but they should have enough back to remain a fixture in the top 5 next season and potentially move up.

5. Bryan Station - Lose a very good QB and must replace a lot up front, but return basically all skill people, including one of the best RBs most outside of Lexington haven't heard of in Joey Bond. Defense should be stout, with 9 of top 11 tacklers back. 

Beyond that, you've got a group that includes the likes of Dixie Heights, McCracken County, and Oldham County. My sleeper pick for 6A is Daviess County. They return all skill people and QB Joe Humphreys, a possible Mr. Football darkhorse. North Hardin has been a mainstay in the top 5 for a couple of years, but I see them taking a step back to rebuild after losing a lot of talent and production on both sides of the ball. 

It's so hard to rank any class beyond the top 5.

[BBN_34]

Bullitt East is my dark horse. Was a very young team in 2020. Returns a solid young QB in Travis Eagan as well as two solid young receivers in Cam Brogan and Nolan Davenport. Upcoming junior Mason Gauthier is back in the backfield earning 329 yards on the ground in 2020. The chargers also return the top 4 tacklers and 4/5 starting offensive lineman.

[Tigerpride94]

St. X should be very strong on defense where they return around 8 starters but will have to replace the two cornerbacks. The biggest question will be O-line since only return 1 starter. Mekhi Smith & Michael Duddy will be strength of offense. When I watched the upcoming Junior class when they were freshman, I thought they had potential to be one of best defenses to come through the school, and I think is looking like the case since 3 sophomores had big impact on defense last year with Jaxon Panariello leading the team in tackles. Teddy Meiers played well, and Micah Carter has multiple power 5 offers. Both the upcoming senior & junior classes went undefeated as freshman so I think they should have good depth.

Male returns around 20 starters so they will obviously be very good. 

Trinity is like an unknown since graduating around 20 starters but have good, speedster RB Armon Tucker to build around. Their upcoming sophomore class went undefeated as freshman last year so I expect some of those younger guys to make an impact.

Manual graduated a lot but they have great RB Juwaun Northington to build around. I think they may be not quite as good as last year but still good.

Ballard has some talent and wouldn’t surprise me if they wind up being 4th or 5th best team.

Bryan Station returns a lot of starters so they should be improved and a top 10 team. 
 

I haven’t looked at all teams in depth yet, but probably some of the usual teams in top 10 will be there again.

 

 

 

[Unrivaled97]

9 hours ago, BBN_34 said:

Bullitt East is my dark horse. Was a very young team in 2020. Returns a solid young QB in Travis Eagan as well as two solid young receivers in Cam Brogan and Nolan Davenport. Upcoming junior Mason Gauthier is back in the backfield earning 329 yards on the ground in 2020. The chargers also return the top 4 tacklers and 4/5 starting offensive lineman.

BE will be much improved this year and will be very competitive, but honestly, probably still a year away and probably not top 10 this year.  The players listed above are all juniors this upcoming year as will be 4 of the starting offensive linemen (projected).  Throw in the fact there are a few sophomores this year, who started varsity last year as freshmen, that can really play and you have the making of a very competitive team this year, but a top 10, maybe even top 5 team, next year.

[ColonelMike]

Lots of questions this early...one team that stands out to me is Bryan Station.   I think the Defenders could be legit Top 5, but there are significant holes to fill, notably at QB, where BS had one of the better players in the state last year, IMO.

I believe the OL will also have a lot of new faces, but Bryan Station has a lot of other returnees, including great skill players.   If they reload at QB and OL, then top 5 is possible...but like others have mentioned already here, I think they fall into the "great unknown" and if the QB and OL replacements aren't up to the task, Station drops quite a bit, in my mind.

Well-coached team, though.   I would put them in my pre-season Top 10, definitely.

[ColonelMike]

Oldham County with a new/old coach in Tayshaun McBroom.   I like the hire; McBroom has the bloodlines of greatness and has been coaching at OC under Mike Fox the last three years.   Knows the kids and the school.   Will be interesting to see how he tinkers with the schemes....   Oldham a definite contender for Top 10 status.   

[LongTimeReader]

14 hours ago, DevilMayCare said:

From skimming the surface:

1. Male - The Bulldogs boast three of the top prospects in Kentucky - Selah Brown (DL), Vinny Anthony (WR), and Elijah Manning (LB). They return Nic Schutte at QB and Daniel Swinney looks like a very suitable replacement for Jaylin Bross. Entire o-line is back. Loaded and a firm #1, imo.

2. St. Xavier - Questions at QB. Smith and Duddy give the Tigers one of the best WR duos in the state. Jaxon Panariello looks like a future FBS linebacker. On paper, they should get the better of Trinity this year, but with the level T's program is at right now, I'm not as confident putting X at #2 as I probably should be.

3. Trinity - The Rocks should come back to earth after a historically great 2020 season, but even a reloading T is still among the favorites in 6A. Armon Tucker is one of the top RBs in the state. No Bob Beatty for the first time since 1999.

4. Manual - They have a pair of elite talents in Jawaun Northington (RB) and Malachi Lawrence (DE). The Crimsons lose enough quality bodies that I've got them at least half a notch below Louisville's Big 3, but they should have enough back to remain a fixture in the top 5 next season and potentially move up.

5. Bryan Station - Lose a very good QB and must replace a lot up front, but return basically all skill people, including one of the best RBs most outside of Lexington haven't heard of in Joey Bond. Defense should be stout, with 9 of top 11 tacklers back. 

Beyond that, you've got a group that includes the likes of Dixie Heights, McCracken County, and Oldham County. My sleeper pick for 6A is Daviess County. They return all skill people and QB Joe Humphreys, a possible Mr. Football darkhorse. North Hardin has been a mainstay in the top 5 for a couple of years, but I see them taking a step back to rebuild after losing a lot of talent and production on both sides of the ball. 

It's so hard to rank any class beyond the top 5.

I’d agree X has two good WRs to work with. As mentioned there are some question marks at QB and the OL. I’d also put RB in there too. Not that there aren’t good players to fill those roles just unproven players which must be developed during the spring and summer. 

[Hardin County Preps]

North Hardin at #7 seems a bit high. They literally lose 22 players to graduation that saw significant playing time. While they do return QB Manie Wimberle, they will be very young at most every other position. If Central Hardin can figure out their QB position in the spring and summer, they have the talent to win the district this year as Meade County also loses 17 seniors this year to graduation. Don't expect Barren County to be any stronger than they have been.

[NLTanker1]

Trinity may be getting overlooked a little here. Yes they lose a lot to graduation. But they had multiple running clock games last season, many of which began early in the game. Those underclassmen gained a lot of experience.

[Rock85]

Not sure what to expect from the Rocks this year. Lots of variables. One thing I do know is they surely will be battle tested and ready for the playoffs after the schedule they must play.