Who will be back in the state finals, even with a couple of teams in new classes? Anyone want to take a pre-season stab at the matchups we'll see in the finals this season?

2022 1A:
Pikeville beat Raceland

2022 2A:
Beechwood beat Mayfield

2022 3A:
Christian Academy Louisville beat Bardstown (Now in 4A)

2022 4A:
Boyle County beat Corbin

2022 5A:
Frederick Douglass (Now in 6A) beat Bowling Green

2022 6A:
Bullitt East beat Male

Boyle is the one I am most confident in of that group.

It’ll be interesting to see how this season plays out for Frederick Douglass. With being moved to 6A and an exponentially more difficult schedule, repeating a state championship will be a tough task. On top of that, they lost a lot of talent in their skilled positions. The 3 running backs that pretty much had all of their rushing yards last year are gone. TJ Horton is at Ball State, Devon Heart graduated and Ty Bryant, which you could argue they wouldn’t have won state without him at RB last year, is at UK. Their 3 seniors at WR are gone and they only have one senior WR returning and he’s primarily been their kicker. I think if he plays WR it could affect his kicking late in the game. And unlike last year, they’re going to need those PAT and field goal points. They struggled last year to throw the ball at times and relied heavily on running and screen passes. It’s also my understanding that their #1 returning RB has a knee injury and won’t be available until near mid season. I think they’ll still have a great defense but they’ve lost some high level talent on that side of the ball too. The biggest question I have, is where will they get their offense from. Next weeks scrimmage against St X will tell a lot. 

Right now we've got 12 folks saying they think Boyle County will be back in the 4A finals, 11 saying Pikeville will be back in the 1A finals, and 9 each saying they think Mayfield will be back in the 2A finals and CAL will be back in the 3A finals.

RPI hurdle notwithstanding, I think Pikeville and Raceland meet again in 1A.

Mayfield in 2A.

CAL in 3A.

Boyle County in 4A.

Bowling Green in 5A.

On 8/4/2023 at 11:32 AM, Old General said:

It’ll be interesting to see how this season plays out for Frederick Douglass. With being moved to 6A and an exponentially more difficult schedule, repeating a state championship will be a tough task. On top of that, they lost a lot of talent in their skilled positions. The 3 running backs that pretty much had all of their rushing yards last year are gone. TJ Horton is at Ball State, Devon Heart graduated and Ty Bryant, which you could argue they wouldn’t have won state without him at RB last year, is at UK. Their 3 seniors at WR are gone and they only have one senior WR returning and he’s primarily been their kicker. I think if he plays WR it could affect his kicking late in the game. And unlike last year, they’re going to need those PAT and field goal points. They struggled last year to throw the ball at times and relied heavily on running and screen passes. It’s also my understanding that their #1 returning RB has a knee injury and won’t be available until near mid season. I think they’ll still have a great defense but they’ve lost some high level talent on that side of the ball too. The biggest question I have, is where will they get their offense from. Next weeks scrimmage against St X will tell a lot. 

" Next weeks scrimmage against St X will tell a lot. " I disagree. The 1st half against Hoban will tell you what you need to know. I'd expect MAYBE 1 quarter from the D1 FDHS prospects against St. X.  

The likelihood of facing the Tigers in the playoffs, means you should expect to see a lot of the FDHS 2nd stringers for the most part, which actually is better for the Broncos, allowing the 2nd unit to get meaningful snaps against a top tier 1st string. 

Boyle County in 4A, Pikeville in 1A, and CAL in 3A. Other repeats are possible but these are the more likely to me and I think Boyle County has the best chance.

On 8/5/2023 at 2:57 PM, Hungover_in_Andover said:

" Next weeks scrimmage against St X will tell a lot. " I disagree. The 1st half against Hoban will tell you what you need to know. I'd expect MAYBE 1 quarter from the D1 FDHS prospects against St. X.  

The likelihood of facing the Tigers in the playoffs, means you should expect to see a lot of the FDHS 2nd stringers for the most part, which actually is better for the Broncos, allowing the 2nd unit to get meaningful snaps against a top tier 1st string. 

I totally agree. The scrimmages are just an opportunity to go against fresh blood and simulate game speed. Neither 6A power house is going to reveal their strengths in this scrimmage. Main thing is to get away with no injuries. It will be interesting to see how their run game plays out against X tho. Wish I could go watch the scrimmage but I’ll be in Danville watching a scrimmage there. What’s your thoughts on FDHS’ offense this year? Have you heard anything about Pharo Watts and when he’ll be available? 

2 hours ago, Old General said:

I totally agree. The scrimmages are just an opportunity to go against fresh blood and simulate game speed. Neither 6A power house is going to reveal their strengths in this scrimmage. Main thing is to get away with no injuries. It will be interesting to see how their run game plays out against X tho. Wish I could go watch the scrimmage but I’ll be in Danville watching a scrimmage there. What’s your thoughts on FDHS’ offense this year? Have you heard anything about Pharo Watts and when he’ll be available? 

Offense looks to be same as last year. The run will be the strength, there is a freshman and a sophomore RB that look to have the reins until Pharo returns in late October. 

Receiving corp is intriguing but unproven. Upfront, the big guys are inexperienced but still BIG. 

The 1st half of the season can go a lot of ways. But by the time districts begin, oh my there will be something brewing in 2000 Winchester Rd. 

What is the earliest Boyle and Cov Cath could meet in the playoffs ?

On 8/6/2023 at 11:41 PM, FirstTimeLongTime said:

What is the earliest Boyle and Cov Cath could meet in the playoffs ?

Depends on how RPI shakes out, but it could be as early as the 3rd round.

Bump.

On 8/4/2023 at 2:00 PM, DevilMayCare said:

RPI hurdle notwithstanding, I think Pikeville and Raceland meet again in 1A.

Mayfield in 2A.

CAL in 3A.

Boyle County in 4A.

Bowling Green in 5A.

 

Sevil should change name to Jimmy the Greek, well done!