Last year I tracked all of the football games between Kentucky high schools and out-of-state football programs to see how we stacked up. Out of 77 games against out-of-state competition in 2023, Kentucky high school football programs won 37 games and lost 40 for an overall winning percentage of 48.1%.

2023 Kentucky High School Football vs. Everybody Else

I figured that thread interested me enough to go ahead and give it a go again this year.

If I'm not mistaken, last year there were some games that were dropped/picked up during the season, so this could change a little, but here is the week-by-week breakdown of games against out-of-state opponents:

August 23/24 (Fourteen Games)
Ballard Memorial vs. South Fulton (TN)
Boyd County vs. South Point (OH)
Clinton County vs. Jackson County (TN)
Fort Campbell vs. Clarksville Northwest (TN)
Fulton County at Gleason (TN)
Greenup County at Coal Grove (OH)
Harlan vs. Hancock County (TN)
Ludlow vs. Lockland (OH)
Lynn Camp vs. Jellico (TN)
Murray vs. Union City (TN)
Pendleton County vs. Manchester (OH)
Pleasure Ridge Park vs. Taft (OH)
South Oldham at Anderson (OH)
St. Xavier at Floyd Central (IN)

August 30/31 (Ten Games)
Ballard Memorial vs. Jo Byrns (TN)
Bishop Brossart at North Colege Hill (OH)
Christian Academy Louisville vs. Heritage Hills (IN)
Covington Holy Cross at Dohn Community Prep (OH)
Dixie Heights vs. Hughes (OH)
Fulton County vs. South Fulton (TN)
Gallatin County at Switzerland County (IN)
Jenkins vs. Livingston Academy (TN)
Logan County at Rossview (TN)
Louisville Holy Cross vs. Providence (IN)

September 6/7 (Twelve Games)
Ashland vs. Harvest Preparatory School (OH)
Ballard Memorial vs. Massac County (IL)
Boyle County at St. Edward (OH)
East Ridge vs. Riverview (WV)
Graves County at McEwen (TN)
Greenup County vs. Portsmouth (OH)
Jenkins at Bland (VA)
Middlesboro vs. Gate City (VA)
Russell vs. South Point (OH)
Scott County vs. Walther Christian Academy (IL)
Trinity vs. Center Grove (IN)
Trimble County vs. Switzerland County (IN)

September 13/14 (Thirteen Games)
Carroll County vs. Madison (IN)
Central at LaSalle (OH)
Christian County at South Gibson (TN)
Fern Creek at Jeffersonville (IN)
Fulton County vs. Obion County Central (TN)
Hopkinsville vs. Clarksville (TN)
Knox Central at Scott (TN)
Phelps at Bland-Rocky Gap (VA)
Shelby Valley vs. Reedsville Eastern (OH)
South Warren at Gibson Southern (IN)
Todd County Central at Stewart County (TN)
Trinity at Carmel (IN)
Woodford County at Warren County (CA)

September 20/21 (Nine Games)
Ballard Memorial vs. Chaffee Senior (MO)
Fairview vs. Green (OH)
Hancock County vs. Tell City (IN)
Letcher County Central vs. Wise County Central (VA)
Owen County vs. Switzerland County (IN)
Paintsville at Warren (OH)
Phelps vs. Twin Valley (VA)
Pineville at Lee (VA)
St. Xavier at Elder (OH)

September 27/28 (Six Games)
Ballard Memorial at Franklin Christian Academy (TN)
Bellevue at Gamble Montessori (OH)
Campbell County vs. Harrison (OH)
Covington Holy Cross vs. Cincinnati College Prep Academy (OH)
Morgan County vs. Tug Valley (WV)
Monroe County vs. Clay County (TN)

October 4/5 (Four Games)
Phelps vs. Craig County (VA)
Pikeville vs. Ironton (OH)
Trinity vs. St. Xavier (OH)
Whitley County vs. Scott (TN)

October 11/12 (One Game)
Phelps at Montcalm (WV)

October 25/26 (One Game)
Jackson County vs. Jellico (TN)

November 1/2 (One Game)
Fairview at Paden City (WV)

Kentucky currently has (71) games against out of state opponents, with our high schools showing opponents from (8) other states, and it breaks down as follows:

Kentucky vs. California
- One game.

Kentucky vs. Illinois
- Two games.

Kentucky vs. Indiana
- Twelve games.

Kentucky vs. Missouri
- One game.

Kentucky vs. Ohio
- Twenty-Three games.

Kentucky vs. Tennessee
- Twenty-One games.

Kentucky vs. Virginia
- Seven games.

Kentucky vs. West Virginia
- Four games.

3 minutes ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Last year I tracked all of the football games between Kentucky high schools and out-of-state football programs to see how we stacked up. Out of 77 games against out-of-state competition in 2023, Kentucky high school football programs won 37 games and lost 40 for an overall winning percentage of 48.1%.

The by-state breakdown of last year's results:

Kentucky vs. California: 1-0 (100% winning)
Kentucky vs. Illinois: 0-1 (0% winning)
Kentucky vs. Indiana: 9-6 (53% winning)
Kentucky vs. Ohio: 15-11 (58% winning)
Kentucky vs. Tennessee: 8-14 (36% winning)
Kentucky vs. Virginia: 2-5 (29% winning)
Kentucky vs. West Virginia: 2-3 (40% winning)

Very interesting!

The one team on the list that really stood out to me was Ballard Memorial who has half their games (5) against out of state teams.  That took alot of work to put that together.  I hope they have a great season.

Along with all the Kentucky teams!

Boyle is playing St Edwards (OH) on Sept 7th. 

Interesting. 

6 hours ago, DearToday said:

Boyle is playing St Edwards (OH) on Sept 7th. 

Oh dang, I knew that one...not sure how in the world I overlooked it. Thanks DT, I'll get it added into things.

Trinity doesn’t dodge anyone.  Now that is a high school football schedule.

That's interesting information.  Thanks for going to the trouble to compile it.  

Another way to compare would be to look at the top teams at the end of the season and track how many players they have signed to play in college and at what level.  

Week 1:

Kentucky finishes 7-7 against out of state teams in Week 1.

1-0 against Indiana:
St. Xavier 56 Floyd Central (IN) 14

3-3 against Ohio:
Boyd County 38 South Point (OH) 0
Greenup County 37 Coal Grove (OH) 14
Ludlow 33 Lockland (OH) 0
Manchester (OH) 38 Pendleton County 15
Taft (OH) 43 Pleasure Ridge Park 0
Anderson (OH) 51 South Oldham 6

3-4 against Tennessee:
Ballard Memorial 40 South Fulton (TN) 22
Jackson County (TN) 28 Clinton County 14
Clarksville Northwest (TN) 35 Fort Campbell 16
Gleason (TN) 43 Fulton County 28
Harlan 1 Hancock County (TN) 0 (Forfeit)
Lynn Camp 20 Jellico (TN) 14
Union City (TN) 35 Murray 28

This is fantastic - I’ve been wondering about this exact information. Its interesting to delve into the storied rivalries of KY border-programs that have been played for decades; Blazer and Ironton (OH) is just one example, and it’s a shame that series has been (apparently) discontinued.

I would love for CCH to schedule more out-of-state schools; it doesn’t necessarily have to be a Cincy GCL opponent, it could be a school like Anderson, who is not quite on the GCL level, but nonetheless formidable. They have played SK within recent memory and just played a series with South Oldham. Cov Cath scheduled a series with Kings Mill several years ago, who is in the same conference as Anderson.

With that being said, I believe that Cov Cath should attempt to schedule East Central. East Central is a powerhouse in Indiana who is in close proximity to NKY; they have played Campbell County several times within the last decade. Cov Cath also had a home-and-home with Indianapolis Bishop Chatard several years ago. 

Admittedly, I’m not sure how the logistics play out and how far ahead, as it were, that these matchups can be arranged, but it’s certainly time. The best of luck to all KY squads in their respective matchups against out-of-state competition.

Week 2:

Kentucky finishes 4-6 against out of state teams in Week 2.

1-2 against Indiana:
Christian Academy Louisville 35 Heritage Hills (IN) 7
Switzerland County (IN) 55 Gallatin County 6
Providence (IN) 28 Louisville Holy Cross 14

3-0 against Ohio:
Bishop Brossart 48 North Colege Hill (OH) 26
Covington Holy Cross 8 Dohn Community Prep (OH) 6
Dixie Heights 66 Hughes (OH) 19

0-4 against Tennessee:
Jo Byrns (TN) 38 Ballard Memorial 20
South Fulton (TN) 47 Fulton County 6
Livingston Academy (TN) 55 Jenkins 0
Rossview (TN) 31 Logan County 0

Week 3:

Kentucky finishes 6-6 against out of state teams in Week 3.

2-0 against Illinois:
Ballard Memorial 44 Massac County (IL) 28
Scott County 48 Walther Christian Academy (IL) 8

0-2 against Indiana:
Center Grove (IN) 24 Trinity 10
Switzerland County (IN) 41 Trimble County 0

3-1 against Ohio:
Harvest Preparatory School (OH) 26 Ashland 10
Boyle County 38 St. Edward (OH) 21
Greenup County 37 Portsmouth (OH) 36
Russell 35 South Point (OH) 13

1-0 against Tennessee:
Graves County 41 McEwen (TN) 20

0-2 against Virginia:
Bland (VA) 36 Jenkins 12
Gate City (VA) 14 Middlesboro 13

0-1 against West Virginia:
Riverview (WV) 26 East Ridge 6

Week 4:

Kentucky finishes 6-7 against out of state teams in Week 4.

1-0 against California:
Woodford County 32 Warren County (CA) 8

2-2 against Indiana:
Madison (IN) 58 Carroll County 14
Jeffersonville (IN) 30 Fern Creek 27
South Warren 34 Gibson Southern (IN) 31
Trinity 35 Carmel (IN) 23

0-2 against Ohio:
LaSalle (OH) 7 Central 6
Reedsville Eastern (OH) 40 Shelby Valley 18

2-3 against Tennessee:
South Gibson (TN) 29 Christian County 18
Obion County Central (TN) 27 Fulton County 12
Clarksville (TN) 35 Hopkinsville 14
Knox Central 24 Scott (TN) 6
Todd County Central 42 Stewart County (TN) 10

1-0 against Virginia:
Phelps 36 Bland-Rocky Gap (VA) 0