I recently came across an article from the October 13, 1993 edition of the Lexington Herald-Leader where Mike Fields listed what he considered to be 12 of the most "timeless" rivalries in the state due to the fact that "no matter what year you catch them - 1973 or 1993 - you're going to see something special."

He goes on to say that "...not all rivalries have such staying power. Most of the hottest rivalries in the state today may not have existed or were merely lukewarm 10 or 20 years ago....Note that some of these teams don't play on a regular basis, or they only meet occasionally in the playoffs. But when they do collide, you had better buckle up."

From the article:

◙  St. X vs. Trinity. Their early season tiff has the largest attendance of any high school event in Kentucky.

◙  Mayfield vs. Tilghman. Eighty-two years of intensity.

◙  Mayfield vs. Danville. The 2A title game four times in six years.

◙  Corbin vs. Danville. Ask for a shot of cortisone before you watch.

◙  Beechwood vs. Pikeville. The roads to the Class A title always seem to intersect here.

◙  Covington Catholic vs. Highlands. A tradition of excellence.

◙  Bell County vs. either Covington Catholic or Highlands. Not what you would call a "friendly" rivalry.

◙  Belfry vs. Pikeville. For bragging rights in Pike County, home to tough, gritty football.

◙  Boone County vs. Bryan Station. The unexpected always seems to happen.

◙  Boone County vs. Trinity. Intimidating power football vs. Intimidating power football.

◙  Bowling Green vs. Warren Central. A cross-town battle that is almost always a matchup of 3A contenders.

◙  Ashland vs. Belfry. Have a head-butting, bruising ball.

Which games are you surprised to see on the list? Any rivalries that you think were gimmies that were omitted?

Any that you think deserved their spot on the list in 1993 but are obviously not gonna still be there?

I really don't remember Boone County and Bryan Station being a thing. 

I loved playing in the Beechwood vs Pikeville rivalry. You knew if you wanted to be the State Champion in Class A you had to go through Pikeville. I know they felt the same way about us. I’m sure both fan bases would love to see this rivalry  start back up. 

Have any of these really held up other than CovCath vs. Highlands, Pikeville vs. Belfry, Mayfield vs. Paducah, and St. X vs. Trinity?

There are two that I know he obviously couldn't have had back then - Cooper vs. Ryle and LCA vs. Lexington Catholic.

Was Danville and Boyle County a thing back then? What about Mercer v. Harrodsburg? In 1993 I was only 5.

25 minutes ago, theguru said:

I really don't remember Boone County and Bryan Station being a thing. 

So I'm not the only one who thought that then, haha.

Bell County was definitely a LOT more of a rivalry with Highlands and Cov Cath way back when.

After this article was published, Cov Cath had to beat Bell County on the way to the 1993 and 1997 state championships both (it was an easy win in 1997), but those were the only times Cov Cath faced off against Bell County after this article came out.

I know Highlands beat Bell 21-0 in the 2004 state finals, which has since been nullified to a 1-0 Bell County win, then reinstated as a Highlands win, and now I believe now it's been re-nullified as a 1-0 Bell County win because of the whole Mike Mitchell transfer eligibility flap at Highlands. There was probably another one or two times that Highlands faced Bell County in the 90s also, but these days Bell County doesn't even move the needle for probably 85% or more of the folks in the Cov Cath and Highlands communities anymore.

31 minutes ago, se7ens said:

Have any of these really held up other than CovCath vs. Highlands, Pikeville vs. Belfry, Mayfield vs. Paducah, and St. X vs. Trinity?

There are two that I know he obviously couldn't have had back then - Cooper vs. Ryle and LCA vs. Lexington Catholic.

Was Danville and Boyle County a thing back then? What about Mercer v. Harrodsburg? In 1993 I was only 5.

I think the reason why many haven't held up is because the classification changes (4 classes to 6 classes) and then population growth, such as the addition of schools like Cooper & Ryle since 1993 that has taken away from the talent pool for schools like Boone County.  Same with Warren Central with the inception of South Warren since then and in 1993, a school like Greenwood was only a few years old.

Highlands played Bell County in my memory in:

1988 playoffs: Marty Moore ran all over them, unfortunately Cov Cath ended Highlands season the next week!

1992 playoffs: Bell County tried some scheduling trickery by having Highlands travel down on Thanksgiving night to play them, apparently Bell County conveniently over watered the field to make it a muddy mess….

Both times Birds came out victorious!!!!

Just now, FrankNicodemus said:

Highlands played Bell County in my memory in:

1988 playoffs: Marty Moore ran all over them, unfortunately Cov Cath ended Highlands season the next week!

1992 playoffs: Bell County tried some scheduling trickery by having Highlands travel down on Thanksgiving night to play them, apparently Bell County conveniently over watered the field to make it a muddy mess….

Both times Birds came out victorious!!!!

1992 DEFINITELY wasn't the only time that Bell County over-watered their field to try to reduce their opponent's likelihoods to pass against them. 

1 hour ago, se7ens said:

Have any of these really held up other than CovCath vs. Highlands, Pikeville vs. Belfry, Mayfield vs. Paducah, and St. X vs. Trinity?

There are two that I know he obviously couldn't have had back then - Cooper vs. Ryle and LCA vs. Lexington Catholic.

Was Danville and Boyle County a thing back then? What about Mercer v. Harrodsburg? In 1993 I was only 5.

Most of these were the product of the now and a product of Class Alignment outside of the historical geographic rivalries. The Boone County ones make me smile. Boone County vs. Bryan Station was the biggest of the "prisoner of the moment" stretches he took.

In regards to the non-historical rivalries that still have some meat on the bone: Belfry vs. Ashland has somehow kept some embers to that flame. The two programs have not played much, but they had a handful of very competitive and memorable regular season games when they played each other as non-district foes... it has also led to a handful of high stakes post season games as well over the past decade. 

It's funny to know what programs have risen and fallen since the article was produced. The Boyle County legacy being chief above all. Beechwood vs. Mayfield has been a tremendous rivalry in the post season. Johnson Central's rise under Matney probably would have serious merit on this list. Louisville Central has had one heck of a run since this list as well. Then it very modern eras, South Warren and Frederick Douglas would have an impact.

One team that had a lot of history and witnessed their own meteoric rise and fall after this article was Breathitt County. Scott County might even apply in a similar context.

Would the Tilghman and Covington Catholic debacle qualify? PT is 0-2 against them in the finals and 0-1 in the semis. Maybe not, but it's a hurdle I'd like Tilghman to overcome.  

That list shows that the Danville vs. Boyle game wasn't even on anyone's radar.  Likely due to Danville's winning streak of 16 or so in a row that Boyle would end in 1998 or so.  I always thought that was the big "breakthrough" moment for the Rebel program and they haven't looked back since.

2 hours ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

◙  Bowling Green vs. Warren Central. A cross-town battle that is almost always a matchup of 3A contenders.

This makes me so sad because it was definitely true at the time.  And it probably felt timeless for quite some time after, as even though Bowling Green pulled well ahead after 1993, this was still a highly competitive game for the next 20 years or so.  I'm DREADING the game coming back on the schedule next year.

This is also sad because 1993 was the apex of the rivalry.  At the time of that article's writing, Warren Central had beaten Bowling Green 20-12 a month prior.  The teams were 5-4 in their previous nine matchups, the road team winning six in a row.  Warren Central was three years removed from back to back state title game appearances (falling to Trinity both times), Bowling Green was two years removed from their first region title, something they'd accomplished by going through #1 Warren Central in the second round of the playoffs in their first ever playoff meeting.  A month after the article, the two would meet in the region finals of 3A, a classic 7-0 victory by Warren Central, the only time the Dragons ever shut Bowling Green out.  It was the fifth region title for the Dragons in the previous eight years.  Warren Central had won 6 of 10 from Bowling Green.  They would go on to lose 26 of the next 30 meetings (and counting) and have lost the last 11 meetings.  If you combined their total from the last seven meetings they'd still have less points than Bowling Green scored in five of the last seven individual games (including the last four).  Greenwood's establishment really started to be felt after 1993, forcing Central to take a step back.  They recovered, rose back to being a force, and then South Warren's establishment basically ended the program (along with some really, really poor decisions). 

The rivalry is dead. I don't think it's coming back.

3 minutes ago, PTHSalumni said:

Would the Tilghman and Covington Catholic debacle qualify? PT is 0-2 against them in the finals and 0-1 in the semis. Maybe not, but it's a hurdle I'd like Tilghman to overcome.  

That's definitely been a BIG game all three times it has been played.

1987 AAA State Finals
Cov Cath's defense really was the champion of this game. Cov Cath scored first on a 1Q safety. Then Tilghman took the lead back with a 2Q touchdown (and failed PAT kick), leading 6-2 at halftime. No scoring in 3Q to make it 6-2 Tilghman heading into 4Q. Cov Cath punted towards the end of the 3Q, Tilghman muffed the punt and Cov Cath ends up finishing the 24 yard drive with a 10 yard touchdown pass from Don Bieger to Dave Legeay with 9:20 left in the 4Q to make it 9-6 Cov Cath. Scott Tranter intercepts Tilghman's Randy Wyatt to end Paducah's next drive, then Cov Cath keeps the ball on the ground to try to grind out the clock. Cov Cath turns over on downs at Tilghman's 30 yard line, but then linebacker/fullback Mike Woolf intercepts Wyatt on the next play and returns it for a touchdown to make it 16-6 with 2:20 left in 4Q. Colonels win 16-6.

1988 AAA State Finals
Tilghman has Tremayne Donald as QB with previous year's QB Randy Wyatt moved to halfback. 0-0 at the end of 1Q. Cov Cath gets a field goal in the 2Q and Tilghman gets 2 TDs and a field goal to make it 17-3 Tilghman at halftime. No scoring in the 3Q. Then Cov Cath scores a TD early in the 4Q, Tilghman fumbles on their first offensive play after the kickoff, Cov Cath scores another touchdown 4 or 5 plays later and ties the game up 17-17 with about 8 minutes left in the 4Q. Cov Cath forces Tilghman to go 3 and out, they drive 71 yards down the field and score to make it 24-17 Cov Cath with 3:27 left in the game. Cov Cath squib kicks, Tilghman starts on their own 37 and scores 3 plays later on a 34 yard reverse pass from tailback Randy Wyatt to Kurt Johnson to tie the game up 24-24. Cov Cath has a chance to score late, but misses a 19 yard field goal and the game goes into overtime. Cov Cath starts off the first possession of OT and scores on 3rd fown with a 4 yard pass from Paul Hladon to Scott Spivey. PAT is no good, and Cov Cath leads 30-24 as Tilghman starts their overtime possession. Tremayne Donald passes to a diving Kurt Johnson in the endzone on 2nd down, the one official signals touchdown, the other says Johnson didn't have possession. Incomplete pass on third down, Cov Cath tips it and misses an easy interception after the tip. Then on 4th down Donald dumps the ball off under heavy defensive pressure and the receiver is tackled at the 3 yard line. Cov Cath wins 30-24.

2023 AAAA Semi-State Finals
Cov Cath stops Tilghman's first drive with a Cash Harney interception, then turns over on downs in the red zone. Tilghman drives 86 yards on the next drive to make it 7-0 with 3:31 left in 1Q. Cov Cath muffs the squib kick and Tilghman recovers on the Cov Cath 30 yard line. Colonels force a fumble and recover on their own 25, that drive takes the game into the 2Q but Cov Cath turns over on downs again the red zone. Tilghman takes over on their own 8 but then they turn over on downs on their own 43 yard line. Cov Cath scores on a 38 yard run by Braylon Miller to make it 7-7 with 4:35 left in 2Q. Harney gets another interception and returns it to the 7, Cov Cath ends up going for a 27 yard field goal but the FG is wide right. Score is tied 7-7 at the half. Cov Cath punts on the first drive of the 3Q, Tilghman drives back for a touchdown to make it 14-7 Tilghman with 6:49 left in 3Q. Cov Cath has their own 68 yard drive on the next possession and their 2pt conversion fails to make it 14-13 Tilghman with 1:33 left in 3Q. Paducah stalls on the next drive, and a high snap on their punt ends in a safety to make it 15-14 Cov Cath with 11:48 left in 4Q. Colonels end up with great field position after Paducah's kickoff following the safety, Cov Cath drives 47 yards to score and make it 22-14 Colonels with 8:02 left in 4Q. Tilghman goes 3 and out, Cov Cath grinds out the clock with the remaining possession and wins 22-14.