Your Favorite Football Teams in School History

[Voice of Reason]

Let's try this for a fun off season topic. Looking back at your high school's football teams over the years, name your favorite teams. It doesn't have to be a team that won a title or had huge success. It could be a team that overcame challenges, bounced back after a really tough year or a team that was a lot of fun to watch. What football teams in your school's history are your favorites and why?

[Three Blind Mice]

Mine has to be 1990 Newport Central Catholic b/c that was the first team that I can vividly remember.  I used to go to games with my Dad prior to that, but that is the team that sticks out.  I can still name my favorite players.  During the course of the season, I had the chance to say hi to the QB, Matt Mann and he spoke with me for a little bit.  It made my year. I was hooked on NewCath football after that.  

On a side note, I also learned that there was a lot more to football than NewCath, Highlands and Campbell County that year.  I remember telling my Dad that the Breds were going to be state champs and him teaching me about Danville, LOL.  Needless to say, he was correct.  They were a buzzsaw.

[Three Blind Mice]

2 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Let's try this for a fun off season topic. Looking back at your high school's football teams over the years, name your favorite teams. It doesn't have to be a team that won a title or had huge success. It could be a team that overcame challenges, bounced back after a really tough year or a team that was a lot of fun to watch. What football teams in your school's history are your favorites and why?

I'm interested in yours.  My cousin played for the Tigers '91 team, so I was always a big fan of that group.  I was friends with a few of the '97 team and got beaten to a pulp by them.  You've seen way more than that.

[Voice of Reason]

2 hours ago, Three Blind Mice said:

I'm interested in yours.  My cousin played for the Tigers '91 team, so I was always a big fan of that group.  I was friends with a few of the '97 team and got beaten to a pulp by them.  You've seen way more than that.

Fortunate to be a Beechwood Tigers fan with so many great teams to consider. Here are the first three teams that came to mind for me:

2004 - Beechwood got crushed in the title game the previous year by Danville. It may have been the most lopsided loss in Yeagle's career. Danville ran the ball over, around and through Beechwood all game in 2003 - manhandled them. Danville was rolling having won titles 3 of the previous 4 years. Beechwood and Yeagle had not won a title since 1999. The 2004 Beechwood team turned the tables on Danville and gave them a dose of their own medicine, running the ball down their throat with Dustin Menetrey and winning the title. I love how that team bounced back from the previous year and flipped the script on Danville.

2007 - Coach Rash's first title. The title game itself is what makes this team a favorite of mine. One of the best games I have ever seen as the Tigers defeated Lexington Christian 38-35 in a back and forth game full of drama. WR Ryan Amelung was a somewhat unexpected hero running a kickoff and a punt back for TD's. LCA stopped on 4th and goal going for the win. What a game!

2022 - Title game Beechwood 14 Mayfield 13. Enough said. Mayfield came into the title game undefeated. Tigers finally get one on the Cardinals. The other thing about this team is they lost their superstar Mitchell Berger to injury mid-season and were able to overcome.

Edited Tuesday at 09:01 PM by Voice of Reason

[futurecoach]

My favorite team was the 1999 Ludlow Panthers. I remember watching them when I was younger. IMO it was the second best Ludlow team of all time, behind the 1975 state title team. The 1999 team had multiple players that played college ball. They got pounded by Beechwood 62 to 0 in the regular season. They then played Beechwood in the second round of the playoffs, and the game was tied 0 to 0 going into the fourth, before Beechwood wore them down and pulled away in the fourth as Ludlow only played about 14 guys on both sides of the ball. Ludlow gave that Beechwood team their most competitive game overall and their second closest game in the playoffs. As their other closest game came on the state title game when they beat Hancock County by 23.

That Ludlow team was capable of being a team that could have made a state run. Unfortunately the best team in the state in 1A by happened to be in their district in Beechwood. In fact that district has multiple teams that could have made state runs that year if it wasn’t for Beechwood. As the district was loaded that year. 

[CoachU]

Every Team I've been blessed to Coach, has tied for first!

[gbballfan21]

2 hours ago, futurecoach said:

My favorite team was the 1999 Ludlow Panthers. I remember watching them when I was younger. IMO it was the second best Ludlow team of all time, behind the 1975 state title team. The 1999 team had multiple players that played college ball. They got pounded by Beechwood 62 to 0 in the regular season. They then played Beechwood in the second round of the playoffs, and the game was tied 0 to 0 going into the fourth, before Beechwood wore them down and pulled away in the fourth as Ludlow only played about 14 guys on both sides of the ball. Ludlow gave that Beechwood team their most competitive game overall and their second closest game in the playoffs. As their other closest game came on the state title game when they beat Hancock County by 23.

That Ludlow team was capable of being a team that could have made a state run. Unfortunately the best team in the state in 1A by happened to be in their district in Beechwood. In fact that district has multiple teams that could have made state runs that year if it wasn’t for Beechwood. As the district was loaded that year. 

That Beechwood team lost 2 games during the season, to Newport and Bellevue, and their toughest playoff game was in the semis. Pikeville had them down 19-10, with about 6 mins left to go, and Beechwood scored twice very late to pull that one out of the fire.

[PanthersProwling]

2 hours ago, futurecoach said:

My favorite team was the 1999 Ludlow Panthers. I remember watching them when I was younger. IMO it was the second best Ludlow team of all time, behind the 1975 state title team. The 1999 team had multiple players that played college ball. They got pounded by Beechwood 62 to 0 in the regular season. They then played Beechwood in the second round of the playoffs, and the game was tied 0 to 0 going into the fourth, before Beechwood wore them down and pulled away in the fourth as Ludlow only played about 14 guys on both sides of the ball. Ludlow gave that Beechwood team their most competitive game overall and their second closest game in the playoffs. As their other closest game came on the state title game when they beat Hancock County by 23.

That Ludlow team was capable of being a team that could have made a state run. Unfortunately the best team in the state in 1A by happened to be in their district in Beechwood. In fact that district has multiple teams that could have made state runs that year if it wasn’t for Beechwood. As the district was loaded that year. 

I was going to mention this team! A really good Ludlow team. I remember being in Elementary and they would have the players assigned to a class to go talk to on the school day of the homecoming game. Great memories and a great idea that I would love to see some schools do. 

[futurecoach]

1 hour ago, gbballfan21 said:

That Beechwood team lost 2 games during the season, to Newport and Bellevue, and their toughest playoff game was in the semis. Pikeville had them down 19-10, with about 6 mins left to go, and Beechwood scored twice very late to pull that one out of the fire.

Correct I did forget about that Pikeville game, for some reason I thought that was a different year.  That was definitely their most competitive game. Which correct on they lost to Bellevue in the season, but then beat Bellevue 35 to 0 in the playoffs. Which gets back to what I said about how that district as a whole that year was very tough. 

[Three Blind Mice]

15 hours ago, PanthersProwling said:

I was going to mention this team! A really good Ludlow team. I remember being in Elementary and they would have the players assigned to a class to go talk to on the school day of the homecoming game. Great memories and a great idea that I would love to see some schools do. 

I golf with a couple of those players.  

[Rebel]

For me it's a tie between the 2001 and 2020 Boyle County football team.

2001 football team coming off 2 straight state titles was suppose to be the year Boyle was to come back to earth by moving up a class to 3A in the old 4 class system playing with the likes of Highlands, Covington Catholic, Bowling Green, Paducah Tilghman, and Hopkinsville.  All Boyle did was go 15-0 and win their 3rd. straight championship and first in 3A.

2020 Boyle team coming off the loss of 20+ seniors from 2019 with names of Reese Smith, Rylie Colewick, EZ Roller, Reed Lanter, Landon Bartleson, Wilson Kelly, and couple of others.  Also the loss of legendary coaches Chuck Smith and Chris Pardue.  Everyone wrote off the 2020 Boyle team.   Newly coach Justin Haddix and the dreaded COVID arrived.  Boyle went 11-0 and won their 9th. State Title with a overtime come back win over Franklin County in the championship game.  

[Coach GM]

1996 Nelson County Cardinals. 4A state Champs. Heck of a year. 

[Statsdontlie]

The 2000 Boyle County team is the best team in Boyle County history!! 

[NC2HC8116]

2006 NCC Thoroughbreds over Danville. One of the greatest comebacks in Kentucky State football  history.

[DearToday]

2025 Boyle County team will probably go down as my favorite. Likewise with the 2020 team, lost a lot of star power and graduated most of their production. Preseason rankings had them fourth in 4A, an early season loss to Lex Cath had everyone write them off from there. Came back with a sophomore QB, a RB that was five foot nothing, and a bunch of gritty kids that got after it. Rattled off wins over Highlands, at Ballard, St X. and held them to 3, at Douglass, ran clock on Cov Cath, beat Corbin, and a 34-0 shutout in the state finals. Had the star power in Seneca Driver, but a bunch of kids that bought into their roles and played their tails off week in and week out.