What are some Marquee Match-ups this 2026 season that will get some attention. 

For Owensboro we play St. X Aug. 21 and CAL Aug. 28

I know Owensboro Catholic plays Boyle Co. Aug. 21.

Any others?

Trinity vs Anderson (OH)

Trinity vs Christian Brothers (MO)

Trinity vs Moeller (OH)

Trinity vs The Baylor School (TN)

Trinity vs St. X (OH)

Trinity vs St. X (KY)

52 minutes ago, fatsnbul said:

Trinity vs Anderson (OH)

Trinity vs Christian Brothers (MO)

Trinity vs Moeller (OH)

Trinity vs The Baylor School (TN)

Trinity vs St. X (OH)

Trinity vs St. X (KY)

I give Trinity credit they don’t back down from no one.

1 hour ago, fatsnbul said:

Trinity vs The Baylor School (TN)

This one intrigues me as much as any game Trinity has this year. Baylor School features the nation's #2 running back prospect in the '26 class, the nation's #2 TE prospect in the '27 class, and a quarterback committed to Ole Miss. To say the least, a stiff test for T's defense. 

 

25 minutes ago, DevilMayCare said:

This one intrigues me as much as any game Trinity has this year. Baylor School features the nation's #2 running back prospect in the '26 class, the nation's #2 TE prospect in the '27 class, and a quarterback committed to Ole Miss. To say the least, a stiff test for T's defense. 

 

Do we have confirmation that Peyton Manning's son will be enrolling as well?

4 minutes ago, fatsnbul said:

Do we have confirmation that Peyton Manning's son will be enrolling as well?

Per USA Today's Denver Broncos affiliate news outlet, Broncos Wire, yes.

Marshall Manning (Peyton's son) goes viral at high school 7-on-7 competition | March 17, 2026 | Broncos Wire

"There's another Manning quarterback in development. As Arch Manning prepares for his redshirt junior season with the Texas Longhorns, his cousin, Marshall Manning, is preparing for his ninth-grade season at Baylor High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee."

LCA has a few that stand out:

August 29th vs. Pulaski County in Boyle County's Rebel Bowl - Big, physical 5A runner-up with a lot of players back, including Kasen Brock and UK commit Brady Hull.

September 4th vs. CAL - Last year was a rout in CAL's favor and it might very well be again, but this year will be a clash of reigning state champions with plenty of hype and excitement going in.

September 11th vs. Franklin County - The Flyers were runners-up in 4A and will once again be in the mix in a loaded class. Last year's game resulted in a 28-27 win for Franklin County after blocking a potential game tying extra point late in the 4Q.

For anyone that didn't notice, those games occur in consecutive weeks. It's a brutal early season stretch for the defending 2A champions.

Agree with the Trinity matchups. Top-notch schedule across the board again.

Here are some others to add that intrigue me:

LCA vs CAL - Sep. 4

Raceland vs Pikeville - Sep. 4

Owensboro Catholic vs Owensboro - Sep. 11

 

8/28- OH/KY matchup- The Elder Panthers travel across the river to face Covington Catholic. 

Via Elder's official atheltics website- Elder has dominated Covington Catholic in the win/loss column, with all W's for the mighty Panthers. 

Series Summary: 8 games played | Overall Record: 8-0 (100.0%) | Home: 7-0 | Away: 1-0 | Total Points: Varsity Football 261, Covington Catholic 93

The latest matchup last year was an interesting one, with Elder beating Covington Catholic 28-20.

I am an obvious homer here, but I think the Colonels may finally put one in the all time series W column this upcoming season. What do you think, @Colonels_Wear_Blue?

The annual Beechwood/Highlands rivalry games will also be dandies, as always later in the season. All three games are to be played at Dennis Griffin Stadium, so anytime you have home field advantage, I think that helps to some capacity. 

Simon Kenton

Vs Ryle

Vs CovCath 

Vs Beechwood

Vs Brayn Station

A school at the smaller level, Newport will have two matchups that could be very interesting. 

Vs. Paris

Vs. New Cath

The New Cath game could be the deciding factor who wins the district and Paris brings back a lot of talent as does Newport. Not exactly your Trinity's or St. X's, but at the small school level they're still intriguing to us small school people.

Besides the final District matchup with Cov Cath (10/2) for the time being, I also think these matchups will be fun to watch for Highlands.

Season Opener (8/21) - at Frederick Douglass

9/11 - vs. Boyle County

10/9 - vs. Elder

10/23 - at Scott County 

20 hours ago, MaddenCurse44 said:

Simon Kenton

Vs Ryle

Vs CovCath 

Vs Beechwood

Vs Brayn Station

The impression I took from the original post was that he/she was asking about marquee games around the state, at large. I'm sure each individual team has at least a game or two every season that they consider their bigger or more marquee games, but that doesn't necessarily translate automatically into a marquee game around the whole state of Kentucky.

I have no doubt the games you listed feel marquee for people in the Simon Kenton fan section, but thinking about things from the perspective of their opponents I don't know how much a game against Simon Kenton would really move the excitement needle much at all. How many program wins has Simon Kenton ever gotten against any one of those teams? It doesn't seem like there have been many at all, so I'm not sure what would really make those games register on the marquee list for the entire state.

16 hours ago, Cincinnati Cobra said:

The impression I took from the original post was that he/she was asking about marquee games around the state, at large. I'm sure each individual team has at least a game or two every season that they consider their bigger or more marquee games, but that doesn't necessarily translate automatically into a marquee game around the whole state of Kentucky.

I have no doubt the games you listed feel marquee for people in the Simon Kenton fan section, but thinking about things from the perspective of their opponents I don't know how much a game against Simon Kenton would really move the excitement needle much at all. How many program wins has Simon Kenton ever gotten against any one of those teams? It doesn't seem like there have been many at all, so I'm not sure what would really make those games register on the marquee list for the entire state.

Marquee games are in the eye of the beholder. Whoever I cheer for I’m going to be more interested in what their games are and don’t really care what the rest of the state thinks. Will I be interested in these perceived “marquee’ games yes but not to the point I am with my team. 

1 hour ago, Tkinslow said:

Marquee games are in the eye of the beholder. Whoever I cheer for I’m going to be more interested in what their games are and don’t really care what the rest of the state thinks. Will I be interested in these perceived “marquee’ games yes but not to the point I am with my team. 

Same can be said about rankings.