article 6A Notebook (12/2): Championship Preview

6A Notebook (12/2): Championship Preview

Male (14-0) vs. Trinity (12-2)

When the season started back in August, the top two teams were Trinity and Male. Fast forward to December and the 6A Championship and it’s still Male and Trinity. These two teams are no strangers to Championship games as Trinity will be going for their 26th KHSAA championship and Male is going for their 9th KHSAA championship. Male will also be trying for back to back championships for first time since they did it in 1963-64. These Coaches are no stranger to the championship as Trinity Coach Bob Beatty will be appearing in his 16th with a past record of 13-2 in championship games. Male Coach Chris Wolfe will be making his 4th appearance with a 2-1 record in past championship games. The 6A championship is on Sunday, December 8th, at 2:00 PM. Male won the previous meeting this season 20-17 in double OT. There is no reason to think this game won’t be another close one and a must see game of arguably the two best teams in the state.

Previous Meeting:

Male 20 Trinity 17 (2OT)

In this first meeting, the score was 7-7 at the end of regulation. Male had missed a game winning field goal with seconds left in the 4th quarter sending it to OT. Both teams scored a touchdown in the 1st OT. Trinity was forced to kick a FG in 2nd OT and Male won the game with a TD pass to WR Izayah Cummings. Male led with 269 total yards with 96 rushing and 173 passing. Trinity had 225 yards with 119 rushing and 106 passing. The game MVP was Male’s Izayah Cummings who hauled in 6 catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns.

Playoff Road:

Male:

Southern 43-0

Fern Creek 27-8

St. Xavier 33-7

Tates Creek 48-18

Trinity:

Marshall County 63-0

Ballard 42-12

Oldham County 56-0

North Hardin 54-7

Top Players:

Male:

QB Elijah Parrish 140/216, 2257 yards, 25 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 187.08 rating

RB Jaylin Bross 182 attempts, 1417 yards, 18 touchdowns

RB Quantrell Wright 153 attempts, 963 yards, 12 touchdowns

WR Izayah Cummings, 50 receptions, 962 yards, 11 touchdowns

WR Briceson Rogers, 41 receptions, 645 yards, 5 touchdowns

WR Vincel Anthony, 31 receptions, 503 yards, 9 touchdowns

LB Joe Kuerzi, 79 tackles, 8 for loss, 10 touchdowns on offense.

DT Elijah Manning, 70 tackles, 8 for loss, 2 sacks

DT Selah Brown, 41 tackles, 12 for loss, 8 sacks

DB Judah Ford, 41 tackles, 2 for loss

Trinity:

QB Nathan McElroy 164/269, 2404 yards, 29 touchdowns, 9 interceptions, 164.92 rating

RB Armon Tucker 180 attempts, 1164 yards, 23 touchdowns

RB Brad West 120 attempts, 833 yards, 9 touchdowns

WR Ryan Miller, 55 receptions, 911 yards, 6 touchdowns

TE Kaelan Racculia, 42 receptions, 615 yards, 11 touchdowns

LB Charlie Ely

LB Brandon Stearman

DB Roman White

DL Tyler Roberson

Rankings:

Bluegrass Preps

Male #1

Trinity #2

Calpreps.com

Male #1, 56 rating, 19.7 strength of schedule

Trinity #2 55.8 rating, 25.6 strength of schedule

6A Scoring

Male #1, 40.9 points per game

Trinity #2, 40.8 points per game

6A Defense scoring

Trinity #1, 9.4 points per game

Male #3, 11.1 points per game

Prediction:

All metrics point to a true toss up game. It would be no surprise whichever team wins. It will be a surprise if one team wins convincingly. The neutral fans would like for another OT game which would be more value for their price of admission. Trinity has been playing better of late than when they first met and it’s hard to go against Coach Beatty in the playoffs, so I predict Trinity to win 10-7 in another defensive battle.

During the Beatty era, Trinity has not gone back to back years without a title. Getting a rematch with Male on a neutral, turf field, I'm confident the Rocks can be victorious and bring home #26!

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