WestDanville

1. Frederick Douglass (11-1 6A Second Round) Frederick Douglass May have dropped down a class but district foe “the team up north” joins them in 5A District 6. Returning talent Walker Parks (Clemson Commit), Jager Burton (multiple power 5 offers), Dekel Crowdus (multiple power 5 offers), Dane Key (WKU offer), Devin Neal (Cincinnati commit) and Ty Bryant (Marshall Offer) has Frederick Douglass at the top of the CKY/Lexington power ranking. That is just too much D1 talent on one team not to have them sitting at number 1. They will have to put up a better showing than they did in the Trinity scrimmage moving forward if they want to stay in this spot. 2. Scott County (9-4 6A State Runner-Up) The Cardinals finally escape the Louisville big 3 and have their sights set on a return trip to Kroger Field. Even with the losses of OL Bryan Hudson and WR Glenn Covington, Scott County returns enough experience to show 5A why they should be concerned with their arrival. QB Cade McKee, RB Bronson Brown, linemen Austin Taylor and Peyton Saunders should keep the offense at its previous level. All signs point to a Scott County Frederick Douglass second round playoff matchup to determine the king of the bluegrass region. 3. Boyle County (13-1 3A Semifinals) “Finish the mission” is the team motto for the Rebels this season as they move up to class 4A. Returning almost all of its starters from a 13-1 semifinal campaign including Mr. Football candidate WR/DB Reese Smith, QB Reed Lanter, DL Wilson Kelly and RB/DB Landen Bartleson, Boyle is favored to win the 4A title. Anything less will be considered a disappointment by the Rebel faithful. We will find out if Boyle has what it takes as they face a gauntlet in the middle of their schedule playing CAL, Highlands, Lexington Catholic and Anderson County in consecutive games. If they can survive don’t be shocked to see Boyle at the top of this list at seasons end. 4. Lexington Catholic (8-4 3A second Round Lex Cath has never been one to shy away from scheduling tough opponents and this year is no different. Pulaski County, Covington Catholic, DeSales, Boyle County, Anderson County and Frederick Douglass all appear on the Knights schedule this year. Expect them to take some losses but be battle tested come playoff time. There are many questions as to who fills the numerous vacancies left by last years senior class but one not in question is QB held by UK commit Beau Allen. WR Jackson Corbett and RB Ryan Nichols look to have expanded roles within the offense this season. 5. Anderson County (10-1 5A Second Round) Unfortunately for the Bearcats realignment did not do them many favors by placing them in the same district as Boyle County and Lexington Catholic. Anderson is coming off a spectacular 2018 regular season that ended in a disappointing turnover fest against Highlands in the playoffs. Despite 6 turnovers they still had a chance to win at the end. They return RB Zach Labhart who missed much of last year with an injury, QB Jagger Gillis, and DE Darian Dearinger who holds several D1 offers. They face a daunting task in winning the district title but a victory over Boyle or Lex Cath wouldn’t be a huge surprise. 6. Henry Clay (6-6 6A second round) The Blue Devils will look to avenge last years 25-7 playoff loss to Simon Kenton to start the season. They return several key components off of last years 6-6 team including QB DJ VanHorn, WR Jakobi Godfrey, LB Chris Dabrey, LB William Webb and DE Jordan Kimball. Fayette County public schools needs Henry Clay to have a strong season along side Frederick Douglass to help improve the image of Lexington public school football. 7. Taylor County (12-2 4A semifinals) Coming off of its best season in many many years Taylor County loses its former head coach Jason Foley to Southwestern but gains former Casey County coach Sam Marple. The Cardinals return RB’s Wes Oliver (1155 yds) and Mr. Versatility Tre Goodin (725 yds rushing, 213 Receiving, 150 Passing and a couple of returns for TDs). Taylor drops down to 3A and welcomes Glasgow as a district foe. The winner of that game will most likely be the district champion. 8. Franklin County (10-3 4A Regional Finals) The Flyers return star Junior QB Nick Broyles (2796 yds passing 25 TD and 1113 yards rushing with another 13 TDS) and leading WR Fred Farrier (58 rec 868 yds 11 TD) to lead a potent Eddie James offense. It might be a year too soon for the Flyers to make serious noise in a loaded 4A class but they are one to keep an eye on as the season progresses. 9. Larue County (8-6 3A semifinals) The Hawks shocked the state with their regional final victory over Etown in 2018. Returning is junior signal caller Connor Baker, junior RB Jeremiah Belton, senior DL Tucker Shelton, and junior DB Preston Shelf. Even with the loss of Anthony Adkins expect Larue County to build on the playoff momentum from last year and challenge Etown for the district crown. 10. Lexington Christian Academy (9-4 2A Region Finals) New head coach Doug Charles inherits plenty of talent on both sides of the ball. QB Jayden Barnhardt (2159 yds 26 TD), RB’s Thomas White and Xavier Brown (1296 yds 18 TD combined), WR Dearious Smith (923 yds 11TD), WR Will Vernon (734 yds 10TD), and leading tackler LB Andrew Long. LCA gave Somerset all it could handle last year in their playoff matchup and I expect more of the same this season. Teams ranked 11-15 11. Campbellsville 12. Mercer County 13. Danville 14. Madison Central 15. Tates Creek Preseason players to watch Walker Parks- Frederick Douglass Jager Burton- Frederick Douglass Dekel Crowdus- Frederick Douglass Bronson Brown- Scott County Reese Smith- Boyle County Reed Lanter- Boyle County Landen Bartleson- Boyle County Beau Allen- Lexington Catholic Darian Dearinger- Anderson County Tre Goodin- Taylor County Nick Broyles- Franklin County Jeremiah Belton- Larue County Kaelin Drakeford- Mercer County Malachi Yulee- Mercer County Darrian Bell- Danville Malachi Corley- Campbellsville Arren Hash- Campbellsville Devin Lewis- Harrison County Game of the Week Lexington Catholic vs Pulaski County This game should be of great benefit to both teams exposing weaknesses on film. Also showcases QB Beau Allen from LC and EKU commit Jake Sloan from Pulaski County.

Ballard will be forced to play all of their games on the road or at neutral sites this season. The home side of their stadium was deemed unsafe by engineers and will be torn down and hopefully replaced in time for the 2020 season.

Frederick Douglass Scott County Owensboro Johnson Central Corbin Paris

My hope is Boyle makes quick work of this and comes out 100% healthy. My guess is in the ballpark of 50-7.

5 Carmel 3 Kentucky Country Day 3 Christian Academy Louisville 1 Christian County 1 John Hardin 1 South Warren 1 Pulaski County 1 Central 1 Ashland 1 McCracken Co TB 44

Wagner announced his resignation as Boyle’s track and field coach. He has done a tremendous job from taking Boyle from a regional contender to a multiple State championship program on both the boys and girls side. Boyle County appreciates and will be forever grateful for his contributions to the program!

Helped a ton! Thank you

If I’m not mistaken the eastern part of the 4A playoff bracket looks to be quite entertaining due to cross bracketing and the recent KHSAA change where teams play district opponents in the first couple rounds. Boyle’s path is daunting to say the least. It would be Bourbon co, Lex Cath/Anderson, Corbin/Knox Central then Johnson Central. Ouch

I like the confidence but please don’t add to opponents bulletin boards.

I can’t give you a top 10 but I would say top 5 in no particular order would be Boyle, Johnson Central, Corbin, Franklin-Simpson, Central. This class went from a 2 horse race to a pretty stacked field with 7-8 teams that could make a legitimate run to the state finals. As far as best player I’m going with a homer pick and say a healthy Reese Smith from Boyle. You must know where he is on both sides of the ball at all times. He has D1 offers to play on both sides of the ball at either WR or Safety ultimately choosing to play WR at WVU.

Per his twitter feed.

Man.....this is a bummer. Steve is a heck of a coach and a great person at that. I wish him the best of luck in all of his future endeavors! Boyle County is blessed to have had him lead the program! The next coach will have big shoes to fill but will be in a school system that supports its athletic programs. It is one of the better jobs in Central Kentucky. I’m sure they will have plenty of options to choose from!

@theguru I meant to thank you for posting this! I appreciate the Bowling publicity!

The blue squad on both sides of the ball were the first team. The white squad were the 2’s & 3’s. So the first team offense scored 21 in the first quarter and the first team D gave up 0.

The D looked pretty good. The starters gave up 10 points. The second string D is who gave up all the points.

Colwick has been on a couple visits to EKU per his twitter feed. I could see them making a late offer if some other higher priority recruits choose other programs.

Just picked up an offer from UAB

He’s 6’1 but I’m not positive on weight. I’d guess 180-190. He has very good speed 10.9 100M dash and ran a 4.39 40 yard dash at a camp at Ohio State over the summer. As far as position I haven’t heard if he is being recruited as a RB or DB or athlete.

Neal Brown and West Virginia Offered him this afternoon!

One of Neal Browns first moves at WVU was to offer Reese Smith!

What is his connection to Middlesboro? That is quite a distance from the south central Kentucky area he has been in the past decade.

Nah I had conversations before the season started and said that SW was going to beat Cov Cath for the title. #2 SW with a 14-0 record beat #1 Cov Cath that had a 14-0 record. Not an upset in my book.

No it’s all lower level. The non general admission are the Club seats at midfield of the home side if I recall correctly,

Taxslayer is out due to an agreement between upper tier SEC affiliated bowls that teams won’t be in the same non NY6 bowl twice in a 3 year span. Citrus and Outback are likely and the Peach is a stretch depending on how much the Cats move up.

Corbin Central or South Warren Cov Cath will provide the closest games IMO