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1. Johnson Central Golden Eagles (4A, 2-0)- The Golden Eagles are comfortably in the catbird seat after an impressive win over Capital, WV as well as seeing the same Lafayette team they dismantled play Scott County tough. 2. Belfry Pirates (3A, 2-0)- The Pirates defense rose to the occasion in the 2nd Half and the Belfry playmakers made plays defeating LCA. The Pirates get an off week before getting a very tough test in Ohio. 3. Corbin Redhounds (4A, 2-0)- Corbin is getting good at winning over Tennessee teams in their Pigskin Classic, this time knocking off a well-regarded Notre Dame team from Chattanooga. The Hounds look to continue their heavy-handed advantage over Pulaski County. 4. Pikeville Panthers (1A, 2-0)- Pikeville is starting to creep up on the big school powers. The Panthers obliterated Mingo Central, WV and will look to stymie Paintsville’s momentum. 5. Bell County Bobcats (3A, 2-0)- Knox Central was expected to be one of Bell’s stiffest challenges and the Bobcats passed the exam 22-8. Expect South Laurel to offer a far easier path to victory. 6. Somerset Briarjumpers (2A, 2-0)- Somerset’s Offense appears to be in mid-season form and their Defense is playing just fine. The Jumpers look to avenge a 2018 loss to Beechwood and hand the Tigers their consecutive defeat at the hands of an EKY team. 7. Ashland Tomcats (3A, 2-0)- Ashland barely broke a sweat against Boyd County and now roll forward. George Washington , WV is always quality competition it seems, but the expectation is certainly that the Tomcats emerge 3-0. 8. Pulaski County Maroons (5A, 1-1)- Pulaski County bounced back from their Week 1 loss to survive a scare against Wayne County. The Maroons will get Corbin next with a chance to earn major RPI points for down the road. 9. Paintsville Tigers (1A, 2-0)- The Tigers sent shockwaves throughout Class 1A by going to a neutral site and knocking off the reigning back to back 1A Champs Beechwood. With Pikeville up next, Paintsville can become the front runner in 1A overnight with a win. 10. Russell Red Devils (3A, 2-0)- Complete and total domination. The Red Devils wanted to enter the Power Rankings and they made their presence felt by blowing out rival Raceland. There is no rest for the wicked, Ironton is always a tough team especially on the road. 11. Breathitt County Bobcats (2A, 2-0)- Breathitt County needed to make a statement against South Laurel and they did just that by pounding the Cardinals early and often. Magoffin County can make late dinner reservations, expect Breathitt to put them away this week early and quick. 12. Williamsburg Yellowjackets (1A, 2-0)- Williamsburg won the battle of the Jackets and took care of Middlesboro with yet another Offensive explosion. Though it may not be the Game of the Week, the game against Leslie County may be one of the best match-ups this week. 13. Knox Central Panthers (4A, 0-2)- Knox Central is keeping it competitive, but after back to back losses the Panthers would love a big win. Southwestern will be tough, but for once Knox Central will enter as the team expected to win. 14. Wayne County Cardinals (4A, 1-1)- Wayne County battled Pulaski County until the end, but just simply could not get enough firepower. The Cardinals get ole District foe Rockcastle County next and there is no love lost between these two programs. 15. Raceland Rams (1A, 1-1)- It was a humbling night against Russell that left the Rams wishing they had what other EKY 1A teams had this weekend. Rowan County should afford them the ability to rebound. Three Big Winners: Harlan County Black Bears (4A, 2-0)- The win over Hazard allowed them to see the field and get some competitive reps in. With Knox Central’s confidence wavering, Harlan County can continue to accumulate wins starting with Martin County. Martin County Cardinals (2A, 2-0)- Wins have not been easy to come by in recent years for the team formerly known as Sheldon Clark. A win over Magoffin County has the Cardinals on a trajectory where a 5-5 season is a real possibility. Whitley County Colonels (5A, 1-1)- After a tough loss to Corbin, defeating a quality for from the Volunteer State was what the doctor ordered. Whitley now embarks on a tough 4-game stretch where they can make a name for themselves. Three Tough Losses: Pike Central Hawks (3A, 1-1)- The Hawks’ Offense went from unstoppable to sputtering in the span of a week with their loss to rival Shelby Valley. Pike Central had a drive and a chance, but just could not make the big play down the stretch. Harlan Green Dragons (1A, 0-2)- It was bad enough that Harlan had to take a forfeit loss to open the season, but losing to perennially struggling Berea is an indicator that Harlan’s best days are behind them Bath County Wildcats (2A, 1-1)- A year removed from a historical high water mark, the Wildcats have already been brought to earth with a 40-7 shelling at the hands of Rowan County. Bath needs a win over Powell County or they may be staring at flipping their win/loss total. Player of the Week: RB Isaac Dixon, Belfry- Dixon is starting to make a case for being the top player in East Kentucky and Friday’s win over a ranked 2A LCA exhibited exactly why. Dixon led the way with 28 carries for 207 yards and a pair of TD’s. Perhaps his biggest role was not reflected in the stats at all. With the Belfry Offense struggling to get going in a 26-20 game, Dixon assumed the role of QB in the pistol formation and led Belfry on a 98-yard drive. Game of the Week: #4 Pikeville Panthers at #9 Paintsville Tigers- No Class 1A teams, or for that matter arguably any small school teams, will enter on an emotional high like these two teams. Paintsville made a statewide statement against Beechwood, and Pikeville made a statement that crossed the borders into a second state all together. The winner puts themselves in prime position to be the #1 overall RPI seed down the road.

Longshot Lands in the Winner Circle: Let's be honest. You didn't see this coming. Christian Academy- Louisville traveled to Newport and most assumed the top ranked team in Class 2A would be able to take care of a Newport Central Catholic team that had been outscored 89-36 in their two previous games. Instead the Throroughbreds dominated the line of scrimmage, forced key turnovers, made the plays down the stretch, and shocked the Centurions 20-15. It was the first time CAL had tasted defeat to a 2A school, not named DeSales, since they opened the 2012 season with a loss to Lexington Christian Academy. Harrison Walz had a pair of interceptions and 5 solo tackles to anchor the Defense. The star of the game had to be Kyle Kelly. Kelly not only led the Breds Offense with 86 rushing yards and a score, he added an interception on Defense for good measure. If there is a silver lining for the Centurions, they were not exactly at full strength. Christian Academy- Louisville was without the services of multi-year starting QB Austin Carr. Coach LeFors tried to counter by moving standout play maker Milton Wright to QB, but there is no denying an Offense that wasn't exactly lighting scoreboards up felt the effects. Newport Central Catholic will now look to rally from their new found confidence against 6A Conner before opening District play. Colts Turning Into War Horses, Outlast Fern Creek DeSales has a tendency to find beauty in the ugly. Over the years Coach Davis has became an artist at painting the "down and dirty" kind of win. DeSales held a ranked 5A Fern Creek to less than 200 yards of Total Offense, while not having a single back or receiver go for over 75 individual yards. DeSales pass defense tightened the screws on Fern Creek, holding the Tigers to 9/20 passing for a mere 54 yards. The Colts secured a pair of interceptions as well, one by Ryan O'Shea and the other by Shawn Kaufman. DeSales is now 4-0 against ranked teams in their non-district slate. Of those four wins, three have came against schools from larger classifications. DeSales will look to make that a 4-0 mark as they take on a ranked 3A Lexington Catholic. Danville by a Nose, LCA by a Furlong Sometimes simply comparing scores just simply gets you nowhere. Judging by Danville's 10-7 win over rival Boyle County, and Boyle's subsequent 54-19 victory over Waggener the week prior, one could assume Danville should have had little issue with the fleet footed 3A squad from Louisville. Instead, the Admirals needed every extra point they could muster to pull of a 49-46 victory in a game full of Offensive fireworks. The Admirals had played stellar Defense most of the year, but the big play ability of Waggener was nearly lethal as the Wildcats piled up over 450 total yards. On the other side of the spectrum, fellow district mate Lexington Christian Academy was expected to get a challenge from Walton-Verona. The Eagles instead led wire to wire and really never even felt threatened by the Bearcats en route to a 48-13 win. Logan Nieves tossed four touchdown passes, two of which to Drayden Burton, and Dillon Wheatley did what he does best rumbling to 134 yards. The most impressive stat of the night was what LCA did to the vaunted Walton-Verona ground game. The Bearcats could only muster a mere 150 yards as the Eagles continually kept them behind the sticks. Will Mayfield Fade Down the Stretch? Anytime Mayfield is cranking out win after win, it becomes almost a pre-requisite to try to find room for improvement for one of the State's most well coached programs. Through five games there has been very little to take exception with. The Cardinals are averaging over 46 points per game and have shown great balance on Offense. In Friday's 45-31 victory over County rival Graves County, a crack may have finally been found. After jumping out to a large lead Mayfield seemed to be well on their way to yet another eye opening win. Graves had other plans and rallied to cut the lead to 38-31 in the 4th Quarter before the Cards iced the game away on a Kyle Hurt 30 yard scamper. Coach Morris' comments in the post-game revealed that his team simply was getting tired and that Graves' size was a large reason they fatigued. Mayfield will need to find their legs Friday as the Cardinals will take part in the premier game this week when they take on #2 3A Corbin on a neutral field at Austin Peay University. Corbin isn't quite as big as Graves County, but they are a seemingly much more balanced team. The Redhounds have also been able to prove that they can close down the stretch. Corbin came from behind to upset Alcoa, TN with a last minute drive and then a score in Overtime. Around the Track: - Todd County Central (4-0) did it! The Rebels are off to their fastest start in many years after crushing 1A Fulton City 54-6. Isaiah Fingers and Jaquavion Mimms combined for 231 rushing yards and 4 TD's on only six total carries. - Washington County (4-1) also is off to a historic start of their own. The Commanders punished 4A Marion County 42-6. Washington County's ground attack was on point. Mike Ellery and Jbias Dawson combined for over 300 rushing yards and five scores between them. - Prestonsburg (2-2) made a statement against newly formed County rival Floyd Central 42-22. Ethan Varney eclipsed the 200-yard mark and had countless key conversions to move the sticks as the Blackcats physically wore down the much larger Jaguars. Varney is a hair shy of 700 rushing yards through four games and will be key if Prestonsburg wants to win District 8. In the Paddock: - Lexington Christian Academy (5-0) travels to Louisville to take on #2 1A Kentucky Country Day (5-0) as they look to take down their second straight pack of Bearcats. KCD defeated Walton-Verona 21-20 earlier in the year and enter averaging over 400 yards per game. - Glasgow and Somerset kind of looked like twins. Glasgow (4-1) rebounded from their first loss to survive a scare from 4A Warren East 16-14. The Scotties will stay up in class to set their sights on a bit stiffer foe in a ranked Franklin-Simpson squad. Glasgow will not be the only 2A team from Southern Kentucky with visions of knocking off a ranked 4A foe. Somerset remained hot by beating 5A North Laurel by that same 16-14 score. The Jumpers will draw the #4 team in Clas 4A as undefeated Rockcastle County (4-0) enters the Briar Patch. Deeper in the Program: - We may have our first "unofficial" District Champion Friday when Walton-Verona (3-2) hosts Owen County (3-1). So far the Rebels and Bearcats have appeared to be the class of District 5. Owen County's lone loss doesn't look so bad as 4A Bourbon County is off to a hot start, meanwhile they get W-V entering the game still smarting from the beatdown they took at the hands of LCA.

1) Trinity High School (3-0, defeated Lexington Lafayette 70-14) – Some felt Lafayette would give Trinity a decent game, Trinity put that thought away pretty quickly. Next week’s game will be billed as the game of the season state wide and Trinity takes on Male at Male. 2) Male High School (3-0, defeated Fairdale 64-6) – Male’s continues to show its case for being number one over Trinity. Will wait till next week’s game to finally answer that question. 3) St. Xavier High School (2-0, defeated Bowling Green 45-19) – X finally shakes the Purple monkey off its back and gets a convincing win over BG. This game helps X puff its chest out as a member of the Big 3 decisively. Next week Central 4) St. Francis DeSales (3-0, Defeated Ballard 29-6) – Good quality win for DeSales. Proving to be a growing force in Louisville. Next week should be favored against rival Louisville Holy Cross. 5) DuPont Manual High School (3-0, Defeated Seneca 57-0) The Crimsons do the expected and more against the not very good Red Hawks. Next week will pit Manual against a better opponent in Ballard. 6) Pleasure Ridge Park (3-0, Defeated Doss 40-14) The Panthers continue winning and leap frog Ballard and Christian Academy they both lost this past Friday. Next week will be quality opponent John Hardin who will test PRP’s near top 5 ranking. 7) Central (1-2, Defeated Christian Academy 28-21) Really did not like ranking Central 7th being 1-2 but their losses were to quality opponents and they have a quality win versus CAL. Next week is St. X. 8) Ballard (1-2 Defeated by DeSales 29-6) Another case of not liking to rank someone 1-2 but the losses were to quality teams and I just feel Ballard could beat the teams ranked below them. 9) Spencer County (3-0, Defeated East Jessamine 40-8) Spencer County just keeps winning. Next week should be a better game against Bullitt East. 10) Central Hardin(2-1 Defeated Bullitt East 35-13) Nice win over Bullitt East but next week should prove if Central Hardin should be ranked higher up the rankings. Big Riser(s) – Will have to go to Central. Their fine win against CAL puts them back in the rankings. Big Dropper(s) – Goes to CAL. Their loss to Central drops them out of the rankings. Game of the Week – Trinity versus Male. The two top teams in the state which cannot be argued.