KPGFootball handicaps the Franklin County matchup
To say the Eagles from Lexington’s Christian Academy have started out the ’26 season with a difficult trek is a bit of an understatement. The Eagles stand at 1-2 and have lost back to back games to Pulaski County (5A finalist in ’25) and the Christian Academy-Louisville (four-time, defending 3A KHSAA champions). However, iron sharpens iron as we commonly say and this week the Eagles draw another tough opponent but one the Eagles will be favored to beat. This is another one of those great seeding opportunities to get to play games at home come playoff time. Hey, we’re still in the hunt here…act accordingly. Go Eagles…
Jumpin’-Jack Flash, Associate Scouting Director, “KPGFootball”
eCampus.com was built on a simple idea: make textbooks affordable, convenient, and accessible for every student. Founded in 1999 in Lexington, KY and backed by visionary investors like Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas, the company has grown into a premier online textbook retailer for high school and college students nationwide.
Their mission has always been supporting student success both on and off the field through affordable access to the course materials they need. eCampus.com is excited to invest in our student-athletes through Kentucky Prep Gridiron (KPGFootball) which was founded to promote and assist young high school football players get promoted to “next level,” college football opportunities.
That is why eCampus.com sponsors the KPGFootball, Big Man on the eCampus series. This week we are doing something a bit different. In stead of giving you a feature, we are going to predict the order of finish in the 2A classification for the ’26 season.
We aren’t sure how many of you remember this, but KPGFootball may have been the only Kentucky-wide publication which came out on the record and picked the Eagles to win the title last season (2025). We didn’t panic when the team came out of the gates losing three of its first four.
Iron sharpens iron. We knew the tough early season schedule would pay off dividends in 2025 when it got to playoff time. We were right and believe the similar course of action, in 2026, may well net a similar result.
The 2A classification will be a tough league in 2026 and boasts as many top-flight, top-notch teams as any other class in the commonwealth. There are literally 11-teams who could take home the title with four to five at the top capable of beating the other depending on factors as rudimentary as the location of the game.
Lexington, KY: We are coming off a loss to Christian Academy-Louisville which may have hurt us more than just the one week. Just like in golf, you can’t let a bad hole turn into a bad side.
We have to rebound. Encountering a 4A finalist from a year ago (Franklin County) which is sort of searching for itself (1-2) but coming off a huge 56-13 throttling of Class 6A Pleasure Ridge Park (Lou.) would be a good week to put some things together and put other things in proper perspective.
First of all, let’s look at our body of work so far. Lexington Christian has beaten a 6A opponent in North Hardin in week zero, dropped a heart breaker to returning 5A finalist Pulaski County 7-0, and got drilled by one of Kentucky’s “super teams,” Christian Academy-Louisville, 66-21.
Throw out the CAL final. The Centurions are a virtual, traveling All-Star roster packed with prospects headed to Power Four, FBS, Division I “paydays” including 2028’s number two (overall) ranked national prospect in Kellan Hall (DL). Hall is a five-star prospect with an offer list which looks like The Who’s Who of major college football.
The Pulaski County result was a bit fluky too. There were some scores called back and a turnover on the Maroons’ two yard line plus the “we’re looking ahead to next week and the monster awaiting us” factor all of which probably adds up to a “we wish we could play that matchup a second time” scenario.
Most Eagles fans would like to play that Pulaski County game a second time!
Jumpin’-Jack Flash
So both teams are 1-2 entering a week where each one needs a victory badly. Neither team, Franklin County, nor LCA should be hitting the panic button.
Since the days of relying on RPI were ushered in we have probably seen the last of a lower classification team (outside of CAL) going 15-0. In order to pump up your RPI for home seeding through the semis, a program like LCA has to play the big boys.
Coach Watkins a staff are certainly doing that!
How will this game flesh out? Here is how our team of experts see it at KPGFootball.
The Lexington Christian Academy Eagles are heavily favored by roughly 16 points over the Franklin County Flyers.
Game Context
- Date & Time: Friday, September 11, 2026, at 7:30 PM
- Location: Lexington Christian Academy (Lexington, KY)
- Forecast/Spread: LCA favored by ~16 points (Projected score: LCA ~36, Franklin County ~20)
- Win Probability: LCA ~80%, Franklin County ~20%
Handicap Breakdown
- The Favorite (LCA):
- Rated as a top-25 team in the state, LCA plays a fierce schedule (including powerhouse matchups against Boyle County and Christian Academy of Louisville) that hardens them for mid-tier classification competition.
- Even with a couple of early losses against elite state tier-one competition, their explosive offensive capability creates severe matchup problems for opposing secondaries.
- The Underdog (Franklin County):
- Sitting at 1-2 on the young season, the Flyers bounced back nicely with a 56-13 win over Pleasure Ridge Park, but stepping on the road into Lexington presents a massive step up in competition.
- To cover the spread or pull off the upset, Franklin County’s defense will need to dramatically outperform their early-season metrics and control the clock to keep LCA’s high-powered offense off the field.
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This is Friday Night Fletch, reporting for KPGFootball, reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!
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