Conrad Hart comes up Big Time in The Holy War! eCampus.com recaps the win over the Lexington Catholic Knights in the biggest game of the year in Lexington… #Kentuckys #fletcherwlong #LeadershipLegacy #CoachingExcellence #MentorshipMatters #characterbuilding #SportsLeadership #BuildingChampions #kentuckyfootball #highschoolfootball #DisciplineAndDedication #athletics @KHSAAFootball, @bigassfans, @eCampus.com, @LasatersCoffee
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 3-2 and are coming off a dramatic win against Lexington Catholic in a game which went to overtime and was decided on the last two plays of the contest. However, iron sharpens iron as we commonly say and the Eagles get a well deserved off week before playing a tough WEB Dubois Academy (4-1) team on October 2, 2026. The game against Lexington Catholic is referred to as “The Holy War” and it is quite the game and especially was this season. Catholic entered the contest 3-1 and had looked, in every way, like a 3A, KHSAA contender. This was another one of those great seeding opportunities to get to play games at home come playoff time. We are a little ahead of where we were this time last year and last year we won it all.
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.comis 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 recap the game with the Lexington Catholic Knights and savor the performance which will likely be talked about for years in this particular rivalry.
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. We aren’t panicking now with the team standing at 3-2 through five of the toughest games any small school in Kentucky has perhaps ever started out playing in any singular season. This schedule has been brutal.
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 with Beechwood and Owensboro Catholic looking particularly formidable through the first half of the regular season. 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: What a game this year’s Holy War turned out to be. The outcome hung suspended figuratively in mid air until the very end.
The Lexington Christian Academy Eagles (3-2) make came out on top, 28-27, in overtime, by cashing in on a two point conversion (Whelan to Hart) on the game’s final play. There were plenty of stars from the night.
Some of the stars who looked to us to particularly stand out were the following:
Nash Whelan (LCA, QB): The standout signal-caller led the Eagles’ offense and title defense with tremendous poise.
Conrad Hart(LCA, TE): A 6’6″, 235-pound senior and University of Kentucky commit who created major matchup problems in the passing game and was able to use his big-body and length to come up with the two-point conversion to seal the win.
Matthew Montgomery (LCA, OL/DL): Two-time all-state performer anchoring the trenches with elite technique and footwork.
The game ended knotted at 20s at the end of regulation. Lexington Catholic scored in overtime and converted its PAT to lead 27-20.
On LCA’s first possession, the RB ran a handoff from Whelan to the two-yard line, second and goal. A yaked snap later, and the Eagles had it near the 20-yard line, third and goal.
Whelan threw it down to the four to a WR who dropped the ball, leaving it fourth and goal; again, from around the 20-yard line. On fourth and goal, Whelan threw a perfect corner fade to a receiver who caught it. That made the score 27-26.
The Eagles would go for two and the win. Whelan found UK commit Conrad Hart for the two-point conversion and the victory materialized, 28-27, in favor of the good guys. Wow, what a moment, what a win!
Join us next week as we return to honor another eCampus.com, Big Man on the eCampus. Until then, from any classroom to every field, eCampus.com delivers an easy, fast, and affordable way to order textbooks for students everywhere.
This is Friday Night Fletch, reporting for KPGFootball, reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!
Two-time winner of Kentucky Press Association awards for excellence in writing and reporting news stories while Managing Editor of the Jackson (KY) Times-Voice
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