Coach Lyon’s Class 6A preseason top-10 football poll…

In what has become a tradition at KPGFootball, we are going to make a preseason top-10 prognosis. These teams will be ranked according to whom we believe are the top 10 football teams in each classification. Some of these teams are (unfortunately) in the same district. That aside, this is who we believe to be Class 6A’s best football teams as we head into the 2019 season.

Class 6A

  1. Louisville Trinity…Sorry Male, we’re picking Trinity for two very salient reasons. First, Louisville Trinity has won a Kentucky State Football Championship 25 times, including 2016 & 2017, and while they had a tough year in 2018, they still played in 14 games and made it to the State Semis, losing to Male 27-20 in a game it could have won. Second, it is very hard to repeat, especially with a target on your back. In 2018, Trinity Football worked through early season injuries, a challenging schedule, and a number of underclassmen in key positions, before getting on a roll late. In 2019, Trinity returns several upperclassmen like Alex Moore (TE), Ryan Miller (WR), Tyler Roberson (DL), Blake Ruffin(DB) and Kaelan Rucculia (TE). However, Trinity also has a very special group of Juniors-to-be like Roman White (DB), Branden Stearman (LB), Christopher Forehand, Jr. (DB), and Alton Jefferson (DL) some of whom have already made a name for themselves which they hope to see continue to grow, like Stearman and White; and others who are ready for this season to be “the statement,” like Forehand and Jefferson. It is their time now and they are ready for the challenge. Seth Jutz (QB) also returns from his having been thrown straight into the fire. The year of learning on the job should pay big dividends for his senior season.  
  2. Male High School…Louisville Male may have the easiest ride to a district crown in the entire classification. If Male doesn’t win the fourth district, we may pull a Dickie V and stand on our heads on television. However, that shouldn’t be interpreted to mean Male doesn’t have any horses in the barn, they have some prize-winning thoroughbreds. First of all, look for Jaylin Bross (RB) to have a break out year in 2019. He has bided his time and waited his turn and the 2021 prospect will turn a lot of heads in 2019. Selah Brown is one of the best DL prospects in the Class of 2022 and we may need to remove the words “one of” from that previous statement. Vincel Anthony Jr. is a stud WR, entering his sophomore year in 2019, who could have been the team’s Offensive MVP in last year’s title game. His brother VJ Anthony is looking to have a break-out season at LB and certainly passes the eye test. Nicholas Coates is one of the best DBs in the city and looks like a fraternity chapter president, though his game-play is all ball player. Izayah Cummings is big-time at the WR position and will be a senior this coming year. Sophomore to be Brandon Dobbs is a beast of a defensive lineman. On second thought, if we keep going we’re liable to talk ourselves into changing our minds and voting Male number one.
  3. Saint Xavier…Kevin Wallace has done what he was brought to Saint Xavier to do. He has made in roads into the vast talent reservoirs of athleticism which streams in, around, and through the Derby City’s youth leagues. Of course, right now the roster is still largely comprised of a bunch of Roman Catholic relative unknowns who have vast quantities of vowels in their surnames. Anthony Moretti has exhausted his eligibility but the 2nd and 3rd leading rushers, Douglas Bodhaine and Logan Davis respectively, both are back for their senior years. Bodhaine also shared QB duties with Keegan Sullivan in 2018, and with Sullivan graduating at the end of the Spring semester in 2019, it appears St. X will have to rely largely on Bodhaine. Edgar “Jack” Sivori was just a freshman in 2018 and he got some varsity run so it would appear he may well be the QB of the future for Wallace’s squad. We hear star 2022 LB, Will Darraugh, has transferred to Saint Xavier from South Oldham and that certainly will bolster the defensive 2nd level. While none of the names we have here are exactly household names anywhere but maybe Louisville, the way in which all of them conjoin into a formidable and effective football team is a thing of beauty.
  4. Meade County…Yeah, we said it, the Meade County team which has finished below .500 in both 2017 and 2018 will be fire in 2019. Why? Well, for starters, you can count on one hand the amount of times Meade County has finished below .500 in its illustrious football team’s history. Secondly, Meade County has had one of Indiana’s very top running back prospects in Austin Opel transfer onto the roster. Opel gained over 1,500 yards from scrimmage a year ago playing Indiana, Class 6A football. Additionally, two of 21s very best in JJ Richardson and JT Godsey dot the roster. Meade County appears to be back on track.
  5. Madison Central…A state Semi-finalist in 2018 in the 6A classification, is clearly still the team to beat in District 8. Madison Central was 10-4 a year ago and will be quite formidable again this upcoming season.
  6. DuPont Manual…Manual, who is stuck in a tough district generally won by St. Xavier, has been stock-piling talent from out of the Louisville Youth League coffers for several years. Manual has one of Kentucky’s most dynamic receivers in Eli Blakey and Josh Johnson will be a freshman this year and is one of Kentucky’s very best DEs coming out of middle school and everyone around Kentucky raves about Jawaun “Waun-Waun” Northington (RB/LB, 2022). Manual may still be a year away but they could surprise a lot of people this year. This is a game St. X shouldn’t take lightly for sure.
  7. McCracken County…Out of the 8 districts in the 6A classification, no body except maybe Male and Trinity win its district more regularly than McCracken. The other side of that analysis is when has a District One team done anything other than whimper out of the KHSAA playoffs in either the first or second rounds? Still, Paducah is an area which produces athletes second to none and Marc Clark is a very good coach who runs a very good program. McCracken may have the best placekicker in the class in Ben Schofield who we call “The Schofield Leg-Rocket.” A money place kicker can win you games, just saying. This would be a good year for McCracken to make a run. They will have the horses in the hallway to do this.
  8. North Hardin…Nobody boasts more talent on the roster than North Hardin. Between Octavious Oxendine (DL), LaVell Wright (RB), and Darren Green (LB) how can any high school coach possibly pray to have better talent than that? The answer is he can’t. North Hardin and Meade County will battle it out for the District Two crown with either of them having the talent to make a run to the Semis.
  9. Simon Kenton…While SK lost over 20 seniors from off its 10-3 ball club in 2018, the only real competitor for the District crown appears to be Campbell County. Simon Kenton can beat Campbell County with a hand tied behind their backs donning blindfolds.
  10. (tie) Ballard High…Ballard has one of the best defenses in Kentucky and some of the best looking athletes too. Justice Thompson, c/o 2021, is as good as it gets at the LB position and could even play with his hand in the dirt when called upon. Brandon Miller is top flight at DL. Larry Cummings battled through 9 games in 2018 as a sophomore QB and acquitted himself well enough. Now, as a junior in 2019, knowing what is expected of him and being a year more mature and savvy, it is time for him to become the player we all have expected out of him. Leading rusher Jayden Farmer returns and he gained over 800 yards rushing from scrimmage in 2018. This is a team which, if they were in District One or Seven, instead of District Four, they would routinely be winning the district crown. Louisville Butler…Butler returns a QB in Chaz Burks who threw 31 TD passes a year ago along with over 2,100 passing yards. Problem is leading receivers, Demontae Crumes and Frank Caldwell, departed via graduation. Leading ground gainer from a year ago, Eric Jackson, is also gone. Still, Butler returns some of the best defensive players around in rising seniors Samuel Porter and Hosea Knifeley. Porter led the team in tackles in 2018 and Knifeley led the team in TFLs with 11 and QB sacks with 4. The Bears are in District 3 with Saint Xavier. The Roman Legionnaires would do well not to sleep on these Bears especially if they fill the holes left by graduation on the offensive side of the football.

There it is folks, the KPGFootball, preseason top-10 football teams in the 6A classification. We have enjoyed publishing these polls for each of Kentucky’s 6 high school football classifications and hope it has done a little toward amping up excitement for the coming season. We have no doubt that, at the end of the season, we will have been proven prophetic by some of these teams and made into dolts by others. As we are sure is true of all of you, we are ready for the season to start. Good luck to all the teams and we’ll be seeing you all around the old Friday night gridiron.

This is Coach HB Lyon, reporting for KPGFootball, and we’re JUST CALLING IT LIKE WE SEE IT!

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About Fletcher Long 1446 Articles
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

2 Comments

  1. I currently work on FT Knox with several parents of Meade County football players and they too found it laughable that they are ranked #4 in 6A. Their QB position is clearly not a strong point. Their defensive backfield got shredded at times last season. I am pretty in tune with district 2 football and Hardin County area teams and most players, coaches that I know and fans predict the following standings at the end of next season; 1.North Hardin 2. Central Hardin 3. Meade County 4 Barren County.

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