Friday Night Fletch’s Twenty (20) Picks!
Every year we pick Friday Night games. Every year our rate of success is astounding. Today we are posting our thoughts on twenty (20) games which will be played on Friday Night (August 22, 2025). Let’s see how we do!
HB Lyon, Scouting Director, “KPGFootball”
Atherton at Central Hardin– Atherton, a.k.a “The Big A-Train has got it rolling under Coach Nino White. Atherton will challenge for a title this year. The Big A-Train is too much for Central Hardin. Atherton by 21.
Bardstown at E-Town– Bardstown is coming off a nine (9) win season in ’24 in 4A. E-Town is pining away for the Coach Mark Brown days. Mattingly has the Panthers trending upward. That won’t matter this week. Bardstown by 30.
Belfry at E. Carter– East Carter is coming off a seven (7) win campaign in 3A and Belfry is a 2A team these days. However, Belfry was an 11-win, 3A team a year ago so these Pirates are quite formidable and have a ton of roster talent. Bo Wolford is among the very best OL in the commonwealth. Belfry will win going away in Grayson, KY. Sorry, East Carter. Belfry by 30.
Bell County at Campellsville– Campbellsville won 11-games a year ago and were preseason picked in our 1A top five. Bell County is not a 1A school and is among the elite teams at the 3A level, winning 11-games of its own a season ago. We like Bell in this one by seven (7) points.
Bryan Station at South Warren-South Warren has just stepped up into 6A ball from having previously won titles at both 4A and 5A. Bryan Station is a legitimate 6A ball club coming off a 7-5 season a year ago. Still, South Warren has one of the best young, ’28 QBs in the commonwealth in Chase Bell and the Spartans are really well coached. We like South Warren by 10-points.
Caldwell County at Hopkins County Central– Caldwell won this game a year ago 42-6 at home. This game is on Morton’s Gap, not in Princeton, KY. How much difference does the game being played on Morton’s Gap make? Well, the Storm won the ’23 matchup. The Storm boasts one of the better all-around athletes in the commonwealth in Sylas Gunn. We like Central by a single point.
Collins at Lafayette– Lafayette won six games a year ago and were respectable. Collins were five game winners in 5A in ’24 and have added a Charles Andrew Collins to the Martha Layne Collins teaching faculty and coaching staff. This will help Coach Lucas’s prospects considerably. Will it be enough to prevail? We think so. Collins by three (3) points.
Manual at Central– This game pits two of Louisville’s better football teams. Manual is coming off a 10-win season but lost plenty of talent to graduation. Central may have graduated the commonwealth’s best RB in ’24. As long as Central has Marvin Dantzler, they will be stout, particularly on defense. We like Manual, but only by three (3) points.
Fort Campbell at Northwest (TN)- Coach Henry Mitchell has done a wonderful job at Fort Campbell and the Falcons are better than they have been in a while. JaCaryous Perryman and KeShawn Dixon are legit for the Falcons and Antonio Rivera is an example of the toughness Mitchell has developed on that roster. The Falcons will beat Northwest by three touchdowns (21 points).
GRC at Scott County– Jim McKee is simply among the best to have ever coached a football game in this commonwealth and Jo Chirico, at GRC, ain’t no slouch. Scott County is going to be really tough this year and McKee has Marshall Graham on that staff with him. That is a couple guys who have won a ton of games. We like Scott County in this one by 10-points. Watch the Colton Johns kid for GRC. This kid is a stud, one of the more athletic, explosive, and powerful two-way linemen in KY, and appears headed to Union Commonwealth to play college football if the Bulldogs get an appropriate package pieced together.
KCD at Sayre– We love the Will Moore kid the Spartans brought over from the LaCrosse team. Sayre has some really fine athletes, including the Minner kid (John Luke) at LBer. However, KCD (Kentucky Country Day) has nearly everyone back from its 10-3 team a year ago including dual threat QB Caden Long (No relation to Friday Night Fletch). At the end of the day, we like KCD to win over Sayre by six (6) points.
Lexington Catholic at Ballard– Lexington Catholic proved last season it is never out of it. Catholic lost its first six (6) games before winning seven (7) of its final eight (8). That being said, Ballard is a 6A team with 6A roster talent who played in the Regional Championship game in 6A a year ago. Lexington Catholic is a 3A team playing a legitimate 6A ball club on the road. We like Ballard by ten (10) here.
Madisonville North Hopkins at Union County– Union County played for the 3A title a year ago then graduated three (3) of its all-time players at three critical positions. Union will still be a very good 3A team but, let’s face facts, Madisonville North Hopkins beat the loaded Union roster 34-6 in last year’s opener. North boasts a “Mr. Football” candidate at RB (Markezz Hightower), one of the KHSAA’s better TE’s (Jayden Travis), a stud LBer (Kirk LaGrange) and several top-flight linemen (Kadence Price (’27) 6’2,” 265-pounds; Marvin Robert (’27) 6’4,” 285-pounds; Brody Hall (’27) 6’3,” 250-pounds; Gage Kinney (’27) 6’0,” 250-pounds; Kaden Vickery (’26), 6’1,” 280-pounds; and Boyd Dever (’28) 6’6,” 290-pounds). We like North Hopkins on the road by 21-points.
Male at Butler-Louisville Male is Louisville Male and while they had a down year last season the Bulldogs are still coached by one of the game’s best ever in Chris Wolfe. Male beat butler by nearly 50-point (47-0) in last year’s opener at Butler. We believe Male will beat Butler by 50-points Friday night with Male being at home. Look out for Chayce Burton, a running back listed at 5’10” and 195 pounds in the ’26 graduating class. He is ranked as the #15 recruit in Kentucky by 247Sports and #7 by the Lexington Herald Leader. He has received scholarship offers from schools like Louisville, Bowling Green, Eastern Kentucky, Kent State, and Minnesota. Burton is coming off injury and we don’t know how much he is ready for play but, should he be able to go he is a difference maker.
Owensboro (Senior) at Saint Xavier– St. Xavier had an unusually mediocre season in ’24 but this looks to be Kevin Wallace’s “Swan Song” if reports of his upcoming, end of the season retirement are accurate. Senior will be breaking in a new HFX in DeMarcus Ganaway. We like the Tigers from Saint Xavier by three (3) points in this one at home. Evan Hampton, U of L commitment, at RB should keep the Red Devils competitive with any team at any classification.
Paducah Tilghman at McCracken– McCracken is as potent on offense as you may see at any level. QB, Maddox O’Neal can spin that sucker! Tilghman has the best tackle in Jarvis Strickland I have (perhaps) ever covered and Ben Myers, on the other side, is very good too. This is a hard one to pick. Both of these teams figure to be very good in ’25 and this game may come down to whomever is able to stop the other. Still, this isn’t last year’s Tilghman squad. We like McCracken by six with both teams scoring over 35-points.
Pikeville at CAL– Pikeville may boast the best athlete in 1A football in WR Mikey Hager. Chris MacNamee (Pikeville) is among the very best in the coaching business. Christian Academy-Louisville has won five (5) titles in the past nine (9) seasons, including the past three (3) so Hunter Cantwell (CAL) certainly isn’t a slouch. The Centurions have run out of Hodges to QB the team and Garyon Hobbs transferred to Atherton. This game will be tight. We like the Centurions only because they are at home. CAL over Pikeville by one (1) point.
Raceland at Ashland Blazer– Raceland was preseason picked by us to win 1A. They have about everybody back off a roster which played for the tile, losing by five (5), to Sayre. Ashland Blazer is not a 1A team and should be confused for one. The Tomcats won 11-games a season ago in 4A, losing to Corbin in the Regional finals. If this game wasn’t in Ashland, KY we might fee differently. However, it is. Paul Blazer by ten (10) points at home against the Rams.
Webster County at Calloway– Webster County is coming off a 2-8 record where it missed the playoffs. Calloway has brought in Koby Lewis to right its ship as it was winless a season ago (0-10). How much better will the Lakers be in ’25? We believe considerably. We like the Lakers at home by seven (7) points.
Williamsburg at Leslie County– Williamsburg is generally pretty dad-burn stout and were 8-2 a year ago. That 56-8 beat down visited on them by Hazard kind of sticks in a team’s crawl. Leslie County is coming off a 6-5 record in ’24 and one of its better players (Korbin Fletcher) has transferred to Hazard. We like Williamsburg in this one by 10-points. The Yellow Jackets will be working mighty hard to get the taste out of its mouth from last year’s trip to Perry County, Kentucky in round two.
There you go, folks; there is our twenty (20) picks. If we didn’t get your game this week, we’ll get you another time.
This is Friday Night Fletch, reporting for KPGFootball and KPI Newspaper Group, reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!
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