Garrison Mckinney, 840WHAS and KPGFootball, Small-School All-Stater, headed to LeHigh a happy man!

’24 prospect definitive OC in the small school division throughout KY

This guy is a 6’3,” 275 (or so) pounder headed to Lehigh to play his football collegiately. This guy has a 3.5 GPA, made the All-District/City (Lexington) team twice before this year, and made our Small School All-State Football Team. He was the straw which helped stir the drink, so to speak, and we are honored to claim him as a member of our team.

HB Lyon, Scouting Director, KPGFootball

Hudl Link: Garrison Mckinney

Lexington, KY: We just published our Small and Large School All-State Football Teams. We are sure we missed plenty of deserving players.

Not much we can do about that. We are one magazine and one (very large and prominent) radio station (News Radio 840WHAS) covering six classifications across the entire breadth of Kentucky.

One guy we are grateful we didn’t miss was Lexington Christian’s, Garrison McKinney. We watched a lot of film on him and decided it wasn’t any fluke the offense gained 2,574-yards rushing and 2,393-yards passing while amassing 697-points against the toughest schedule played by any one team in Kentucky.

By my count, looking at the schedule the Eagles just played in 2023, LCA played no fewer than five (5) teams which won Kentucky football championships (Bowling Green, Boyle County, CAL, Pikeville, and Mayfield), a sixth team which played for the title (Raceland), and a seventh team which made the semis (Lexington Catholic). That is 7-teams which all practiced on Thanksgiving Day.

That is quite a work load. Looking at the ’24 schedule, the same sadist appears to have booked this coming slate.

Lexington Christian finished this gauntlet, 11-2. The Eagles lost to Boyle County in Danville by nine (9) points and to Mayfield, in Mayfield, by 22-points in a game where the final score was deceptive. The game was a back and forth affair much of the night before some turnovers and bad breaks led to the final margin.

Games can get away from any team. It happens.

Now LCA beat quite a few of the tough games it scheduled. While losing to Boyle and Mayfield, it should be remembered the Eagles clipped Pikeville, CAL, Bowling Green, Lexington Catholic, and Raceland.

Like we have before said of Male, another team which finished with two losses, we aren’t too sure, as we sit here today, LCA was still not the best team in 2A in 2023 in spite of its two losses. They are a team who happened to have a regrettable and uncharacteristic performance in War Memorial stadium on a cold night in mid-November. Other than that…well, you know.

Garrison McKinney proved to be the best center we saw play below the 4A classification. Matter of fact, Isaac “Spike” Sowells and McKinney were the two best we saw at the center position this year at any level of play.

We caught up with LCA’s head football coach, Doug Charles. He had plenty to offer about his big offensive center.

“Big G (Garrison McKinney) exemplifies everything for which LCA stands both on and off the field,” Charles told KPGFooball. “As a football player, he’s an athletic lineman who can play multiple positions and has been a three year starter on some very talented teams. As a young man, either on or off the field, McKinney’s earned a full ride to one of the country’s most prestigious universities (Lehigh) to play Division I football, that says plenty about him right there.”

Charles concluded with, “We are really going to miss Garrison. Matter of fact, we will miss the entire, awesome, McKinney family.”

McKinney is headed to Lehigh University to play FCS, Division I football in the Patriot League. Lehigh was 6th in the league this year, finishing 2-9 overall, so an infusion of this type talent will be welcomed with “open arms.”

Lehigh has won the Patriot League 10-times. The Mountain-Hawks have made the postseason 20-times, winning 10 of those games.

Lehigh was recently rated the 14th best college in the country according to the Wall Street Journal’s ’24 Best Colleges in the U.S. published study. That means a degree from there is pricey, sought after, and something which would naturally require a 3.5-GPA from one of Kentucky’s top college preparatory schools.

McKinney published a statement when announcing his commitment to Lehigh. “This journey has been an incredible one, and I couldn’t have done it without the unwavering support of my amazing family, the guidance of my coaches, and the camaraderie of my teammates.”

That is why parents choose a school like LCA for their children to attend. That is why players flock to join the Eagles.

This is Friday Night Fletch, reporting for KPGFootball, reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!

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