In the Running…Lots of performances around Kentucky-candidates for @minguabeefjerky ‘Protein-packed Performer’ award. Featured Photo of @HoptownFootball’s #DavidBoswell by Wyatt Blake (YourSportsEdge.com). @1776Bank @KyHighFootball @MaxPreps @PrepSpin

David Boswell, '22, Hoptown

Like we did last week and will continue to do in succeeding weeks, we will go around the commonwealth of Kentucky and update, on Mondays, the performances we believe to be jerky-worthy. We had some really fine team and individual performance during this week of competition in the KHSAA. 

When our Protein-packed Performer gets named this Wednesday, it is very likely to be one of the below players. The following guys were all nominated for the award this week. Let’s see who gets it on Wednesday!

Hoptown’s Mercer is “The Man…

Daisjaun Mercer (’23) had a big night against a Calloway County team which had been playing the Hoptown Tigers pretty tight the last few years. Mercer, who rumor has it has picked 17-passes in his career (and he’s only a junior), picked off two passes, housing one, and caught a 43-yard TD pass from Tre Jefferson on the night.

Tre Jefferson (’22) rushed for over 100-yards (103-yards in 8-attempts with 2 rushing TDs) while David Boswell (’22) threw in 9-tackles with 3-TFLs, and a QB-sack, one of three on the night. Hoptown rolled 59-3 over Calloway. 

Breathitt getting hot at the right time…

Breathitt County is starting to resemble; well…Breathitt County. This becomes particularly more true the further the Bobcats delve into 7th-District play.

Hoskins, Breathitt County Photo Credit: James Fugate

QB, Jaylen Turner (’22), was 11 for 21 for 262-yards passing with 4-TDs against no picks. Turner also gained 185-yards rushing in 12-attempts with 3-TDs rushing.

Austin Sperry (’25) caught 5-passes for 113-yards with a TD. Hulking TE, Bryce Hoskins, caught a pair for 74-yards and a TD.

Jaylen Turner personally accounted for 20 of the Bobcats’ 62-points on the evening. Breathitt rolled over Knott County Central 62-24 in a game which was actually worse than the final score would make it seem.

Joe Humphreys from Daviess County has his charges sitting at 7-1…

QB Joe Humphreys (’22) is among Western Kentucky’s “best kept secrets.” That doesn’t count for us as we were saying he was Owensboro Kentucky’s best high school QB even before Gavin Wimsatt bolted for Rutgers earlier in the year.

Against Henderson County Friday night, the Daviess County QB (Humphreys) completed 14 of 30-passing attempts for 234-yards passing and 4-thrown TDs. He also rushed the football 8-times for 118-yards and a TD on the ground.

Isaiah Tomes (’22) caught 3-balls for 94-receiving yards and a pair of TDs while Max Dees (’22) got the other two TDs for the receiving corp. Sean Higgs (’23) was 3 for 3 in PATs and converted his only FG attempt.

Will Ball (’22) recovered a pair of fumbles and Carter Hamilton (’22) paced the defense with 12-stops. Gunnar Evans (’22) and Jack Ball (’23) had 3 of the teams’ 5-TFLs and Brandon Shepherd (’22) and Bryan Vance (’22) had both QB-sacks.

Daviess County beat Henderson County 38-17 and rolls into an away date with Apollo sporting a 7-1 mark. Henderson County drops to 5-3 and is set to entertain McCracken County.

Outstanding ’25’s…

Freshman Montavin Quisenberry (’25, “Q”) has been identified by us as being among the very best in his graduating class. Friday night, he didn’t do a single thing to dampen our enthusiasm.

“Q” was 11 for 15 through the air for 83-yards and a TD and rushed for 114-yards in 16-attempts with 2-TDs. In spite of Q’s efforts, his team came up on the short end of a 36-20 margin against Estill County.

Another outstanding freshman whose team also came up a little short was Paducah Tilghman’s Jack James (’25). James was 21 for 33 through the air for 187-yards with 3-TD passes. Paducah Tilghman lost to Union County in a pivotal 3A, first district tilt. Union County is now 7-1 with its lone loss being to 2A Caldwell County.  

Madison Central continues improbable run…

Madison Central ran its mark to 7-1 in beating the tee-total stuffings out of 8th-district foe, George Rogers Clark, 43-7. For the record, KPGFootball predicted the final score would be 43-0 so we just barely missed hitting this one dead on the head of the nail.

Image from Brady Hensley’s Twitter (@BradyHensley12)

Brady Hensley (’24) rushed the football 22-times for 245-rushing yards and 4-rushing TDs. Adrien Parks (’22) also eclipsed the century mark, gaining 102-yards on 13-carries with a couple of ground scores. On the night, the Indians pounded the ground for 371-rushing yards and 6-ground scores.

Kyran Jackson (’22) had 8-tackle to pace the defense with 2-QB sacks while Haden Kiser (’24) had the other two sacks on the evening. Brady Worrix (’22) picked the lone pass.

Madison County hosts Bryant Station next weekend for the number one seed in the first two rounds of the playoffs for its district in Class 6A. Both teams enter the contest with identical 7-1 marks. 

LCA rolls over Somerset…

We picked Lexington Christian to beat Somerset Friday night 63-0. Well LCA won the game 63-13. Junior varsity defenses often struggle with the angry varsity unit of the team getting mercy ruled or “clocked” as that is sometimes called.

Xavier Brown (’22) rushed the football 3-times for 154-yards with two of the three finding the end zone. Mason Moore (’22) caught two passes for 102-yards and a touchdown while snatching the team’s lone interception. Moore demonstrated, if the football is in the air, he’s liable to be the one to come down with it; regardless of which QB threw it.

Johnny Drake (’23) had a huge defensive night with 9-tackles, which equalled Jeffrey Selby’s (’22) nine (9). Drake also registered 2.5 TFLs and 1.5 QB-sacks. Tyler Morris (’22), headed to the Naval Academy to play football next year, had 5-TFLs and 3-QB sacks. 

Johnson Central coming on…

Mason Lemaster

Johnson Central beat Harlan County in 4A action, 43-8, Friday night. Carter Conley (’24) came within a whisper of eclipsing the century mark on the ground with 95-rushing yards in only 6-carries and a TD.

Mason LeMaster (’22) paced the defense with 10-tackles and a TFL. Ryleh McKenzie (’22) picked a pass and took it 62-yards for the lone “pick-six.”

Johnson Central is now 6-2 with a huge trip to play a 6-1 Letcher County Central team looking to seize the one-seed in the upcoming first two rounds of the KHSAA playoffs. Letcher is smelling “blood in the water.” Maybe premature but we shall see.

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

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About Henry Lyon 1210 Articles
Have coached at the high school and middle school level. Have worked in athletic administration. Conceal my identity to enable my candor on articles published by this magazine. Only members of the editorial board are aware of my true identity.

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