Beechwood is the team to beat until they are beaten…
It is tough, any pre-season, to predict who will do what from a standpoint of ranking KHSAA teams. Beechwood has won four of the last five 2A titles, (2020, ’21, ’22, ’24) and are in a position to begin any year at the top until a team can climb up there and knock them off the summit. Prestonsburg has a ton returning as does a Breathitt team which got better and better as the year went along. Somerset may have the best player in the classification in Kris Hughes while Mayfield is still Mayfield even if the coach’s surname is “Dew” and not “Morris.” We like these teams entering the ’25 season to vie for classification supremacy. Read the article, our position was supported as always.
HB Lyon, Scouting Director, “KPGFootball”
1. Beechwood High (tie);
2024 record, 14-1, 2A Champions
Clay Hayden is gone and that is a big miss. Hayden threw for close to 3,000 yards a year ago and 46-TDs while completing over 67% of his passing attempts and throwing only 6-picks. Cole Coppage and Tyler Fryman, a pair of sophomores, look to fill those large shoes.
Chase Flaherty is also departed by graduation. He gained close to 1,456 yards on the ground and scored 30-rushing TDs. The most lethal receiving threat, James Cusick, who caught 61-passes a year ago with 14-TDs and over a thousand receiving yards likewise graduated.
Nathan Pabst (three INTs) a Tyler Fryman (five INTs) will plug into to lead the ball club as the pair accounted for three (3) of the team’s five (5) “pick sixes” a year ago. Colson Lair is among the best PKs in the game.
Bo Sowder returns on defense and Sowder had 13-TFLs and three (3) sacks as only a sophomore. If you are looking for an off the radar type, keep an eye on rising sophomore, Garrison Wilson (’28). Wilson housed a 37-yard, “pick-six” in ’24 as a freshman. Teams like Beechwood reload, never rebuild.
They lost a ton to graduation. They will still be in the title hunt regardless. They are Beechwood!
1. Belfry Pirates (tie);
2024 record, 11-3, made the 3A semis; lost to finalist, Union County
Belfry was 11-3 a year ago and lost to Union County in the semis, the 3A, not the 2A, semis. Belfry has been re-classified into 2A.; Whether they find the sledding any easier is anyone’s guess; but, to be fair, the Pirates were doing just fine in 3A.
Belfry lost its all-time coach in Phillip Haywood. How does any program replace 491-wins and 8-titles? It’s impossible.
New coach Matt Varney was on the staff and has been handling the defensive side of the ball for years. What will he do with the reigns to the entire team of horses? How will the kids respond? Those are the 64-dollar questions. We just don’t know for sure.
Belfry didn’t lose much off the ’24 team. Chase Varney is back at the controls of the offense. Varney, ’26 QB, threw for nearly 1,500-yards and 16-TDs a year ago running for another 8-scores on keepers. Varney also recovered 6-fumbles while the “other Varney,” Cayden, picked three passes. Cayden Varney caught 18-balls in ’24 and the ’26 receiver also tallied six scores.
Jeremiah Austin is back at RB. Austin, also a ’26 prospect, gained 1,574-yards and scored 16-TDs in 206 carries. JB Woolum was a weapon too as the ’27 prospect gained nearly 900-yards a year ago and scored 16-rushing TDs to go along with his 32-receptions and 6-receiving TDs. Ace Caudill, ’26, gained 553-yards with 11-sores to go along with 21-receptions.
Cayden Varney caught 18-balls in ’24 and the ’26 receiver also tallied six scores.
Nick Savage returns at PK and the ’26 player tallied 67-PATs in ’24 on 71-attempts.
We don’t talk enough about quality linemen in this online publication. That being said, guard/tackle Bo Wolford, a rising senior is as good as they come in the KHSAA. Wolford anchors an offensive front known for its prowess.
3. Prestonsburg;
2024 record, 11-2, lost in the regional championship game to Somerset
The Blackcats are back baby! Here is the thing, they were 11-2 in ’24 and were supposed to be a year away then.
QB, Bryce Holbrook was a sophomore last season and returns with a 2:1 TD to INT ratio from a year ago. Sure, Dalton Elliot and Alex Harris graduated, but Colin Hatfield is a ’27 guy, like Holbrook, and he scored in multiple phases a year ago, with TDs rushing and points scored in special teams as both a PK and 2-point conversion specialist.
Defensively, Maddox Pugh (’27) returns and he registered 140-stops in ’24, with 8-TFLs, a pair of sacks, 2-FFs, and 2-FRs. Kain Patton is back with his 124-stops, 18-TFLs, with a pair of picks, and Noah Price led the team in QB-sacks, FFs (5), with a FR and returns for his junior season.
Logan Stumbo is a stud. He had 158-tackles, 31-TFLs, 2-sacks, 1-FF, and 2-FRs with a “scoop and score.” Stumbo will be a senior in ’25.
4. Breathitt High;
2024 record, 6-6, lost in the second round to Beechwood, 56-28, in Fort Mitchell
Breathitt came on at the end of the year in ’24 and finished 6-6, scoring 28-points on Beechwood in round two in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. Miles Hollon (’28) improved with every game, throwing for 1,949-yards and 21-TDs.
The Bobcats are really tough on the ground as ’28 Eli Thomas may be among the elite running backs in his graduating class across Kentucky. Rising senior, Jayden Gibson, gained just a tad under 700-yards in ’24 and scored 12-rushing TDs. The tandem of Thomas-Gibson will be a load for any defense to handle.
The Bobcats will have to find a replacement for PK Braxton Terry. Terry made nearly 90% of his PATs in ’24. Preston Turner looks to be the likely replacement.
Brayden Barnett, Austin Barker, Alex Strong, and Waylon Abner all return for ’25 promising the defense will be a stout one and much improved over last year’s unit. Sawyer Hall is back, along with Abner, and those two are as good of combo OG/DT types you will see.
Kylan Combs looks like he is ready to go, coming off a traffic accident with considerable injury from last season. The last time we saw Kylan Combs in a uniform he established himself as the (probably) the best freshman safety in Kentucky at any level of play. Combs registered 109-tackles as a freshman and his junior year should be a special one.
Sometimes having to lay out a year reminds a player what makes the high school game of football so special in the first place. Combs will play with an edge, with a vengeance, you may take that to the bank.
5. Somerset (tie);
2024 record, 9-5, lost to Owensboro Catholic, 27-14, in Owensboro in the Semis
Somerset is coming off a 9-win season and a trip to the semis. The Briarjumpers have Kris Hughes returning and Hughes is a sure-fire “Mr. Football” candidate a year from now.
Hughes, as a junior, gained 1,651-yards and 24-rushing TDs. He also caught 36-passes and scored 174-points, good for 12.4 a game. Hughes scored a year ago in all three phases of the game, including housing an INT.
Josh Bruner has graduated but Jacob Estep (’28) looks able to fill those shoes. Estep is the QB of the future; but, the future looks to be right now.
Austyn Lawless was just a sophomore in ’24 and the ’27 prospect had 100-tackles, 13-TFLs, and 10-sacks with 3-FRs. Corban Cimala and Hughes tied for the team lead in picks with a pair a piece.
This is a very well coached team. Somerset isn’t going anywhere for all of you out there pulling against the Bad Bunnies from Pulaski.
5. Mayfield (tie);
2024 record, 9-3, lost to LCA in the regional championship 47-7 in Mayfield
Good news, bad news scenario here is this: Mayfield has a ton returning from last year’s 9-win team. That is certainly the good news.
The bad news is the Cardinals were pretty pedestrian, by their standards, a year ago. Mayfield lost to Lexington Christian Academy, at War Memorial, by 40 in the regions. That will leave a bad taste in any program’s mouth.
Gray Robbins was a handy quarterback, if not spectacular, a year ago as only a sophomore. Robbins threw for close to a couple thousand yards and 21-TDs with a 3:1 TD to INT ratio. Jace Houston will bank him up and the pair are both ’27s.
Josiah England returns for his junior campaign. England rushed for 1,568-yards and 17-TDs on 188-carries. England led the team in scoring with 108-points or nine points a game.
Mak Hoover and Malik Kirby provide the 1/2 punch in the passing game from the receiving corp. Both of them will be seniors and Hoover caught 44-balls, eight (8) of which were for TDs and Kirby caught 42-passes, nine (9) of which were for scores. We should also mention Kirby led the ball club with 6-picks, a “pick-six,” 37-tackles, three (3)-TFLs, a FF, and a FR.
Owen Byrd was 92% on PATs nailing 48 of his 52-attempts going two (2) for five (5) on three-pointers. Diego Torres, along with Malik Kirby, is among the more versatile talents on the roster.
Torres, a rising senior, had 47-stops, two (2)-TFLs, three (3)-FRs, picked a pass, and was third on the ball club in receiving with 20-receptions for 349-yards and a TD. Torres was also among the leaders in scoring with a receiving TD and a scoop and score on defense.
Five more to watch
- 6. Owensboro Catholic
- 7. Lexington Christian Academy (LCA)
- 8. Caldwell County
- 9. Bracken County
- 10. Washington County
This is Friday Night Fletch, reporting for KPGFootball and KPI Newspaper Group, reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!
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What a joke. You got 1 right – Beechwood.