High school football, radio personality discusses this week’s action on the KHSAA gridiron
High School football, post pandemic, has gained some much needed parity. It isn’t as easy to pick winners or margins as it used to be. Our own, “Friday Night Fletch” works tirelessly to keep us informed on the “goings on” from the gridiron world. Here is what he laid out for us this week.
HB Lyon, Scouting Director, KPGFootball
Week 8 compelling story lines
1A
Frankfort’s 10 point win over an Eminence team which had been hot and had been ranked much of the year. This may be one of the upsets of the season as Frankfort was a 20+ point underdog, going into the night, and was able to post a 10-point win over an Eminence squad which looked more like its hapless ’22 version of itself than the team we have come to know in ’23
Paintsville, which hasn’t been the same since Joe Chirico bolted to George Rogers Clark, beat Hazard last night 14-3, running its record to 3-4 with a game next week against Pikeville awaiting them. Hazard, a team we thought, pre-season, would be very good (because they are almost always very good) are now 1-7. Cheer up Bulldogs, your Middle School team is fabulous. Help is on the way.
2A
Leslie County showed it may be a team with which to contend in the 6th-District beating Danville, last night, 25-19. Leslie his now 5-2 and will travel to Jackson, KY to play Breathitt next week. Breathitt had the night off. That Leslie/Breathitt matchup is a blood bath. Leslie is 2-1 in the District and Breathitt is 0-1; the winner of that game may be home for the first round. Big game!
Is Fort Campbell back? The Falcons last night beat a tough Todd County squad 24-14 in Elkton, Kentucky. You have to hand it to Coach Mitchell, the Falcons have looked better and better as the year has gone along. They have won 4-straight and are 5-3 with a game at Owensboro Catholic upcoming in Owensboro. They will follow that game with coming home to play Webster County.
The Falcons have won 4-straight and are 5-3 in ’23
Friday Night Fletch
3A
Hopkins County Central traveled to Cadiz, Kentucky to play a Wildcat squad against which they haven’t historically fared well (Central won 40-14 last night). RB, Calil McNary broke the career rushing TD record and a career rushing mark which had stood since Offensive Coordinator, Mike Evans, was personally enrolled in middle school (Andy Cook). Evans, in his long tenure in Morton’s Gap, can now say he developed the program’s all-time passer (Adrian Stringer) and all-time rusher (McNary). How many OC’s can make such a claim? Central entertains Hancock County (5-3), in two weeks in a “win or go home and report to basketball practice” game.
Clay County has run its record to 6-1 and is 1-1 in its district (District 7) by whipping McCreary Central like pretty much everyone else in the 7th has done. The Rock (Rockcastle County) is King of the 7th, right now, standing at 2-0 with a 63-28 win over Clay on September 22nd. However, Clay has an excellent chance of landing in the 2-slot with a home game in round one.
Union is 8-0, CAL is still statistically the best team in the class with its highest RPI sitting at 6-1. Bell County rebounded from its first loss to smoke Knox Central 52-28.
Bardstown is starting to get its 4A legs
Friday Night Fletch
4A
Bardstown is starting to get its 4A “legs.” The Tigers beat John Hardin, last night, 31-0 in a game we thought would be tighter than the final margin. Bardstown is 3-0 in District play and 4-4 overall. With Nelson County and a hapless 2A Danville remaining, the Tigers look poised to enter the playoff on a 4-game roll with the top seed in its district.
Okay, Letcher lost to Corbin, but it is Corbin, and we figured the “Redounds” would win by 40+. The boys from Whitesburg said, “not so fast” and were able to keep it within 25. Letcher drops to 4-3, Corbin is undefeated (7-0).
People in 4A better start paying attention to the Tomcats from Paul Blazer High in Ashland, Kentucky. They are 8-0 with Johnson Central and Simon Kenton left. If they beat Johnson Central, one of the better 4A teams in Kentucky, AND Simon Kenton, a 4-2, 6A power to get to 10-0; look out!
South Warren is beginning to look a lot like…South Warren
Friday Night Fletch
5A
Branden Smith’s South Warren team is starting to resemble….well, South Warren. These guys are now 6-1 with its only loss being to a duPont Manual team which showed St. Xavier what it was all about last night. Next week, South gets Bowling Green in the battle for South Central Kentucky supremacy. BG is 5-2 and both BG and SW are undefeated in district play.
The Red Devils from Owensboro are “heating up” as they have won 4-straight and 5 of the last 6. They beat hapless Muhlenberg 62-8 on Thursday night. Owensboro will find out where they are, really fast, next weekend. They travel to Madisonville, Kentucky to play a smoking hot Maroon squad (6-2) coming off a beat down of Apollo (36-7). Owensboro is 4-0 in district play and Madisonville is 3-1.
The RB from Manual fumbled, Period!
Friday Night Fletch
6A
duPont Manual beat St. Xavier in a mild upset, 37-36, on a non-call which will be discussed in Louisville football circles for a long, long time. Manual’s running back fumbles the football in a play which has been rebroadcast on “X” from a perfect vantage point, and there is no question it was a fumble. The ruling on the field was the RB (who was practically vertical) was either down or his progress had been stopped. Neither appeared true to me. Manual is now 6-1, 1-0 in the district, and St. Xavier is 4-3, 0-1 in district play. Still, with all duPont Manual has been through this preseason, leading up to the season, the Crimsons have to be among the “feel good” storylines of the ’23 campaign.
How about Fern Creek? Joshua Abell’s Tigers dropped a heartbreaker to the defending champion at this classification, Bullitt East. However, the Tigers lost 14-6 and showed its defense is plenty good to deliver some surprises the rest of the way. They get Male, Southern, and CAL coming down the stretch. A word of caution to CAL; 6A teams are tough and have plenty of talent and depth. Don’t let these guys slip up on you and ambush you around the Sahara watering hole. You know, Tigers are prone to do such things.
The best team in 6A may still be a bit unclear, but just which team is the worst has begun to crystallize
Friday Night Fletch
We may not know exactly who the best team in 6A is, across Kentucky, but we did learn who may be the worst. Last night, Daviess County beat a hapless Christian County, 24-15, in the battle for the 6A, Kentucky-wide, cellar. Daviess County entered the game with a win against Warren Central as the only thing between it and a winless season, thus far. Christian County had 2-wins entering the contest, one against a 1-win, Hoptown team (by two-points) and the other against a winless, 2A team, in Caldwell County.
This is Friday Night Fletch, reporting for KPGFootball, reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!
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