Lexington not the only winner as state football finals make move to UK

It should surprise no one that Lexington high school football coaches are thrilled about the state finals moving to the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field.

Lafayette Coach Eric Shaw, whose program became the first in Fayette County history to play in back-to-back championship games in 2015 and 2016, can see the new finals site from the press box of the Generals’ James Ishmael Stadium. That’s a much quicker drive than the 2  1/2 -hour haul to Bowling Green his team made the last two seasons.

Western Kentucky was a great host, Shaw said, but you can’t beat a 3-mile drive.

“I’m under the impression that this move to UK and Lexington will benefit more teams than in the past,” said Shaw, who admitted that he’s not as geographically savvy being from Florida. “ … If it was here the last couple of years, it would have been a big thing for us cause we would have had the whole city of Lexington behind us. And that’s the way it’s gonna be now, whoever makes it from the city, at least for the next two years.”

Using Google Maps, the total combined distance driven for every 2016 finals participant from its school building to Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium was about 1,750 miles. Had the same schools driven to Lexington for the finals last season, the distance covered would have been about 1,140 miles, with the only two schools seeing an increase in travel being Bowling Green and Franklin-Simpson, which are near WKU’s campus.

Mileage numbers over the last five seasons show that Lexington would have been a faster trip for the majority of finals teams to make than was Bowling Green. In all five seasons, the difference between actual distance traveled and hypothetical distance traveled was at least 300 miles.

It would be difficult to strip UK of the games after its two-year commitment if cost of travel is as important as schools often contend. Of course, fan turnout and sponsorship support are vital factors as well. Shaw doesn’t think it’ll be hard to rally support around town.

“I think Lexington’s gonna make a push to make sure it doesn’t go anywhere,” Shaw said. “It’s gonna benefit this city, it’s gonna benefit the high schools, it’s gonna benefit everybody. … It will raise energy in the city knowing that if you’re fortunate enough to make it there, you don’t have to go far from it. Playing in front of family and friends is a big benefit. It will be motivating factor.”

In addition to echoing Shaw’s comments about having the opportunity to play close to home, Frederick Douglass Coach Brian Landis said it’s great for Kentucky high school football to be “moving to one of the nicest facilities in the country.”

Mark Perry, Lexington Catholic’s head coach, loves that his college alma mater has shown increasing commitment to high school football in the state.

“A lot of kids dream of being a Wildcat and playing in that stadium, so to have the finals here and it centrally located, I think it makes a ton of sense,” Perry said. “ … Coach (Mark) Stoops, Mitch Barnhart, those guys did a really good job of putting the right package together to make that all work out.”

Scott County, the only school in the area to have won the big-school title in the last 25 years, will be in the championship conversation in 2017. Coach Jim McKee has heard nothing but “super positive feedback” from fans, families and players regarding the move to Kroger Field.

His goals remain unchanged.

“My focus is doing everything we can to make our school’s fifth appearance in the finals whether it’s played on Mars or at UK,” McKee said via text message.

This story was originally published May 18, 2017 at 11:52 AM with the headline "Lexington not the only winner as state football finals make move to UK."