Herald-Leader Watch List: 2021’s top Central Kentucky high school football players

Welcome to Central Kentucky high school football. Some of the best teams in the state play here and that means it’s loaded with talented players.

Boyle County won its ninth state title last year. Franklin County went to the Class 4A finals. Scott County is always ranked in the top 10; Nicholas County and Madison Southern won district championships in 2020, and teams such as Mercer County and Woodford County are contenders.

Here, listed in alphabetical order, is a list of 10 top athletes, plus a few more, we expect you will be hearing a lot about this season from schools around the Bluegrass (the top Lexington players are named in another article).

Caleb Burns

School: Danville.

Profile: Caleb Burns, a 5-10, 194-pound senior running back, was on pace for his second consecutive 1,000-yard season until COVID-19 intervened and the Admirals had a couple of games wiped off the schedule. Still, he managed 824 yards and nine touchdowns in 2020, including a 114-yard game against district rival and state finalist Lexington Christian. The Admirals stood toe-to-toe with the top-ranked Eagles and led by a field goal with under two minutes left before taking a 34-30 loss.

Clayton Davis

School: Lincoln County.

Profile: Clayton Davis, a 5-10, 174-pound senior wideout/corner, racked up 1,080 yards and 15 TDs rushing, 307 yards and four TDs receiving, while also splitting time at quarterback with 372 passing yards and two TD throws. On defense, he was the Patriots third-leading tackler with 53. Lincoln County has nine of its offensive starters returning for what is always a difficult campaign in Class 4A’s District 7.

Brayden Dunn

School: Mercer County.

Profile: Brayden Dunn, a 5-9, 170-pound senior running back/linebacker, begins his fourth season as a starter for the Titans. He led the team in rushing with 875 yards and 12 TDs, plus had 216 yards receiving with a TD catch. On defense he had 65 tackles, a sack and two interceptions.

Jagger Gillis

School: Boyle County.

Profile: Jagger Gillis, a 6-2, 205-pound fifth-year senior, led the Rebels to a Class 4A state title last season and passed for 2,037 yards and 25 TDs and proved a running threat, as well, with 415 yards and four scores. Gillis was also a part of Boyle’s 12th Region champion basketball team, averaging 10 points and five rebounds per game.

Jeremy Hamilton

School: Scott County.

Profile: Jeremy Hamilton, a 6-1, 191-pound senior running back/wide receiver, has offers from Eastern Kentucky and Cincinnati and has been used in a variety of ways for the Cardinals over his career. He had 413 yards and six TDs rushing a 44-yard interception return for a TD, 24 tackles and a sack. Coach Jim McKee said he hopes Hamilton gets more action at wide receiver this season. Scott County doesn’t throw much, but when they do, it’s usually for big plays.

Jacob Jones

School: West Jessamine.

Profile: Jacob Jones, a 6-1, 185-pound junior quarterback, threw for 2,067 yards and 17 TDs in his first season playing in Coach Scott Marsh’s spread offense. West Jessamine finished 4-4 after a winless 2019 season. A standout in both baseball and football like his father, former Kentucky Wildcat Robert “Pookie” Jones, Jacob hit .348 for the Colts last season. Jones has an offer from Kentucky football.

Kaden Moorman

School: Franklin County.

Profile: Kaden Moorman, a 5-10, 205-pound three-star junior running back, already has offers from Kentucky, Toledo and Wisconsin after helping the Flyers reach the program’s first state title game in 2020. Moorman rushed for 606 yards and 13 TDs and was also a receiving threat with 453 yards and four scores.

Kalib Perry

School: Great Crossing.

Profile: Kalib Perry, a 6-4, 215-pound three-star senior athlete who plays offense and defense, recently committed to Tennessee among his 13 college offers. “Kalib Perry … will be the best player on the field every game this season,” Coach Ricky Bowling said. Perry led the Warhawks with an outlandish 140 tackles in 2020. He also led them in rushing with 510 yards and six TDs to go with 281 receiving yards and two scores.

Walter Smith

School: Madison Southern.

Profile: Walter Smith, a 5-8, 165-pound slot receiver and defensive back, was Class 5A, District 7’s player of the year for 2020 with 449 rushing yards and four TDs to go with 399 yards receiving with six scores. He returned a punt for a touchdown and kicked a field goal for the Eagles, as well. Coach Jon Clark calls Smith an “all-state caliber player,” and believes he should be a candidate for Mr. Football.

Preston Stacy

School: Woodford County.

Profile: Preston Stacy, a 6-1, 210-pound junior running back, rushed for 1,014 yards and 13 TDs in just seven games last year, averaging 144.9 yards per game, the fourth-best in Class 5A and ranking 15th statewide. He also had three TD catches. He’ll be running behind an experienced offensive line in 2021 as the Yellow Jackets look to improve upon a 4-3 season which saw them emerge as legitimate contenders in District 7.

Others to watch

Trosper Buchanan, QB, Mercer County; Larry Carter, WR/CB, Frankfort; Zach Claudio, WR/CB, Franklin County; Tristan Cook, OL, Woodford County; Kaydon Custard, QB/DB, Harrison County; Oryend Fisher, DE, Great Crossing; Isaiah Fitzpatrick, RB/DB, Anderson County; Peyton Ledford, TE/LB, Franklin County; Jackson Geilear, RB/LB, Woodford County; Tajii Jackson, RB/SS, East Jessamine; Montago Jones, LB, Scott County; Cole Lanter, WR, Boyle County; Tate Letcher, QB, Nicholas County; Campton Martin, RB, Scott County; Ty Niece, QB/FS, Estill County; Stephen Norris, RB, Powell County; Montavin Quisenberry, QB/DB, Garrard County; Amir Roberts-Hassan, DB/ATH, Bourbon County; Jackson Smith, K, Boyle County; Jayden West, WR, Madison Central; Malachi Wood, OL, Madison Central; Tommy Ziesmer, DE, Boyle County.

Subject area: For the purposes of this list, we’re defining Central Kentucky counties the same way the state government does: Anderson, Bourbon, Boyle, Clark, Estill, Franklin, Garrard, Harrison, Jessamine, Lincoln, Madison, Mercer, Nicholas, Powell, Scott and Woodford (minus Fayette).

Miss someone? Putting together a list of top players can be an inexact science. Have someone in mind? Alert digital sports writer Jared Peck on Twitter @HLpreps.

This story was originally published August 18, 2021 at 7:00 AM.

Jared Peck

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-488-2883

Jared Peck, the Herald-Leader’s Digital Sports Writer, covers high school athletics and has been with the company as a writer and editor for more than 20 years. Support my work with a digital subscription