Your guide to the 2021 Lexington high school football season
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2021 Kentucky high school football preview
The 2021 high school football season kicks off Friday, Aug. 20. High school sports beat writer Jared Peck is writing numerous stories in the Herald-Leader and on Kentucky.com previewing the season around the city, region and state and highlighting the top players and games and rankings. Click below to read all of his stories in case you missed any of them.
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For all nine of Lexington’s high school football programs, optimism abounds — even for those who’ve struggled in recent years — because there’s always a chance your time will come.
“In my opinion, I think the city is going to be the best it’s been since I’ve been here at Douglass,” said Broncos Coach Nathan McPeek, who was the team’s first offensive coordinator before taking the head coach role last year. “I think everybody’s stepping up their game.”
Frederick Douglass enters as the No. 1 team in Class 5A for the second time in the team’s existence, according to the Herald-Leader’s preseason survey of coaches. Lexington Christian ranks No. 2 in Class 2A after making a run to the state finals.
Bryan Station won a district title in Coach Phillip Hawkins’ first season. For 2021, Station ranks No. 5 in Class 6A, setting the bar even higher. Paul Laurence Dunbar reached the Class 6A semis last year for the first time since 2003. And the Bulldogs rank 10th in the Herald-Leader preseason poll.
Lexington Catholic ranks No. 6 in Class 4A and is always dangerous. Sayre went undefeated in the regular season last year before falling to a defending state champion in the playoffs.
Tates Creek, Lafayette and Henry Clay all had COVID-19 problems that made it especially tough to build experience and get results amid losing seasons. That said, no other city team can point to back-to-back state finals appearances like the Generals had in 2015 and 2016. And while Tates Creek went winless last year, its 2019 team was its best in decades.
“Football should be good in this city. Everybody should be good,” McPeek said. “There’s a lot of good athletes, there’s a lot of good coaches. We all need to make sure we’re continuing to work together to get our kids recruited and to get our kids to where they can compete at football outside of the Lexington area. I think that’s important.”
Here’s a look at Lexington’s football teams going into the 2021 season.
Frederick Douglass
Class 5A No. 1 Douglass returns its usual bevy of talented Division I-caliber players, but this year comes with questions about its offensive and defensive lines after the successive graduations of big men Walker Parks (Clemson) and Jager Burton (Kentucky).
On offense, there will be continuity at quarterback as 6-foot-6 Samuel Cornett becomes the first Broncos signal-caller to have a season under his belt. He had to learn on the fly last year amid a shortened preseason and other problems brought on by the pandemic.
Cornett’s primary target will be four-star wideout Dane Key, who has made dazzling plays and game-changing moments since his sophomore year.
“Everybody focuses on the athleticism and how good a player he is, and that’s all true,” McPeek said of Key. “What separates him from a lot of other great players is the stuff off the field. He puts in a lot of film time. He knows opponents … and he’s a perfectionist.”
Key will have help. Cameron Dunn, Jakari Cowherd both have solid receiver experience and defensive standouts Ty Bryant and TJ Horton are expected to add another dimension to the power running of Davaun Gidron out of the backfield.
“They’re all going to make plays,” Key said. “It’s going to be hard to just key on me.”
Defensively, the Broncos have been among the most suffocating teams in the state each year. That’s not expected to change. In the secondary, Horton, Bryant and Isaiah Kenney all have Kentucky offers. Senior linebacker Davis Joyner has an offer from Illinois among others. Senior linebacker Caden Johnson recently committed to Ball State.
Douglass (7-2 and a region champion in 2020) returns a lot of experience from teams that have gotten close to the ultimate goal over the last two years.
“Coach McPeek says focus on the daily things. We’re not even thinking about December,” Cornett said. “We’re thinking about practice on Monday. We’ve got to lift on Monday. We’re thinking about those little things day-by-day that build up to eventually be where we need it to be.”
Lexington Christian
Class 2A No. 2 LCA brings back 18 starters from its state finals team a year ago, including 95 percent of its offensive production, according to Coach Doug Charles.
The problem is, No. 1 Beechwood, the team that defeated the Eagles (10-2) by a single point in overtime at Kroger Field last December, has most of its roster back, too.
But Charles isn’t looking too far ahead.
“It’s a long season. These things are four-and-a-half months to get there, and lots of things can happen,” Charles said. “I’ve seen teams look destined to get there and then injuries and other things happen and upsets happen and that’s why they play the game.”
Among LCA’s returnees is Xavier Brown, a senior Virginia commit who is used as a rusher and a receiver to equal and often devastating effect.
Mason Moore, a wide receiver/safety who recently committed to Miami (Ohio), became the Eagles’ go-to big play receiver last season, averaging better than 19 yards per catch and scoring 11 TDs.
Quarterback Drew Nieves returns as well and has reclassified thanks to Senate Bill 128 to remain a junior this season. He threw for 2,651 yards and 28 TDs in 2020. Both stats topped Class 2A.
“I’m excited about this season. We’re stacked,” Nieves said. He doesn’t shy from setting a state title as their goal, especially after coming so close last season. “I’ve got a picture of me with this pink headband on the ground and my head down. It’s just motivated me to get it this year.”
Bryan Station
Coach Phillip Hawkins earned a lot of praise and a coach of the year award for turning Bryan Station into a winner immediately. But the first-year success and a 10-2 record has brought with it higher expectations for the Class 6A No. 5 Defenders.
It’s also reeled in a lot of new players to be a part of the fun.
Trenton Cutwright, a sophomore who gave up football for baseball last year, returns to the game to play quarterback. J’marious Lindsay, a basketball standout, comes into the team as a senior wideout and cornerback. Both have stunned coaches with their athleticism and skill.
“It’s a very interesting group of talent, much different than last year,” Hawkins said. “This is a dangerous group. There’s several of those kids who we’re going to get the ball to in space and they’ve got the ability to score.”
The Defenders have added 6-1 senior Jeremiah Mundy-Lloyd, a transfer from Clark County, to a backfield that already had 1,300-yard rusher Joey Bond.
Bryan Station also returns leading receiver AhTraivon Jenkins, the versatile Damin Green and a revitalized Terik Mulder, who at 6-4 has been converted from backup quarterback to starting tight end and impressed in his new role.
“There’s a lot of excitement in the locker room,” Mulder said.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Coach Wes Johnson took Dunbar to a 7-3 record, region championship and a state semifinals appearance in his third season with a program that went winless before he arrived.
Despite losing his quarterback and top two receivers to graduation, he’s looking for the Class 6A No. 10 Bulldogs to build on that success and not take a step back.
“It’s all (Coach Johnson). He’s changed the culture. He’s made kids want to be here,” senior offensive tackle Sam Turley said. “I think we had like 50 kids my freshman year and now there’s about 80 kids on the roster. Us winning is a big thing.”
Leading rusher Kamarion Robinson returns behind an experienced line that includes the Turley twins, Sam and Sy, who are both 6-2, 270 pounds. Sam received second team All-State honors last year. Junior Cole Colony has been tabbed as the new quarterback. He also plays corner on defense.
Defensively, Johnson expects junior Mason Hayslett, the team’s leading tackler last year, to continue to make an impact alongside fifth-year senior John Law, who got an All-State mention in 2020.
“I’m just looking forward to how this team gels,” Johnson said.
Lexington Catholic
Since being put together with No. 1 Boyle County in District 5 of Class 4A in 2019, the Knights have ended their season with a loss to the Rebels in each of the last two seasons.
But while last year’s district finals got away from them early, LexCath never stopped battling and closed the margin to within a single score by the end of the night, losing 49-41.
That fighting spirit helped LexCath upset defending Class 5A champion Covington Catholic a week earlier. The Knights will be looking to rekindle that fire this year after a 5-3 2020.
“We’ve got five senior offensive linemen — they’re really, really good — a lot of good receivers, just tons of talent all around,” senior quarterback Jack Gohmann said. “If we play within ourselves, don’t do anything crazy and listen to our coaches, it’s going to be a great year.”
Gohmann threw for 1,646 yards and 17 TDs and ran for 261 yards and five scores. He has leading receiver Blake Busson and H-back Jack Monday among his playmakers along with an experienced offensive line.
Sayre
The Spartans earned a lot of respect in their first season, achieving an 8-1 record, good enough for Class A coaches to consider them a top-10 team. Sayre came in at 11th in the Herald-Leader’s preseason survey.
This season, Sayre fully joins District 7 as its westernmost team and will have to play No. 1 Pikeville and No. 7 Hazard. They got a taste of that in last year’s playoffs. Pikeville topped Sayre 49-13 in the district finals.
“I know us seniors have been bothered by that the whole offseason,” said quarterback Cole Pennington, who has committed to Marshall, the alma mater of his father, who is Sayre’s head coach. “We’re coming back stronger with a different mindset. I think we’re going to come different this year. We’re excited to see that competition because good competition is fun to play against.”
Henry Clay
Coach Demetrius Gay believes his team is way ahead of where they were last year in his first season at the helm, and that should mean an improvement on a 2-4 record.
“Playing hard every game and kids focusing on their assignments and knowing what they’re supposed to do, I think we could get a lot more Ws than we got last year,” Gay said.
Senior Kasen Parks will be among the team leaders in his role as wide receiver and cornerback.
“This year we should be more comfortable and more productive,” Parks said. “It’s really exciting because I think we have a lot of potential.”
Lafayette
There’s a different energy at Lafayette practices this preseason.
“Once you start to fall in love with the process, success will come,” said Lafayette Coach Eric Shaw, who has had two transcendent state finals teams in the last decade. “Sometimes it doesn’t resonate on the scoreboard or the record. But the lessons that are learned (by the players) in this process — that’s the big picture.”
Lafayette went 1-7 last year and had trouble moving the ball. Those numbers are expected to improve with a more experienced team that carries 22 juniors and 24 seniors and the return of Alex Matthews, who was part of those state finals teams, as offensive coordinator.
“We’re coming together. I really like that about this year’s team,” senior offensive lineman Tayden Mackey said. “You’ve got to focus on what’s ahead. That’s what (Coach Shaw) tells us all the time. Last year doesn’t really matter. Just focus on this year.”
Tates Creek
A winless 2020 season (0-6) was not how Coach Jonathan Smith wanted to follow up a region title and state semifinals appearance. But even with problems caused by COVID-19, the Commodores battled Dunbar to the last in the playoffs before falling 23-20.
“I like the improvement, I love the kids’ attitudes. I love coaching this team,” Smith said.
Junior safety Kobe Middleton leads the defense and sophomore quarterback Andrew Witherington takes the reins of the offense after getting a few starts last season.
“We have a lot of confidence. We have a lot of potential. We’ve just got to put it together on the field,” Witherington said.
This story was originally published August 16, 2021 at 7:30 AM.
