Lexington Christian’s duel with Boyle part of blockbuster high school football slate
Here’s a look at some of the best high school football games of Week 2:
Games of the Week
Lexington Christian (1-0) at Boyle County (1-0), 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The nightcap of the Rebel Bowl presented by Whitaker Bank features last season’s Class 2A runner-up against the defending Class 4A champion Rebels. Both teams are expected to challenge for titles again this season.
“I’m expecting it to be a heavyweight fight,” Boyle Coach Justin Haddix said. “I think the top two or three teams in each class can just about play with anybody in my opinion. We don’t really look at the ‘A’s’ or whatever they are. … We’re excited to play a big game here.”
LCA opened the season with a 21-12 win at Madison Central despite Coach Doug Charles feeling his team wasn’t “particularly sharp.” Boyle topped Tates Creek 31-6 in its opener, but like Charles, Haddix believed his team could have played better. The Commodores held Boyle more than two touchdowns below its season average a year ago.
“We got a lot to learn off of — a lot of good film,” Haddix said of the Tates Creek win. “We’ve got to continue to work and get better.”
Boyle County has won nine state titles to Lexington Christian’s one, and both teams have been powerhouse top-10 programs in their respective classes in recent years. Boyle was this preseason’s Herald-Leader No. 1 Class 4A team. LCA ranked No. 2 in Class 2A.
Pulaski County (1-0) at Lexington Catholic (1-0), 8:45 p.m. Friday: The late start is part of the Traditional Bank Bluegrass Bowl doubleheader and features the Maroons as a late substitution in place of Johnson Central, who had to back out due to COVID-19 protocols.
While the Golden Eagles would have made for an exciting Class 4A showdown with the Knights, Class 5A’s Pulaski is no slouch, especially after the 55-13 shellacking it gave Belfry last week.
“You watch that score and that gets your attention really quick because Belfry is such a strong traditional team … If you’re going to put up that many points against Belfry and hold them down at the same time, that says a lot about what you can do,” said LexCath Coach Nigel Smith, whose team had to switch gears from having to figure out Johnson Central’s option run game to the more conventional Maroons offense. “We played Pulaski two years ago, so we’ve got a little familiarity with their system.”
Maroons quarterback Drew Polston threw for 327 yards and five touchdowns against Belfry, both totals the best in the state last week. As a sophomore, Polston had two interceptions against LexCath in their 2019 season opener at home, a 21-14 loss to a Beau Allen-led Knights squad.
Allen’s successor, LexCath senior quarterback Jack Gohmann threw for 220 yards and three TDs in a 34-21 win over Ryle last week and led the Knights to a 5-3 record in 2020.
Bryan Station (0-1) vs. Mercer County (1-0) at Boyle County, 5 p.m. Saturday: The Defenders will be looking to bounce back from their season opening 27-14 loss to Frederick Douglass — a game in which Bryan Station was within a touchdown early in the third quarter, but committed four turnovers, including two while driving for scores in the red zone.
“Obviously, we’ve got to clean up some things as far as turnovers,” said head coach Phillip Hawkins, whose team was ranked No. 5 in Class 6A this preseason. “If we get rid of turnovers, we can play with a lot of teams. They (Mercer) are going to be well-coached. We’re just going to try to use our athleticism … We’ve got a lot of speed on defense and our kids are competitive and physical on offense. We have the ability to move the ball. We just have to finish those drives.”
Mercer County won its home opener 34-14 over Madison, Ind., and has a team that was ranked No. 5 in Class 3A where they play in the hyper-competitive District 4 that includes two-time state champions Christian Academy-Louisville and DeSales. Mercer County has not played a Class 6A school since 2016.
“This is a big, big challenge for us, but we’re excited about it,” Titans Coach David Buchanan said. “We’re going to get four quarters against an opponent that can get us ready to win big games in September, October, November and even December. This is a tremendous opportunity for our football team.”
Rivalries of the week
Raceland (1-0) at Russell (1-0), 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Chick-fil-A Rail Cities Bowl has been contested 12 times over the last two decades. The schools are only 3.3 miles apart in Greenup County. The Class A No. 5 Rams have eight wins in that span over the Class 3A No. 10 Red Devils, including five in a row from 2008 to 2012. But Russell has won the last two in a row and hung losses of 41-21 and 41-0 on Raceland in those outings. The Red Devils might face a tougher test this time with Raceland coming off a 16-7 win over Ashland Blazer, the defending Class 3A state champion.
Murray (0-0) at Calloway County (0-1) at Murray State, 7 p.m. Friday. Dubbed the “Cross-Town Classic,” this rivalry features an impressive traveling trophy that can only be described as the Ark of the Covenant meets high school football — with full-size helmets of each team on top. Contested since 1979, Murray leads the series 23-16 and has won nine of the last 10 meetings.
Others of note: Ashland Blazer at Boyd County; Corbin at Whitley County; Owensboro at Apollo; Western Hills at Franklin County; Highlands at Simon Kenton.
Other Lexington matchups
▪ Fern Creek (1-0) vs. Henry Clay (0-1) at Lexington Catholic, 6 p.m. Friday.
▪ Tates Creek (0-1) at Frederick Douglass (1-0), 6:30 p.m. Friday
▪ Fort Knox (1-0) at Sayre (1-0), 7:30 p.m. Friday.
▪ Madison Central (0-1) at Paul Laurence Dunbar (1-0), 7:30 p.m. Friday
▪ Scott County (0-1) at Lafayette (0-1), 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Should be a good one
▪ John Hardin at Bardstown, 7:30 p.m. Friday
▪ Covington Catholic at Belfry, 8:30 p.m. Friday
▪ Beechwood at Paintsville, 7:30 p.m. Friday
▪ Southwestern at West Jessamine, 7:30 p.m. Friday
Check Kentucky.com on Friday for the latest audio and video streaming information for your favorite team.
COVID cancellations
According to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, there have been 19 game cancellations reported this week as of Friday morning with some teams who were not under quarantine able to reschedule as Pulaski County and Lexington Catholic have done on Friday.
With this year’s COVID-19 protocols in place, some teams, such as Breathitt County last week, are quarantining individual players and not the entire team and thus decisions about whether to play have been made on how many players are available to suit up.
Last week 17 games were canceled, but a number of teams were able to find a new opponent.
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 1:59 PM.
