Who wins the Danville-LCA rematch? Predictions for every Class 2A district final.
It’s district championship week in Class 2A’s 2021 UK Orthopaedics State Football Finals and that means some of the top-rated teams in the state face elimination as they square off against familiar foes with win-or-go-home stakes.
Every win from here on earns a bigger and bigger trophy.
Among notable games this Friday in Class 2A is the District 4 contest between No. 1 Lexington Christian and No. 4 Danville. The Eagles are a prohibitive favorite to reach Kroger Field with a legitimate claim at being one of the state’s best teams, regardless of class. Two of Danville’s four losses are COVID-19 forfeits, one of which cost the Admirals their annual Title Town matchup with Boyle County for a second year in a row. Danville has some solid wins, but got overwhelmed by LCA in a 56-14 regular-season loss.
There are plenty of other great games as teams aim to prove that their regular-season result between each other just a few weeks ago was either an unlucky fluke or a steppingstone to their crowning glory.
Here’s a brief summary of what I think will be one of this week’s best Class 2A contests, plus a quick look at the rest of the lineup with my picks. All rankings are according to the final week KHSAA RPI which will be used to seed the next round.
Featured matchup
(All game times local to site)
DISTRICT 1
No. 8 Murray (8-2) at No. 3 Mayfield (10-1), 7 p.m.
Last time: Murray won at Mayfield 25-21 on Oct. 22.
Why Murray will win: Belief. The Tigers program had lost to Mayfield 25 straight times before stunning the Cardinals in last year’s district championship. Murray shocked Mayfield again this season at War Memorial Stadium by scoring twice in the dying moments to pull another upset. After closing to 21-19 with 2:02 left to play, an onside kick failed. But a Mayfield fumble and a 61-yard return by Caleb Gill set up the go-ahead TD by Murray QB Rowdy Sokolowski with 1:20 remaining. Sokolowski topped 1,000 yards rushing last week as the head of Murray’s punishing run offense. In a rivalry that must have once seemed impossible to win, a victory on Mayfield’s turf seems very possible.
Why Mayfield will win: Payback. The Cardinals don’t lose many games. They aren’t 12-time state champions and the second-winningest program in Kentucky high school football history for nothing, so suffering back-to-back losses to neighboring Murray cannot sit well. Mayfield has the more balanced attack with QB Zan Cartwright throwing for 1,759 yards and 18 TDs and fifth-year senior Kylan Galbreath rushing for 1,217 yards and 17 touchdowns. Three straight wins against western Kentucky’s most decorated program? Nah.
@HLpreps pick: Mayfield.
The rest of the field
DISTRICT 2
No. 13 Hancock County (7-4) at No. 12 Owensboro Catholic (6-5), 7 p.m.
Last time: Owensboro Catholic defeated visiting Hancock County 47-0 on Sept. 24.
@HLpreps pick: Owensboro Catholic.
DISTRICT 3
No. 6 Green County (10-1) at No. 11 Metcalfe County (8-3), 7 p.m.
Last time: Metcalfe County defeated visiting Green County 28-26 on Oct. 22
@HLpreps pick: Green County.
DISTRICT 4
No. 4 Danville (8-4) at No. 1 Lexington Christian (11-0), 7 p.m.
Last time: LCA defeated visiting Danville 56-14 on Oct. 22.
@HLpreps pick: LCA
DISTRICT 5
No. 17 Carroll County (7-4) at No. 15 Walton-Verona (8-3), 7:30 p.m.
Last time: Walton-Verona defeated visiting Carroll County 24-7 on Oct. 1.
@HLpreps pick: Walton-Verona.
DISTRICT 6
No. 23 Holy Cross (Covington) (4-7) at No. 2 Beechwood (11-0), 7 p.m.
Last time: Beechwood won 56-7 at Holy Cross on Oct. 8.
@HLpreps pick: Beechwood.
DISTRICT 7
No. 26 Breathitt County (4-6) at No. 5 Middlesboro (11-0), 7 p.m.
Last time: Middlesboro defeated visiting Breathitt County 52-30 on Sept. 24.
@HLpreps pick: Breathitt County.
DISTRICT 8
No. 14 Martin County (8-4) at No. 7 West Carter (8-3), 7:30 p.m.
Last time: West Carter defeated visiting Martin County 35-14 on Oct. 15.
@HLpreps pick: West Carter.
Notes
Last year’s @HLpreps picks in the Class 2A district finals: 5-3.
Reminder: The KHSAA website’s posted brackets in each class do not reflect next week’s regional matchups accurately at this time. Once all results are in, the brackets will be reset to reflect RPI seedings for next week’s respective east and west regionals.
This story was originally published November 10, 2021 at 9:00 AM.
