Who wins the Ashland-East Carter rematch? Predictions for every Class 3A district final.
It’s district championship week in Class 3A’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 3A is the District 8 contest between late-charging Belfry and Lawrence County. The Pirates suffered four straight losses and had a COVID-19 forfeit to start the season, but have since found their stride excluding a 48-22 loss to Class 4A power Johnson Central on Oct. 29. Belfry has won five of their last six with one of those being a 42-13 rout of Lawrence County. If the Bulldogs can’t flip the script Friday, Belfry will be a force to be reckoned with as fifth-year senior Isaac Dixon has topped 1,000 yards rushing again this season.
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 3A 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 are local to site)
DISTRICT 7
No. 10 Ashland Blazer (7-4) at No. 5 East Carter (9-3), 7:30 p.m.
Last time: Ashland Blazer won 31-20 at East Carter on Oct. 8.
Why Ashland Blazer will win: Momentum. The Tomcats avenged a regular-season loss last week by knocking off Russell 52-42. Ashland’s Vinnie Palladino has rushed for more than 1,000 yards and 14 TDs. Wideout Ricky Padron has 587 yards receiving and 11 of the 16 TDs thrown by quarterback Bailey Thacker. Those numbers all compare favorably to last year’s championship stars. After losing three of its first four, Ashland won six of its last seven.
Why East Carter will win: Ball security. If the Raiders can avoid the turnovers that doomed them in the fog and mud of their Oct. 8 game at Ashland, they should feel like they have a good shot to knock the defending champs out of the tournament. Running back Charlie Terry has 1,368 yards rushing and 24 TDs while quarterback Kanyon Kozee has a solid 1,021 yards passing. Both had decent games against the Tomcats last time.
@HLpreps pick: East Carter.
The rest of the field
DISTRICT 1
No. 15 Paducah Tilghman (5-6) at No. 6 Union County (10-1), 7 p.m.
Last time: Union County won 21-19 at Paducah Tilghman on Oct. 15.
@HLpreps pick: Union County.
DISTRICT 2
No. 7 Taylor County (9-2) at No. 2 Glasgow (10-1), 7 p.m.
Last time: Glasgow defeated visiting Taylor County 31-20 on Oct. 15.
@HLpreps pick: Glasgow.
DISTRICT 3
No. 25 LaRue County (5-6) at No. 3 Bardstown (11-0), 7:30 p.m.
Last time: Bardstown defeated visiting LaRue County 46-30 on Sept. 24.
@HLpreps pick: Bardstown.
DISTRICT 4
No. 4 Mercer County (9-2) at No. 1 Christian Academy-Louisville (10-1), 7:30 p.m.
Last time: CAL defeated visiting Mercer County 42-0 on Sept. 10.
@HLpreps pick: CAL.
DISTRICT 5
No. 17 Rockcastle County (6-5) at No. 8 Bell County (9-2), 7:30 p.m.
Last time: Bell County defeated visiting Rockcastle County 24-0 on Oct. 1.
@HLpreps pick: Bell County.
DISTRICT 6
No. 22 Mason County (8-3) at No. 16 Fleming County (8-4), 7:30 p.m.
Last time: Fleming County won 12-7 at Mason County on Oct. 8.
@HLpreps pick: Fleming County.
DISTRICT 8
No. 12 Lawrence County (8-3) at No. 14 Belfry (5-6), 7:30 p.m.
Last time: Belfry defeated visiting Lawrence County 42-13 on Oct. 15.
@HLpreps pick: Belfry.
Notes
Last year’s @HLpreps picks in the Class 3A district finals: 4-3 (one game not played due to COVID-19 forfeit).
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 12:00 PM.
