Class 6A football state championship preview: Male vs. Bullitt East

It’s championship weekend for the 2022 UK HealthCare Sports Medicine State Football Finals. Here’s a look at Saturday’s Class 6A state title game at Kroger Field.

Male (10-4) vs. Bullitt East (13-1), 4 p.m.

Kickoff: 4 p.m. Saturday

RPI Ratings: No. 7 Male (.56926); No. 6 Bullitt East (.59323).

Cantrall Ratings: No. 2 Male (87.2); No. 7 Bullitt East (83.2).

Championship game history: Male — Eight state championships (the last in 2018) in 14 finals appearances; Bullitt East — Two finals appearances (1994, 2008).

Quick hits

▪ Class 6A offensive ranks: No. 15 Male (26.9 ppg); No. 1 Bullitt East 40.1 ppg).

▪ Class 6A defensive ranks: No. 5 Male (13.8 ppg); No. 8 Bullitt East (16.4 ppg)

▪ For the first time since the RPI Standings were introduced to seed part of the football playoffs in 2019, Class 6A’s No. 1 team has failed to reach Kroger Field. Male upset No. 1 St. Xavier 22-21 in overtime in the second round. The No. 1 seed has won the 6A title each of the last two years (Trinity in 2020, St. X in 2021).

▪ Bullitt East is the first team outside of Louisville (barely) to reach the Class 6A finals since 2018 (Scott County).

▪ Bullitt East quarterback Travis Egan, who was recently named District 4 player of the year by the Kentucky Football Coaches Association, will have a chance to make one last impression on voters for the two Mr. Football honors bestowed upon the state’s top senior player. Egan has thrown for 2,649 yards and 31 TDs and rushed for 901 yards and 17 TDs this season. His career marks have topped 6,400 yards passing and 1,400 yards rushing with 99 TDs combined.

▪ Egan is the grandson of former Bullitt East head coach Mike Egan, who led the Chargers from 1985 to 2001.

▪ Travis Egan wears the same number (10) as his father, Brandon, who quarterbacked the Chargers during granddad’s day. Travis surpassed his dad’s school passing yardage record this year.

▪ Bullitt East defeated Male 24-17 on Oct. 21, earning the program its first district title as a Class 6A team and its first win over the Bulldogs in six tries. The Chargers took a 24-7 lead in the fourth quarter on three second-half rushing touchdowns, two by Egan and one by Mason Gauthier.

▪ During that Bullitt East loss, Male was without 1,000-yard rusher Daniel Swinney, who was sidelined with a shoulder injury for part of the season. Swinney returned to the lineup the following week. Male hasn’t lost since.

▪ Male advanced to the state finals on a miracle play last week that has to be seen to be believed. After a fourth-down stand at the goal line, Ballard fumbled the ball on the snap of the ensuing play trying to plunge forward and run out the clock with less than 30 seconds left in the game. Male’s Korrey Mattingly, whose nickname was already “Scoop,” picked the ball up on the 4-yard line and ran in the winning touchdown for a 24-20 victory.

▪ Male is one of only two public schools to win the Class 6A title since the KHSAA expanded from four to six classes in 2007. The Bulldogs have done it twice, 2015 and 2018. Scott County won it all in 2013. Then it’s all Louisville private schools — Trinity has 10 titles to St. Xavier’s two.

▪ Male Coach Chris Wolfe has led the Bulldogs to five straight Class 6A finals and been to seven state championships in all, winning twice.

▪ Bullitt East Coach Keegan Kendrick is in his first season with the Chargers as head coach and is just 28 years old. He got the promotion from offensive coordinator shortly after the resignation of Ethan Atchley late last year. Before his three years as a Chargers assistant, he was at Southwestern under coaching legend Larry French. But this is not Kendrick’s first state championship appearance. He won two titles as an offensive/defensive lineman in his playing days for Boyle County.

Standouts

Male: Lucas Cobler, Sr. QB (1,154 yards, 14 TDs passing; 695 yards, 5 TDs rushing); Daniel Swinney, Sr., RB (1,099 yards, 10 TDs rushing); Antonio Harris, So. WR (681 yards, 10 TDs receiving); Matthew Hinz, Sr. TE (457 yards, 7 TDs receiving); DeAndre Malone, Jr. LB (91 tackles, 5 sacks).

Bullitt East: Travis Egan, Sr. QB (2,649 yards, 31 TDs passing; 901 yards, 17 TDs rushing); Mason Gauthier, Sr. RB (1,479 yards, 16 TDs rushing); Camron Brogan, Sr. WR (996 yards, 15 TDs receiving); Nolan Davenport, Sr. WR (989 yards, 11 TDs receiving); Isaiah Hare, Jr., DL (67 tackles, 4 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries).

@HLpreps pick

Male 17, Bullitt East 14.

State championships

At Kroger Field in Lexington

Tickets: Available by advance sale digitally at KHSAAtickets.org. No walk-up paper tickets sold.

Streaming broadcasts: Subscription required for live video stream at KHSAA.tv. Pay-per-view live video at Go.PrepSpin.com. Free audio stream at KHSAA.net.

FRIDAY’S GAMES

Class A: Pikeville (11-2) vs. Raceland (13-1), Noon

Class 2A: Beechwood (13-1) vs. Mayfield (14-0), 4 p.m.

Class 4A: Corbin (14-0) vs. Boyle County (12-2), 8 p.m.

SATURDAY’S GAMES

Class 3A: Christian Academy-Louisville (14-0) vs. Bardstown (14-0), Noon

Class 6A: Male (10-4) vs. Bullitt East (13-1), 4 p.m.

Class 5A: Frederick Douglass (14-0) vs. Bowling Green (12-2), 8 p.m.

This story was originally published December 1, 2022 at 7:55 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