Boyle County climbs into Top 25 in two national high school football rankings
Boyle County’s impressive 38-21 road win over nationally ranked St. Edward of Lakeland, Ohio, has vaulted the Rebels into two sets of national high school football rankings this week.
The Rebels rank as the No. 14 team in the nation, according to MaxPreps, a leap of 38 spots from their rating last week.
On the SBLive/SI Top 25, the Rebels rank 20th, one spot ahead of the St. Edward squad they beat on Saturday. And that’s “SI” as in the venerated publication also known as “Sports Illustrated.”
“It’s great for our kids to get some recognition for what they did,” Boyle County head coach Justin Haddix said. “We went up and I was proud of how they handled themselves on a big trip with a lot of travel. We just showed up and played.”
Both national rankings have Santa Ana, California’s famed Mater De High School as their No. 1 team. Despite the loss to Boyle, St. Edward remained the No. 1 team in Ohio.
Wherever the Rebels rank nationally, it’s clear Class 4A No. 1 Boyle County (3-0) has made an impression on the national media. The 12-time state champions are in the middle of a campaign for their fifth straight Kentucky Class 4A title and have won 23 games in a row spanning three seasons.
“That’s great publicity for our program, but in the real world, it doesn’t do a whole lot for us,” Haddix said. “(Former Alabama head coach) Nick Saban used to call it “rat poison,” when everybody told you how good you are. We’ve got to show up and play football. Our thing is just getting better each week … and at the end of the season, come playoff time, you’ll hopefully earn a chance to win a championship.”
Boyle County is led by senior West Virginia commit Montavin “Tavi” Quisenberry, who scored four touchdowns against St. Edward and was the Class 4A state championship game most valuable player last year.
Rated as a three-star recruit, Quisenberry topped this preseason’s Herald-Leader Hundred list of the state’s top players. He’s a favorite to be a finalist for the annual Mr. Football honor awarded to the state’s most outstanding senior football player by the Kentucky Football Coaches Association.
But Boyle’s list of talented players doesn’t stop there. The Rebels also have three-star recruits in senior linebacker Brock Driver (Eastern Kentucky commit) and senior corner/wideout Demauriah Brown (who also has a West Virginia offer). Meanwhile a pair of sophomore defensive end/tight ends, Maddox Hager and Seneca Driver, have already garnered big-time college interest.
Boyle County travels to Scott County (1-2) Friday with a kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Cardinals Stadium in Georgetown.
Other notable games this Friday
Frederick Douglass (1-2) at Tates Creek (2-1), 6:30 p.m. The Broncos will be Tates Creek’s toughest test of the season.
Ballard (1-2) at Bryan Station (0-3), 7:30 p.m. Last year’s Class 6A state runner-up needs a win.
Christian Academy-Louisville (3-0) at Lexington Christian (1-2), 7:30 p.m. The Eagles were CAL’s only loss last season.
Lexington Catholic (0-3) at Great Crossing (3-0), 7:30 p.m. This might be the best Warhawks team yet.
Washington County at Marion County, 7:30 p.m. “The Border War” decides who gets the Rob Reader Memorial Border Barrel each year.
