High school football playoffs preview: The best teams and games as the postseason begins
The Kentucky high school football postseason has arrived.
This week, each of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s six classes kick off first-round games between their respective eight “sister districts.” For every class but 6A, that means District 1 teams play District 2, District 3 teams play District 4 and so on.
With two schools opting out of the playoffs, there are 94 win-or-go-home games on tap.
These “sister-district games” are seeded according to each district’s final standings so, for instance, in Class A, District 5 champion Sayre hosts District 6 fourth-place Fairview and District 5 second-place Eminence hosts District 6 third-place team Nicholas County.
You get the idea.
There will be a ton of blowouts, but there will also be a number of intensely competitive games and a few surprises.
So, who are the top seeds and how could this all play out? And what first-round matchups could deliver the most competitive games?
THE BIG DOGS AND THE BRACKET
First, let’s look at the top teams according to the final KHSAA RPI standings in each class. These standings will be used to seed the tournament beginning with the third round, also known as the region championships.
That means the brackets that everyone sees at KHSAA.org this week and next will be reshuffled after the second round. The KHSAA has been using RPI to reseed at the third round and beyond for several years now.
The third-round regionals are also broken up into East (Districts 1-4) and West (Districts 5-8) pods to limit travel. At the regionals, the top remaining seed would face the lowest seed on that side of the state and the middle two would face each other. So, for example, Class 4A’s No. 1 Boyle County would host No. 7 Covington Catholic for an East region title and state semifinals berth on Nov. 22 if they both advance to that stage and the other seeds hold.
The teams listed below are the on-paper favorites to survive the first two rounds and reach a region final. All rankings are from the KHSAA’s RPI standings.
CLASS 6A REGION FAVORITES:
East: No. 3 Trinity, No. 4 Frederick Douglass, No. 5 Male and No. 8 Bryan Station.
West: No. 1 Manual, No. 2 Ryle, No. 7 North Hardin and No. 16 McCracken County.
▪ Ryle and No. 6 St. Xavier could face each other in the second round. St. X defeated Ryle 31-24 on Oct. 4.
▪ Ryle out west? Class 6A has a district rotation so that Districts 3 and 4 (which include Louisville powerhouses St. Xavier and Male, respectively) don’t face each other every year and so that District 6 (Ryle’s division) shares the burden of playing District 5 (where 28-time state champion Trinity lives). This year, it’s District 6’s turn to play District 3 and District 5’s turn to play District 4. This rotation only applies to this class.
CLASS 5A REGION FAVORITES:
East: No. 1 Cooper, No. 3 Woodford County, No. 14 Pulaski County and No. 16 Southwestern.
West: No. 2 South Warren, No. 5 Bowling Green, No. 11 Atherton and No. 12 Grayson County.
▪ The Class 5A bracket will force the early elimination of several top-10 teams by the second round. In the first round, Cooper faces No. 8 South Oldham and Bowling Green takes on No. 10 Madisonville. In the second round, South Warren would face No. 4 Graves County, Bowling Green would face No. 6 Owensboro and Woodford County would face No. 7 Highlands.
CLASS 4A REGION FAVORITES:
East: No. 1 Boyle County, No. 4 Corbin, No. 5 Ashland Blazer and No. 7 Covington Catholic.
West: No. 2 Franklin County, No. 3 Paducah Tilghman, No. 6 North Oldham and No. 10 Allen County-Scottsville.
▪ In the second round, Covington Catholic could face No. 8 Johnson Central and Ashland Blazer could face No. 9 Greenup County.
CLASS 3A REGION FAVORITES:
East: No. 2 Bell County, No. 4 Rockcastle County, No. 10 Lloyd Memorial and No. 17 Lexington Catholic.
West: No. 1 Christian Academy-Louisville, No. 3 Hart County, No. 5 Union County and No. 8 Central.
▪ The Class 3A bracket will force the early elimination of at least three top-10 teams. In the second round, Union County could face No. 6 Adair County, Rockcastle could face No. 7 Belfry and Hart County could face No. 9 Hancock County.
CLASS 2A REGION FAVORITES:
East: No. 3 Beechwood, No. 6 Prestonsburg, No. 7 Bracken County and No. 11 Martin County.
West: No. 1 Owensboro Catholic, No. 2 Mayfield, No. 4 Lexington Christian and No. 9 Washington County.
▪ In the first round, No. 5 Murray will face No. 8 Edmonson County. The winner could get No. 1 Owensboro Catholic in Round 2. In the second round Bracken County could face No. 10 Somerset.
▪ If you’re figuring out that Lexington Christian could go on the road to far western Kentucky’s Mayfield (the defending state champions) for the third year in a row, you are correct. This year would make two region finals and one state semifinal for that pairing.
CLASS A REGION FAVORITES:
East: No. 2 Sayre, No. 4 Raceland, No. 5 Hazard and No. 8 Pikeville.
West: No. 1 Kentucky Country Day, No. 3 Campbellsville, No. 6 Newport Central Catholic and No. 7 Newport.
▪ Sayre could be hosting three-time defending state champion Pikeville for a region title on Nov. 22.
THIS WEEK’S BEST FIRST-ROUND GAMES
All games are scheduled for 7 p.m. local time on Friday unless noted.
CLASS 6A:
No. 10 Madison Central (5-4) at No. 13 Tates Creek (6-3): The Commodores might have the toughest draw of any district champion in the state. Madison Central and its wing-T offense can drive defensive coordinators insane.
CLASS 5A:
No. 9 Connor (7-3) at No. 13 Scott County (5-5): The Cardinals have taken some tough losses this year but remain dangerous. It will be a battle of run-oriented offenses. Both have more than 2,300 yards rushing.
Honorable mention: No. 8 South Oldham (7-3) at No. 1 Cooper (10-0).
CLASS 4A:
No. 19 Taylor County (6-4) at No. 16 Letcher County Central (5-5): The host Cougars lost to both Hazard and Belfry by a single point this season. Taylor has a 1,000-yard rusher with Jaquon Coulter.
CLASS 3A:
No. 11 Clay County (6-3) at No. 12 Lawrence County (7-3): Somehow, these two eastern Kentucky schools have not faced each other in the KHSAA’s online records era (since 2001).
Honorable mention: No. 13 McLean County (7-3) at No. 6 Adair County (9-1); No. 22 Elizabethtown (4-6) at No. 15 Garrard County (7-3), 7:30 p.m.
CLASS 2A:
No. 8 Edmonson County (6-4) at No. 5 Murray (7-3): The host Tigers feature three-star Nebraska commit Jeremiah Jones, who leads Murray in tackles (104), sacks (10) and receiving (860 yards and eight TDs).
Honorable mention: No. 14 Caldwell County (4-6) at No. 15 Fort Campbell (5-4).
CLASS A:
No. 13 Louisville Holy Cross (5-5) at No. 15 Caverna (6-4): The host Colonels are a load with Tyson Martin (1,155 yards, 19 TDs) and Kenyon Martin (770 yards, 11 TDs) leading the team in rushing. The Cougars can run it, too, with Jamari Pennebaker (1,112 yards, 13 TDs) and Jerek Hoover (569 yards, 11 TDs).
Honorable mention: No. 17 Nicholas County (5-5) at No. 18 Eminence (5-4).
Lexington’s other kickoffs
All games are on Friday.
No. 20 Fairview (5-5) at No. 2 Sayre (10), 7 p.m.: The Spartans will have home-field advantage through to the Class A semifinals if they keep winning.
No. 30 Green County (2-8) at No. 4 Lexington Christian (8-2), 7 p.m.: The Eagles have won eight straight games after knocking heads with Class 4A’s No. 1 Boyle County and No. 2 Franklin County to start the season.
No. 29 West Carter (5-5) at No. 17 Lexington Catholic (4-6), 7 p.m.: Don’t let the record fool you. The Knights are going to make a run.
No. 30 Henry Clay (1-9) at No. 8 Bryan Station (6-4), 6:30 p.m.: The Defenders routed Henry Clay 56-6 in the regular season.
No. 20 George Rogers Clark (4-6) at No. 22 Lafayette (6-4), 7 p.m.: One of these teams will end a playoff drought. The Generals have not won a first-round game since 2016. For Clark, the streak dates to 2019.
No. 32 Paul Laurence Dunbar (1-8) at No. 4 Frederick Douglass (6-4), 7 p.m.: The Bulldogs lost a 32-31 heart-breaker at Eastern last week after leading most of the game.
This story was originally published November 4, 2024 at 7:00 AM.
