2025 Herald-Leader Top 10: Kentucky Class A high school football preseason poll
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2025 Kentucky high school football preview
The 2025 high school football season kicks off Friday, Aug. 22. High school sports beat writer Jared Peck is preparing numerous stories in the Herald-Leader and on Kentucky.com previewing the season around the city, region and state and highlighting the top players, games and rankings. Click below to read all of his stories in case you’ve missed any of them, and watch for more in the lead-up to the season.
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Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of stories ranking Kentucky’s high school football teams class by class, according to voting by the class’s coaches.
Lexington’s Sayre shook up the Class A football landscape last season by going from not having a program in 2017 to state champs in 2024 under head coach Chad Pennington of Marshall and NFL fame.
Raceland, a program entering its 100th year, has been knocking on the door of its first state title each of the last three seasons and appears poised to finally knock it down with an experience-laden squad that has most of its offense and defense back.
Raceland netted seven first-place votes from coaches participating in the annual @HLpreps preseason survey, just ahead of No. 2 Pikeville’s six. Those two perennial powers will square off Sept. 5 in Pikeville for what could be a Kroger Field preview.
“Expectations don’t change and standards don’t change. And if you start listening to the press clippings and reading those things, the old adage about it being rat poisoning really comes in play,” Raceland coach Michael Salmons said. “We’ve got some experienced players back, that’s no secret. And our experienced guys are setting expectations and modeling good examples for our younger kids.”
Other hopefuls abound with No. 3 Kentucky Country Day and No. 5 Campbellsville each notching three top nods, No. 4 Sayre, two, and No. 6 Hazard, one.
Class A Top 10
Here are the 2025 preseason top 10 teams in Class A — the smallest football-playing classification under the Kentucky High School Athletic Association — as voted on by coaches in the division.
1. RACELAND
Head coach: Michael Salmons (12th season).
Last year: 10-5. State runner-up after 27-22 loss to Sayre; district and region champs.
Quick look: The Rams return nine starters on offense and seven on defense. Senior Shannon Marushi leads a running back by committee attack that includes juniors Landen Stiltner and Jonah Arnett, who combined for more than 1,500 yards and 25 TDs. Junior QB Jacob Waller threw for 1,491 yards and 11 TDs in his first campaign as starter. Senior linebacker Logan Lockwood ranked second in tackles (80) and sacks (7) with Arnett close behind, notching 76 tackles and three interceptions.
Schedule highlights: Aug. 22 at Ashland Blazer; Sept. 5 at Pikeville; Sept. 19 vs. Newport Central Catholic; Oct. 3 at Hazard; Oct. 17 vs. Paris.
2. PIKEVILLE
Head coach: Chris McNamee (17th season).
Last year: 7-6. District champion; lost 21-6 to Sayre in region finals.
Quick look: Just four starters return on each side of the ball with junior quarterback J.J. Reynolds taking over the offense. Senior wideout Mikey Hager and juniors Kingston Braxton and Cole Slone combined for nearly 1,000 yards receiving and eight TDs last season. Junior linebackers Jeremiah Anderson (128 tackles) and Jayden Justice (86 tackles, 3 sacks) lead the defense.
Schedule highlights: Aug. 22 at Christian Academy-Louisville; Sept. 5 vs. Raceland; Sept. 12 at Johnson Central; Sept. 19 at Belfry; Oct. 3 at Southwestern; Oct. 17 vs. Paintsville; Oct. 24 at Hazard.
Head coach: Matthew Jones (13th season).
Last year: 10-3. District and region champion. Lost 14-0 to Raceland in state semifinals.
Quick look: The Bearcats boast a program record 21 seniors that include 17 of 21 returning starters. Linebacker Rocco Huffman (132 tackles, 8.5 sacks) and fellow senior Kris Mandy (56 tackles, four sacks) lead the defense. Senior RB Parker Rudolph (1,088 yards rushing, 14 TDs) spearheads a run-heavy attack that tallied 2,717 yards and 32 TDs with senior QB Caden Long (1,203 yards, 14 TDs combined) at the helm. ProKicker.com rates senior Filip Popa as its No. 3 senior kicker in the nation.
Schedule highlights: Aug. 22 at Sayre; Oct. 10 vs. Louisville Holy Cross; Oct. 17 vs. Bethlehem; Oct. 24 at Campbellsville.
4. SAYRE
Head coach: Chad Pennington (eighth season).
Last year: 15-0. State champions for first time in school history.
Quick look: The Spartans return experience in the trenches but offensive production remains a question with its big-time playmakers graduated. Senior defensive end John Luke Minner (40 tackles, 12 sacks) rates as a three-star recruit. Senior running back Caden Jones (473 yards, 8 TDs) should at least double his carries and will have four-year starter Wyatt Moore, a 6-foot-5, 275-pound offensive tackle, anchoring an experienced front.
Schedule highlights: Aug. 22 vs. Kentucky Country Day; Sept. 12 vs. Williamsburg; Sept. 19 at Bracken County; Oct. 3 at Louisville Holy Cross.
Head coach: Dale Estes (14th season).
Last year: 11-3. District runner-up and region champion. Lost 35-14 to Sayre in state semifinals.
Quick look: Coach Estes has nine starters back on each side of the ball and dubs his offensive line “the best it has ever been,” anchored by 6-4, 270-pound junior Austin Sloan. Eastern Kentucky baseball commit Kace Eastridge leads the offense as a dual-threat QB with 1,990 yards and 17 TDs passing and 1,346 yards and 21 TDs rushing. He has primary target Gabriel Noyola (885 yards, 10 TDs receiving).
Schedule highlights: Sept. 19 at Hazard; Oct. 17 at Louisville Holy Cross; Oct. 24 vs. Kentucky Country Day.
6. HAZARD
Head coach: Matthew Chandler (second season).
Last year: 8-5. Lost 35-0 to Raceland in the region finals.
Quick look: Chandler built the Bulldogs back into a force in his first year, but will have sophomore QB William Shoptaw taking over after getting a few snaps last season. Chandler praises junior wideout Gavin Johnson (1,069 yards, 13 TDs) as an “explosive player who should be the best receiver in 1A.” Leading tackler Rayce Lindon (127) could break the team record in that stat as one of eight defensive starters back.
Schedule highlights: Sept. 5 at Prestonsburg; Sept. 12 vs. Breathitt County; Sept. 19 vs. Campbellsville; Oct. 3 vs. Raceland; Oct. 24 vs. Pikeville; Oct. 31 vs. Somerset.
Head coach: Stephen Lickert (eighth season).
Last year: 9-4. District champion. Lost 27-24 to Campbellsville in the region finals.
Quick look: Marshall commit Will Sandfoss, a 6-5, 280-pound three-star senior lineman, should make things easier in the trenches on offense and defense as senior QB Emmanuel Miles returns under center after throwing for 1,428 yards and 19 TDs last season. Senior skill players Eddie Bivens (440 yards, 4 TDs rushing) and Grayden Schirmer (353 yards, 4 TDs receiving) take over lead roles. Senior Max Meyer ranked second in tackles at linebacker (78 with a sack).
Schedule highlights: Aug. 22 at Lloyd Memorial; Aug. 29 vs. Beechwood at Covington Catholic; Sept. 19 at Raceland; Oct. 10 vs. Newport at Dixie Heights.
8. WILLIAMSBURG
Head coach: Jerry Herron (20th season).
Last year: 8-2. District champion. Lost 56-8 to Hazard in second round.
Quick look: Reese Hatcher, a 6-3, 180-pound sophomore, takes over at quarterback after getting a few snaps last season, including a start in a 48-0 win over Lynn Camp in which he threw for 254 yards and two TDs. Leading wideout Chase Meddles led the team with 542 yards and five TDs receiving as a sophomore. Seven starters return on defense, led by senior linebacker Gary Tye (28 tackles, 2 sacks).
Schedule highlights: Aug. 29 at Paris; Sept. 12 at Sayre; Oct. 17 at Middlesboro.
Head coach: Eric Dick (sixth season).
Last year: 6-6. Lost 27-21 to Kentucky Country Day in the second round.
Quick look: Three teams from the Cougars’ 2nd District rank in the top 10, meaning Holy Cross probably must go back through No. 3 KCD or No. 5 Campbellsville in the playoffs. But an experienced line fronts an offense that returns nine starters, including senior rusher Jamari Pennebaker (1,456 yards, 19 TDs rushing) and dual-threat junior QB Jerek Hoover (1,808 yards, 16 TDs passing, 634 yards, 11 TDs rushing) who has leading receiver and fellow junior Chris Rumbaugh (438 yards, 4 TDs) in the pattern.
Schedule highlights: Oct. 3 vs. Sayre; Oct. 10 at Kentucky Country Day; Oct. 17 vs. Campbellsville.
10. PARIS
Head coach: Dane Damron (first season).
Last year: 7-5. Lost 41-20 to Sayre in the second round.
Quick look: Damron, a former Boyd County coach who later served as Eastern Kentucky’s offensive coordinator for five seasons before leading Division II UVA Wise for eight from 2016 to 2023, gets his first taste of orange turf. “I’m optimistic,” Damron said for the H-L survey. “The kids are buying into what we are trying to do.” Six starters return, led by junior Brandon Smith-Santiago who scored eight TDs last season as a two-way player out of each backfield.
Schedule highlights: Aug. 22 at Frankfort; Aug. 29 vs. Williamsburg; Sept. 12 vs. Somerset; Oct. 17 at Raceland.
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
In order of votes received: Middlesboro, Newport, Russellville, Eminence, Ludlow, Bishop Brossart, Paintsville, Bethlehem, Frankfort, Covington Holy Cross, Caverna, Bellevue, Fulton County.
Survey method: These rankings reflect the participation of coaches from 22 of the 32 Class A teams eligible for postseason play (68.8%). Every coach in the division was given the opportunity to participate in the @HLpreps annual survey via email. Multiple attempts were made to contact each coach.
This story was originally published August 11, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
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