Huge upsets shake up this week’s Hype 25 high school football rankings
A shocking upset of Class 4A defending state champion Paducah Tilghman by Madisonville-North Hopkins last Thursday signaled a wild Kentucky high school football weekend.
The craziest result might have been Bryan Station’s 8-3 win over former Herald-Leader Hype No. 23 Ballard that came despite Lexington’s Defenders only gaining 38 total yards of offense against the Bruins in Louisville.
Two interceptions, two fumble recoveries, a safety and 1-yard touchdown run by Kamani Barbour helped Bryan Station earn the first victory of J.T. Haskins’ head coaching career.
His Defenders (1-3) have played well at times against a brutal schedule that has included Herald-Leader Hype 25 No. 3 South Warren, No. 12 Pulaski County and No. 20 Corbin.
The loss knocked Ballard (1-3) from both the H-L Hype 25 and the Kentucky High School Football Media Poll Class 6A top 10.
Despite Bryan Station’s struggles early this season, Haskins has been encouraged.
“There are little things that we’ve got to get over. We’re in ball games, and I’ve got a good ball club,” Haskins said. “And we’re doing it all without Jordan, so when I get him back, geez.”
The coach’s son, Jordan Haskins, a highly recruited two-way junior in the secondary and at receiver, has been nursing a high ankle sprain.
This Friday, Bryan Station goes to Tates Creek (1-3) with a seven-game win streak against the Commodores on the line.
Meanwhile, Tilghman’s upset opened the door for a new No. 1 in Class 4A, and the media poll voters returned Boyle County to the top spot after its close win over Highlands last Friday.
That win also made the Rebels (3-1) the biggest climber in this week’s H-L Hype 25, rising seven spots to No. 8 as the Blue Tornado (3-1) dropped from No. 3 to No. 7.
No. 13 Ryle (2-2) suffered the biggest drop this week, falling seven spots after its 34-27 loss at home to No. 4 Christian Academy-Louisville (4-0).
In addition to Ballard, two-time defending Class 5A champion Bowling Green (0-4) dropped out of our rankings after its loss to No. 3 South Warren.
Below are this week’s Herald-Leader Hype top 25 rankings followed by a glance at some of the biggest games on tap Friday.
Herald-Leader Hype 25
Kentucky high school football top 25 rankings by sports writer Jared Peck after Week 4 with season record followed by last week’s Hype 25 ranking (Prv) and each team’s class with its latest Kentucky High School Football Media Poll ranking (KMP).
Rank. Team (Record)… Prv…Class-KMP
1. Trinity (3-1)………………1…6A-1
2. St. Xavier (3-0)…………2…6A-2
3. South Warren (3-0)……4…6A-3
4. Christian Academy-Lou. (4-0) 7…3A-1
5. Franklin County (4-0)…8…4A-3
6. Male (2-1)……………………9…6A-5
7. Paducah Tilghman (3-1) 3…4A-2
8. Boyle County (3-1)………15…4A-1
9. Manual (3-1)………………13…6A-4
10. Highlands (3-1)…………5…4A-4
11. Scott County (4-0)………11…5A-1
12. Pulaski County (4-0)……20…5A-2
13. Ryle (2-2)…………………6…6A-6
14. Beechwood (3-0)…………14…2A-1
15. Frederick Douglass (1-3) 16…6A-7
16. Covington Catholic (2-2) 18…4A-5
17. Woodford County (3-1) 12…5A-4
18. Johnson Central (4-0)…24…4A-6
19. Madisonville-N.H. (4-0) NR…5A-5
20. Corbin (3-1)……………10…4A-7
21. Cooper (2-2)………………21…5A-3
22. Mayfield (3-1)……………22…2A-3
23. Owensboro Catholic (3-1) 17…2A-2
24. Atherton (3-1)……………19…5A-7
25. Lexington Catholic (3-1) NR…3A-3
Dropping out: Bowling Green, Ballard.
Watch list (in alphabetical order): Bell County, Collins, Logan County, Murray, Owensboro
Herald-Leader sports writer Jared Peck has been covering high school sports since 2016 and has led the H-L’s coverage of every KHSAA football state championship since 2019. Follow on X at @HLpreps.
H-L Hype games of the week
Friday’s top games, according to our H-L rankings.
- No. 1 Trinity (3-1) at No. 6 Male (2-1), 7 p.m.
- No. 9 Manual (3-1) at No. 21 Cooper (2-2), 7:30 p.m.
- No. 12 Pulaski County (4-0) at No. 18 Johnson Central (4-0), 7:30 p.m.
- No. 13 Ryle (2-2) at No. 10 Highlands (3-1), 7 p.m.
- No. 15 Frederick Douglass (1-3) at No. 20 Corbin (3-1), 7 p.m.
- No. 16 Covington Catholic (2-2) at No. 14 Beechwood (3-0), 7:30 p.m.
Media Poll games of the week
This week’s top games between teams ranked in their respective class top 10s in the latest Kentucky High School Football Media Poll. Games are Friday, unless noted.
- Lexington Catholic (3-1) at Lexington Christian (1-3), 7:30 p.m.
- Sayre (2-1) at Bracken County (2-1), 7:30 p.m.
- Bardstown (4-0) at Owensboro Catholic (3-1), 7 p.m.
- Campbellsville (3-1) at Hazard (3-1), 7:30 p.m.
- Oldham County (3-1) at South Oldham (3-1), 7:30 p.m.
- Pikeville (2-2) at Belfry (3-1), 7:30 p.m.
Friday’s other Lexington games
- Bryan Station at Tates Creek, 6:30 p.m.
- Henry Clay at Dixie Heights, 7:30 p.m.
- Lafayette at West Jessamine, 7:30 p.m.
- Paul Laurence Dunbar at Great Crossing, 7:30 p.m.
Friday’s other Central Kentucky games
- Anderson County at Carroll County, 7:30 p.m.
- Bourbon County at Scott, 7:30 p.m.
- Washington County at Danville, 7:30 p.m.
- Franklin County at Shelby County, 7:30 p.m.
- Harlan at Berea, 7:30 p.m.
- Woodford County at Heritage (Palm Bay, Florida), 7 p.m.
- Lincoln County at East Jessamine, 7:30 p.m.
- Madison Central at Scott County, 7:30 p.m.
- Madison Southern at Rockcastle County, 7:30 p.m.
- Meade County at Collins, 7:30 p.m.
- Southwestern at Mercer County, 7:30 p.m.
- Newport at Paris, 7:30 p.m.
- St. Francis Desales (Columbus, Ohio) at George Rogers Clark, 7 p.m.
Where the Herald-Leader will be this week
- Sports writer Jared Peck heads to the city’s most heated rivalry as No. 25 Lexington Catholic (Class 3A No. 3) visits Class 2A No. 4 Lexington Christian. LCA leads the now-annual series 6-5 with all its wins coming in the past eight games, including two of the past three. Follow on X @HLpreps.
- Freelancer Josh Moore goes to Tates Creek, where the Commodores will try to end a seven-game losing streak to Bryan Station in their crosstown showdown. Follow on X @JoshMooreHL.
Check out our streaming and updates guide: Each Friday, Kentucky.com posts our “Friday Night Lights” streaming guide, which includes a ScoreStream updates feed providing scores from across the state.
