Who’s worth the Hype? State’s top two teams set for rivalry game in Louisville
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Top-ranked Trinity faces No. 2 St. Xavier Friday at L&N Stadium in Louisville.
- No. 25 Collins challenges No. 23 Scott County after both teams' recent setbacks.
- Pulaski County hosts undefeated No. 3 South Warren after a 50-30 road loss at Johnson Central.
It’s a high school football rivalry so big Louisville has to put the annual tilt in L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium.
Trinity (4-1) faces St. Xavier (3-1) Friday in a matchup of No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in both the Herald-Leader Hype 25 and the Kentucky High School Football Media Poll’s Class 6A rankings.
The Tigers got the better of the Rocks with a 16-10 win last year but suffered a stunning 42-23 upset to Ryle in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs while Trinity rolled to its 29th state title. Trinity leads the series 50-41-2.
There are only two other Hype 25 matchups this week, and both involve teams that took a surprising shellacking last time out.
No. 23 Scott County (4-1) clung to its Class 5A No. 1 ranking in the latest media poll despite losing convincingly to Madison Central at home 34-14. The result helped the Indians (3-2) crack this week’s rankings.
Next, the Cardinals host unbeaten No. 25 Collins (5-0), which features dual-threat quarterback Kade Goodin. Goodin has 12 TD passes and eight TD runs in five games.
No. 18 Pulaski County (4-1) doesn’t have much time to recover from a 50-30 loss at No. 9 Johnson Central (5-0). The Maroons host No. 3 South Warren (5-0), perhaps the hottest team in the state.
No. 11 Frederick Douglass (2-3) climbed four spots in this week’s rankings thanks to a 28-7 win at Class 4A contender Corbin (3-2) as the Broncos’ offense came to life.
Freshman quarterback Jayden Guzman threw for three touchdowns, two to senior wideout Terry Cayson, and junior running back Dakari Talbert racked up 113 rushing yards to go with a score.
Douglass has a bye this week to prepare for a trip to No. 12 Male (2-2) on Oct. 3 ahead of a district slate that begins with No. 24 Madison Central.
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 5 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 (4-1)………………1…6A-1
2. St. Xavier (3-1)…………2…6A-2
3. South Warren (5-0)……3…6A-3
4. Christian Academy-Lou. (5-0)…4…3A-1
5. Franklin County (5-0)…5…4A-3
6. Paducah Tilghman (4-1) 7…4A-2
7. Boyle County (3-1)………8…4A-1
8. Manual (4-1)………………9…6A-4
9. Johnson Central (5-0)…18…4A-5
10. Highlands (4-1)…………10…4A-4
11. Frederick Douglass (2-3) 15…6A-5
12. Male (2-2)……………………6…6A-6
13. Covington Catholic (3-2) 16…4A-6
14. Woodford County (4-1)…17…5A-2
15. Beechwood (3-1)…………14…2A-1
16. Madisonville-N.H. (5-0)…19…5A-3
17. Ryle (2-3)…………………13…6A-7
18. Pulaski County (4-1)…12…5A-4
19. Cooper (2-3)……………21…5A-5
21. Owensboro Catholic (4-1) 23…2A-2
22. Mayfield (4-1)……………22…2A-3
22. Atherton (4-1)……………24…5A-7
23. Scott County (4-1)………11…5A-1
24. Madison Central (3-2)……NR…6A-9
25. Collins (5-0)…………………NR…5A-8
Dropping out: Lexington Catholic, Corbin.
Watch list (in alphabetical order): Belfry, Bell County, Bryan Station, Lexington Christian, 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. 2 St. Xavier (3-1) at Trinity (4-1), 8 p.m.
- No. 3 South Warren (5-0) at No. 18 Pulaski County (4-1), 7:30 p.m.
- No. 25 Collins (5-0) at No. 23 Scott County (4-1), 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.
- Bowling Green (1-4) at Christian Academy-Louisville (5-0), 7:30 p.m.
- Covington Catholic (3-2) at Central (2-3), 7 p.m.
- Franklin County (5-0) at Lincoln County (5-0), 7:30 p.m.
Friday’s Lexington games
- Lafayette at East Jessamine, 7:30 p.m.
- Madison Southern at Paul Laurence Dunbar, 7:30 p.m.
- Newport at Sayre, 7:30 p.m.
- North Bullitt at Henry Clay, 7:30 p.m.
- Simon Kenton at Bryan Station, 7:30 p.m.
- Tates Creek at Ryle, 7:30 p.m.
- Byes: Frederick Douglass, Lexington Catholic, Lexington Christian.
Friday’s other Central Kentucky games
- Bardstown at Mercer County, 7:30 p.m.
- Berea at Trimble County, 7:30 p.m.
- Danville at Shawnee, 7 p.m.
- Great Crossing at Madison Central, 7:30 p.m.
- Henry County at Bourbon County, 7:30 p.m.
- Paris at Perry County Central, 7:30 p.m.
- South Oldham at Anderson County, 7:30 p.m.
- West Jessamine at George Rogers Clark, 7:30 p.m.
- Western Hills at Spencer County, 7:30 p.m.
Where the Herald-Leader will be this week
- Sports writer Jared Peck heads to Winchester as George Rogers Clark (3-2) hosts West Jessamine (3-2) in what should be a good tune-up for each of their respective district schedules ahead. Follow on X @HLpreps.
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.
