Frederick Douglass climbs back to .500 with a dominant shutout in Louisville

Breaking: Any previous reports of Frederick Douglass football’s demise were exaggerated.

The Class 6A media poll No. 5 Broncos, who for the first time in program history lost their first three games, climbed back to .500 Friday night with a 14-0 win at No. 6 Male. The outcome was more lopsided than the final score showed.

Frederick Douglass (3-3) racked up 301 yards of offense while holding the hosts to nearly half that (174). The Broncos converted seven of their 12 third-down bids while holding Male (3-3) to 2-for-8 and dominated time of possession, particularly in the second half. Over the last 24 minutes, Douglass had the ball for more than 16 of them, including almost the entirety (9:36) of a fourth quarter in which both teams had just two true offensive drives.

Dakari Talbert rushed for 192 yards on 18 carries (10.7 per carry) and both of the Broncos’ touchdowns.

“I wish we could’ve punched it one or two more times,” Talbert said with a grin.

The Broncos had several opportunities to pad their lead.

After forcing a Male three-and-out and then scoring on their first play from scrimmage — Talbert hit a wide-open gap and shook off a horse-collar tackle on his way into the end zone to finish an 82-yard run — Broncos linebacker Keenan Banther came up with an interception that ricocheted off a teammate’s helmet. The ensuing drive began at Male’s 22 but ended 12 yards behind the marker in part due to an errant snap.

Douglass then forced another punt and capped a 14-play, 79-yard drive with Talbert’s second score. That happened with 10:29 left in the second quarter. Male soon had to punt again and Douglass in a hurry drove to the Bulldogs’ 36, but the drive stalled there, ending in the Broncos’ only punt.

Male blocked a 22-yard field-goal try by Clayton Wallace, whose earlier PATs accounted for the game’s only other points, after Douglass drove for nearly 7 minutes to open the second half. Douglass forced a turnover on downs early in the fourth and proceeded to chew more than 8 minutes off the clock but couldn’t capitalize after driving to the Male 8-yard line. The Broncos then stopped Male a final time inside its own 10, but they immediately moved into victory formation.

“From 20 to 20 we moved it well tonight,” Douglass head coach Nate McPeek said. “We had long drives, ran the clock. We’ve gotta get better.”

The Broncos’ return to form has come after freshman quarterback Jayden Guzman was forced into action after Game 1 starter Brady Ross, a junior, was injured the following week against Trinity. Following a tough first start against Manual (14-for-32 with two interceptions to one TD pass), Guzman is 30-for-46 with four TD passes and a pick. He was turnover-free against Male after dealing for 127 yards (11-for-15).

“He’s growing up, he’s a good distributor,” McPeek said. “Obviously he’s not very big but he understands the game and is getting the ball out.”

Douglass defense a difference-maker

McPeek was quick to laud the efforts of defensive coordinator Jeffrey Poe, who has coached that side of the ball for Douglass since the program’s first season in 2017. Friday’s win was Douglass’ first shutout against any Louisville program and its first this season, following back-to-back games in which it allowed just seven points.

“I think we’ve really improved, especially coming from that Trinity game,” said Banther, a senior. “We had a lot of mental errors and we’ve bounced back. Rating-wise, at the start of the season I’d say we were about a 6 but we’re getting closer to an 8 to 9. We’re not perfect but we’re improving every single day.”

The Broncos through six games have surrendered just 100 points — a mark matched or bettered by just three teams in Class 6A before Friday night’s action. Two of them, Manual (100 points) and Trinity (76), were responsible for Douglass losses (Highlands, a contender in Class 5A, handed it the other — 21-20 in double overtime).

“Coach McPeek did a great job scheduling this year,” senior Terry Cayson said. “We played the best three teams in the state, in my opinion, the first three games and that prepared us.”

The Shamrocks rolled 37-0 at home while Manual upended them under odd circumstances: A tie game was halted due to lightning and resumed about 16 hours later on a Saturday afternoon. Manual left Lexington the second time with a 28-21 win in hand.

The third 6A team that had surrendered fewer than 100 points? Madison Central, against whom Douglass opens district play on Oct. 10. The Indians (3-2) were off this week but recently completed a Georgetown sweep: They won 34-14 at Scott County on Sept. 19 before a 50-22 defeat of Great Crossing on Sept. 26.

Like Scott County, Madison Central deploys a variation of the Wing-T offense that can be challenging to game plan against. Corbin, where Douglass won 28-7 on Sept. 19, gave the Broncos their first look at a Wing-T scheme this season.

“The main thing is discipline,” Banther said. “You’ve got to read your keys and stuff. We’re familiar with it, but discipline is big. If you don’t do your job, it could be six the other way.”

Every team in Class 6A’s 8th District — Bryan Station, Central, Douglass and George Rogers Clark — has won at least two straight entering next week. But Douglass is king until dethroned: The Broncos haven’t lost a game to a district opponent since 2018, their second season of play.

Former district mate Scott County won three of its first four against Douglass, including twice in the playoffs; the Broncos are 29-0 against district foes since then. Madison Central will aim to keep that streak from moving to 30 straight next Friday in Lexington.

“You’re not going to get many possessions,” McPeek said. “They’re gonna ground-and-pound and run the clock. They’re big and physical, so we’ve gotta recover here this weekend and get back at it.”

This story was originally published October 4, 2025 at 7:47 AM.