High school football playoffs preview: The best teams and games going into Round 1
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- State playoffs open with 90 Round 1 games; many matchups could end early.
- RPI seeding reshapes region and semifinal brackets based on final regular-season RPI.
- Favorites and spoilers listed for each region; expect close games and potential upsets.
For critics who believe Kentucky high school football lets too many teams into the playoffs, this is the week to loathe.
That’s because there could be running-clock blowouts for about half the 89 games scheduled Thursday and Friday in the first round of the 2025 UK HealthCare Sports Medicine State Football Finals. There were 44 last year.
But there will be some close games decided in the final moments, too. Count on that. Last season, there were 15 one-possession games in Round 1. One went to overtime.
What could be the best games around the state this week? And how does the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s football postseason work?
It’s complicated, but let’s try to answer those questions.
This week’s best first-round matchups
All games are scheduled for 7 p.m. local time Friday unless noted.
CLASS 6A
No. 18 George Rogers Clark (5-5) at No. 21 Tates Creek (4-6): The Commodores rested running back BJ Evans (459 yards, 5 TDs rushing) last week in a disappointing loss to West Jessamine and will be looking to recover the momentum they had in sweeping the 7th District. Clark achieved a top-10 ranking for multiple weeks before hitting a murderers’ row district slate of top 10 teams Bryan Station, Frederick Douglass and Madison Central.
Honorable mentions: No. 11 Oldham County (6-4) at No. 15 Simon Kenton (5-5), 7:30 p.m.; No. 16 North Hardin (5-5) at No. 12 Bullitt East (6-4), 7:30 p.m.; No. 17 Daviess County (5-5) at No. 14 Hopkinsville (6-4).
Lexington’s other games: No. 32 Henry Clay (1-9) at No. 5 Frederick Douglass (6-4), 7 p.m., Thursday; No. 9 Bryan Station (5-5) at No. 25 Lafayette (5-5); No. 31 Paul Laurence Dunbar (3-7) at No. 7 Madison Central (6-4), 7 p.m. Thursday.
Central Kentucky game: No. 26 Great Crossing (1-9) at No. 4 Trinity (8-2), 7:30 p.m., Thursday.
Bye week: South Warren gets a bye because Christian County bowed out of the postseason.
CLASS 5A
No. 7 Madisonville-North Hopkins (8-2) at No. 16 Greenwood (6-4): The Maroons shocked the state with their home win over Tilghman on Sept. 11 but stumbled badly in October against district rivals Apollo and Owensboro. The Gators won’t be a pushover. Greenwood played Class 6A No. 1 South Warren close and only lost to Bowling Green by a field goal.
Honorable mention: No. 15 Graves County (4-6) at No. 13 Bowling Green (4-6), 7 p.m.
Central Kentucky games: No. 18 Conner (4-6) at No. 5 Scott County (7-3), 7 p.m., Thursday; No. 34 East Jessamine (2-8) at No. 1 Pulaski County (8-2), 7:30 p.m., Thursday; No. 30 Madison Southern (3-7) at No. 4 North Laurel (8-2), 7:30 p.m., Thursday; No. 26 Southwestern (1-9) at No. 11 West Jessamine (7-3); No. 24 Boone County (4-6) at No. 3 Woodford County (9-1).
CLASS 4A
No. 13 Taylor County (7-3) at No. 5 Paducah Tilghman (9-1): The Blue Tornado’s regular-season loss at Madisonville knocked the shine off the defending state champs, but Tilghman has rolled since with QB Stone Crowe throwing for 2,447 yards and 28 TDs. Taylor County’s best win was against Elizabethtown on Sept. 26.
Honorable mentions: No. 16 Franklin-Simpson (6-4) at No. 17 John Hardin (6-4); No. 19 Marion County (7-3) at No. 7 Logan County (8-2).
Central Kentucky games: No. 30 Whitley County (1-9) at No. 1 Boyle County (9-1), 7 p.m. Thursday; No. 34 Waggener (3-7) at No. 3 Franklin County (10-0), 7 p.m. Thursday; No. 31 Western Hills (4-6) at No. 18 Valley (8-2), 7 p.m. Thursday.
CLASS 3A
No. 10 Bardstown (7-3) at No. 16 Central (4-6), 7 p.m. Thursday: Louisville’s Central plays a brutal schedule filled with bigger-school foes and is also dealing with the recent loss of head coach Marvin Dantzler, who resigned in a dispute with his administration after an incident at their Oct. 17 game against DeSales. But the Yellowjackets are a perennial threat, and this year is no different. Bardstown stumbled against district foes Garrard County and Lexington Catholic and could get a rematch with the Knights with a win.
Honorable mention: No. 15 DeSales (5-5) at No. 18 Garrard County (5-4), 7:30 p.m.
Lexington’s game: No. 37 Western (1-8) at No. 7 Lexington Catholic (8-2), 7 p.m. Thursday.
Central Kentucky game: No. 29 Mercer County (1-9) at No. 1 Christian Academy-Louisville (10-0), 7:30 p.m.
CLASS 2A
No. 13 Green County (7-3) at No. 8 Danville (8-2), 7:30 p.m. Thursday: The Admirals, led by freshman running back Jayvian Meaux (1,617 yards, 28 TDs rushing), get to host their first playoff game since 2022. That’s their last postseason win, as well. Dragons QB James Deacon needs 4 rushing yards for 1,000 on the season to go with his 13 TDs rushing and nine passing.
Honorable mention: No. 16 Caldwell County (6-4) at No. 12 Hancock County (7-3).
Bye week: No. 3 Mayfield and No. 5 Beechwood get byes because Fort Knox and Jackson County bowed out of the postseason.
Lexington’s game: No. 22 Metcalfe County (3-7) at No. 2 Lexington Christian (7-3), 7 p.m. Thursday.
CLASS A
No. 13 Louisville Holy Cross (4-6) at No. 20 Russellville (5-5): Holy Cross ended the regular season with five straight losses out of the 2nd District, Class A’s toughest, home to both No. 2 KCD and No. 3 Campbellsville. Russellville is riding a five-game win streak.
Honorable mentions: No. 19 Paintsville (5-5) at No. 14 Williamsburg (5-4); No. 17 Bellevue (5-5) at No. 16 Bishop Brossart (5-5).
Lexington’s game: No. 18 Fairview (5-5) at No. 7 Sayre (8-2), 7 p.m. Thursday
Bye week: Raceland, Campbellsville, Pikeville and Paris get byes because Berea, Ballard Memorial, Lynn Camp and Frankfort opted out of the playoffs.
Looking ahead: How the brackets work
It’s not a straight line from Round 1 to the finals at Kroger Field because the brackets on the KHSAA’s scoreboard web pages only reflect the first two rounds accurately.
Those rounds in all six classes are set geographically as “cross-district” games. In Rounds 1 and 2, based on the regular season district standings, the 1st District gets seeded against the 2nd District, the 3rd District gets seeded against the 4th District and so on.
There are eight districts in each class. They are roughly geographical with the 1st District being the farthest west and the 8th District being the farthest east.
Since 2019, both the third round “region championships” and fourth round or “state semifinals” have been seeded based on the KHSAA’s RPI Standings, which are fixed at the end of the regular season.
RPI seeding has two phases. For the “region championships,” the surviving teams in the western districts (1-4) and eastern districts (5-8) are seeded based on RPI within their geographic areas to prevent, for instance, a situation where a team near Paducah has to travel 400 miles to play a team near Pikeville for a “region” trophy.
In the state semifinals, however, geographic concerns are tossed and the brackets realign again to avoid having the highest two remaining seeds play each other in the semis rather than Kroger Field.
While the RPI Standings sometimes don’t agree with other ranking measures, such as the Kentucky High School Football Media Poll, the seeding system has worked with few complaints over the years.
A team like two-time defending Class 6A champion Trinity could argue the KHSAA’s RPI formula grossly undervalues out-of-state opponents and thus underrates the Shamrocks as a No. 4 team instead of a No. 1 because they often play teams from other states. But that’s not a situation that impacts many schools.
And RPI seeding has generated state finals like Sayre’s 27-22 win over Raceland in Class A and Paducah Tilghman’s 27-20 win over Franklin County in Class 4A. Both might have been state semifinals last season without RPI seeding.
Who are favorites to reach the region championships?
The teams listed below are the on-paper favorites to survive the first two rounds and face each other for a region championship with the higher seed as host based on the KHSAA’s RPI Standings. Spoilers listed are potential second-round foes for the favorites.
CLASS 6A
East: No. 4 Trinity vs. No. 7 Madison Central and No. 5 Frederick Douglass vs. No. 6 Ryle
West: No. 1 South Warren vs No. 10 McCracken County and No. 2 Manual vs. No. 3 St. Xavier.
Spoilers: No. 8 Male would need to get past its old rival Manual in the second round. The Bulldogs lost their regular season game 52-13. No. 9 Bryan Station would need to beat Douglass for the first time ever.
CLASS 5A
East: No. 1 Pulaski County vs. No. 5 Scott County and No. 3 Woodford County vs. No. 4 North Laurel.
West: No. 2 Owensboro vs. No. 17 Fairdale and No. 6 Atherton vs. No. 13 Bowling Green.
Spoilers: No. 9 Cooper, last year’s state runner-up, would get to host Scott County if they meet in the second round. To keep its date with Pulaski, North Laurel could face a test at No. 11 West Jessamine. No. 7 Madisonville-North Hopkins and No. 8 Collins could get revenge games against Owensboro and Woodford County, respectively. Both suffered regular season blowouts.
CLASS 4A
East: No. 1 Boyle County vs. No. 6 Lincoln County and No. 2 Johnson Central vs. No. 4 Highlands.
West: No. 3 Franklin County vs. No. 12 Spencer County and No. 5 Paducah Tilghman vs. No. 7 Logan County.
Spoilers: No. 9 Covington Catholic, a state semifinalist last year, could pose a significant threat to Johnson Central’s hopes. No. 8 Corbin likely will stand in Lincoln County’s way. No. 10 Elizabethtown could threaten Logan County; No. 14 North Oldham could be in Spencer County’s way.
CLASS 3A
East: No. 2 Lloyd Memorial vs. No. 9 Bourbon County and No. 4 Bell County vs. No. 5 Lawrence County
West: No. 1 Christian Academy-Louisville vs. No. 7 Lexington Catholic and No. 3 Murray vs. No. 6 Glasgow.
Spoilers: If No. 10 Bardstown survives its first-round game against vastly underrated No. 16 Louisville Central, it would get a rematch with Lexington Catholic in the second round. No. 8 Rockcastle County looms as a second-round opponent for Lawrence County. No. 11 Russell would host Bourbon County if they met in the second round.
CLASS 2A
East: No. 4 Belfry vs. No. 5 Beechwood and No. 7 Prestonsburg vs. No. 9 Breathitt County.
West: No. 1 Owensboro Catholic vs. No. 6 Somerset and No. 2 Lexington Christian vs. No. 3 Mayfield.
Spoilers: If No. 8 Danville wins this week, former district rival Somerset would be its next opponent in the Briar Patch. No. 10 Monroe County would need to upset Lexington Christian. No. 11 Martin County has Belfry in the way.
CLASS A
East: No. 1 Raceland vs. No. 7 Sayre and No. 4 Pikeville vs. No. 5 Middlesboro.
West: No. 2 Kentucky Country Day vs. No. 8 Covington Holy Cross and No. 3 Campbellsville vs. No. 6 Newport Central Catholic.
Spoilers: Covington Holy Cross faces a potential challenge from No. 11 Newport if they both advance. Likewise, No. 10 Hazard could be in Middlesboro’s path. No. 9 Nicholas County will need to step it up to have a chance against Raceland.
This story was originally published November 5, 2025 at 6:30 AM.
