Kentucky football coaches name district players and coaches of the year for 2025
The Kentucky Football Coaches Association has announced its district players, linemen and coaches of the year, according to a vote of its membership.
The honorees included seven players from Lexington: Sayre’s Caden Jones and Wyatt Moore, Lexington Christian’s Tyler King, Tates Creek’s Darnell Burnside, Frederick Douglass’ Dakari Talbert, Lexington Catholic’s Mark Hosinski and Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Josiah Hernandez.
“Lineman of the year” awards — including Moore, Hosinski and Hernandez — are new. KFCA executive director Jeff Marksberry said coaches have wanted to award such an honor for some time.
Among the coaching winners are Sayre’s Chad Pennington, Lexington Catholic’s David Clark and Lafayette’s Jon Lawson.
An overall statewide lineman of the year award will be named in honor of the late Philip Haywood, Belfry’s legendary coach and Kentucky’s all-time football coaching wins leader. That award and the KFCA’s Mr. Football and Jimmie Reed Coach of the Year honors typically are announced at the conclusion of the season.
The class-by-class players, linemen and coaches of the year will be announced during the state championships Dec. 5-6 at Kroger Field.
This year’s Mr. Football, an award reserved for the state’s most outstanding senior, is not necessarily among these district honorees, who include underclassmen.
The finalists for Mr. Football will be announced at a later date.
2025 KFCA District Players of the Year
CLASS 1A
1st: Zayden Kinney, Fulton County
2nd: Kace Eastridge, Campbellsville
3rd: Eddie Bivens, Newport Catholic
4th: Charles Oglesby, Covington Holy Cross
5th: Caden Jones, Sayre
6th: Landen Stiltner, Raceland
7th: Deakon Partin, Middlesboro
8th: William Shoptaw, Hazard
CLASS 2A
1st: Caden Howard, Crittenden County
2nd: Miles Edge, Owensboro Catholic
3rd: Kris Hughes, Somerset
4th: Tyler King, Lexington Christian
5th: Tyler Fryman, Beechwood
6th: Waylon Abner, Breathitt County
7th: Devan Maynard, Martin County
8th: Jonah Bartley, Shelby Valley
CLASS 3A
1st: Wyatt Robbins, Murray
2nd: Hudson Gumm, Glasgow
3rd: Ja’Hyde Brown, Christian Academy-Louisville
4th: RJ Blair, Garrard County
5th: Kaleb Evans, Lloyd Memorial
6th: Jayden Frasure, Russell
7th: Blake Burnett, Bell County
8th: Luke Fetherolf, Lawrence County
CLASS 4A
1st: Avery Thompson, Paducah Tilghman
2nd: Cavalli Pittman, John Hardin
3rd: Colin Daniels, North Oldham
4th: Keyon Davis, Spencer County
5th: Tayden Lorenzen, Highlands
6th: Logan Music, Johnson Central
7th: Seneca Driver, Boyle County
8th: Cole Stevens, Corbin
CLASS 5A
1st: Markezz Hightower, Madisonville-North Hopkins
2nd: Davis Chaney, Greenwood
3rd: Garyon Hobbs, Atherton
4th: AJ Lee, Bullitt Central
5th: Cam O’Hara, Cooper
6th: Timmy Emongo, Scott County
7th: Cooper Swaim, West Jessamine
8th: Mason Griffin, South Laurel
CLASS 6A
1st: James Bradley, Hopkinsville
2nd: Kayden York, South Warren
3rd: Gerian Traynor, Manual
4th: Steron Davidson, Male
5th: Zane Johnson, Trinity
6th: Jacob Savage, Ryle
7th: Darnell Burnside, Tates Creek
8th: Dakari Talbert, Frederick Douglass
2025 KFCA District Linemen of the Year
CLASS 1A
1st: Drake Thorpe, Fulton County
2nd: Kris Mandy, KCD
3rd: Will Sandfoss, Newport Catholic
4th: Beckett Meersman, Bishop Brossart
5th: Wyatt Moore, Sayre
6th: Jacob Litteral, Raceland
7th: Christian Davis, Middlesboro
8th: Caden Thacker, Pikeville
CLASS 2A
1st: Ashton Rodgers, Mayfield
2nd: Caden Conkright, Owensboro Catholic
3rd: Andrew Houk, Green County
4th: Sasha Wade, Danville
5th: Lucas Tillery, Owen County
6th: Waylon Abner, Breathitt County
7th: Preston Shepherd, Knott County Central
8th: Bo Wolford, Belfry
CLASS 3A
1st: Ryan Walls, Murray
2nd: Matt Stephens, LaRue County
3rd: Kellan Hall, Christian Academy-Louisville
4th: Mark Hosinski, Lexington Catholic
5th: King Lee, Bourbon County
6th: Zack Brown, Russell
7th: Spencer Phipps, Bell County
8th: Ty Brooks, Lawrence County
CLASS 4A
1st: Ben Myers, Paducah Tilghman
2nd: Bryten Close, Taylor County
3rd: Josh Vaughan, Valley
4th: Richard Gilbert, Spencer County
5th: Max Merz, Highlands
6th: Drew Ferguson, Johnson Central
7th: Trashaun Bryant, Wayne County
8th: Malachi Brown, Corbin
CLASS 5A
1st: JW Muster, Owensboro
2nd: Zach Jordan, Bowling Green
3rd: Jeremiah Jackson, Iroquois
4th: Chaz Tutt, Fairdale
5th: Noah Reichel, Cooper
6th: Justyn Perez, Woodford County
7th: Isaiah Wilkinson, West Jessamine
8th: Brady Hull, Pulaski County
CLASS 6A
1st: Foster Jackson, Hopkinsville
2nd: Malik Butler, South Warren
3rd: Josiah Hope, North Hardin
4th: Christian White, Male
5th: Nate Shields, Trinity
6th: Bo Gay, Ryle
7th: Josiah Hernandez, Paul Laurence Dunbar
8th: Camden Burke, Madison Central
2025 KFCA District Coaches of the Year
CLASS 1A
1st: James Bridges, Fulton County
2nd: Dale Estes, Campbellsville
3rd: Steve Lickert, Newport Catholic
4th: Curt Spencer, Holy Cross
5th: Chad Pennington, Sayre
6th: Michael Salmons, Raceland
7th: Larry French, Middlesboro
8th: Brian Melvin, Paintsville
CLASS 2A
1st: Cliff Dew, Mayfield
2nd: Robert Eubanks, Hancock County
3rd: John Petett, Monroe County
4th: Lawrence Smith, Washington County
5th: Steve Tarter, Bracken County
6th: Mark Easterling, Morgan County
7th: Randall Mullins, Knott County Central
8th: Matt Varney, Belfry
CLASS 3A
1st: Melvin Cunningham, Murray
2nd: Josh Robins, Butler County
3rd: Hunter Cantwell, Christian Academy-Louisville
4th: David Clark, Lexington Catholic
5th: Kyle Niederman, Lloyd Memorial
6th: TJ Maynard, Russell
7th: Dudley Hilton, Bell County
8th: Alan Short, Lawrence County
CLASS 4A
1st: Coby Lewis, Calloway County
2nd: Josh Boston, Nelson County
3rd: Brock Roberts, North Oldham
4th: Eddie James, Franklin County
5th: Bob Sphire, Highlands
6th: Jesse Peck, Johnson Central
7th: Justin Haddix, Boyle County
8th: Jacob Saylor, Harlan County
CLASS 5A
1st: John Edge, Apollo
2nd: William Howard, Greenwood
3rd: Gary Wheeler, Butler
4th: Louis Dover, Fairdale
5th: Randy Borchers, Cooper
6th: Dennis Johnson, Woodford County
7th: Scott Marsh, West Jessamine
8th: Steve Nelson, North Laurel
CLASS 6A
1st: Tyler Brooks, McCracken County
2nd: Brandon Smith, South Warren
3rd: Kevin Wallace, Saint Xavier
4th: Chris Wolfe, Male
5th: Jamie Reed, Oldham County
6th: Mike Engler, Ryle
7th: Jon Lawson, Lafayette
8th: William Blair, Madison Central
