Lexington Catholic dominates early, stuffs Central rally late for playoff win

For 24 minutes, Lexington Catholic imposed its will against Louisville’s Central.

Though the Knights eased up in the second half, the 27-14 win advanced them to the third round of the Class 3A playoffs. They’ll meet Murray (12-0) next week with a potential third straight region championship on the line.

Lexington Catholic (10-2) reached 10 wins for the first time since 2022 and just the second time since 2015, when it last played for a state championship. Each of the past two years, the Knights advanced to the Class 3A semifinals, falling both times to Christian Academy of Louisville, the eventual state champs.

Quarterback Brady Wasik accounted for four total touchdowns — two on the ground and two through the air — and was about as even in yardage in both areas (106 rushing, 130 passing). The senior also delivered a fair share of hits, the highlight coming at the end of the first half as he and fellow linebacker Jack White sacked Central’s Phillip Baker before trotting into the locker room.

“It felt really good after going three-and-out the drive before,” Wasik said. “… We’re really aggressive, and we want to dominate whoever we’re playing.”

If not for a stretch of about six minutes spanning the end of the third quarter and the early portion of the fourth, LexCath could have pitched its fifth shutout over its past seven games.

“A football game’s a long game, and you see ebbs and flows,” LexCath head coach David Clark said. “I was proud of how we played in the first half, I thought we dominated on both sides of the ball. The second half got sloppy.”

LexCath bolted to a 20-0 first-half lead and tacked on its final score with 3:39 left in the third quarter. A flurry of chunk plays, sandwiching a rare defensive stop, allowed the Yellowjackets (5-7) to cut LexCath’s lead in half with about eight minutes to play. Central then recovered an onside kick at the Catholic 32-yard line and drove to the 23 before a pack of Knights stuffed a fourth-and-1 run by Baker.

Later on what would be its final drive, Central needed about 30 yards on a fourth-down prayer from inside its own 10. Baker delivered the ball to Khalen Hadley, who scored both Central TDs on long passes. He picked up the first down near midfield. But LexCath almost immediately forced and recovered a game-sealing fumble.

Brian Marshall, Central’s leading rusher (628 yards, eight TDs), was held in check: LexCath kept him to just 20 yards, all in the first half.

Central became the first team since Lexington Christian Academy (28 on Sept. 19) to post a double-digit point total against LexCath and just the fourth this season. The Knights entered Friday with the second-best scoring defense in Class 3A and outlasted the stingiest; Glasgow, which was undefeated and had given up just 65 points, fell 10-7 to Union County.

Lexington Catholic was destined for a road trip following its win, but the upset of Glasgow puts them in far west Kentucky rather than in the state’s largest city next Friday. It negated a rematch with CAL, the presumptive favorite to win a fourth straight Class 3A title, which now can’t happen earlier than the state semifinals.

Following its postgame huddle, LexCath’s next-round opponent was still to be determined. That was a positive thing: Clark wanted his team to savor a victory against a resilient, proud program.

“We have talked to these kids about enjoying the moment,” Clark said. “Don’t take it for granted. We’ll prepare hard, like we’ve done every day, but let’s not focus so much ahead that we don’t enjoy where we are right now.”

Central had won two of its three games without Marvin Dantzler on the sideline. Dantzler, who’d coached the Yellowjackets since 2017 and led them to the 2018 Class 3A state title, has not been with the team since a disagreement with school officials that occurred during Central’s Oct. 17 game against DeSales.

During that game, Central was assessed a 15-yard penalty because its band was playing during live action. Dantzler, who spoke about the incident with the Courier Journal, was told to “ask the band nicely” to stop playing; he contended that school athletic director Steven Stigall should have communicated that to them. He also told the paper that he had a “contentious exchange” with principal Tamela Compton after the game.

Central’s band traveled to Lexington on Friday and played often, without penalty, during the game. Lexington Catholic’s public address announcer during the fourth quarter gave them a shoutout, prompting a raucous cheer from supporters of the home team.

“We love our band, and they do a great job,” said Lonnie Oldham, Central’s interim coach. “It kind of lifted us in the second half, when they came out and were playing. We love our band.”

This story was originally published November 15, 2025 at 8:30 AM.