Class 6A football playoffs: Does the state have an answer for Louisville’s champion?

Death, taxes and a member of the Louisville power-trio waiting to devour an opponent in the big-school football finals.

If this season’s like just about every one preceding it, one of three schools — No. 1 Trinity, No. 4 St. Xavier or No. 5 Male — will be waiting for whoever comes out of the bottom bracket once the first Saturday of December arrives. Since 1985, those three schools have been shut out of only three championship games: 1987 (Shelby County 17, Boone County 14), 1996 (Nelson County 35, Paul Laurence Dunbar 34) and 2013 (Scott County 21, Meade County 14).

The Louisville triumverate has combined to go 27-1 in that span, the lone loss courtesy of Tim Hampton’s 14 points in the fourth quarter to push Clark County past St. Xavier, 28-21, in the 1991 finals. The most likely candidate to knock that record down to 27-2 may reside in Georgetown.

Scott County, rated 5.5 points behind Trinity for second in the latest Cantrall Ratings, might be undefeated against Kentucky foes if not for a forfeit loss to Lafayette stemming from a September incident in which the teams could not come to an agreement about the postponement of a contest (Scott County led 25-20 early in the third quarter). The Cardinals played strong in a 20-14 loss to out-of-state power Cincinnati Elder and rolled in all their other games except a 35-28 win over Covington Catholic in which the Colonels fought back late. They open the postseason against Jeffersontown.

Speaking of Lafayette, the No. 7 Generals’ only loss was a thumping by Trinity at home. The road to a rematch is loaded with landmines — among them Scott County — but isn’t dissimilar to the path it took to Bowling Green last year. Lafayette would likely host Tates Creek, whom it beat in the regular season, and No. 6 Simon Kenton, whom it overcame on the road last year in the state semifinals, before hosting the Cardinals in a potential state semifinals matchup. Scott County would also have to get by a Northern Kentucky juggernaut — No. 3 Ryle, which opens against Henry Clay — in the regional round to set up the Central Kentucky showdown for a finals berth the day after Thanksgiving.

No. 10 Conner and No. 11 Cooper are expected to move past Paul Laurence Dunbar and Bryan Station, respectively, although the Jaguars have to play at Station in the first round thanks to the quirks of playoff seeding. The Defenders hung tough at Cooper earlier this season before the Jaguars pulled away, 52-28. Tates Creek opens at Boone County, which is hosting a playoff game for the first time since 2008.

Madison Central, ranked 13th, hosts Campbell County in the first round before getting a likely chance to prove itself against Simon Kenton, a huge favorite over Clark County.

This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 11:34 AM with the headline "Class 6A football playoffs: Does the state have an answer for Louisville’s champion?."