What to know about every 2017 state football finalist

Feel uninformed about the high school football finals? Consider this one of your cheat sheets.

All six Russell Athletic/KHSAA Commonwealth Gridiron Bowl championship games will be staged this weekend at Kroger Field. It is the first time that Kentucky’s high school football champions will be crowned in Lexington since 1976.

Whether you’re a diehard who won’t miss a game or a casual observer trying to identify a rooting interest, the following guide should prepare you for the pigskin frenzy that’s about to descend on the city.

Below are some historic tidbits involving each of the 12 teams playing this weekend, as well as their enrollment figures and all-time records in the finals.

School stories

Stand up, Greenup: Raceland, which will play defending champion Beechwood for the Class A title, will make its finals debut. It is just the fifth time that a school from Greenup County has played for a state title, and the first time since 2006, when Mercer County defeated Russell, 15-12. Russell won in its only two other appearances in 2005 and 1978. Greenup County, the only other area school to play for a championship, lost to Trinity, 28-7, in the 1977 finals.

Small baller: Beechwood for the 18th time finds itself not just in the championship game, but in the championship game of the state’s smallest class. The Tigers have won 12 state titles, the most among Class A programs. Mayfield, which meets Danville in the Class 2A finals, also has 12 championships but only six were won in Class A.

Danville’s drought: The Admirals last season made the finals for the first time in 10 years but were unable to end a title drought that dates back to 2003, when they defeated Beechwood, 42-7, for the Class A crown — their 10th overall. Danville is 4-0 against Mayfield in the finals (1987, 1989, 1991 and 1992), but three of those games were decided by three or fewer points.

55-year grudge: Corbin has never played for a title in Class 3A, but it has played in seven Class 2A finals, most recently in 2002 and the first coming in 1962. The Redhounds’ opponent in their original Class 2A showdown? Danville, which defeated them 13-6. Their opponent in Friday’s Class 3A debut? Boyle County, located two miles from Danville.

Great eight: Not only could Boyle County win its eighth championship — which would break a tie with Male for the fifth-most in state history — but head coach Chuck Smith would become the eighth coach in state history to win at least six state titles with a victory. Smith won five straight titles with the school from 1999-2003 before losing in the 2004 finals. He coached at the University of Kentucky, his alma mater, from 2005-2012 before retaking the Boyle job in 2014.

Above .500: From 2008-2014, Johnson Central’s season was ended by either Covington Catholic or Highlands, both now in 5A. Johnson Central has split its only two previous championship appearances, both coming in the last two seasons. The Golden Eagles last season defeated Franklin-Simpson, the same foe they’ll meet in this year’s Class 4A finals, 48-0.

Wildcat connection: Franklin-Simpson has won two championships, both coming in back-to-back years (1979 and 1980). Former University of Kentucky receiver and head coach Joker Phillips was the quarterback of those Franklin-Simpson teams. This season is the first that the Wildcats have made back-to-back championship games since 1982 and 1983.

Private trailblazer: Covington Catholic is the first private school to play in the finals of Class 5A, which was created along with Class 6A in 2007. Only three schools have won 5A championships: Bowling Green (2011-13, 2015-16), Highlands (2007-2010) and Pulaski County (2014).

Berea’s best: Madison Southern, which will play CovCath in Class 5A, is a first-time finalist. It is the first program from Berea to ever qualify for a state football championship, and the only program from Madison County to do so aside from Richmond Madison, which played in three finals before shuttering in 1989. The Purples never scored in their three appearances, falling to Bellevue (1979) and twice to Highlands (1961, 1964).

All-time leader: Trinity last year won its 24th title, breaking a tie with Highlands for the most football championships in state history. The Shamrocks again will play for a championship when they take on fellow Catholic powerhouse St. Xavier in the finals of Class 6A, the division in which the state’s largest schools play, at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Rivalry renewal: Sunday’s game will be the 84th all-time meeting between St. Xavier and Trinity, with the latter holding a 44-37 edge in the series. This is the sixth time they’ve met in the state finals, all those instances occurring since 1997. Trinity has a 3-2 record over the Tigers in championship meetings.

Enrollment

From least to greatest (number of boys in parentheses; based on 2016-17 report):

Raceland: 292 (162)

Beechwood: 430 (226)

Mayfield: 462 (175)

Danville: 524 (254)

Boyle County: 865 (436)

Corbin: 927 (465)

Franklin-Simpson: 920 (476)

Johnson Central: 1,048 (543)

Covington Catholic: 1,190 (595 boys only; enrollment doubled by KHSAA)

Madison Southern: 1,254 (627)

Trinity: 2,310 (1,155 boys only; enrollment doubled by KHSAA)

St. Xavier: 2,688 (1,344 boys only; enrollment doubled by KHSAA)

Finals record

Beechwood: 12-5

Boyle County: 7-1

Corbin: 3-4

Covington Catholic: 6-0

Danville: 10-4

Franklin-Simpson: 2-8

Johnson Central: 1-1

Madison Southern: First appearance

Mayfield: 12-21

Raceland: First appearance

St. Xavier: 12-4

Trinity: 24-4

This story was originally published November 29, 2017 at 10:05 AM with the headline "What to know about every 2017 state football finalist."