Who will win Scott Co.-Douglass rematch? Predictions for every Class 5A district title.
It’s district championship week in the UK Orthopaedics/KHSAA Commonwealth Gridiron Bowl featuring some Kroger Field-worthy games in just the second round of the playoffs.
They start handing out trophies this week and each week until the biggest trophy gets awarded in December.
Class 5A has one of those state-title worthy games with Frederick Douglass facing last year’s Class 6A finalist Scott County.
And for a rivalry with such little history seeing how Douglass has only been around three years, it’s become a grudge match that takes a back seat to very few.
Adding to the drama: each of this week’s Class 5A games is a rematch from the regular season, meaning some teams might have held something back and some teams will be just looking for payback.
Here’s an expanded look at the 6th District championship, plus a quick summary of the rest of Friday’s Class 5A slate with predictions. All rankings are according to the final week KHSAA RPI which will be used to seed the next round.
Featured matchup
6th District: No. 3 Scott County (10-1) at No. 2 Frederick Douglass (11-0).
Last time: Host Douglass won 36-0 on Sept. 27.
Why Scott County will win: Belief. The Cardinals have been in this situation before. Having lost to Douglass last year in the regular season, they beat the Broncos in the playoffs and went on to the Class 6A finals. Back from that team are 1,000-yard rusher Bronson Brown, quarterback Cade McKee and a host of others. Scott County has another 1,290-yard rusher in senior Philip Garner. Though Scott County doesn’t throw much, when they do, it’s for big plays since defenses key on their run attack. They had success doing that despite being blown out by Douglass last time out. Special teams miscues and turnovers cost them in the shutout. They’ll need to clean that up in the rematch.
Why Douglass will win: Physical dominance. The Broncos have an imposing defense (No. 1 in the state with only 45 points allowed) with Division I talent in the trenches and a big-play offense that buries opponents early and punishes mistakes with a ton of playmakers. How potent is this defense-to-big-play operation? Against the Cardinals last time out, Douglass turned them over on downs after a drive to the 1, sacking Cade McKee back at the 6 and then going 94 yards capped by a 50-yard TD run by Devin Neal. Quarterback Josh McClurg has crossed 1,000 yards passing and is nearing 1,000 yards rushing as a dual-threat who’s accounted for 23 TDs. Darius Neal has 741 yards and 11 TDs and sophomore Dane Key has emerged as a catch-anything threat.
@HLpreps pick: Douglass.
The rest of the field
1st District: No. 11 Graves County (7-4) at No. 4 Owensboro (10-1).
Last time: Visiting Owenboro won 27-8 on Oct. 18.
@HLpreps pick: Owensboro.
2nd District: No. 6 South Warren (10-1) at No. 13 Bowling Green (7-3).
Last time: Visiting Bowling Green won 14-3 on Oct. 4. Note: South Warren has a higher RPI, but a lower district seed because of that loss.
@HLpreps pick: Bowling Green.
3rd District: No. 22 Bullitt Central (5-6) at No. 14 Fairdale (10-1).
Last time: Visiting Fairdale won 27-7 on Sept. 27.
@HLpreps pick: Fairdale
4th District: No. 16 North Bullitt (7-4) at No. 5 South Oldham (10-1).
Last time: Host South Oldham won 44-10 on Oct. 11.
@HLpreps pick: South Oldham.
5th District: No. 10 Conner (8-3) at No. 1 Covington Catholic (11-0).
Last time: Visiting CovCath won 45-7 on Oct. 25.
@HLpreps pick: CovCath.
7th District: No. 18 Madison Southern (6-5) at No. 8 East Jessamine (9-2).
Last time: Host East Jessamine won 49-35 on Oct. 4.
@HLpreps pick: East Jessamine.
8th District: No. 17 Southwestern (6-5) at No. 12 Whitley County (8-3).
Last time: Visiting Whitley County won 14-0 on Oct. 11.
@HLpreps pick: Southwestern.
This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 9:31 AM.
