Top 10: Lexington high school football players you’ll want to see in 2020
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2020 Kentucky high school football preview
The 2020 high school football season kicked off Friday, Sept. 11. High school sports beat writer Jared Peck wrote numerous stories in the Herald-Leader and on Kentucky.com previewing the season around the city, region and state and highlighting the top players and games and rankings. Click below to read all of his stories in case you missed any of them.
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Lexington high school football’s high-end talent has definitely seen a shift in the last four years with a certain Class 5A runner-up turning out Division I athletes at an increasing rate, but each of the city’s nine teams have players who can help alter the balance of a game and likely will continue their careers in college.
Here, in alphabetical order, are 10 Lexington players who will likely make a big impact on the 2020 season for their respective teams, plus some more to watch for from each school.
JT Acosta
School: Tates Creek.
Profile: A three-year starter at outside linebacker who Coach Jonathan Smith says has great instincts for the game, JT Acosta, a 6-1, 175 senior outside linebacker, was named second-team All-City in 2019 playing for the best Tates Creek team in two decades. Acosta had 71 tackles, four sacks, seven interceptions and two fumble recoveries last season.
Xavier Brown
School: Lexington Christian.
Profile: Xavier Brown, a 5-11, 175-pound junior, picked up his first Division I offer from Maryland last month and can expect more as he becomes an even bigger part of LCA’s dynamic offense. Brown rushed for a team-high 745 yards and 10 touchdowns and caught for 440 yards and five more scores on his way to first-team All-City honors last season. He also had 38 tackles and an interception on defense.
Ty Bryant
School: Frederick Douglass.
Profile: Ty Bryant, a 6-0, 175-pound junior free safety/wideout, has been climbing the recruiting rankings and is rated as a three-star prospect by 247sports.com. According to that site, he has seven Division I offers, including Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. His 81 tackles in 2019 were second-best for the Class 5A runner-up and he scored three TDs on the other side of the ball.
Jager Burton
School: Frederick Douglass.
Profile: The state’s No. 1 recruit is also the No. 3 offensive guard prospect in the nation, according to the rankings, and he just picked Kentucky over the likes of Alabama, Clemson, Oregon and Ohio State. Jager Burton is a 6-4, 271-pound senior who plays on both sides of the ball for the Broncos, but he will be an offensive lineman for UK.
Blake Busson
School: Lexington Catholic.
Profile: With now-UK quarterback Beau Allen throwing to him, Blake Busson, a 5-11, 170-pound junior wide receiver, racked up 1,098 yards receiving and 12 TDs in 2019 and led the Knights in scoring. The second-team All-City selection will have a new playcaller this season, but don’t expect LexCath’s offense to slow down.
Jackson Corbett
School: Lexington Catholic.
Profile: The Knights’ other prime target in 2019, Jackson Corbett, a 6-0, 170-pound senior wide receiver, had 1,139 yards to go along with 11 touchdowns. The second team All-City selection has offers from Division I, II and III schools, including Morehead State.
Dekel Crowdus
School: Frederick Douglass.
Profile: Dekel Crowdus ventured down to Florida’s IMG Academy for his junior season, but he returns to Douglass as one of the most sought after wide receiver prospects in the nation. The 5-10, 165-pound senior picked Kentucky over 20 other offers, shunning teams including Auburn, Ohio State and Oklahoma. As a sophomore at Douglass, he led the team with 831 yards and 11 TDs.
Dane Key
School: Frederick Douglass.
Profile: Dane Key, a 6-2, 170-pound junior wide receiver, had a breakout 2019, leading the Broncos in scoring (17 TDs) and receiving yards (545) in a run-heavy offense. Four of those scores came on punt returns. The son of former UK player Donte Key was a first-team All-City selection and already has 15 Division I offers that include Kentucky, Louisville, Oregon and Texas.
Jake Smith
School: Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Profile: Jake Smith, a 5-10, 175-pound senior quarterback, threw for 1,918 yards and 21 TDs in 2019 to help lead the Bulldogs to their first winning season in more than a decade. The All-City selection’s numbers should improve under new offensive coordinator Joey Thacker, whose schemes generated nearly 5,000 yards of offense at Franklin County last year.
Amodeus Taylor
School: Bryan Station.
Profile: First-team All-City in the “athlete” position in 2019, Amodeus Taylor, a 5-6, 160-pound junior running back/wide receiver, led the Defenders in scoring. Splitting time in the backfield with talented fellow junior Joey Bond, Taylor ran for 439 yards and nine TDs and caught for another 234 yards and two scores. On defense, he was second on the team in tackles with 45.
Others to watch
Bryan Station: Joey Bond, RB; Mikaleb Coffey, WR; Braden Ferguson, C; Damin Green, WR; Josh Rowe, T; Dadrien Taylor, WR; Giovanni Watson, G.
Henry Clay: Travis Haskins, DL; Darik Holman, DL; William Webb, LB.
Frederick Douglass: Thomas Howard, TE; Isaiah Kenney, DB; Romarion Warner, DT.
Lafayette: Jea Kendrick, RB; Tanner Pace, QB.
Lexington Catholic: Dylan Bracken, WR/DB; Quentin Duffy, OL; JD Woodall, WR/DB.
Lexington Christian: Andrew Dobbs, K; Mattie Lebryk, LB; Anthony Johns, T; Mason Moore, LB; Will Vernon, WR.
Paul Laurence Dunbar: Connor Smith, LB; Mario Paul Jr., FS/WR; Josiah Brown LB/DE, Tyler Johnson, DB; John Law, DE. Oumar Toure, WR.
Sayre: Cole Pennington, QB.
Tates Creek: Kobe Middleton, QB.
This story was originally published September 7, 2020 at 7:25 AM.
