There are some interesting matchups for sure. Caldwell County, which is 9-0 and ranked first in Class 2A in the Associated Press polls, plays at Mayfield, 8-1 and AP No. 1 in A; this game could (but doesn't) determine who gets to play for the western-Kentucky championship against McCracken County, which won, 41-24, at Christian County last night. Also, Louisville Male plays at Christian Academy of Louisville, and those are the unbeaten, No. 1 teams in 6A and 2A, respectively, per the BluegrassPreps.com polls.
But I'm getting all geeked up about the playoff brackets now, so this is kind of a downer weekend for me. Here are tonight's games that most interest me, by class.
Class A
-- BluegrassPreps.com No. 4 Williamsburg at home vs. Pineville. Williamsburg won at home against Pineville in the round of 16 of last season's playoffs.
Class 2A
-- No. 10 Walton-Verona at Lexington Christian. I think it would be an upset if W-V gets around Newport Central Catholic in Region 3, but I think Lexington Christian is as much a favorite as anyone in Region 4. These teams could meet in the state semifinals.
Class 3A
-- Stearns McCreary Central at No. 8 Estill County. The home-standing Engineers are a Region 3 contender, and McCreary has lost 26 straight games dating back to the 2012 season. It's unlikely, but it sure would be a fun ride back to Stearns from Irvine for the Raiders if the upset happened tonight.
Class 4A
-- Nada.
Class 5A
-- No. 1 Bowling Green at No. 4 Pulaski County. Now here's a biggy. In last season's state final, the 13-0 Purples of Region 1 beat the 14-0 Maroons of Region 4, 49-14. But that was in Bowling Green's L.T. Smith Stadium, and tonight's game is in Somerset. So, … biggy … and, yet, not as big as it would've been had Pulaski not lost last Friday to crosstown-rival, 5A No. 3 Southwestern.
Class 6A
-- Louisville Seneca at No. 4 Scott County and Louisville Ballard at Lexington Bryan Station. Neither of the two Louisville teams appear to be strong contenders in regions 2 or 3, respectively, but I think either Scott County (the defending state champ) or Bryan Station (which beat Scott County a couple of weeks ago) could emerge from Region 4.
Class A: Williamsburg whipped Pineville, 46-7. This looks like a very, very strong year for Class A. Mayfield and Beechwood stomped Caldwell County and Newport Central Catholic, strong teams in 2A, this past Friday. Earlier this season, Pikeville beat Belfry, a top team in 3A.
ReplyDeleteClass 2A: Walton-Verona won by a couple of touchdowns at Lexington Christian. I still think Lexington Christian might make the state final four, but I think NewCath or Walton or whoever comes out of Region 3 is going to the state championship to play CAL, Caldwell, DeSales or Owensboro Catholic.
ReplyDeleteClass 3A: 63-19 in Irvine and a 27th-straight loss for McCreary Central.
ReplyDeleteClass 4A: On a gorgeous muddy mess of a Friday night in Somerset, Bowling Green rocked home-standing, 2013-runnerup Pulaski County, 23-7, and then the Purples and Maroons made nice-nice on Twitter. I think BG's (roughly) coasting to another state 4A title.
ReplyDeleteThat's 5A, sorry.
DeleteClass 6A: Ballard, which lost to both Manual and Male earlier this season, won at Bryan Station, 35-25. Bryan Station is a contender for the final four, but it sure doesn't look like we're headed for a repeat of Region 4's beating Region 3 in the bottom of the state-tournament bracket.
ReplyDeleteNow back to 4A for a second ... there were no particularly good games this past Friday pitting two teams within the class. But I just want to note that Highlands won, 43-0, at Warren Central. I think Central has been overrated most of the season and is not really a contender at all for the 5A title; still, the Dragons are not slouches, and that was a 43-0 win for the Bluebirds after a 240-mile trip.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the new state middle-school football champion is Corbin, over Brandenburg Stuart Pepper of Meade County.
ReplyDelete