Here is the final MaxPreps top 20 for KHSAA football in 2021. Teams that won a state title are in bold:
1. Lou. St. Xavier: 14-1 (6A Champs)
2. Lou. Male: 13-1
3. S. Warren: 14-1 (5A Champs)
4. Boyle Co: 14-1 (4A Champs)
5. Lex. Douglass: 13-2
6. Beechwood: 15-0 (2A Champs)
7. Lex. Christian: 14-1
8. Johnson Cent.: 12-2
9. Lou. Trinity: 6-7
10. Madison Cent: 10-4
11. Woodford Co: 13-1
12. Lou. Manual: 8-4
13. Cov. Catholic: 9-4
14. Pikeville: 14-2 (1A Champs)
15. Owensboro: 12-2
16. Ryle: 9-4
17. Corbin: 12-1
18. Southwestern: 11-2
19. Lex. Bryan Station: 10-2
20. Lex. Catholic: 9-3
Belfry, the 3A Champ, finished with a rank of 32.
This was the first time St. X has finished with the number-1 ranking since 2009.
So now it's time to hand out our awards. We don't do these every year, but this year we remembered:
Best Team in the Commonwealth:
Louisville St. Xavier. (See above)
Coach Rodney Bushong Trophy (for the Best Team in the Jackson Purchase):
Paducah Tilghman. Yes, I know that Mayfield went 12-2 and beat Tilghman in the regular season. But the Blue Tornado was only five points shy of a state championship, and that deserves the trophy.
Al Baker Trophy (for the Best Team between Louisville and the Purchase):
South Warren. 5A Champs and number-3 team in the Commonwealth.
Paul Hornung Trophy (for the Best Team in Jefferson Co.):
Louisville St. Xavier (See above). It's a shame that Male can't get something for being the best public school team, but that's not how these awards work.
Jim Bunning Trophy (for the Best Team in Northern Kentucky):
Beechwood. They not only won the 2A title with an upset of Lexington Christian, they were ranked number-6 in the Commonwealth, seven spots ahead of Covington Catholic.
Coach Blanton Collier Trophy (for the Best Team in the Bluegrass):
Boyle County. I wasn't sure that Boyle County was really in the Bluegrass, but Google tells me that the Art Center of the Bluegrass is in Danville, so that's close enough for me.
Tim Couch Trophy (for the Best Team in the Mountains):
Johnson Central. There's no shame in losing to Boyle County.
Certificate for Team that Should Be Forced to Move Up to a Higher Level of Competition:
Boyle County. The Rebels played five games in the 4A playoffs, and the scores were 52-12, 47-13, 51-14, 54-16, and 30-13. This was their third 4A title in a row. Time for a new challenge.
And now, on to basketball!
One of the sweet stories out of the awful tornadoes this week was how the Fort Mitchell Beechwood people hustled together a big shipment of stuff down to Mayfield.
ReplyDeleteI have a neighbor in Madisonville who got totally jazzed about Boyle County this year. He says its quarterback, Jagger Gillis, a fifth-year senior, was really great.
ReplyDeleteThe Courier-Journal first-team all-state quarterback, though, was Joe Humphreys of Daviess County. For as little high-school football as I watched this marching-band season (one full game and parts of two or three other quarters), it's pretty remarkable that I actually saw the C-J first-team QB for an entire game.
So several years ago we talked here about the paucity of Lexington football intrigue. I learned something interesting about Douglass, the current banner toter in that town. I guess these rules are different from district to district, but a fella from Lexington told me (over breakfast at the Madisonville Cracker Barrel on Tuesday morning, just to set the scene for you) that the rule there is that anyone from the district can apply and get in to any school in the district that is below some designated enrollment number. The student count at Douglass, which I think opened about five or six years ago, remains under that benchmark, my Cracker Barrel source said, so it has become a magnet for the district's football talent.
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