Who’s winning it all?
Written By Vincent Bruington
Playoff time is finally here! But unfortunately it also means football season is coming to an end. This year I got the opportunity to watch and cover a lot of great football games and also gave me a good idea of who might be winning it all in each class. Here are my picks to win state.
6A DuPont Manual
The Crimsons finish the year with nine wins and one fluke loss to Christian Academy-Louisville. But have earned wins over inner city rivals such as St. Xavier and Male. DuPont Manual is only allowing on average 14.3 per game and is ranked 3rd in the state on defense. The offense averaged 30.2 points per game as they were led by sophomore quarterback Kaden Mack and junior phenom Gerian Traynor who is 8th in the state with 604 yards rushing and 7 TDs through 7 games. If things line up the way they should, most likely the Crimsons will face the winner of Ryle versus St. Xavier that would determine their fate to reach the 6A championship game.
Crimsons quarterback Kayden Mack handing the ball off to running back Gerian Traynor (photo by Vincent Bruington)5A Bowling Green
The defending 5A state champs are hoping for another repeat of last year. The Bowling Green Purples went 8-2 on the year and finished the season with a dominate win over St. Xavier out of Louisville. Led by senior quarterback and Missouri State commit Deuce Bailey, who’s tied for first in touchdown passes with 34 along with 2,305 yards. His go to man is junior wide receiver Trevy Barber and he leads the 5A class with a total of 896 yards receiving and 15 touchdowns on the year. Their toughest task in the playoffs will be against in-city rival South Warren who they lost to in a heart breaker ending. If the Purples get past week 3 and 4 of the playoffs, they could be getting a rematch of last year’s 5A state championship against Cooper High School where they beat the Jaguars 28-14.
Purple's junior wide receiver Trevy Barber stiff arms a defender against South Warren High School earlier this season (photo by Vincent Bruington)4A Boyle County
Number one in the state, ranked fourteenth nationally, and coming off another undefeated season, the Rebels are the team to beat. Boyle County has earned key wins over 6A powerhouse teams such as Bryan Station and Frederick Douglass. In September they went on the road to face nationally ranked St. Edward’s out of northern Ohio and came out with a 38-21 victory. The defending 4A champs that averages 46 points per game are led by future Kentucky Wildcat Montavin Quisenberry who has 673 yards receiving, 584 yards rushing, & total of 21 TDs for the year. We also cannot count out senior running back Demauriah Brown that ran for 1,040 yards. Their defense is only allowing on average 9.8 points per game. Boyle County’s toughest playoff opponent might be in week 3 where they could face Corbin high school. Last season the two teams matched up in the playoffs and if weren’t a couple illegal hurdle calls on Corbin, the the Redhounds could’ve been the 4A state champions.
Boyle County senior running back Demauriah Brown on a run against Russell County earlier this season. (photo by Vincent Bruington)
3A Louisville Christian
Can they three peat? Head coach Hunter Cantwell and former Louisville Cardinal quarterback is no stranger to the pressure. One of Kentucky high schools high powered offenses that averaged 36.8 points per game finished their season with a 7-3 record. The Centurions also delivered a big victory in the middle of the season against top rank 6A school DuPont Manual as well as their only loss. Previous star quarterback Cole Hodge is graduated but his replacement is last year’s star wide receiver and little brother Connor Hodge. Hodge finished the season with an impressive 2,495 yards passing and 25 touchdowns.
2A Lexington Christian
Number one in the state, ranked fourteenth nationally, and coming off another undefeated season, the Rebels are the team to beat. Boyle County has earned key wins over 6A powerhouse teams such as Bryan Station and Frederick Douglass. In September they went on the road to face nationally ranked St. Edward’s out of northern Ohio and came out with a 38-21 victory. The defending 4A champs that averages 46 points per game are led by future Kentucky Wildcat Montavin Quisenberry who has 673 yards receiving, 584 yards rushing, & total of 21 TDs for the year. We also cannot count out senior running back Demauriah Brown that ran for 1,040 yards. Their defense is only allowing on average 9.8 points per game. Boyle County’s toughest playoff opponent might be in week 3 where they could face Corbin high school. Last season the two teams matched up in the playoffs and if weren’t a couple illegal hurdle calls on Corbin, the the Redhounds could’ve been the 4A state champions.
Senior quarterback Saxton Howard on scramble at their season opener against Boyle County. (photo by Vincent Bruington)
1A Sayre
The Spartans finish out with back to back undefeated regular seasons. The team leads in class 1A averaging 47.6 points and the defense is only allowing 3.5 points per game. Sayre is led by senior star and Ohio University commit Brock Coffman with 1,082 yards and 19 total touchdowns. If they make it to week 3, their toughest matchup could be against Raceland who they lost to last year in the playoffs and ending their hopes for state.