Kentucky High School Football Rankings: State Finals Edition

The state high school football finals are Friday and Saturday at Kroger Field. Here are the rankings following the semifinal round.

Kentucky High School Top 25

1. Male
2. Lexington Christian Academy
3. South Warren
4. Boyle County
5. Johnson Central
6. Beechwood
7. Frederick Douglass
8. St. Xavier
9. Corbin
10. Pikeville
11. Owensboro
12. Woodford County
13. Trinity
14. Madison Central
15. Manual
16. Mayfield 
17. CAL
18. Southwestern
19. Daviess County
20. Franklin County 
21. Russellville
22. Lexington Catholic
23. Bryan Station
24. Paducah Tilghman
25. Glasgow

Just Missed:  Belfry, Bardstown

Finals Schedule (All Games at Kroger Field)

Friday, December 3

Class A: No. 21 Russellville vs No. 10 Pikeville (12:00 PM)

Russellville (12-1) is 0-1 vs Top 25.  They lost to Glasgow (49-35).

Pikeville (13-2) is 0-2 vs Top 25 with losses to No. 2 LCA (31-14) and No. 14 Madison Central (21-19).  Their best win is No. 26 Belfry (29-0).

Class 2A No. 2 LCA vs No. 6 Beechwood (4:00 PM)

LCA (14-0) is 5-0 vs Top 25 teams with wins over Madison Central (21-12), Boyle County (35-28), CAL (37-14) Lexington Catholic (43-7), and Pikeville (31-14).

Beechwood (14-0) is 1-0 vs Top 25 teams with a win over Mayfield (38-7).

Class 4A: No. 4 Boyle County vs No. 5 Johnson Central (8:00 PM)

Boyle County (13-1) is 3-1 vs Top 25 teams with wins over Lexington Catholic (16-10 and 47-13), and Frederick Douglass (34-7).  The one loss was to LCA (35-28).

Johnson Central (12-2) is 2-0 vs Top 25 teams with wins over Corbin (34-13) and Franklin County (42-24).  Their two losses were to out-of-state Rock Creek Christian (MD) (22-14) and a COVID cancellation.

Saturday, December 4

Class 3A: Belfry vs Paducah Tilghman (12:00 PM)

Belfry (8-6) is 0-2 vs Top 25 teams with losses to Pikeville (29-0) and Johnson Central (48-22).  They also have losses to unranked Pulaski County (55-13), Covington Catholic (42-13), Central (37-6) and they have a COVID cancellation loss.

Paducah Tilghman (8-6) is 2-1 vs Top 25 teams with wins over CAL (41-34) and Glasgow (39-20) and a loss to Mayfield (42-28). They also have losses to unranked Graves County (41-34), Henderson County (20-0), Union County (21-19), Hopkinsville (34-6), and a COVID cancellation loss.

Class 5A: Frederick Douglass vs South Warren (4:00 PM)

Frederick Douglass (13-1) is 3-1 vs Top 25 teams with wins over Bryan Station (27-14), Southwestern (37-6) and Owensboro (35-7), and a loss to Boyle County (34-7).

South Warren (13-1) is 1-0 vs Top 25 teams with a win over Woodford County (46-25).  Their one loss was to out-of-state Hendersonville (TN) (27-20).

Class 6A: Male vs St. Xavier (8:00 PM)

Male (13-0) is 4-0 with Top 25 teams with wins over St. Xavier (28-21), Trinity (24-10 and 48-21), and Manual (23-0)

St. Xavier (13-1) is 5-1 vs Top 25 teams with wins over Owensboro (51-38), Trinity (35-28), Manual (42-10 and 18-16), and Madison Central (31-21).  They lost to Male (28-21).

Except for 3A, all finalists have zero in-state losses outside the Top 25.  

Tilghman has four losses outside the top 25 and Belfry has three.  

Every team in the finals was #1 or #2 in the class in my preseason rankings except Russellville, Tilghman (#3), and St. X (#3) I heard a lot of chatter about the rankings but just like last year they were on point.

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) November 27, 2021

Premier High School Sports Podcast

Semifinal Recap Episode:

Finals Preview Episode: