KSR Game of the Week: Bryan Station and Lafayette go head-to-head in playoff opener

It’s playoff time in the Bluegrass! The 2025 UK HealthCare Sports Medicine State Football Finals officially begin Thursday night and continue throughout Friday as nearly 90 high school games across all six classes make up the first round schedule.

As for the KSR Game of the Week, we’re sticking local and showing some deserved love to a pair of Lexington schools out of Class 6A. The Lafayette Generals (5-5) will play host to the Bryan Station Defenders (5-5) on Friday night with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. ET. Dating back to 1998, these schools have met regularly during the regular season, but Friday’s matchup will be the third straight showdown in the postseason. Bryan Station won both of those playoff games in 2022 and 2023 by a combined score of 84-0.

Will we see a similar result for the 2025 edition? The On3 Massey Ratings predict a 42-7 blowout victory for the Defenders. Whoever comes out on top will take on the winner of Henry Clay and No. 14 Frederick Douglass in the second round next week. Here’s what you need to know about Lafayette and Bryan Station ahead of Friday’s game.

Bryan Station Defenders

After a 0-3 start to the season (two coming against ranked opponents), Bryan Station head coach JT Haskins saw his team respond by rattling off four straight wins, including an 8-3 victory over Ballard. The Defenders then ran into talented Frederick Douglass and Madison Central teams, which resulted in losses, but finished the regular season strong with a 36-14 win over South Oldham.

Bryan Station runs a balanced offense. Junior QB Coleson Carpenter has thrown for 877 yards and nine touchdowns with eight interceptions. His primary target is senior WR Kamani Barbour, who has hauled in 589 yads and seven touchdowns through the air. Senior RB Avery Johnson has 356 rushing yards and a pair of scores on the ground. The Defenders rank 21st in Class 6A in scoring at 21.7 points per contest.

Defensively, Bryan Station has five players with at least one interception, and four with at least two. Senior Alaji Bojang has three INTs while also leading his team in tackles at 63. As a team, the Defenders have recorded seven sacks and seven fumble recoveries. Giving up a combined 105 points in the first two games against good teams has not helped the season-long numbers, but Bryan Station has held opponents to 14 or fewer points in half of its games.

Lafayette Generals

It was an up-and-down regular season for Lafayette, which never lost two games in a row but only won two games in a row a single time. The schedule was not as challenging as Bryan Station’s, but most of the wins did come in blowout fashion. Oldham County took down the Generals 43-13 to close out the regular season.

Lafayette is led by senior QB Jehovanis Kondo, who has thrown for just a hair under 2,000 yards (1,997 to be exact, 4th in Class 6A) with 21 touchdowns to 12 interceptions. He’s also tacked on five touchdowns as a runner. Most of the Generals’ offensive attack comes through the air. Four pass catchers have more than 200 receiving yards, led by 791 yards and five touchdowns from junior Colton Coleman. Three running backs also have over 200 rushing yards each.

The defense is fueled by junior Jackson Grantz and his team-leading 84 tackles across nine games. He’s also hauled in a pair of interceptions, one brought back for a touchdown. Lafayette has a combined 13 sacks, eight interceptions, and three fumble recoveries as a team. Five Generals have at least 40 tackles on the season. This is a top 10 pass defense in Class 6A that also ranks 12th in scoring defense at 21.2 points per game.

Join KSR Plus! With a KSR Plus membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.