MaxPreps Kentucky Rankings

After four weeks of high school football, we have enough data to use the MaxPreps rankings for the KHSAA.  Here is the top 20:

1.  Lou. Trinity:  3-1

2.  Christian Academy-Louisville:  4-0

3.  Lou. St. Xavier:  3-0

4.  Boyle Co:  3-1

5.  Ft. Thomas Highlands:  3-1

6.  S. Warren:  4-0

7.  Lex. Frederick Douglass:  1-3

8.  Cooper:  2-2

9.  Franklin Co:  4-0

10.  Scott Co:  4-0

11.  Lou. Manual:  3-1

12.  Corbin:  3-1

13.  Lou. Male:  2-1

14.  Beechwood:  3-0

15.  Cov. Catholic:  2-2

16.  Pad. Tilghman:  3-1

17.  Bowling Green:  0-4

18.  Johnson Cent:  4-0

19.  Ryle:  2-2

20.  Woodford Co:  3-1

And here are the Power Eleven for western Kentucky:

16.  Pad. Tilghman:  3-1

29.  Mayfield:  3-1

30.  Madisonville-N. Hopkins:  4-0

42.  Union Co:  2-2

58.  Murray:  4-0

59.  Henderson Co:  1-2

61.  Graves Co:  1-3

73.  McCracken Co:  1-3

81.  Hopkinsville:  3-1

105.  Caldwell Co:  3-1

111.  Crittenden Co:  2-2

1978 NFL Predictions

The new NFL season kicks off tonight, Saturday, Sept. 2, 1978, with the New York Giants playing the Buccaneers in Tampa, Florida. However, that game will not be on TV; instead, Channel 3 is showing this:

1978 me is about as excited as I can possibly be to put the game on and then splay out my football cards on the living-room floor and get them all sorted out for the new season. Here's how I project things to go, by the way:

This, of course, would be a crushing result for us Miami Dolphins fans, but the numbers of my super-secret rating system are what the numbers of my super-secret rating system are. And the numbers are significantly worse for the Dolphins after A.J. Duhe was sidelined by injury early and Bob Griese late during the preseason. 

The NFL slimmed from six to four exhibition games this summer, but injuries have remained a huge part of the story of the leadup to the regular season. In addition to Miami defensive end Duhe and quarterback Griese, injuries apparently have shelved for one or multiple weeks of the regular season Baltimore Colts quarterback Bert Jones, New England Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley, Cincinnati Bengals qurterback Ken Anderson, Giants defensive lineman Troy Archer and Chicago Bears cornerback Allan Ellis. These players projected among the league's very best players at their positions. How quickly they return to action and which others are sidelined when will have giant influence on how things actually go on the field, and neither of those influences is factored into my predictions.

Nor, really, is the possible impact of rookies. Houston Oilers running back Earl Campbell looks amazing. New Orleans Saints wide receiver Wes Chandler, San Diego Chargers wide receiver John Jefferson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Doug Williams, Denver Broncos nose tackle Don Latimer and Dallas Cowboys tight end/fullback Todd Christensen also have looked great. Kansas City Chiefs defensive linemen Art Still and Sylvester Hicks, San Francisco 49ers tight end Ken MacAfee, Cincinnati defensive end Ross Browner, Detroit Lions safety Luther Bradley, Atlanta Falcons tackle Mike Kenn, Green Bay Packers linebacker John Anderson and Los Angeles Rams kicker Frank Corral appear as though have wide-open immediate opportunities to contribute to their team's fortunes in big ways.

And then there's coaching. I came up with my super-secret rating system only last season, and I haven't quite figured out how to suss out the specific impact of coaching. Of course, it is tremendous. The Dolphins (10-4), Cleveland Browns (6-8), Broncos (12-2), Washington (9-5) and Falcons (7-7) all fared significantly better than I projected them to in NFL77, and I can't help but believe that head coaches Don Shula, Forrest Gregg, Red Miller, George Allen and Leeman Bennett (of Paducah!) were the primary reasons why. 

Better projecting the likely impact of rookies and measuring that of head coaches are this season's major points of emphasis in refining my super-secret rating system.

Interestingly, neither Gregg nor Allen is back with the team he coached in NFL77, and now neither is employed by any team as NFL78 dawns. Gregg took an assistant-coaching job with the Chargers but then decided his heart wasn't in it. Allen was hired away from Washington by the Rams, but then Carroll Rosenbloom decided his head hadn't been in it. "I made a serious error in judgment," he was quoted as saying after Los Angeles's 0-2 start in the preseason. He fired Allen and promoted assistant coach Ray Malavasi to guide the Rams.

But Shula is back in Miami, which gives me hope that the Dolphins will outperform my expectations. And Bennett is back in Atlanta, which I bet keeps the sports desks at The Paducah Sun (no longer the Sun-Democrat) and Channel 6 dialed in all autumn. And Miller is back with Denver, which I think is going to win the whole thing. 

For most of the preseason, my super-secret rating system actually had the Broncos going undefeated in NFL78. But then the Oakland Raiders picked up one of the league's top defensive players, cornerback Monte Jackson, from the Rams, and, in perhaps the only moment in my entire actual life that I was happy about the good fortune of the Raiders, that acquisition tipped Week 14 Broncos-at-Raiders in favor of the home team. ("Phew!" 2025 and 1978 me simultaneously exclaimed in honor of the 1972 Dolphins.)

Thank you, Matthew, for inspiring me to work through this fun project over the last several weeks, and thank you, GoHeath, for sustaining my enthusiasm throughout the period. Let's go NFL of every year, indeed!

We Made It

Here is tonight's football schedule for Western Kentucky -- first Friday Night of the season.  Home teams listed first:

Ballard Mem. v. Todd Co. Cent.

Calloway Co. v. Webster Co.

Fulton Co. v. Gleason (Tenn.)

Hopkins Co. Cent. v. Caldwell Co.

Hopkinsville v. Stratford (Nashville, Tenn.)

Marshall Co. v. Crittenden Co.

Mayfield v. Graves Co.

McCracken Co. v. Paducah Tilghman

Owensboro Apollo v. Murray

Union Co. v. Madisonville-N. Hopkins

Wildcat Chevrolet Bowl (at Trigg Co.)

Fort Campbell v. Northwest (Clarksville, Tenn.)

Trigg Co. v. Ohio Co.

God bless us, every one!

KHSAA Football Finals

The State Championship Finals for KHSAA Football start today.  All games to be played at Commonwealth Stadium -- or whatever they call it now -- in Lexington, Kentucky.  MaxPrep rankings in parentheses:

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6:

11 A.M. Central -- Class 1A Championship

(35) Raceland (10-4) v. (33) Sayre (14-0)

3 P.M. Central -- Class 2A Championship

(20) Owensboro Catholic (14-0) v. (18) Beechwood (13-1)

7 P.M. Central -- Class 4A Championship

(4) Franklin Co. (13-0) v. (7) Paducah Tilghman (14-0)

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7:

11 A.M. Central -- Class 3A Championship

(9) Christian Academy - Louisville (11-3) v. (26) Union Co. (12-2)

3 P.M. Central -- Class 6A Championship

(2) Ryle (12-2) v. (3) Lou. Trinity (12-2)

7 P.M. Central -- Class 5A Championship

(1) Cooper (14-0) v. (11) Bowling Green (12-2)

Based on the rankings, this is a very strong collection of games, with Christian Academy-Louisville and Cooper as the only clear favorites.

It seems clear that if Cooper wins their championship, they will finish the season as the Number One team in the Commonwealth.  But if Bowling Green pulls off the upset, then the Number One ranking will likely go to either Ryle or Trinity, depending on who wins that game.

1977

It's the freakin' Thanksgiving weekend in 1977, and Ed McMahon is here to get us all hyped up for the season.

Once we get through the parade, the Bears at the Lions and a college game this Thursday, Nov. 24, 1977, then Channel 6 has a tempting matchup, which you might remember.

Really, you don't remember it? Think harder.

This game started at 2:30 in the afternoon in St. Louis, so I'll bet that interview was actually filmed Friday morning outside the Stouffer's Riverfront Towers (where the Dolphins' 1977 media guide says the team planned to stay for the game at the Cardinals). Look how happy Don Shula is! He should be. This game was key in keeping Miami in the playoff chase.

24 Nov 1977, Thu Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) Newspapers.com

Lots of football on Friday (and again Saturday and Sunday), too, but, of course, you might be too busy shopping and eating candy downtown. After all, "It's NFL Week at Sears"!

 

24 Nov 1977, Thu The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) Newspapers.com

 

KHSAA Update

Check out these results from Friday in the 6A playoffs:

Ryle 38, Lou. St. Xavier 17

Great Crossing 28, Lou. Manual 21

Lou. Ballard 23, Lou. Male 17

Someone tweeted that it was the first time since the old 4A playoffs back in 1996 that neither St. X, Manual, or Male had made the quarterfinals.  Lou. Manual (12), Lou. St. Xavier (13), and Woodford Co. (18) are the only teams in the MaxPreps Top 20 to miss the quarterfinals.

Anyway, here are next week's quarter-final matchups in all six classes, with MaxPrep rankings in parentheses.  Home teams listed first.  Top 20 teams in bold:

Class 6A

(3) Ryle v. (82) Cent. Hardin

(18) Great Crossing v. (45) Barren Co.

(4) Lou. Trinity v. (28) Lou. Ballard

(7) Lex. Frederick Douglass v. (20) Madison Cent.

Class 5A

(8) S. Warren v. (111) N. Bullitt

(10) Bowling Green v. (58) Lou. Atherton

(2) Cooper v. (55) Southwestern

(5) Ft. Thomas Highlands v. (29) Pulaski Co.

Class 4A

(6) Franklin Co. v. (41) Bardstown

(9) Pad. Tilghman v. (60) Lou. DeSales

(1) Boyle Co. v. (15) Cov. Catholic

(11) Corbin v. (14) Ashland Blazer

Class 3A

(17) Christian Academy-Louisville v. (27) Lou. Central

(40) Hart Co. v. (35) Union Co.

(36) Bell Co. v. (42) Lex. Catholic

(32) Belfry v. (86) Russell

Class 2A

(19) Owensboro Catholic v. (107) Monroe Co.

(39) Mayfield v. (21) Lex. Christian

(25) Beechwood v. (120) Martin Co.

(109) Prestonsburg v. (73) Somerset

Class 1A

(54) Kentucky Country Day v. (116) Newport

(49) Campbellsville v. (76) Newport Cent. Catholic

(52) Sayre v. (38) Pikeville

(43) Raceland v. (63) Hazard

1977

21 Oct 1977, Fri The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) Newspapers.com 

KHSAA Top 20

Here are the top 20 high school football teams in Kentucky, according to the MaxPreps rankings:

1.  Boyle Co:  6-0

2.  Lou. Trinity:  5-2

3.  Cooper:  7-0

4.  Lou. Male:  5-1

5.  Lou. St. Xavier:  4-2

6.  Franklin Co:  6-0

7.  Ryle:  4-2

8.  Christian Academy-Louisville:  5-2

9.  Lex. Frederick Douglass:  3-3

10.  Paducah Tilghman:  7-0

11.  Lou. Manual:  5-1

12.  Lex. Christian:  5-2

13.  Ft. Thomas Highlands:  5-2

14.  Bowling Green:  6-1

15.  Corbin:  5-1

16.  Owensboro Catholic:  7-0

17.  S. Oldham:  6-1

18.  Ashland Blazer:  6-1

19.  Cov. Catholic:  5-2

20.  S. Warren:  5-1

And here are the Power Eleven rankings for the teams at our end of the Commonwealth.  Please note that no Power Eleven team has finished in the Top Ten for the Commonwealth since Mayfield did it in 2017.

10.  Paducah Tilghman:  7-0

34.  Graves Co:  5-2

40.  Mayfield:  4-2

46.  Henderson Co:  2-4

51.  Madisonville-N. Hopkins:  5-2

62.  Murray:  6-1

73.  McCracken Co:  2-4

77.  Union Co:  5-2

97.  Hopkinsville:  2-5

100.  Marshall Co:  3-4

103.  Logan Co:  3-4

1977

Let's let Mel Allen get us all jazzed up for the All-Star Game ...

Actually, I won't see it tonight--(rich) 1977 me is going to the Nina Simone show. But I won't miss a play because, fortunately, Santa Claus brought me one of these for Christmas last year ...

10 Dec 1976, Fri The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) Newspapers.com

Comments flow ...

Cairo Road and Old Cairo Road

My first sentence of this was going to be, "It's weird when the house you grew up in literally no longer exists." But then I rethought the whole thing--it's really not that weird.

I cannot begin to explain to you how much I would've enjoyed growing up across the street from a Rural King.

Comments flow ... 

Great Music Videos: 'Alive and Kicking,' Simple Minds

Thanks, Matthew, for getting this series going. Here's the second video I thought of after reading your introductory post.

I'm pretty sure that I saw this video debut on MTV in September 1985. Remember how they used to do that? They'd announce they'd be showing a video for the first time at whatever time, and then on would come Alan, or J.J., or Nina, or Mark, or Martha, at that time to introduce the video with appropriate fanfare. I'm pretty sure the first time I saw "Alive and Kicking" was during this treatment.

I wasn't much of a Simple Minds fan before this video, and I feel confident I'd never heard this song before seeing this video. But immediately the video just totally grabbed me. I thought it was the song that I liked so much, and so I went out and bought the album at Camelot in the Kentucky Oaks Mall at some point that autumn of our senior year at Heath. I listened to the record all the way through once or twice, but I quickly got to the point where I pretty much just dropped the needle on "Alive and Kicking" and yanked it back off after that song had played.

And then it wasn't long after that before I realized it was the video I loved. I liked the song, but I loved the video. "Alive and Kicking" would fall into Matthew's Category 2, "Videos That Are Really Made to Be a Visual that Goes Along With the Music." I was a 17-year-old boy ready to get out of my parents' house on Cairo Road in Paducah, Kentucky, and here came Jim Kerr with his exotic friends inviting me with a striking Scottish travelogue into kicking, free life with all of its dramatic waterfalls, piercing sunsets and giant drums. Indeed, within a year, I was on my (self-perceived) own in college in Bowling Green, making my own discoveries, such as the rocky embankments along the Barren and Green rivers north of town.

I learned this morning from super Wikipedia that the video was actually shot "near the town of Hunter, at North–South Lake in the Catskill Mountains of New York State." Which is fine. Simple Minds was from Scotland, and the place they found to make their video looked like what I imagined Scotland to look like. But, regardless of exactly where on God's green Earth that it was shot, the "Alive and Kicking" video is no bait and switch. It's a brilliantly executed brochure for the gift of Life, More Life, wherever we have to get ourselves to receive and embrace its wild abundance.

KHSAA State Football Champions

Here are your KHSAA State Finals in football:

Class 6A:

Lou. Trinity 41, Lex. Bryan Station 20

Class 5A:

Bowling Green 28, Cooper 14

Class 4A:

Boyle Co. 41, Cov. Catholic 0

Class 3A:

Christian Academy-Louisville 41, Bell Co. 16

Class 2A:

Mayfield 53, Owensboro Catholic 48

Class 1A:

Pikeville 21, Raceland 0

Let's make a comment here about Mayfield.  None of the State Champs had a harder row to hoe than the Cardinals.  In the quarter-finals, they had to play Lexington Christian, which MaxPreps had as the number 9 team in the whole Commonwealth, regardless of class.  Mayfield beat them 58-36.  Then they had to play Beechwood, who beat Mayfield in last year's state title game.  They beat Beechwood on a last-second field goal:  31-28.  And finally, they had to play an undefeated Owensboro Catholic team that had outscored its opponents by over 500 points.  The Cardinals beat them 53-48 in one of the greatest state title games ever played.  I know that Mayfield has an amazing history -- this was their 13th State Championship.  And I know that they have a lot of drama every year.  But to me, and especially given the recent history around the tornado, this was their greatest triumph in their long and great history.

Here is the final MaxPreps Top 20, showing that Boyle Co. was the best team in the Commonwealth this year.  (State Champs are in bold):

1.  Boyle Co.:  15-0

2.  Lou. Trinity:  12-3

3.  Lex. Frederic Douglass:  8-5

4.  Corbin:  11-1

5.  Christian Academy-Louisville:  14-1

6.  Lou. Male:  11-2

7.  Lex. Bryan Station:  11-4

8.  Bowling Green:  12-3

9.  Cov. Catholic:  14-1

10.  Ft. Thomas Highlands:  12-2

11.  Lou. St. Xavier:  8-4

12.  Mayfield:  14-1

13.  Cooper:  12-3

14.  Lou. Ballard:  10-4

15.  Franklin Co:  13-1

16.  Lex. Christian:  11-2

17.  Lou. Manual:  9-3

18.  Paducah Tilghman:  13-1

19.  Owensboro Catholic:  14-1

20.  S. Warren:  9-3

And here is our final Power Eleven, with the Cardinals on top:

12.  Mayfield:  14-1

18.  Paducah Tilghman:  13-1

37.  Union Co:  11-2

42.  Graves Co:  8-4

52.  Madisonville-N. Hopkins:  8-3

53.  Henderson Co:  5-7

61.  McCracken Co:  6-7

63.  Logan Co:  8-4

88.  Crittenden Co:  7-5

92.  Murray:  7-5

115.  Webster Co:  6-5

It's the first time a Power Eleven Team has won a State Title since Mayfield won the 2A Title in 2015.  Since then, Mayfield had lost four times in the 2A Final:

2017:  Danville 35, Mayfield 21

2018:  Christian Academy-Louisville 34, Mayfield 26

2019:  Somerset 34, Mayfield 31

2022:  Beechwood 14, Mayfield 13

That's a lot of heartache for a small town, before you even get to the tornado.  But as we like to say here on the Heath Post, Defeats Are Not Always Forever, and this year Mayfield is back on top.

KHSAA Football: Down to the Semi-Finals

Here are the scores from a very exciting round of quarter-finals in the KHSAA football playoffs.  Home teams listed first:

Class 6A:

Lou. Trinity 45 - 0 McCracken Co.

Lou. Male 20 - 21 Lex. Frederick Douglass 

Lou. Ballard 28 - 3 Cent. Hardin

Lex. Bryan Station 49 - 12 Ryle

Class 5A:

Ft. Thomas Highlands 30 - 7 N. Laurel

Southwestern 14 - 24 Cooper

Bowling Green 51 - 14 Lou. Fairdale

Lou. Atherton 7 - 43 Owensboro

Class 4A:

Cov. Catholic 31 - 0 Johnson Cent.

Pad. Tilghman 42 - 0 Spencer Co.

Franklin Co. 37 - 29 Bardstown

Boyle Co. 21 - 14 Corbin

Class 3A:

Christian Academy-Louisville 52 - 13 Lou. Central

Rockcastle Co. 7 - 43 Lex. Catholic

Hart Co. 24 - 21 Union Co.

Bell Co. 38 - 36 E. Carter (OT)

Class 2A:

Owensboro Catholic 50 - 18 Green Co.

Somerset 56 - 20 Shelby Valley

Mayfield 58 - 36 Lex. Christian

Beechwood 55 - 0 Martin Co.

Lex. Christian was the number-1 team in Class 2A, and MaxPreps had them as the number-9 team in the whole Commonwealth for all classes.  Mayfield has a great history, and the Cardinals have won an enormous number of huge games, but to me this was one of Mayfield's greatest wins ever.

Class 1A:

Kentucky Country Day 29 - 16 Ludlow

Lex. Sayre 27 - 42 Raceland

Campbellsville 28 - 23 Newport Cent. Catholic

Pikeville 34 - 14 Middlesboro

That gives us the following semi-finals.  Home teams listed first, along with MaxPreps rating.  MaxPreps top 20 teams in bold.  This is a really great collection of games.

Class 6A:

(2) Lou. Trinity v. (3) Lex. Frederick Douglass

(12) Lou. Ballard v. (9) Lex. Bryan Station

Class 5A:

(7) Ft. Thomas Highlands v. (13) Cooper

(14) Bowling Green v. (20) Owensboro

Class 4A:

(4) Cov. Catholic v. (16) Pad. Tilghman

(8) Franklin Co. v. (1) Boyle Co.

Class 3A:

(10) Christian Academy-Louisville v. (21) Lex. Catholic

(27) Hart Co. v. (31) Bell Co.

Class 2A:

(18) Owensboro Catholic v. (52) Somerset

(17) Mayfield v. (23) Beechwood

Class 1A:

(61) Kentucky Country Day v. (37) Raceland

(32) Campbellsville v. (38) Pikeville

KHSAA Football: Down to the Quarter-Finals

We are finally down to the quarter-finals in the KHSAA football playoffs.  The matchups are listed below.  For each game, the home team is listed first.  The numbers in parentheses represent the MaxPreps rankings.  Teams ranked in the top 20 are in bold:

CLASS 6A:

(1) Lou. Trinity v. (74) McCracken Co.

(13) Lou. Ballard v. (46) Cent. Hardin

(3) Lou. Male v. (7) Lex. Frederick Douglass

(11) Lex. Bryan Station v. (17) Ryle

CLASS 5A:

(15) Bowling Green v. (77) Lou. Fairdale

(55) Lou. Atherton v. (25) Owensboro

(6) Ft. Thomas Highlands v. (44) N. Laurel

(26) Southwestern v. (14) Cooper

CLASS 4A:

(10) Franklin Co. v. (47) Bardstown

(18) Pad. Tilghman v. (67) Spencer Co.

(4) Cov. Catholic v. (37) Johnson Cent.

(2) Boyle Co. v. (5) Corbin

CLASS 3A:

(12) Christian Academy-Louisville v. (30) Lou. Central

(29) Hart Co. v. (36) Union Co.

(31) Bell Co. v. (71) E. Carter

(49) Rockcastle Co. v. (22) Lex. Catholic

CLASS 2A:

(20) Owensboro Catholic v. (69) Green Co.

(27) Mayfield v. (9) Lex. Christian

(21) Beechwood v. (109) Martin Co.

(63) Somerset v. (90) Shelby Valley

CLASS 1A:

(61) Kentucky Country Day v. (120) Ludlow

(35) Campbellsville v. (103) Newport Cent. Catholic

(33) Pikeville v. (104) Middlesboro

(62) Lex. Sayre v. (38) Raceland

Here's what happened to the other teams in the top 20:

Last week, Number 8 Lou. St. Xavier lost to Lou. Trinity 38-14.

Last week, Number 16 Lou. Manual lost to Lou. Ballard 48-42.

Last week, Number 19 S. Warren lost to Owensboro 53-22.

Power Eleven

Here are the top ten high school football teams in the Commonwealth, according to MaxPreps:

1.  Boyle Co:  9-0 (4A)

2.  Lou. Male:  8-1 (6A)

3.  Lou. Trinity:  7-3 (6A)

4.  Corbin:  9-0 (4A)

5.  Lex. Frederick Douglass:  5-3 (6A)

6.  Cov. Catholic:  9-0 (4A)

7.  Ft. Thomas Highlands:  9-1 (5A)

8.  Lex. Christian:  8-1 (2A)

9.  Lou. St. Xavier:  6-3 (6A)

10.  Lou. Manual:  8-1 (6A)

Here is the Power Eleven for Western Kentucky after last week's games:

18.  Paducah Tilghman:  9-0 (4A)

21.  Mayfield:  7-1 (2A)

36.  Union Co:  9-0 (3A)

41.  Henderson Co:  4-5 (6A)

58.  Madisonville-N. Hopkins:  7-2 (5A)

59.  Logan Co:  7-2 (4A)

67.  Graves Co:  6-3 (5A)

88.  McCracken Co:  4-5 (6A)

90.  Murray:  6-3 (2A)

91.  Crittenden Co:  5-4 (2A)

123.  Webster Co:  5-4 (3A)

Last night, South Warren crushed Logan County 42-6, so Logan County finishes 7-3.  Here are the Power Eleven games tonight, the last night of the regular season (home teams listed first):

Calloway Co. (2-7) v. Crittenden Co (5-4)

Christian Co. (2-7) v. Mayfield (7-1)

Ft. Campbell (5-4) v. Webster Co. (5-4)

Graves Co. (6-3) v. McCracken Co. (4-5)

Greenwood (6-3) v. Union Co. (9-0)

Murray (6-3) v. Madisonville-N. Hopkins (7-2)

Owensboro (5-4) v. Henderson Co. (4-5)

Paducah Tilghman (9-0) v. Russellville (2-7)

Tilghman is trying to finish an undefeated regular season for the first time since 2003.  That year, they competed in the old AAA State Tournament.  They beat Logan County (53-7), Hopkins Co. Central (42-0), and Hopkinsville (28-21) before losing to Boyle County (35-21) in the State Semifinals.  The next week Boyle County beat Highlands 44-10 for the State Title.

This year, if the top seeds all win, the four semifinalists in the Class 4A Tournament will look like this:

(13) Franklin Co. (9-0) v. (18) Paducah Tilghman (9-0)

(6) Cov. Catholic (9-0) v. (1) Boyle Co. (9-0)

Power Eleven

Here are the top ten high school football teams in Kentucky, according to MaxPreps (highest team in its class in bold):

1.  Boyle Co:  8-0 (4A)

2.  Lou. Trinity:  6-3 (6A)

3.  Lou. Male:  7-1 (6A)

4.  Corbin:  8-0 (4A)

5.  Lex. Frederick Douglass:  4-3 (6A)

6.  Cov. Catholic:  8-0 (4A)

7.  Ft. Thomas Highlands:  8-1 (5A)

8.  Lex. Christian:  7-1 (2A)

9.  Lou. Manual:  7-1 (6A)

10.  Lou. St. Xavier:  5-3 (6A)

Here is the Power Eleven for Western Kentucky:

17.  Paducah Tilghman:  8-0 (4A)

22.  Mayfield:  6-1 (2A)

38.  Union Co:  8-0 (3A)

41.  Henderson Co:  3-5 (6A)

62.  Graves Co:  5-3 (5A)

64.  Logan Co:  6-2 (4A)

68.  Madisonville-N. Hopkins:  6-2 (5A)

76.  McCracken Co:  4-4 (6A)

84.  Crittenden Co:  4-4 (2A)

88.  Murray:  6-2 (2A)

117.  Webster Co:  5-3 (3A)

Power Eleven

Here are the top ten high school football teams in Kentucky, according to Max Preps:

1.  Boyle Co:  7-0

2.  Lou. Trinity:  5-3

3.  Lou. Male:  6-1

4.  Corbin:  7-0

5.  Lex. Frederick Douglass:  3-3

6.  Cov. Catholic:  7-0

7.  Ft. Thomas Highlands:  7-1

8.  Lex. Christian:  6-1

9.  Lou. Manual:  6-1

10.  Lou. St. Xavier:  4-3

And here are the Power Eleven teams in western Kentucky:

16.  Paducah Tilghman:  7-0

24.  Mayfield:  5-1

37.  Union Co:  8-0

41.  Henderson Co:  2-5

62.  Logan Co:  5-2

66.  Graves Co:  4-3

68.  Madisonville-N. Hopkins:  6-2

73.  McCracken Co:  3-4

83.  Crittenden Co:  4-3

84.  Murray:  5-2

116.  Christian Co:  2-5

Power Eleven

Here is the latest top 10 in Kentucky H.S. Football, based on Max Preps:

1.  Lou. Male:  5-1 (Class 6A)

2.  Boyle Co:  6-0 (4A)

3.  Lou. Trinity:  4-3 (6A)

4.  Corbin:  6-0 (4A)

5.  Lex. Frederick Douglass:  2-3 (6A)

6.  Cov. Catholic:  7-0 (4A)

7.  Ft. Thomas Highlands:  6-1 (5A)

8.  Lou. St. Xavier:  4-2 (6A)

9.  Lex. Christian:  6-1 (2A)

10.  Christian Academy-Louisville:  6-1 (3A)

And here's the Power Eleven for teams in our region.  The big news last weekend was that Crittenden County stunned Murray 28-14, and Tilghman crushed Logan County 63-20.

16.  Paducah Tilghman:  7-0 (Class 4A)

23.  Mayfield:  5-1 (2A)

38.  Union Co:  7-0 (3A)

47.  Henderson Co:  1-5 (6A)

63.  Logan Co:  5-2 (4A)

64.  Graves Co:  4-3 (5A)

68.  McCracken Co:  3-3 (6A)

75.  Madisonville-N. Hopkins:  5-2 (5A)

81.  Crittenden Co:  3-3 (2A)

82.  Murray:  5-2 (2A)

105.  Christian Co:  2-4 (6A)

Power Eleven

Here's the HP Power Eleven, based on MaxPreps, after last week's games:

18.  Paducah Tilghman:  6-0

22.  Mayfield:  4-1

38.  Union Co:  6-0

47.  Henderson Co:  1-5

60.  Logan Co:  5-1

61.  Graves Co:  3-3

63.  Murray:  5-1

70.  McCracken Co:  3-3

75.  Madisonville-N. Hopkins:  4-2

93.  Crittenden Co:  2-3

106.  Christian Co:  2-3

Here are the top 10 teams in the Commonwealth, according to MaxPreps:

1.  Boyle Co:  6-0

2.  Lou. Male:  4-1

3.  Lou. Trinity:  3-3

4.  Corbin:  5-0

5.  Lex. Frederick Douglass:  2-3

6.  Cov. Catholic:  6-0

7.  Lex. Christian:  5-1

8.  Lou. St. Xavier:  3-2

9.  Ft. Thomas Highlands:  5-1

10.  Christian Academy-Louisville:  5-1

Power Eleven

Here's the Power Eleven High School Football Teams in Western Kentucky, according to the rankings on MaxPreps:

15.  Paducah Tilghman:  5-0

22.  Mayfield:  3-1

37.  Union Co:  5-0

43.  Henderson Co:  1-4
57.  Logan Co:  4-1

59.  McCracken Co:  3-2

60.  Madisonville-N. Hopkins:  4-1

74.  Graves Co:  2-3

89.  Murray:  4-1

93.  Crittenden Co:  2-2

96.  Christian Co:  1-3

And here are the Top Five teams in the Commonwealth:

1.  Boyle Co:  5-0

2.  Corbin:  4-0

3.  Lou. Male:  3-1

4.  Lex. Frederick Douglass:  2-2

5.  Lou. Trinity:  2-3