Forget that whole “don’t look ahead, one game at a time” mantra we hear especially from football coaches. Not now. Not when Kentucky’s high school football playoffs are set to start in 11 days, the week after the regular season concludes this weekend.
Sure there are some important non-district games this week. Some interesting ones. Ones that matter: Beechwood-Newport Central Catholic, Ryle-Covington Catholic, Simon Kenton-Woodford County, even Holmes-Lloyd Memorial.
But the only season that counts, as we keep hearing from Northern Kentucky coaches about the playoffs, begins next Friday in the postseason. And with the KHSAA’s new/old system matching side-by-side paired districts with the No. 1 seeds from one district playing the No. 4 from the other and No. 2 playing No. 3.
That doesn’t get rid of the major problem, of course, the first-week mismatches. All it does is make them cross-district mismatches. And a longer bus ride home for the losers.
If it were up to me, there would just be two teams per district moving on with an extra week for a regular season game of the schools’ own choosing for a better matchup. That would also place a greater premium on the regular season when now, the only thing on the line is seeding and whether you get a home or road game.
But cross-district playoff games are an improvement this year because who wants to see the same two top and bottom teams in the same district in a second walkover.
That being said, here’s a quick look ahead at NEXT week’s first-round games, as published by the KHSAA:
CLASS A:
Eminence (0-9) at Newport Central Catholic (8-1): Right away, we have a super mismatch as a winless Eminence team heads to NewCath where the district-winning Thoroughbreds await. Maybe that’s a break NewCath deserves after finishing the regular season this week against 2A winner Beechwood.
Ludlow (3-6) at Frankfort (5-4): Nice trip for the Panthers as Kentucky school kids for years have made the journey to the capitol. And not all that much a stretch for No. 3 seed Ludlow to upset a No. 2 across districts.
Berea (3-6) at Dayton (4-5): Not all that much has gone right for the Greendevils this season but beating Ludlow last week and getting a home game to start makes up for that a bit. One more game for historic Davis Field, Kentucky’s oldest high school football stadium.
Fairview (1-8) at Bishop Brossart (7-2): Good job by the Mustangs who have had to scrap hard for their downstate district title. They’ve got a great place to play and a chance to host suburban Ashland Fairview from the bottom of the upriver district next door.
CLASS 2A
Trimble County/Gallatin County/Shawnee (to be determined by final RPI ratings after this week’s games) at Beechwood (8-1): As the three teams from the weird rural/urban adjacent 2A district sort things out to see who finishes fourth and must make the trip to Ft. Mitchell, Beechwood gets another week to figure things out in the post-Mitchell Berger era and after the Tigers’ major tune-up against NewCath.
Holy Cross (2-7) at Carroll County (6-4): Can a three-seed beat a two-seed with a much better record? This might be one place to check that possibility out. Would be a great way for the Indians to finish up with a flourish.
Newport (3-7) at Walton-Verona (8-2): Welcome back to Northern Kentucky, Bearcats. As the cross-district playoff plan has Walton-Verona playing another Northern Kentucky team, even if it’s a Newport team that lost 57-0 to Beechwood last week, but also has a win over Bishop Brossart to its credit. One thing to note: Both teams have two weeks to get ready for this game.
Owen County (5-4) at Lloyd Memorial (6-3): Nice reward for the season the Juggernauts have had to get a home game to start. And a first step, they hope, for a rematch against Beechwood somewhere down the line.
CLASS 4A
Holmes (6-3)/Scott (4-5)/Rowan County (4-5) at Boyle County (8-1): Not sure any of those three teams in the to-be-determined category after this week’s RPI ratings come out want to finish third here. Or fourth for that matter. No way it’s good news if you must travel to Danville to meet powerhouse Boyle for either of the two local schools.
Holmes/Scott/Rowan County at Lexington Catholic (8-1): More bad news for the team that finishes fourth in the RPI, which right now looks like it could be Scott after last week’s 44-6 loss to Holmes. No. 4 will have to head to Lexington to face a one-loss Lexington Catholic team that has beaten Ryle and lost by a point to Covington Catholic.
Bourbon County (2-7) at Holmes/Rowan County/Scott: Here are the two big reasons for finishing ahead of the other two in the RPI ratings: You get to play at home and you get a 2-7 Bourbon County team as your opponent. Holmes looks to be in good shape here but the Bulldogs do have to play at Lloyd Memorial this week. Scott hosts Dixie Heights this week and looks to be an extreme long shot.
CLASS 5A
Montgomery County (2-7) at Highlands (8-2): Fire up the cannon at David Cecil (actually, don’t fire it up but that’s probably not going to change) as the high-flying Highlands Bluebirds make their move to the top in Bob Sphire’s Year 2 in Ft. Thomas. Tough trip for the guys from Mt. Sterling.
Cooper (5-4) at Scott County (8-1): Watch out, Scott County. Here’s another 2-3 matchup that could go the way of the Northern Kentucky team. Cooper is tough and has been tested against the likes of CovCath and Highlands.
Great Crossing (7-2) at CovCath (7-2): Not sure the Georgetown team that lost its two games by a combined 97-0 to Scott County and Frederick Douglass is a good matchup for CovCath here.
CLASS 6A
Marshall County (3-6) at Simon Kenton (6-3): Man, what a long trip for the folks from basketball-minded Marshall County — 600-round-trip miles for a first-round date in Ft. Thomas. Enjoy the sightseeing, guys. And take some Skyline or Gold Star cheese coneys home with you. Marshall County is only here because there wasn’t a fourth-place team in the paired district so they moved them in from the First District.
Campbell County (4-5) at Louisville Trinity (6-4): OK, the Shamrocks aren’t what they used to be these days but still, this is Louisville Trinity we’re talking about. And they’re playing at home. After a tough year in more ways than one, the Camels could use this game – and trip – to rid themselves of some of the tough times they’ve had to play through.
Dixie Heights (2-7) at Louisville Ballard (7-2): Another tough trip to Louisville for a Northern Kentucky team having to play through a tough season. Reality says that Week 2 in Class 6A will have an all-Northern Kentucky Simon Kenton/Ryle lineup going against an all-Louisville Trinity/Ballard one.
Louisville Eastern (4-5) at Ryle (5-4): After playing Simon Kenton last week and CovCath this week, Ryle gets a home game and maybe a bit of a break in Louisville Eastern from a Jefferson County district with two really good programs and not all that much else.
