Covington Catholic and Highlands are reunited again as district foes on the gridiron.
In Wednesday’s KHSAA Board of Control meeting in Lexington, the proposed high school football realignments for the 2025-26 seasons became official.
Back in February’s Board of Control meeting, the board agreed to realign after the two-year period due to enrollment numbers out of the ordinary due to the COVID pandemic. The enrollment figures for the 2023-24 realignment was based off the Kentucky Department of Education enrollment numbers for 2019-20 and 2022-23 school years. To ensure an up-to-date status, it was determined and announced that the 2022-2023 numbers would be doubled for the purpose of averaging since 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 enrollment/membership numbers were not collected due to COVID-19.
With the new alignment, it moved Highlands down from Class 5A to 4A, joining Covington Catholic in the Class 4A, 5th District with Holmes, Harrison County and Mason County. Of note, Grant County was approved to move out of the 5th District and into the 4th District in Class 4A.
“The process of getting an alignment approved is a challenge each time, especially in these times when school enrollments are changing each year with different education initiatives and options,” said KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett. “At the end of the day, the membership had significantly greater time and opportunity for feedback than the past alignment, all of which was fully disclosed to the public and the membership throughout the process. A few requests for logistically geographically supported moves were adopted, but there were also requests denied as each request was considered independently.”
Outside of Highlands move down to Class 4A, not much else changed for NKY programs. St. Henry, set to begin varsity football in 2025, will join the Class 2A, 5th District with Beechwood, Bracken County, Gallatin County, Owen County and Walton-Verona.
Lloyd Memorial won’t have to see Lexington Catholic after the 2024 season, the Knights moving to the Class 3A, 4th District while the Juggernauts remain in the Class 3A, 5th District with Bourbon County, Carroll County, Henry County and Pendleton County.
The Class A, 3rd and 4th Districts remain the same. Bellevue, Dayton, Newport and Newport Central Catholic remain in the 3rd District while Bishop Brossart, Holy Cross, Ludlow and Trimble County all stay in the 4th District.
With Highlands departure in the Class 5A, 5th District, it moves from a six-team district to a five-team district with Boone County, Conner, Cooper, Dixie Heights and Scott.
The Class 6A, 6th District stays put with Campbell County, Great Crossing, Ryle and Simon Kenton.
Here’s the complete alignment:
Class A
District 1 – Ballard Memorial, Caverna, Fulton County, Russellville
District 2 – Bethlehem, Campbellsville, Kentucky Country Day, Louisville Holy Cross
District 3 – Bellevue, Dayton, Newport, Newport Central Catholic
District 4 – Bishop Brossart, Covington Holy Cross, Ludlow, Trimble County
District 5 – Berea, Eminence, Frankfort, Sayre
District 6 – Fairview, Nicholas County, Paris, Raceland
District 7 – Harlan, Lynn Camp, Middlesboro, Pineville, Williamsburg
District 8 – Hazard, Jenkins, Paintsville, Phelps, Pikeville
Class 2A
District 1 – Caldwell County, Crittenden County, Fort Campbell, Mayfield, Todd County Central, Trigg County
District 2 – Fort Knox, Hancock County, McLean County, Owensboro Catholic
District 3 – Clinton County, Green County, Metcalfe County, Monroe County, Somerset
District 4 – Danville, DuBois, Lexington Christian, Shawnee, Washington County
District 5 – Beechwood, Bracken County, Gallatin County, Owen County, St. Henry, Walton-Verona
District 6 – Breathitt County, Jackson County, Morgan County, West Carter
District 7 – Floyd Central, Knott County Central, Leslie County, Martin County, Prestonsburg
District 8 – Belfry, Betsy Layne, East Ridge, Pike County Central, Shelby Valley
Class 3A
District 1 – Hopkins County Central, Murray, Union County, Webster County
District 2 – Adair County, Butler County, Edmonson County, Glasgow, Hart County, LaRue County
District 3 – Central, Christian Academy, DeSales, Thomas Nelson, Western
District 4 – Bardstown, Casey County, Garrard County, Lexington Catholic, Mercer County
District 5 – Bourbon County, Carroll County, Henry County, Lloyd Memorial, Pendleton County
District 6 – Bath County, East Carter, Fleming County, Lewis County, Russell
District 7 – Bell County, Clay County, Knox Central, McCreary Central, Rockcastle County
District 8 – Estill County, Lawrence County, Letcher County Central, Magoffin County, Powell County
Class 4A
District 1 – Allen County-Scottsville, Calloway County, Franklin-Simpson, Logan County, Paducah Tilghman, Warren East
District 2 – Elizabethtown, John Hardin, Marion County, Nelson County, Taylor County
District 3 – Breckinridge County, Doss, North Oldham, Valley, Waggener
District 4 – Franklin County, Grant County, Shelby County, Spencer County, Western Hills
District 5 – Covington Catholic, Harrison County, Highlands, Holmes, Mason County
District 6 – Ashland Blazer, Boyd County, Greenup County, Johnson Central, Rowan County
District 7 – Boyle County, Lincoln County, Russell County, Wayne County
District 8 – Corbin, Harlan County, Perry County Central, Whitley County
Class 5A
District 1 – Apollo, Graves County, Madisonville-North Hopkins, Marshall County, Muhlenberg County, Owensboro
District 2 – Barren County, Bowling Green, Grayson County, Greenwood, Ohio County, Warren Central
District 3 – Atherton, Butler, Iroquois, Seneca
District 4 – Bullitt Central, Fairdale, Jeffersontown, Moore, North Bullitt
District 5 – Boone County, Conner, Cooper, Dixie Heights, Scott
District 6 – Anderson County, Collins, Scott County, South Oldham, Woodford County
District 7 – East Jessamine, Madison Southern, Montgomery County, West Jessamine
District 8 – North Laurel, Pulaski County, South Laurel, Southwestern
Class 6A
District 1 – Christian County, Henderson County, Hopkinsville, McCracken County
District 2 – Central Hardin, Daviess County, Meade County, South Warren
District 3 – Manual, North Hardin, Pleasure Ridge Park, St. Xavier
District 4 – Bullitt East, Fern Creek, Male, Southern
District 5 – Ballard, Eastern, Oldham County, Trinity
District 6 – Campbell County, Great Crossing, Ryle, Simon Kenton
District 7 – Henry Clay, Lafayette, Paul Dunbar, Tates Creek
District 8 – Bryan Station, Frederick Douglass, George Rogers Clark, Madison Central