When the KHSAA’s RPI Standings came out on Monday, Louisville Holy Cross sat atop Class A as the division’s No. 1 team on the week the Cougars travel to Lexington for a top 10 showdown with RPI No. 3 Sayre.
The state’s first glimpse of the rating system that will be used to seed Kentucky’s high school football’s playoffs might not line up with other measures, such as the Kentucky High School Football Media Poll (which ranks Holy Cross at No. 5 and Sayre at No. 2), but there’s no question Friday’s kickoff at Sayre Athletic Complex is a big deal.
Both teams are undefeated at 5-0 and feature a balanced offense. The Cougars boast Jerek Hoover, one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in Class A, who has thrown for 799 yards and eight TDs and rushed for 499 yards and seven scores alongside senior running back Colton King, who has 430 yards and seven TDs rushing, as well.
“They’ve got a really good mixture of run and pass. They’ve got a good mixture of physicality with speed,” Sayre coach Chad Pennington said. “We know how that game went all the way late into the fourth quarter last year (a 34-20 Spartans win). They’ve got a very experienced senior-led team, and so we expect it to be a full four quarters and beyond if needed.”
Sayre’s Gage Pennington has thrown for 778 yards and 11 TDs and rushed for 125 and four scores. The Spartans have also got 499 yards and TDs rushing from senior running back Isaiah King.
“I’ve been really pleased with the development process up front, as well as some of our skill guys who haven’t had a lot of Friday night experience coming to the forefront and helping us,” Pennington said.
All of Holy Cross’s wins have come against teams who have larger enrollment classifications, which provide both a physical test and an RPI formula bonus that has helped the Cougars’ standing.
But the Cougars won’t be coasting the last month of the regular season even if they beat Sayre on Friday because Holy Cross plays in unquestionably Class A’s toughest district, which included defending Class A state champion Kentucky Country Day.
“We’ve played some really good teams up to this point, but you know we go Sayre, KCD, Campbellsville, Bethlehem,” Dick said of his team’s next four games. “And just depending on what polls you’re looking at in 1A, I mean everybody’s in the top 10.”
The media poll has Bethlehem at No. 7 and KCD at No. 8. Campbellsville had been a preseason top 10 team.
“So this next month for us … we’re really going to find out what we’re made of.” Dick said. “This first test, it’s a big one for sure because they got us last year at our place. We know we’ve got some things that we got to clean up, but we’re excited for the challenge.”
Holy Cross-Sayre is just one of the top-flight out-of-district showdowns around the state on Friday.
Lexington will have two more top 10 showdowns with Class 6A No. 2 Frederick Douglass (5-0) hosting No. 7 Male (3-2) and Class 2A No. 10 Dubois traveling to No. 3 Lexington Christian.
In Louisville Kentucky Sports Radio poll No. 6 Boyle County heads to Louisville to face No. 16 St. Xavier.
In Western Kentucky Class 2A No. 8 Caldwell County faces No. 4 Mayfield.
And all eyes in Northern Kentucky will be on KSR No. 5 Highlands’ trip to No. 9 Covington Catholic as they renew one of the state’s most storied rivalries. The Bluebirds are the media poll’s No. 1 team in Class 4A. The Colonels rank No. 4 in 4A.
Here’s a look at those games and some of the other top matchups across the state for Week 7 (Oct. 2) of the Kentucky high school football season. In addition, check out other games featuring Lexington and Central Kentucky teams.
Rankings are according to the Kentucky Sports Radio top 25 and Kentucky High Football Media Poll top 10s. All kickoff times local to the host site. Games include streaming links if known. District game^. Possible streaming fee*.
Scores and more
PrepSpin Scoreboard Show: Tonight at 11 p.m. Jared Peck goes live with coaches and other guest reacting to Friday’s games beginning at 11 p.m. on YouTube, X, Facebook and other streaming platforms.
Big Things: Check out this week’s Big Things Kentucky episode with guest picker Jared Peck.
Live scores: KyHSSports.com will have a number of live scores updating during the games.
Official scores: KHSAAScoreboard.org will have the official scores as they are reported to the KHSAA.
KSR Top 25 Matchups
No. 5/4A No. 1 Highlands at No. 9/4A-No. 4 Covington Catholic^, 7 p.m., Covington Catholic Network*
No. 6/4A No. 2 Boyle County at No. 16/6A-No. 5 St. Xavier, 7 p.m., StXTigers YouTube Channel
No. 25/6A-No. 7 Male at No. 3/6A-No. 2 Frederick Douglass, 7:30 p.m., Glicod
Kentucky Media Poll Top 10 Matchups
A-No. 5 Louisville Holy Cross at A-No. 2 Sayre, 7:30 p.m., Sayre hudl (Hank the Legend 105.5 FM)
2A-No. 10 DuBois at No. 15/2A-No. 3 Lexington Christian, 7:30 p.m., LCA hudl*, WJMM-FM 99.1
No. 18/4A-No. 6 Corbin at 4A-No. 9 Johnson Central^, 7:30 p.m., NFHS Network*
2A-No. 8 Caldwell County at 2A-No. 4 Mayfield^, 7 p.m., Red Helmet Sports Network
No. 13/4A-No. 3 Paducah Tilghman at 4A No. 7 Logan County^, 7 p.m., Logan County hudl*
Lexington’s other game
Garrard County at No. 21/3A-No. 2 Lexington Catholic^, 7:30 p.m., PrepSpin.com
Bye week: Bryan Station, Henry Clay, Lafayette, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Tates Creek.
Other Central Kentucky matchups
No. 17/5A-No. 3 Woodford County at South Oldham^, 7:30 p.m., DD Sports Productions
A-No. 6 Paintsville at Paris, 7:30 p.m., NFHS Network*
No. 24/2A-No. 6 Danville at Southern, 7 p.m., WHIR-AM 1230
3A-No. 4 Lloyd Memorial at Bourbon County^, 7:30 p.m., Glicod
4A-No. 10 Franklin County at Spencer County^, 7:30 p.m., Spencer County hudl*
No. 11/5A-No. 2 Scott County at Anderson County^, 7:30 p.m., Glicod
Montgomery County at 5A-No. 7 West Jessamine^, 7:30 p.m., West Jessamine hudl*
6A-No. 9 George Rogers Clark at Henderson County, 7 p.m., Henderson County hudl*
East Jessamine at Madison Southern^, 7:30 p.m., WBONTV
Western Hills at Grant County^, 7:30 p.m., Grant County hudl*