Kentucky high school football kicks off with some monster matchups
For the first time in his career, Woodford County head coach Dennis Johnson will not have his father, mentor and sounding board with him on the sideline as Kentucky high school football kicks off this weekend.
It’s fitting, though, that the Yellow Jackets will begin the 2023 season in Harrodsburg playing at Alvis Johnson Field as part of the two-game Little Caesar’s Fort Harrod Bowl on Saturday, the contracts for which were signed well before the Harrodsburg High School coaching legend passed away last month.
“God doesn’t make any mistakes. It’s meant to be,” said Dennis Johnson, who along with his brother Derrick played for Alvis Johnson at the old Harrodsburg High in the 1990s and now serves as Woodford County’s head coach and athletics director. “I wish he could have been there to see it. And it will be an emotional time for my mom, myself and my brother, but he left a legacy for us to keep moving forward and to keep trying to move the needle, so that’s what we’re going to do.”
Woodford County will face Class 6A defending state champion Bullitt East at 5 p.m. Saturday ahead of the 8 p.m. game between Taylor County and host Mercer County.
“We will give him a tribute, but I think the tribute more than that is just the way we live our lives,” Johnson said. “The way he impacted so many young adults — now we want to do the same.”
Johnson believes he’ll still get his father’s guidance from above, but he’ll miss the morning talks even if some weren’t so pleasant.
“At 6:01 in the morning, man, we’d sit there for four or five hours and he’d coach me up and wear me out,” Johnson said. “They weren’t always the best meetings. I left there probably more beat up than we were in the game, but it was good for me because I wanted to be the best coach I can be.”
Woodford County ranks as the No. 6 team in Class 5A, according to the Herald-Leader preseason survey, and it has a number of top-ranked teams on its schedule in addition to the No. 8 Chargers, including No. 2 Scott County and No. 8 Pulaski County in its own class, and another Class 6A power, No. 6 Ballard, in the final game before the playoffs.
“We’ve had a chance to go 10-0 a few times, but I want to be battle-tested and get ready for the playoffs,” Johnson explained. “I think that’s when we need to be hitting on all cylinders. Sometimes some bumps in the road are OK as long as you learn from them. The last two years we haven’t had a lot of adversity until the playoffs. I think it will be good for our kids.”
Games of the week
Big early test for UK commit: Lexington Christian travels to Bowling Green to take on the Class 5A No. 1 Purples at Western Kentucky University’s Houchens Industries L.T. Smith Stadium.
LCA quarterback Cutter Boley, a Kentucky commit, will face what’s traditionally one of the state’s best defenses. The Eagles’ defense will have its hands full too with Bowling Green QB Deuce Bailey, who led the Purples to the state finals last season.
LCA ranks No. 3 in Class 2A, and a win here could keep it in the state title conversation all year.
The kickoff is at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Douglass takes the national stage: Class 6A No. 3 Frederick Douglass travels to Canton, Ohio, to face one of the toughest teams in the nation as part of a four-game event that involves a number of teams who regularly appear on national rankings.
Saturday’s foe, Archbishop Hoban of Akron, Ohio, ranks No. 40 in High School Football America’s rankings.
The game will kick off at 4 p.m. Saturday at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in the Northeast Ohio vs. America Showcase — yes, that’s as in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
A LexCath homecoming: Highlands head coach Bob Sphire helped found the football program at Lexington Catholic years ago and had a 140-39 record and won a Class 3A state championship in 2005 with the Knights.
Friday, Sphire returns to Lexington as head coach of the Class 5A No. 5 Bluebirds as they try to spoil the home opener for Class 3A’s No. 3 team. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Rematch with the Rocks: Bryan Station stunned the Kentucky high school football world last November by taking down Trinity, the state’s most decorated program (27 state titles) in the Class 6A region finals.
But unlike last year’s playoff game, this matchup will be held on the Rocks’ home turf in Louisville. And a win for the No. 5 Defenders over No. 4 Trinity could help make sure a future playoff meeting would be held back on the Northside.
Will it be revenge for the Rocks or two scoops for Station? The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Rivalries of the week
All games Friday unless noted.
Tobacco Stick Bowl: Grayson County at Edmonson County, 7 p.m. The Cougars have dominated this border battle of late with four straight wins. Will the Tobacco Stick trophy keep its orange and navy paint job or will Edmonson finally color it red, white and blue.
Hometown Showdown: Shelby County at Collins, 7:30 p.m. The Titans have won 13 of the 18 matchups with their county rivals, including the last three in a row.
Other rivalry games: Graves County at Mayfield, 7 p.m.; Apollo at Owensboro Catholic, 7 p.m.; Paducah Tilghman at McCracken County, 7 p.m. Saturday.
Should be a good one
All games Friday unless noted.
▪ Battle of Elkhorn Creek at Great Crossing: Scott County vs. Madison Southern, 6 p.m.; Franklin County vs. Great Crossing, 30 minutes after conclusion of first game.
▪ Cooper at Bardstown, 7:30 p.m.
▪ Raceland at Ashland Blazer, 7:30 p.m.
▪ Belfry at Breathitt County, 7:30 p.m.
▪ Owensboro at Christian Academy-Louisville, 7:30 p.m.
▪ Ryle at Covington Catholic, 7 p.m.
▪ Boyle County vs. Gibson Southern (Fort Branch, Ind.) (at Western Kentucky University), 5 p.m. Saturday.
▪ Greenwood vs. Hopkinsville (at Allen County-Scottsville), 7 p.m.
▪ Central at Manual, 7:30 p.m.
▪ Pulaski County vs. Pikeville, 5:30 p.m. (at Corbin).
▪ Ballard vs. Southwestern, 7 p.m. (at Campbellsville).
Other Lexington games
▪ Oldham County vs. Lafayette (at Henry Clay), 6 p.m.
▪ Sayre at Covington Holy Cross, 7 p.m.
▪ Paul Laurence Dunbar at Conner, 7:30 p.m.
▪ Tates Creek at Eastern, 7:30 p.m.
▪ Fleming County at Henry Clay, 8 p.m.
