Kroger's Kentucky High School Football Rundown - Week 6

It was a busy Friday night in the Bluegrass. No. 2 Frederick Douglass’ 41-0 shutout of No. 24 Scott County in the Kroger KSR Game of the Week was just one of many big games across the state. KSR had boots on the ground in Louisville and Frankfort to capture the action. Check out the recaps below along with a statewide scoreboard thanks to our friends at Kroger.

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No. 1 St. Xavier 13, No. 10 Trinity 8

By BRADY BYRDWELL

The St. Xavier Tigers won a close defensive battle on Friday night over long-standing rivals Trinity 13-8 at Cardinal Stadium.

Defense Wins Championships

It was smashmouth football, a real slobber knocker on Friday night. The offense didn’t pour points as the rain slowly poured down onto the turf. Nevertheless, the St. Xavier Tigers (#1 in KSR’s Week 5 Top 25) prevailed over Trinity (#10) on defense alone. In fact, Trinity scored their eight points on two field goals and a safety.

On paper, this sounds like a boring game, yet it was far from it. The atmosphere from both sides of Cardinal Stadium kept the temperature high and showed on the field. The game started with multiple punts from both sides, as the defenses showed they came to play. The scoring began with a Trinity field goal from Kellen McLaughlin as the Shamrocks took a 3-0 lead. 

Later in the first half, St. X QB Adam Boone tossed a 19-yard touchdown to Jackson Campisano. This touchdown electrified the Tiger sideline and student section.

And they capitalize…. TOUCHDOWN TIGERS 7-3 lead!! pic.twitter.com/dOw1urRStB

— Brady Byrdwell (@BByrdwellKSR) September 24, 2022

“I think it’s really just our defense and the energy they bring,” Boone said when asked about staying into a dogfight. “The positions they put us in gives us the energy to get our offense going and get the few plays we need. ” 

Something’s Gotta Give

When the second half started, the Trinity defense took things into their own hands. The Shamrocks forced a safety and took an 8-7 lead. Unfortunately for the Shamrocks, the offense couldn’t capitalize and add to the lead.

Then with nine minutes left in the game, backup St. X QB Trevor Havill threw a touchdown to Zach Marks.

TOUCHDOWN @StXTigersFB , an absolute dime to make it 14-8 with 9:41 left in the 4th! pic.twitter.com/1iib1xgXDO

— Brady Byrdwell (@BByrdwellKSR) September 24, 2022

“It’s about having that mindset in practice,” Marks said after the win. “The coaches do a great job giving you that mindset. We also play big games each week, which also helps”

The Marks touchdown ended up being the game-winner. He was also awarded player of the game.

“We were practicing to be in a battle, and overall we ended up winning. We had injuries throughout, but we were able to pull through.”

You Live, and You Learn

The Trinity Shamrocks have played a grueling schedule so far this year. They’ve played the juggernaut out of Ohio Archbishop Moeller, Louisville Male, Center Grove (Indiana), and LaSalle (Cincinnati). Unfortunately, the 3-3 record that the Shamrocks have is not a good indication of the team that played at Cardinal Stadium.

The Shamrock faithful would have loved to get one over on their rivals, that is without question. Nevertheless, it is easy to see that the talent is there and that Trinity is still a real contender in 6A.

The one area that all Trinity fans will point to is the red zone. Trinity coach Jay Cobb put it best.

“We have to do a better job of executing in the red zone; that’s been our bugaboo all year long. It bit us tonight, and it shouldn’t have been a close game.”

Onto the Next

Trinity will play host to another St. X (Cincinnati) next week.

Louisville St. X will host the Ryle Raiders on Friday.

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Nicholas County 42, Frankfort 28

By TROY HOWELL

Nicholas County (6-0) stayed undefeated with a 42-28 win over Frankfort (3-3). The Blue Jackets scored touchdowns on six of their eight possessions, with the empty trips being kneel-downs in their own territory at the end of each half. Quarterback Tate Letcher connected with Andrew Watkins for two touchdowns. Watkins, who is tied for the state lead in interceptions, added another touchdown run. Sophomore Alex Koeder rushed for three touchdowns. The Blue Jackets are ranked No. 5 in Class A according to KSR.  

The Panthers, who won a wild 81-60 game two weeks ago against Doss, had an exciting night offensively but not good enough to get the win.  Mason Leigh had two touchdown passes to Caleb Hack and added another score on the ground.  Larry Carter also rushed for a score.  Conley and Jaden Morgan both had some dazzling rushes.

The Blue Jackets, who came in allowing the fewest points in all of Class A, got a big interception from Jacob Hatton right before halftime to swing momentum their way.  Pre snap infractions also hurt the Panther offense.

I really enjoyed my first trip to Sower field right in the heart of Frankfort. The 99-year old stadium is nestled in the middle of a neighborhood. A pitbull watched through a fence just beyond one end zone while extra points clanged into the house beyond the opposite end zone.  A net guarded the pit bull end zone goalpost, for obvious reasons.  There is hardly any room between the goalposts and fence so I had my guard up while filming in the end zone.

As someone who likes Fenway Park and the Rose Bowl over newer stadiums like over Truist Park and Mercedes Benz Stadium, I’m a sucker for history. I enjoy the idea that my grandfather, Rezin Howell of the Mt. Sterling Trojans, likely played on this field in the 1940s. Frankfort High has been playing football since 1911 and is 20th in the state in wins, highlighted by state tournament runner ups in 1968 and 1977.  This is retro to the coolest degree; who needs artificial turf when you have a locker room resembling a dungeon on the outside?

With fall in the air amid a feeling of nostalgia, the orange and blue clad fans celebrated homecoming with fervor and zeal, but it was the Blue Jackets who came out victorious.

The game was delayed in the final minutes when a Frankfort player was carried off on a stretcher. Tensions boiled over with a big scuffle on the next play. Refs considered calling the game bit it finished without incident.

Scary moment here, a Frankfort player is taken in ambulance on a stretcher, the very next play a serious dust up tales place between Frankfort and Nicholas County. Maybe they will just call the game. NC up 42-28 with tempers running high. pic.twitter.com/BKIsLt0BrG

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) September 24, 2022

It was Mason Leigh to Caleb Hack https://t.co/QNXqAqhinS

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) September 24, 2022

Alex Koeder with his 2nd running TD for Nichols County they lead 35-21 4Q pic.twitter.com/5MinvFxi0q

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) September 24, 2022

TD Larry Carter!
Frankfort 7
Nicholas County 0
1Q pic.twitter.com/mmJcDbIiSQ

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) September 23, 2022

TD pass to Andrew Watkins puts Nicholas up 21-14 on Frankfort – 2Q pic.twitter.com/BTeyshExJ1

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) September 24, 2022

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Scores From Around The State

(KSR High School Rankings listed)

Thursday, Sept. 22

North Laurel	43	at South Laurel	0
South Oldham	43	at Jeffersontown	0

Friday, Sept. 23

No. 5 Christian Academy-Louisville	51	at Mercer County	7
Middlesboro	48	at Morgan County	0
Atherton	58	vs. Seneca	27
No. 26 Bardstown	40	at LaRue County	26
Barren County	46	at Russellville	0
Belfry	51	at Magoffin County	14
Bell County	56	vs. McCreary Central	24
Berea	54	at Jackson County	0
Betsy Layne	61	vs. Phelps	14
Bishop Brossart	10	at Ludlow	9
No. 14 Bowling Green	46	at Father Ryan (Nashville), TN	45
Boyd County	42	vs. Harrison County	21
No. 3 Boyle County	65	vs. North Hardin	14
Bracken County	24	at Dayton	0
Bryan Station	50	vs. Lafayette	6
Bullitt East	42	at Meade County	28
Butler County	27	vs. McLean County	12
Caldwell County	49	vs. Ballard Memorial	16
Campbell County	21	vs. No. 25 George Rogers Clark	20 (OT)
Campbellsville	47	at Fort Knox	7
Carroll County	39	at Shawnee	8
Casey County	32	vs. Taylor County	12
Central Hardin	39	at Fern Creek	2
Christian County	34	vs. Murray	20
Clay County	42	at Harlan County	20
Collins	27	vs. Madison Southern	18
Conner	17	vs. Boone County	14
No. 6 Covington Catholic	14	at Cooper	7
Cumberland Gap, TN	60	vs. Lynn Camp	14
Daviess County	57	at Marshall County	0
Doss	40	vs. Iroquois	6
No. 7 DuPont Manual	21	vs. No. 4 Ballard	0
Eastern	48	vs. North Bullitt	14
Elizabethtown	42	vs. Thomas Nelson	0
Estill County	7	vs. Rockcastle County	3
Fairdale	48	vs. Bullitt Central	0
Franklin County	42	vs. Shelby County	19
Franklin-Simpson	17	vs. Allen County-Scottsville	7
No. 2 Frederick Douglass	41	at No. 24 Scott County	0
Graves County	52	at Breckinridge County	0
Grayson County	42	vs. Muhlenberg County	6
Green County	52	at Clinton County	12
Greenwood	41	at Glasgow	28
Harlan	50	vs. Sayre	42
Hart County	35	at Adair County	13
Hazard	14	vs. Ashland Blazer	7
No. 21 Henderson County	30	at No. 23 Paducah Tilghman	13
Henry County	49	vs. DeSales	6
Highlands	59	vs. Dixie Heights	14
Holmes	40	at Holy Cross (Covington)	27
Holy Cross (Louisville)	23	vs. Providence (Clarksville), IN	21
Kentucky Country Day	29	vs. Southern	14
Lawrence County	42	at East Carter	26
Leslie County	52	vs. Fairview	12
Letcher County Central	49	at Perry County Central	32
Lewis County	34	vs. Powell County	29
No. 15 Lexington Catholic	41	at Tates Creek	0
Logan County	49	vs. Hopkinsville	28
Madisonville-North Hopkins	67	vs. Calloway County	7
No. 8 Male	36	at Butler	0
Martin County	46	at Bath County	0
Mason County	49	vs. Pendleton County	12
No. 13 Mayfield	50	vs. Fort Campbell	7
McCracken County	34	vs. Apollo	14
Metcalfe County	39	at Edmonson County	22
Montgomery County	48	at Grant County	22
Nelson County	45	vs. Caverna	22
Newport Central Catholic	42	vs.Newport	26
Nicholas County	42	at Frankfort	28
North Oldham	47	vs. Waggener	7
Owen County	18	at Trimble County	14
No. 22 Owensboro	56	vs. Ohio County	7
Owensboro Catholic	48	at Hancock County	12
Paul Laurence Dunbar	21	at Russell	14
Pike County Central	30	vs. Floyd Central	28
No. 18 Pikeville	60	vs. Lexington Christian	21
Pleasure Ridge Park	35	vs. Western	0
Prestonsburg	42	at East Ridge	36
No. 16 Pulaski County	55	vs. Whitley County	13
Raceland	48	at Greenup County	28
Scott	37	at Rowan County	34
Shelby Valley	54	vs. West Carter	21
Somerset	38	vs. Williamsburg	28
No. 11 South Warren	24	vs. Central	0
No. 20 Southwestern	48	vs. Lincoln County	0
Spencer County	48	vs. Marion County	7
No. 1 St. Xavier	13	vs. No. 10 Trinity (Louisville)	8
Todd County Central	30	vs. Monroe County	0
Trigg County	55	at Fulton County	34
No. 27 Union County	25	at Crittenden County	6
Valley	30	vs. John Hardin	17
Walton-Verona	35	vs. Gallatin County	8
Warren Central	36	vs. Russell County	9
Warren East	35	vs. Wayne County	14
Washington County	49	at Eminence	13

Kroger is a staple in your hometown community just like high school football. There’s nothing quite like Friday nights in the Bluegrass. We are honored to share this journey with Kroger and you for the third consecutive season.