KSR's 2024 Kentucky High School Football Preview: Class 2A

It is once again football time in the Bluegrass. With less than a week remaining until the kickoff of the 2024 Kentucky high school football season, KSR will preview all 48 districts and all six classes. We’ve already covered Class 1A. This time, we take a look at Class 2A, home to the 17-time state champion Beechwood Tigers, the #11 overall team in KSR’s Kentucky High School Football Preseason Rankings.

After finishing state runners-up in 2A in four of the last six seasons, the Mayfield Cardinals finally captured their first state championship since 2015 last season after coming on top in a 53-48 all-timer of a game against Owensboro Catholic.

However, repeating as champions will be a tall task for Cliff Dew’s unit. Last season, the Cardinals had the top offense in the entire state, regardless of class, scoring 49.8 points per game. Quarterback Zane Cartwright, their top two rushers, and top two receivers all departed this offseason, so the vast majority of their offensive production from last season is now gone. Still, considering Mayfield’s roster size and overall depth, they should be able to reload and yet again compete for another state championship.

Murray, on the other hand, added to their roster by getting junior quarterback Wyatt Robbins from Calloway County, who threw for 1,611 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. It’ll be interesting to if senior Jeremiah Jones will also get reps behind center, maybe in certain packages, or if he’ll strictly be used in the running game. While passing for 643 yards and six touchdowns, he also ran for 204 yards and three touchdowns last season. He also had 326 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns as well.

Similarly to Mayfield, Crittenden County is losing a ton of offensive production. However, junior wideout Caden Howard, who recorded 626 receiving yards and caught 10 touchdowns (tied for eighth in 2A), will be back again this season for the Rockets.

District 2 in Class 2A has, and will continue to belong to, Jason Morris and Owensboro Catholic. Quarterback Brady Atwell, the nephew of 1999 Kentucky Mr. Football winner Travis Atwell, returns to the Aces for his senior season. As a junior, Atwell threw for 4,743 yards and 68 touchdowns (both first in the entire state regardless of class) while rushing for 695 yards and 17 touchdowns (seventh in 2A) as well.

Losing wide receiver William “Tutt” Carrico to graduation will certainly hurt the Aces in the passing game, but adding Owensboro transfer and Illinois State commit Dereon Crowe will make up for some of that last production.

As a junior last season, Crowe caught 28 passes for 432 yards and five touchdowns. He had six touchdowns on the ground as well. Playing linebacker, Crowe tallied 64 total tackles, nine tackles for loss, three sacks and a fumble recovery.

The Todd County Central Rebels will be led by first-year head coach Chris Fletcher in 2024 after Josh Robins jumped ship to Butler County. Edmonson County hired Justin Vessels as head coach, who served as their offensive coordinator from 2004-2015. He coordinated the 2011 Edmonson County team that went 11-1 and scored 43.9 points per game, which was good for ninth best in the state that year.

Ever since Colt Phelps took over Green County in 2021, the Dragons have been one of the more underrated teams in 2A. Two of those three seasons under Phelps have been double-digit win seasons, including last year’s 10-3 campaign.

Considering their schedule is looking rather light again in 2024, perhaps another big season is brewing in Green County. Quarterback Houston Hodges returns for his senior season after throwing for 2,034 yards (seventh in 1A) and 18 touchdowns last year. However, they do lose both Kelson McKinney and Jullian Seymour, two 1,000-yard rushers from last season.

Clinton County, Metcalfe County, and Monroe County have all maintained their previous coaches from last season, so clearly, faith hasn’t been lost with the leadership of any of those programs.

As for Metcalfe County, they’ll look to bounce back to their normal selves after a disappointing 3-9 season in 2023. After going 12-1 in 2022 and 8-4 the year prior, LJ Harbison and the Hornets will need a much-improved 2024 to right the ship.

While Lexington Christian Academy has and will continue to be one of the top teams in 2A, they lost Cutter Boley this offseason, who is now a part of the quarterback room at the University of Kentucky. Last season, he threw for 2,187 yards and 24 touchdowns.

Additionally, LCA lost running back Brady Hensley to EKU as well, and he ran for 2,408 yards and 43 touchdowns, both of which were tops in 2A last season. Don’t feel too sorry for the Eagles, however. They’ll continue to reload and build up future standouts such as junior quarterback Carter Penix. Of course, Hensley is still going to be pretty hard to replace.

Five. Five touchdowns for Brady Hensley (@BradyHensley12). LCA responds IMMEDIATELY. Extra point is good.

LCA 41 | Raceland 14 | 8:04 4Q pic.twitter.com/ynSzU1qcei

— Phoenix Stevens (@PStevensKSR) October 28, 2023

Penix will have senior wide receiver Saxton Howard to aid him in the passing game as well. In 2023, Howard caught 42 passes for 576 yards and four touchdowns, all good for second-best for the Eagles last year.

Lawrence Smith will be at the helm for Washington County this season after Eric Sagrecy resigned from his head coaching position to take on a more full-time role as the school’s assistant principal. After an improved 7-4 season, Smith will look to keep the Commanders climbing up the ranks of 2A.

The Beechwood Tigers won three consecutive 2A state championships before falling just short of that goal last year. However, in 2024, Jay Volker’s program may be one of the best in the state, regardless of class. First and foremost, quarterback Clay Hayden will be returning for his senior season.

Last year, Hayden threw for 3,910 yards and 48 touchdowns, both good enough for second in 2A. On top of that, all of their top five rushers are returning, and so are their top three receivers. The Tigers are going to be scary good this season.

As for the Bracken County Polar Bears, Steven Tarter will look to build on his first season at the helm when he coached his team to a respectable 6-5 record last year. It certainly helps that junior quarterback Jackson Whitten will be returning, but it’s even more pivotal that junior tailback Daulton Tucker will be back for another year. In 2023, he rushed for 1,436 yards and 25 touchdowns in just 10 games. That equates to 144 yards on the ground, which was good for second-best in 2A last season.

Plus, there were a pair of coaching changes that took place in District 5. Walton-Verona names Gary Pence as their new head coach this offseason, and Carroll County will now be led by Lonnie Oldham. Hopefully, Pence and Oldham can elevate their respective programs to be competitive in this very top-heavy district.

If it weren’t for running into a historically good Owensboro Catholic team in the playoffs, then Somerset may have very well brought home another state championship after winning one in 2019.

The Briar Jumpers return senior Josh Burner, who quarterbacked the team last season. As a junior, he recorded 1,558 passing yards and 17 touchdowns. Additionally, he’ll have Kris Hughes at his disposal, who tallied 1,247 scrimmage yards and found the end zone 19 total times last season.

Leslie County and Breathitt County, who each put up respectable records last season, will be looking to make that next jump in 2024 to contend within District 6. It is worth noting that Leslie County did add senior wideout Noah Kilburn from Perry County Central this offseason. He recorded 975 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2023.

Since Danville won 2A back in 2017, the Admirals just haven’t been able to find much success at all since then. Last season, things hit a low point as Danville went winless in 2023. Coach Frank Parks’ first season at the helm was a forgettable one, to say the least, and unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that 2024 will be much improved this season considering all the production that they lost in the offseason.

Unlike a lot of the districts discussed so far in this preview, there isn’t a clear-cut top program within this group of schools. Just look at their records from last season. At the end of the regular season, Floyd Central, Martin County, and Prestonsburg were all knotted at 5-5. However, because Martin County went 3-0 in the district, they won it.

Speaking of Martin County, they return two of their top four rushers, which is pivotal for them considering how run-heavy their offense is. If they want to take that next step, however, they’ll need to find some level of consistency in the pass game.

The objectives for both Prestonsburg and Floyd Central will be the same this season — to surpass Martin County as the top team in this district. However, if Floyd Central specifically wants to do that, then they must get things figured out defensively. Last season, they allowed 37.5 points per game, which was the third-worst in 2A.

Knox County Central, on the other hand, will be looking to improve after an underwhelming 2023 season in which they went 2-9. However, Randall Mullins is in just his third year as head coach of the Patriots, so maybe it’ll take some time before he can get that program up on its feet.

While there are two teams in District 8 that clearly set themselves apart last season, the floor in this district is rather high. With East Ridge and Pike County Central going .500 in the regular season, District 8 turned out to be one of the more well-rounded districts in the state last season, and there’s no reason why that has to change in 2024.

Shelby Valley won this district last year, but after 23 seasons as a coach for the Wildcats, Anthony Hampton resigned, and now, Tyler Johnson will look to fill his shoes. Junior Brady Johnson will presumably be filling the quarterback position this year after throwing for 131 yards and three touchdowns on just eight passes last season.

Betsy Layne will look to maintain their status as one of the most dangerous teams on the ground in 2A. Last season, the Bobcats ran for 3,078 yards, which was fourth in 2A. Returning Andrew McCutcheon, who ran for 1,580 yards and 21 touchdowns (both top five in 2A) as a junior, will be huge in doing that.

Pike County Central will be operated under first-year head coach Scott Grizzle in 2024 after Ronn Varney stepped down after just two seasons at the helm. Hopefully, the Hawks can find some continuity through Grizzle moving forward.

KSR’s Preseason Honors:

• Class 2A Player of the Year – QB Brady Atwell (Owensboro Catholic)
• Class 2A Coach of the Year – Jay Volker (Beechwood)
• Class 2A State Champion – Beechwood Tigers