KSR's Kentucky High School Football End-of-Season Rankings

And that’s a wrap on the 2022 Kentucky high school football season! All six state champions were crowned throughout Friday and Saturday at Kroger Field in Lexington, KY, featuring plenty of late-game excitement and a couple of impressive blowouts along the way. The weather didn’t always make for a perfect environment, but it didn’t matter which two schools were facing off against each other — the fans were loud and showed up in droves.

With the season officially in the books, KSR is releasing our final statewide Top 25 rankings of the year. Check them out below. Last week’s playoff rankings can be found here.

KSR’s Statewide Rankings: Post-Championship Weekend

1. Frederick Douglass (15-0): Defeated Bowling Green 28-7 – Cole Carpenter passed for 147 yards and three scores. UK commit Ty Bryant had a defensive interception and rushed for a score. Ranked wins: #2 Boyle County 37-6, #9 Bowling Green 28-7, #12 Scott County 41-0, #14 Covington Catholic 33-6, #17 Woodford County 21-7, #18 Bryan Station 52-7, #20 Owensboro 14-2; Losses: None.
2. Boyle County (13-2): Defeated Corbin 32-26 – Sage Dawson rushed for 109 yards, caught a touchdown and passed for another score. Avery Bodner rushed for 100 yards and had rushing and passing touchdowns. Ranked wins: #7 Corbin 32-26, #9 Bowling Green 35-21, #15 Lexington Catholic 41-21, #18 Bryan Station 36-12; Losses: #1 Frederick Douglass 37-6, #15 Lexington Catholic 28-27.
3. Bullitt East (14-1): Defeated Male 28-27 – Travis Egan rushed for 66 yards and passed for 286 yards and four touchdowns. He also caught the go-ahead 2-point conversion. Ranked wins: #6 Male 24-17, #6 Male 28-27, #18 Bryan Station 55-41, #19 Manual 36-35; Losses: Unranked Spencer County 19-16.
4. Christian Academy-Louisville (15-0): Defeated Bardstown 38-0 – Gavin Copenhaver rushed for 225 yards and two scores while Cole Hodge passed for 172 yards and three touchdowns. Ranked wins: #23 Bardstown 38-0; Losses: None.
5. St. Xavier (11-2): Lost to Male in Round 2 – Ranked wins: #6 Male 24-10, #9 Bowling Green 31-0, #19 Manual 13-10, #20 Owensboro 28-14, #22 Trinity 13-8; Losses: #6 Male 22-21 (OT).
6. Male (10-5): Lost to Bullitt East 28-27 – Daniel Swinney rushed for 118 yards and Max Gainey caught 10 passes for 153 yards. Ranked wins: #5 St. Xavier 22-21, #13 Ballard 24-20, #19 Manual 14-3, #22 Trinity 23-21; Losses: #3 Bullitt East 24-17, #3 Bullitt East 28-27, #5 St. Xavier 24-10, #13 Ballard 12-7, Roncalli (IN) 28-7.
7. Corbin (14-1): Lost to Boyle County 32-26 – Kade Elam passed for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Ranked wins: #8 Pikeville 24-19, #25 Johnson Central 35-21; Losses: #2 Boyle County 32-26.
8. Pikeville (12-2): Defeated Raceland 41-9 – Blake Birchfield rushed for 231 yards and three touchdowns. Ranked wins: #24 Raceland 41-9; Losses: #7 Corbin 24-19, #14 Covington Catholic 27-19.
9. Bowling Green (12-3): Lost to Frederick Douglass 28-7 – Deuce Bailey passed for 205 yards and a score. Ranked wins: #11 Southwestern 41-20; Losses: #1 Frederick Douglass 28-7, #2 Boyle County 35-21 #5 St. Xavier 31-0.
10. Beechwood (14-1): Defeated Mayfield 14-13 – Chase Flaherty rushed for 115 yards and a score. Ranked wins: #16 Mayfield 14-13; Losses: #14 Covington Catholic 31-14.
11. Southwestern (13-1)
12. Scott County (11-2)
13. Ballard (11-3)
14. Covington Catholic (9-3) 
15. Lexington Catholic (10-3) 
16. Mayfield (14-1)
17. Woodford County (11-2)
18. Bryan Station (10-4)
19. DuPont Manual (9-3)
20. Owensboro (11-3)
21. Highlands (9-3) 
22. Trinity (8-5)
23. Bardstown (14-1)
24. Raceland (13-1)
25. Johnson Central (10-3)

Final Rankings By Class

Class 1A

1. Pikeville
2. Raceland
3. Hazard
4. Newport Central Catholic
5. Louisville Holy Cross

Class 2A

1. Beechwood
2. Mayfield
3. Lexington Christian Academy
4. Owensboro Catholic
5. Metcalfe County

Class 3A

1. Christian Academy-Louisville
2. Bardstown
3. Mason County
4. Union County
5. Paducah Tilghman

Class 4A

1. Boyle County
2. Corbin
3. Lexington Catholic
4. Johnson Central
5. Central

Class 5A

1. Frederick Douglass
2. Bowling Green
3. Southwestern
4. Scott County
5. Covington Catholic

Class 6A

1. Bullitt East
2. St. Xavier
3. Male
4. Ballard
5. Bryan Station

To the “preseason rankings don’t matter” crowd, I’ll remind you that if you are #1 in your class you will probably win the title.
#1 Preseason teams by class in my rankings:
A Pikeville ✅
2A Beechwood✅
3A CAL✅
4A Boyle✅
5A Douglass✅
6A St X ❌

See y’all next year!

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) December 4, 2022

State Championship Results

Class A: Pikeville Defeated Raceland 41-9

Class 2A: Beechwood Defeated Mayfield 14-13

Class 3A: Christian Academy Louisville Defeated Bardstown 38-0

Class 4A: Boyle County Defeated Corbin 32-26

Class 5A: Frederick Douglass Defeated Bowling Green 28-7

Class 6A: Bullitt East Defeated Male 28-27

KSR’s Picks

KSR correctly picked four of the six winners, missing on Beechwood and Boyle County.

“A lot of people picked against us, KSR picked against us,” Boyle County coach Justin Haddix noted after the championship game.”

Regarding individual KSR picks, Brady, Clark, Jude and Troy led the way with five out of six correct picks. Out of nearly 100 Twitter submissions, only three correctly nailed all six.

Who went 6-0?

I went 5-1 & so did this dude! https://t.co/j5IOJzkM0Y pic.twitter.com/T8GLpCxXjf

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) December 4, 2022

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