No. 1 Paducah Tilghman, No. 5 Franklin County striving for perfection in Class 4A Title game

We’ll have a top-five matchup at Kroger Field in the Class 4A State Championship Game when No. 1 Paducah Tilghman takes on No. 5 Franklin County come Friday night at 8:00 p.m. EST. Both teams will be striving for perfection, looking to end their respective seasons with a “0” in the loss column.

The Blue Tornado defeated Breckinridge County, John Hardin, DeSales, and No. 15 Corbin en route to the state finals, while the Flyers beat Spencer County, Bardstown, and No. 10 Covington Catholic on their path to Lexington. Western forfeited their first-round game, hence why Franklin County only had to play in three games to make it to this point rather than four.

Paducah Tilghman and Franklin County are two very dominant defensive teams. In fact, these two boast the two best-scoring defenses in all of 4A. Tilghman allows just 9.1 points per game while the Flyers allow just 10.2 points per game.

No. 1 Paducah Tilghman (14-0)

For Kentucky fans, safety Martels Carter is someone to watch for Tilghman. The 2025 four-star Kentucky signee has 25 tackles, three tackles for loss, and three interceptions to his name this season. Carter is the anchor to what the Blue Tornado do defensively. However, they bring quite the punch offensively too.

Tilghman averages a 4A-best 49.3 points per game behind senior quarterback Jack James, who has thrown for 3,781 yards and 56 touchdowns this season. Junior tailback Demarkus Wilson leads the charge on the ground having recorded 823 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on 99 touches.

Carter, who was just mentioned as a player to watch for on defense, has 490 receiving yards and five touchdowns as well. A multi-faceted athlete, to say the least.

No. 5 Franklin County (13-0)

Franklin County is just as impressive, beating their opponents by an average of 29.5 points per contest. They have only given up 132 points this season — it’s usually a “no-fly zone” when the Flyers are around.

Leading the way on defense is senior Elesius Robinson, who has 52 tackles, four interceptions, 2.5 tackles for loss, and two fumble recoveries to his name in 2024. One of those interceptions was taken back to the crib, so Robinson is certainly a threat to make things happen when he gets some open field in front of him.

Franklin County has a run-heavy offense, running for 2,622 yards and passing for 1,395 as a unit. Senior Christian Moore has 992 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground for the Flyers. Robinson, Jacob Taylor, and Delano Collins all have north of 300 receiving yards and at least three receiving touchdowns. The passing attack may not come in a massive volume, but their options are spread apart, which will certainly be difficult to gameplan against.

Score Prediction