Score predictions for first weekend of Kentucky high school football

Kentucky high school football kicks off the 2024 season on Friday and Saturday. To open things up, we’re being treated with endless Top 25 matchups, including a primetime showdown between a pair of top five schools in Frederick Douglass and Bowling Green. KSR will be in attendance for that matchup in what is our first Game of the Week of the new season.

As we inch closer to Friday (and Saturday) Night Lights, we’re introducing a new weekly article: score predictions for every big game. Using the Massey Ratings — a system created in 1999 by statistician Kenneth Massey that was used to help determine the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) until 2013 — we are able to plug every high school team across the state of Kentucky into a tool that will predict the final outcome of any given matchup.

As a quick explanation, the Massey Ratings are computer ratings based on historical trends and current-year stats. With that in mind, it will need a few weeks’ worth of games before the numbers begin to hit their stride. However, you won’t find a more reliable system to use in terms of predicting scores in the preseason and throughout the first couple of weeks of the regular season.

For more information on the Massey Ratings and how it works, click here.

Below, we have included score predictions for all 25 teams in KSR’s preseason poll, along with the 10 additional teams that received votes from our panel of 10 voters. If your school was not included in the prediction sheet, click the link here to find your school’s team page. There, you’ll be able to see predictive scores for the rest of the season along with updated results.

*RV indicates a team receiving votes in KSR’s Preseason Top 25 Rankings*

Friday, August 23

TIME (EST)	MATCHUP	MASSEY PREDICTION
7:30 PM	No. 2 Trinity @ No. 15 Bryan Station	38-14 (Trinity)
7:00 PM	No. 5 Male @ Butler	41-0 (Male)
7:00 PM	No. 6 St. Xavier @ Floyd Central (IN)	42-12 (St. Xavier)
7:30 PM	Bardstown @ No. 8 Cooper	38-17 (Cooper)
8:00 PM	No. 17 Pikeville @ No. 9 Corbin (Cumberland Falls Pigskin Classic)	36- 14 (Corbin)
7:00 PM	No. 10 Christian Academy-Louisville @ RV Owensboro	34-21 (CAL)
5:45 PM	Pulaski County vs. No. 11 Beechwood (Cumberland Falls Pigskin Classic)	40-21 (Beechwood)
7:00 PM	No. 12 Owensboro Catholic @ Apollo	42-14 (Owensboro Catholic)
7:00 PM	No. 13 DuPont Manual @ No. 23 Central	32-19 (DuPont Manual)
7:00 PM	No. 15 Covington Catholic @ RV Ryle	35-28 (Covington Catholic)
7:30 PM	No. 16 Ballard vs. No. 22 South Warren (Campbellsville, KY)	32-28 (Ballard)
6:00 PM	No. 18 Franklin County vs. No. 24 Scott County (Great Crossing HS)	32-27 (Scott County)
7:00 PM	No. 19 Mayfield @ Graves County	40-20 (Mayfield)
7:30 PM	No. 21 Lexington Catholic @ RV Highlands	36-23 (Highlands)
7:30 PM	No. 25 Ashland Blazer @ Raceland	35-21 (Ashland Blazer)
7:30 PM	North Laurel @ RV Bell County	31-25 (North Laurel)
8:30 PM	Daviess County vs. RV Franklin-Simpson (Warren East HS)	27-22 (Daviess County)
7:30 PM	RV Johnson Central @ Madison Central	32-21 (Johnson Central)
7:30 PM	Holy Cross (Covington) @ Sayre	35-14 (Sayre)
7:00 PM	RV Union County @ RV Madisonville-North Hopkins	33-26 (Union County)

Saturday, August 24

TIME (EST)	MATCHUP	MASSEY PREDICTION
5:00 PM	No. 1 Boyle County vs. No. 20 Lexington Christian Academy (WKU)	41-21 (Boyle County)
8:00 PM	No. 3 Frederick Douglass vs. No. 4 Bowling Green (WKU)	28-22 (Frederick Douglass)
7:30 PM	Owen County @ RV Campbellsville	44-6 (Campbellsville)