Which KY high school football team had the most impressive decade?
You've heard the old saying "The rich get richer" and the past decade of football in KY would seem to bear it out. Look at this chart of the most successful teams from 2010-2019. For the most part, it is the same teams, year in and year out, who sustained success. Kudos to them for finding the right formula because it ain't easy staying on top.
These teams are sorted in order of playoff winning percentage. Trinity 93.3% is just WOW. I only included teams with an average of at least 10 wins per season. (South Warren only played 9 seasons) There are a lot of teams that just missed the cutoff.
The chart shows overall wins and losses and win % as well as playoff wins and losses and win %. The last 5 columns shows how each season ended.
For example, Central is 5th on the list, but they had the most losses and lowest overall winning % of anyone. But, most of those losses were in the regular season due to their brutal schedule. When it mattered, they won 86.4% of their games in the post season. And in these 10 years, they finished their seasons with 4 Championships, 2 Runner-Ups, 2 Semifinal appearances, 2 Regional finals, and they never lost in the 1st or 2nd round of the playoffs.
Enjoy the info. What jumps out at you? Who had the most impressive decade?
Playoff wins Mayfield
Playoff win % Trinity
Titles Trinity
I don't need any more numbers than that. Trinity.
Also just a pet peeve of mine. This is about "programs". Teams last one year and never exist again.
Central is extremely impressive to me. They don't have a lot of the resources that some of your other schools have but are almost always in the conversation come playoffs and a tough out for any team.
Having combed through tons of Ky HS football data over the past few weeks I have to say that I love this question and my answer depends on which lens I look through.
Lens 1: Data with no other factors.
1. Mayfield - Mayfield may pound for pound have a claim for the greatest team all-time. This is a school that has only lost 24 district games since 1963. While they may not have all the titles of a Highlands or Trinity they would make a compelling argument and they have played in 9 State Titles this decade.
2. Trinity - 70% of the 6A championships this decade are in the halls of Trinity. A national ranking and crazy 93% in the playoffs. I would almost say 1A and 1B for them and Mayfield but the fact they are a private diminishes the accomplishment some in my eyes
3. Belfry - The numbers don't lie, 41 Playoff wins 5-3 in State Title Games, played in some of the best title games of the decade.
Lens 2: Importance to the School and Community
1. Belfry - for all the reasons mentioned above and for the fact that this decade has taken them from, "Belfry, yeah they might be good" to perineal 3A favorite.
2. Bowling Green - Much like Belfry this decade has elevated BG to the KY Gridiron Pantheon. The lose of Wallace may be the only thing keeping them from being at the top of the prior list.
3. Central - Dominated the early decade, 4-2 in title games, with 2 different Coaches.,, their starting 2007 keeps them from the top of list for the decade.
Thereâs a thread I made about a month ago naming the team of the decade for each class that has some good Info in it people posted you can use for this.
I have Pikeville at 105-29.
2010: 8-5
2011: 11-3
2012: 8-5
2013: 11-2
2014: 11-1
2015: 13-2
2016: 10-3
2017: 8-5
2018: 11-3
2019: 14-0
Most impressive program is always debatable. Most impressive transformation, however, I would love to nominate Johnson Central. I was a student there from 1991-5. We went 2-8, 0-10, 4-6, and 3-7. The Apple Bowl was our yearly Super Bowl vs a 1A school, and we usually lost. When I graduated, we had zero playoff appearances since football began in the early 1970s. (First playoff appearance was 1995-96, ended in brutal loss on Log Mountain IIRC). Even before Coach Matney stepped in, under Humphrey and Ross, believe we won 5 games in 3 years. Since 2004, the numbers speak for themselves. We went from a basketball (some would say a baseball and girls basketball) school to a football school, and if you had told me in HS that one day I would watch this team win two state titles, I might have expressed...significant disbelief. Eagle Nation is alive, well, and thriving, and it was born from some exceedingly humble roots.
Panther Thunder Wrote:I have Pikeville at 105-29.
2010: 8-5
2011: 11-3
2012: 8-5
2013: 11-2
2014: 11-1
2015: 13-2
2016: 10-3
2017: 8-5
2018: 11-3
2019: 14-0
Looks like the KHSAA still has the 2012 season at 7-6, but they are not counting the forfeit by Fairview.
bucslover68 Wrote:Looks like the KHSAA still has the 2012 season at 7-6, but they are not counting the forfeit by Fairview.
The wins in the chart added up the same, not sure why the losses didnât. (playoff record did as well)
I just looked at KHSAA and the have 8-5.
Not a big deal. Just for the sake of accuracy lol.
Buc-a-roo Wrote:Which KY high school football team had the most impressive decade?
You've heard the old saying "The rich get richer" and the past decade of football in KY would seem to bear it out. Look at this chart of the most successful teams from 2010-2019. For the most part, it is the same teams, year in and year out, who sustained success. Kudos to them for finding the right formula because it ain't easy staying on top.
These teams are sorted in order of playoff winning percentage. Trinity 93.3% is just WOW. I only included teams with an average of at least 10 wins per season. (South Warren only played 9 seasons) There are a lot of teams that just missed the cutoff.
The chart shows overall wins and losses and win % as well as playoff wins and losses and win %. The last 5 columns shows how each season ended.
For example, Central is 5th on the list, but they had the most losses and lowest overall winning % of anyone. But, most of those losses were in the regular season due to their brutal schedule. When it mattered, they won 86.4% of their games in the post season. And in these 10 years, they finished their seasons with 4 Championships, 2 Runner-Ups, 2 Semifinal appearances, 2 Regional finals, and they never lost in the 1st or 2nd round of the playoffs.
Enjoy the info. What jumps out at you? Who had the most impressive decade?
Wow! Some great teams over the past decade. All of them deserve a hand clap. The Belfry/Central games stand out to me. Man, what a ride that was!
What a decade it was for the small school from a small community in far Eastern Kentucky that plays on Pond Creek. 5 State Championships and 3 Runner-ups in a 10 year span with an overall record of 122-23 and a playoff record of 41-5. The two years they didn't make it they lost in the regional finals. Unbelievable run the Pirates have had! May never happen again in the far eastern mountains.
But that's not the most impressive. That award goes to Trinity. 7 State Championships in 10 years; WOW!
Panther Thunder Wrote:The wins in the chart added up the same, not sure why the losses didnât. (playoff record did as well)
I just looked at KHSAA and the have 8-5.
Not a big deal. Just for the sake of accuracy lol.
I started with the KHAAA database for 2010-2019. That list hasnât been updated for this season yet. So I took the 90-30 they have for Pikeville and added 15-0 for 2019. They still have 7-6 there for 2012. But I added 15-0 for 2019 by mistake instead of 14-0.
https://khsaa.org/records/football/fb10syearbyyear.pdf
So I didnât adjust for the forfeit AND I also added an extra win in 2019 because I forgot about the bye week in week 1 of the playoffs when computing the overall record
The reason I got the playoff numbers right is I went year by year and calculated that independently.
Net adjustment would give Pikeville an overall win % of 78.36% instead of the 77.8% I credited them with.
I appreciate the correction I hate to make mistakes like that 😡
The fact that Highlands is so high on the list is a testament to how good they were the first half+ of the decade. Even with three first or second round exits the Bluebirds still had a playoff win % of 85.7 and a playoff record of 30-5.
Not too shabby
Bell a record is 86 an 31 though those years
Buc-a-roo Wrote:The fact that Highlands is so high on the list is a testament to how good they were the first half+ of the decade. Even with three first or second round exits the Bluebirds still had a playoff win % of 85.7 and a playoff record of 30-5.
Not too shabby
It's also a testament to how good some of those Covington Catholic and Johnson Central teams were that lost competitive games to them in the early rounds of the playoffs. In many of Highlands' championship years, JC and Covington Catholic gave them their most competitive games.
Trinity had the most impressive decade and it was not even close. Not only did they win more titles than any other team but they also played the strongest schedule each year by a wide margin.
I hope that the KHSAA fixes the RPI system so that teams are not penalized for playing tough out of state competition.
Itâs funny. People on here are talking about state titles and amazing runs and Pikeville is complaining about not be credited for a single win in a 2012 season lol