[TRex34]

1st Tier Favorites: Raceland, KCD, Campbellsville.
2nd teir but could pose problems if everything clicks : Hazard, Pikeville, Sayre
Wildcards : Paris, Newport, NCC
Teams that will be much improved this year : Caverna, Fairview

Lets break it down:
(TIER 1)
All 3 first tier teams return a massive amount of starters from last season. This alone, combined with the fact these teams were also REALLY good last year, pretty much equals a slam dunk in terms of success chance this year.
Of all 3 teams, Campbellsville will be the most exciting offensively, just because they play loose and aren't afraid to play modern football. Raceland tries to look fancy in trips sets and 4 wide sets, but that's just to spread the field for running lanes. KCD runs an archaic Wing-T offense that should only be appreciated by anyone over the age of 40. The good news is that both KCD and Raceland have great defenses, so they can run that stuff and still win in 21-7 and 14-7 style ballgames.

(TIER 2)
Hazard is going to be a lot better this year than last in my opinion. They have a good mix of young guys and some experienced leaders returning. The problem Hazard has, and a lot of these Tier 2 teams share this same issue, is depth. Last year Hazard hung with Raceland in the playoff game the entire first half while Raceland was playing vanilla ball. 2nd half got away from them. I think they are 3 or 4 guys away from Teir 1.
Pikeville has some great talent but they are all YOUNG. It is hard to be a freshman or sophomore and go out and compete with all seniors and juniors, which is what all 3 of the Tier 1 teams are going to be putting on the field. They have lost some key guys to graduation and to transferring. I think they bounce back this year but just don't have enough to warrant Tier 1 status. Like Raceland, they are good defensively, but their offense is boring beyond belief (or at least has been the past few years)
Sayre is kind of an enigma. Haven't heard a lot from Lexington about these guys. I know their entire o-line is back and they had some decent young talent last year. If you took Coffman off that team last year, they are a 7-3 team that loses in trhe semifinal. I don't know that they have a gamechanger like him this year. They lost too much to be Tier 1 and I wonder how effective that pass heavy offense will be this year without the weapons.

(WILDCARDS)
Paris - I have heard multiple things--they have gooten a bunch of players from FD, to the more believeable statement that they got a few FD backups and their numbers are low. Time will tell. If they get those transfers and with this new coaching staff, they could be a surprise team.
Newport and NCC both return some key players. They should both have good seasons. I just don't know if they have the firepower to compete with the Tier 2 and Teir 1 teams in terms of depth and overall talent.

(IMPROVED TEAMS)
Caverna and Fairview - I think Caverna has a much better year. They hate to throw the football, but they have some decent returning backs and their schedule is crap so 7-3 could be attainable?
Fairview plays a little harder schedule but should go 6-4 IMHO. Quarterback play is really good and their offense catches a lot of teams off guard. Defense will stink probably, but they will score a lot and win a lot of games 44-42, 46-44, etc.

Solid breakdown. It’s almost here

[RAM-A-DEVIL]

I went back and counted but Hazard had 35 kids out for its spring practice game. No incoming freshmen were listed/played in this. So look for around 40+ for the 2025 season.

At last count Raceland has 62 as of right now. That number could go up or down before the season starts.

[RAMDAD50]

I believe it’s a three horse race this year. I don’t even believe the second tear teams are close to the top three. The big question mark is Sayre. Who knows if they got any transfers. The one thing that will shake up things this year will be injuries. If any of the top three have significant injuries then it will drop them off that top tear line. We all know it’s much harder to absorb a major injury in class A football. It’ll be a fun year regardless.

[bac2369]

I went back and counted but Hazard had 35 kids out for its spring practice game. No incoming freshmen were listed/played in this. So look for around 40+ for the 2025 season.

At last count Raceland has 62 as of right now. That number could go up or down before the season starts.

Raceland has always seemed to have good numbers over the years. But it seems like the last 3-4 they haven’t started using there depth to wear down teams. How many incoming freshmen does The Rams have coming in?

[ArmChairHC]

This incoming class of freshman isn’t huge on numbers, but still has somewhere in the 15-20 range I believe. Not a lot of lineman in that group though.

[bac2369]

^ That’s some good numbers coming in. 46 returning from last season and RamDevil said 62 at the moment. Very good numbers for a Class 1A school.

[RAM-A-DEVIL]

https://kentuckyprepgridiron.com/kpgfoot...hfootball/

[bac2369]

https://kentuckyprepgridiron.com/kpgfoot...hfootball/

Top 3 looks right. After that it’s off.

[Micro-Brew]

Is the pressure on Raceland this year? They are the clear cut favorites. If they don’t win, will the near term opportunities have passed for at least the next 3-4 years?

[RAM-A-DEVIL]

They will be good again next year with 22 seniors

[RAMDAD50]

Is the pressure on Raceland this year? They are the clear cut favorites. If they don’t win, will the near term opportunities have passed for at least the next 3-4 years?

Raceland will be solid for the next two years. As far as pressure….idk I guess that depends on each persons own outlook. Being around some of the kids they don’t act like there’s any pressure. They just really enjoy playing football with one another. There will be a different feel to this season being it’s Racelands 100th year of football so there may be some distractions

[jetpilot]

I believe it’s a three horse race this year. I don’t even believe the second tear teams are close to the top three. The big question mark is Sayre. Who knows if they got any transfers. The one thing that will shake up things this year will be injuries. If any of the top three have significant injuries then it will drop them off that top tear line. We all know it’s much harder to absorb a major injury in class A football. It’ll be a fun year regardless.

The comedy value on this thread is epic. 
Pikeville has beaten Raceland 7 of the last 8 including on their home field last year and 3 straight routs in the playoffs. The only game Raceland won in that span was by one point when Anthony was out for Pikeville and Pikeville avenged that in the championship in a big way 21-0.
Suddenly long before practice even starts Pikeville is magically second tier and not even close to Raceland? Or  even freaking KCD? Only in the bizzaro world of crack pipes and fairy dust. Raceland fans even wiped from their memories that they lost 5 games last year. Can't wait for Raceland to come to Pikeville this year and see how we magically aren't even close to them all of the sudden.

[RAMDAD50]

I believe it’s a three horse race this year. I don’t even believe the second tear teams are close to the top three. The big question mark is Sayre. Who knows if they got any transfers. The one thing that will shake up things this year will be injuries. If any of the top three have significant injuries then it will drop them off that top tear line. We all know it’s much harder to absorb a major injury in class A football. It’ll be a fun year regardless.

The comedy value on this thread is epic. 
Pikeville has beaten Raceland 7 of the last 8 including on their home field last year and 3 straight routs in the playoffs. The only game Raceland won in that span was by one point when Anthony was out for Pikeville and Pikeville avenged that in the championship in a big way 21-0.
Suddenly long before practice even starts Pikeville is magically second tier and not even close to Raceland? Or  even freaking KCD? Only in the bizzaro world of crack pipes and fairy dust. Raceland fans even wiped from their memories that they lost 5 games last year. Can't wait for Raceland to come to Pikeville this year and see how we magically aren't even close to them all of the sudden.

Yeah because they past is relevant to to this year. Grow up Jet. It’s way to early to be posting such butt hurt posts

[jetpilot]

I believe it’s a three horse race this year. I don’t even believe the second tear teams are close to the top three. The big question mark is Sayre. Who knows if they got any transfers. The one thing that will shake up things this year will be injuries. If any of the top three have significant injuries then it will drop them off that top tear line. We all know it’s much harder to absorb a major injury in class A football. It’ll be a fun year regardless.

The comedy value on this thread is epic. 
Pikeville has beaten Raceland 7 of the last 8 including on their home field last year and 3 straight routs in the playoffs. The only game Raceland won in that span was by one point when Anthony was out for Pikeville and Pikeville avenged that in the championship in a big way 21-0.
Suddenly long before practice even starts Pikeville is magically second tier and not even close to Raceland? Or  even freaking KCD? Only in the bizzaro world of crack pipes and fairy dust. Raceland fans even wiped from their memories that they lost 5 games last year. Can't wait for Raceland to come to Pikeville this year and see how we magically aren't even close to them all of the sudden.

Yeah because they past is relevant to to this year. Grow up Jet. It’s way to early to be posting such butt hurt posts

LOL!

[Belichick]

Don’t disagree with KY Prep Gridiron rankings. Have to prove it on the field but it’s reasonable. Past success means nothing for 2025. Pikeville is flawed.

[jetpilot]

Like the rest of Class A isn't flawed. Everybody is going to have to prove it on the field. It's possible a bunch of Class A teams are suddenly way better than Pikeville long before the first practice, but I'm going to have to see it before I buy it.

[Micro-Brew]

Hmmmm……doesn’t take much for things to drastically change in 1A……stay tuned

[jetpilot]

Hmmmm……doesn’t take much for things to drastically change in 1A……stay tuned

I hate it when I can't tell if a post is optimistic or pessimistic lol

[Micro-Brew]

I love you JP and I know deep down you love me too