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A game to keep an eye on in each class on Oct. 2, 2026 …

Frederick Douglass (5-0) hosts Male (4-2) in the latest iteration of a budding rivalry between the state’s oldest public high school and one of its newest. And, to date, one in which the home team has not won.

Male — the oldest high school west of the Allegheny mountains, if you didn’t know — enters off a rout of Pleasure Ridge Park (41-7), wherein Bryson Flowers racked up 143 yards and three touchdowns on just seven carries (that’s 20.4 yards a rush). Douglass is the last non-Louisville public school the Bulldogs will see in the regular season; their trio of district games — Fern Creek, Bullitt East and Manual — start next week before they end with their annual bout against DuPont Manual, Kentucky’s oldest rivalry.

Frederick Douglass, which opened in Lexington during the 2017-18 school year, traveled 220 miles (and back) for its latest win, a 35-7 decision at Christian County (2-4). Dakari Talbert had 157 yards and three TDs on 19 rushes in that one.

Douglass is 2-1 all-time against the Bulldogs, each game occurring over the last three seasons. It started with 21-20 win in the 2023 Class 6A semifinals at Male. The Bulldogs then won a regular-season rematch in 2024, 31-28, at Douglass. The Broncos then handed Male another home loss, 14-0, last season.

Anderson County (3-2, 1-0 District 6) might have assured itself a playoff berth with a 28-20 win at South Oldham last week to start district play. Hudson DeGarmo had 133 yards and two TDs on 12 carries in that one; he also completed his only pass attempt for a TD.

The Bearcats hadn’t won a district contest since 2018. There were years when that didn’t have a bearing on their playoff participation, given the makeup of district pairings, but they’ve not sniffed the postseason since 2022. They’re off to a 3-2 start for the third straight year under David Buchanan.

While piling up more wins could prove a Herculean task — Anderson hosts high-powered Scott County (5-1, 1-0 District 6) this week before its bye week. They get no further breaks (and might need to install new brakes) in games against Collins (Oct. 16) and Woodford County (Oct. 23) in the weeks ahead.

Timmy Emongo ranks among the best rushers in Kentucky with 868 yards and is tied for the third most TDs in the state with 16 (with Danville’s Jayvian Meaux). Emongo’s also caught three TDs. Cardinals QB Charlie Ellison has rushed for five TDs and thrown for eight on 24 of 40 passing without an interception, and has been sacked only once this season.

Corbin (3-2) plays for the first time since a lightning-plagued loss to Frederick Douglass back on Sept. 18. The Redhounds lost 10-0 in the suspended contest and were on a bye last week.

Johnson Central (2-4) hosts them. The Golden Eagles opened district play last week with a 42-21 win over Boyd County, snapping a four-game slide, but face another stiff test out of district this week. They’re a few first downs short of 2,000 rushing yards as a team already; Brennon Daniels paces a variable backfield with 470 yards and four TDs.

The teams have met each season since 2020, splitting those six games. Johnson Central ended a three-game losing streak in the series last year on the road, 37-34. That was part of an unbeaten regular season for the Golden Eagles, who fell to Covington Catholic (36-29) in the second round of the playoffs.

Corbin was 3-0 before suffering a 21-14 loss to Pulaski County, who’s 6-0 with several impressive wins, a week before falling at Douglass. It’ll look to get its running game back on track after managing a combined 58 yards over the last two outings.

Bourbon County led Woodford County (5A, 4-1) into the third quarter before wearing down in a 35-20 decision. But the Colonels (5-1) could climb up the standings and win over many with a win at home against Lloyd Memorial (6-0), a bout that’ll likely settle the top seed in Class 3A, District 5.

Both had little trouble in their district openers: the Juggernauts stayed unbeaten with a 35-12 win over Pendleton County while Bourbon blanked Henry County 33-0. Lloyd narrowly defeated the Colonels last year, 22-20, in a similar spot last season, on its way to the state semifinals. That was Bourbon County’s lone loss before falling to Russell in the second round of the playoffs, 14-7.

Colten Barger is completing just slightly more than half his passes (34 of 60) but hasn’t thrown an interception and has dealt eight TDs. He’s also the Juggernauts’ leading rusher (545 yards, 7 TDs).

Walton-Verona (4-1) last had a winning record this deep into the season in 2022. Since dropping their opener against Bishop Brossart (30-22), the Bearcats have reeled off wins against a solid Class A squad (Ludlow), two bigger-class opponents (Class 6A Boone County, 25-8, and Class 4A Harrison County, 29-0) and a district rival (Bracken County, 27-10).

The biggest test of their season awaits in Fort Mitchell on Friday night. Media poll No. 1 Beechwood (5-0) boasts its best record this deep into a season since 2021, which also was the last time it beat Covington Catholic, something the Tigers did a couple weeks ago. The Tigers, who had lost four straight to the Colonels before that, followed the effort with a 63-0 win at Owen County.

I’ll write plenty about the biggest game of the week in Class A: I’ll be covering Louisville Holy Cross at Sayre for the Courier Journal on Friday night. So let’s highlight something different here!

Dayton — sneakily 5-0 for the first time since 2020 — entered the media poll for the first time this season at No. 9. The Greendevils put their unbeaten record on the line at home against Iroquois, a 5A team that’s also off to a feel-good start at 4-1 (the Raiders last won four games, total, in 2017).

Malachi Kennedy rushed for 125 yards and a TD in Dayton’s most recent effort, a 38-16 win over Western Hills on Sept. 18. Kamar Pinkston had 133 yards and both of Iroquois’ TDs in a 12-8 win at Morgan County last week.

These teams have yet to lose a game this fall. Here’s where they sit going into the weekend.

The Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t the only ones battling last night. Here are the results from HS football games played last night in Kentucky (as reported by users of KYHSSports.com):

This newsletter won’t formally launch until November, but I’m working out some kinks ahead of that. If you are a head football coach in Kentucky, please send me an email at [email protected].

If you don’t know me: I was a full-time sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader from 2015-2022 and was a part-timer until a couple weeks ago, when the organization’s parent company eliminated half of the newsroom and all of its high school sports coverage. My goal now is to build a premium destination for HS basketball and football coverage that caters to the entire state of Kentucky.

If you are a boys or girls head basketball coach in Kentucky, you probably received an email from me on Oct. 1. It contains introductory information about me as well as a preseason survey — please participate!

If you did not receive an email from me, please send me one at [email protected].

Some stuff that’ll help you going into and during Friday’s action. Warning: some of it may be behind a paywall.