HEADLINES

  • 🏈 Kentucky’s 48 District Champs: Part 1

  • 🏐🏀 Three Points with … Paintsville’s Dawn Kinner and Kylie Kinner

  • ⚽ State Tournament scores, schedule

  • 🔗 Links

🏈 OUR 48 CHAMPS: PART 1

While there are still a few playoff pairings left to be determined by RPI calculations, almost every district champion has been decided (👀 Class 6A, District 1). Still, district play is finished and we know enough going into the final week of the regular season to highlight the teams who earned top seeds across Kentucky in 2026.

Today: Class A, Class 2A
Tomorrow: Class 3A, Class 4A
Friday: Class 5A, Class 6A

❝

Class A

District 1: Ballard Memorial (5-3, 3-0)

  • District games: 42-13 at Russellville; 20-14 at Fulton County; 78-0 vs. Caverna

  • You should know: The Bombers had never won an outright district title before this season

  • Player to know: Cayden Opel is their leading receiver (463 yards, 3 TDs) and a huge disruptor on defense (92 solo tackles, 3 sacks, 8 TFL, 2 interceptions returned for TDs, 3 forced fumbles)

District 2: Kentucky Country Day (7-2, 3-0)

  • District games: 35-7 at Louisville Holy Cross; 28-14 at Bethlehem; 42-0 vs. Campbellsville

  • You should know: Defending state champs are averaging 30 more rushing yards per game than last season

  • Player to know: Deion Davidson has 997 yards and 15 TDs on the ground

District 3: Newport Central Catholic (4-5, 3-0)

  • District games: 17-6 vs. Newport; 47-7 at Dayton; 33-14 vs. Bellevue

  • You should know: Thoroughbreds’ last loss to a district foe came in 2017 to Lloyd Memorial when both teams were in Class 2A; neither is now.

  • Player to know: Vander Hundemer, has scored 10 total TDs and is among the tackle leaders

District 4: Covington Holy Cross (7-2, 3-0)

  • District games: 41-14 win vs. Bishop Brossart; 49-6 win at Trimble county; 35-14 win vs. Ludlow

  • You should know: CHC averages 328.6 total yards per game

  • Player to know: Xavier Thornberry has 4 interceptions and is the Indians’ leading WR

District 5: Sayre (9-0, 3-0)

  • District games: 1-0 vs. Berea (forfeit); 1-0 vs. Frankfort (forfeit); 48-12 at Eminence

  • You should know: The Spartans close at home against Middlesboro, which could have major RPI implications

  • Player to know: QB Gage Pennington, the last in a trio of offspring who didn’t fall from from the tree, head coach Chad Pennington

District 6: Raceland (7-2, 3-0)

  • District games: 57-0 at Fairview; 42-14 at Paris; 67-0 vs. Nicholas County

  • You should know: The Rams beat Newport Central Catholic 42-6 and fell 37-30 to Pikeville, both in September

  • Player to know: QB Jacob Waller, a senior who’s started in two straight state finals

District 7: Middlesboro (9-0, 4-0)

  • District games: 47-6 at Lynn Camp; 46-0 vs. Harlan; 42-6 vs. Pineville; 64-22 at Williamsburg

  • You should know: Since dropping to Class A in 2022, this district each year was decided by the W’burg outcome; Middlesboro is 3-2 now

  • Player to know: Deakon Partin, 6-foot-3 QB who’s dealt for 1,591 yards and 18 TD passes on a 66.3% completion rate

District 8: Pikeville (8-1, 2-0)

  • District games: 42-6 at Paintsville; 51-0 vs. Hazard

  • You should know: Panthers’ only loss was their season-opener to Christian Academy of Louisville, 41-0

  • Player to know: JJ Reynolds has thrown for 19 YD passes and is completing close to 80% of his throws

Class 2A

District 1: Mayfield (7-1, 5-0)

  • District games: 56-7 at Crittenden County; 1-0 vs. Todd County Central (forfeit); 45-7 vs. Caldwell county; 55-23 vs. Trigg County; 42-6 at Fort Campbell

  • You should know: Cardinals have won 20 straight games against district foes since a 25-21 loss to Murray (now 3A) in 2021

  • Player to know: Anderson Smith, who punts (11 this year), leads Mayfield in receiving (754 yds, 7 TDs) and has four interceptions (two returned for TDs)

District 2: Owensboro Catholic (8-1, 3-0)

  • District games: 61-0 at Hancock County; 68-0 vs. Fort Knox; 48-7 at McLean County

  • You should know:

  • Player to know: Dre’Mail Carothers, 6-foot-4 Louisville commit who’s thrown 39 TD passes and rushed for 5 more

District 3: Somerset (7-1, 4-0)

  • District games: 60-0 vs. Green County; 42-0 at Metcalfe County; 63-0 vs. Clinton County; 41-14 at Monroe County

  • You should know: One of 10 teams in the state allowing fewer than 10 ppg to its opponents (9.7). The others: Beechwood (5.0), CAL (5.4), Atherton (7.0), Rockcastle county (7.8), Trinity (8.3), Belfry (8.9), North Oldham (9.0), Frederick Douglass (9.3) and Lawrence County (9.4)

  • Player to know: Xavier Wooldridge has scored 10 TDs (4 rushing, 6 receiving) and ranks among the Briar Jumpers’ tackle leaders

District 4: Lexington Christian Academy (7-2, 4-0)

  • District games: 55-12 vs. W.E.B. DuBois; 49-14 at Shawnee; 54-14 at Danville; 50-14 vs. Washington County

  • You should know: LCA won the state title last year and lost to the eventual champ each of the seasons before that

  • Player to know: Conrad Hart, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound tight end/DL who’s committed to Kentucky

District 5: Beechwood (9-0, 5-0)

  • District games: 63-0 at Owen County; 63-7 vs. Walton-Verona; 62-0 at St. Henry; 69-0 vs. Gallatin County; 63-0 at Bracken County

  • You should know: Tigers are undefeated this deep in the season for the first time since 2021, when they won the second of three straight 2A titles

  • Player to know: Emmett Queen has thrown for 1,725 yards and 23 TD passes with just one interception

District 6: Breathitt County (8-1, 3-0)

  • District games: 48-0 vs. Morgan County; 26-16 vs. West Carter; 60-12 at Jackson County

  • You should know: Bobcats have scored 60+ points four times this season after not putting 60 on the board since a 63-13 win vs. Lewis County in 2023

  • Player to know: Eli Thomas, who’s accounted for nearly half of Breathitt’s total yardage (1,681 yards out of 3,496)

District 7: Prestonsburg (8-1, 4-0)

  • District games: 59-13 vs. Knott County Central; 54-14 at Floyd Central; 57-0 at Leslie County; 59-14 vs. Martin County

  • You should know: Blackcats have reached the region final each of the last two seasons after going winless in the playoffs from 2018-2023

  • Player to know: Alexander Johnson, a dual-threat force (13 TDs, 1,111 yards passing/26 TDs, 1,492 yards rushing)

District 8: Belfry (8-1, 4-0)

  • District games: 55-8 vs. Pike County Central; 40-0 at East Ridge; 54-0 vs. Betsy Layne; 48-0 at Shelby Valley

  • You should know: Pirates’ only loss was a 21-14 nailbiter at Pikeville

  • Player to know: JB Woolum, leading WR (304 yardds, 3 TDs) and second leading rusher (663 yards, 13 TDs, 4 2-point runs)

🏐🏀 THREE POINTS…

…with Paintsville’s Dawn Kinner and Kylie Kinner

Kylie Kinner, a 6-foot senior at Paintsville High School, is believed to be the first athlete in U.S. high school history to record 3,000 kills in volleyball and score 3,000 points in basketball. She had several Division I offers and in August committed to Morehead State, where she’ll hoop and play beach volleyball. Her mom, Dawn, has been the volleyball head coach for almost two decades and is entering her third season as the girls basketball head coach. Her father Jason is the school’s athletic director.

The volleyball Tigers improved to 29-6 on the year with their sweep of Belfry in the 15th Region tournament on Monday. They’ll face Betsy Layne in the semifinals tonight (Oct. 28).

Questions and answers lightly edited for clarity and flow.

KHSD: Being as impactful as Kylie is in one sport is impressive, because it takes a lot of work on her part and your family’s. To be that impactful in two sports? How is that achievable?

Dawn Kinner: Obviously there were some sacrifices made, y’know, just with our time, but we're very lucky that we're able to support her and for her to have the opportunity to keep playing whatever sports she wants to play. It's been so nice that she didn't have to choose, especially with trying to get to the next level with volleyball. I'm very fortunate that I'm able to run a club here that could kind of work around basketball schedules. Our main focus with our club here is that multi-sport athlete, so girls don't have to just choose one sport and they can, they can still do both, put in the time in both and work to be great in both. But a lot of it is a testament her, just the discipline that she's had with the time management and still trying to be, you know, a kid, while knowing that she's going to have to put in a lot of extra work in order to handle both of those sports. She's done a great job with it.

Kylie Kinner: My parents have always just encouraged me to be involved with as much as I can. I’m very grateful for the support system I have around me that’s allowed me to do everything I’ve wanted to do.

Growing up with parents who are so connected to sports kind of makes it hard not to get into them, I’d imagine? Did you have to prioritize basketball or volleyball in terms of a college choice?

Kylie Kinner: Just going to all the practices and seeing both of my parents being involved — they both played sports in college — seeing them coach. I feel like I was always in the gym, growing up at the practices and the games, so I feel like that's kind of where my love started for sports. As a kid I played softball and I played baseball with the boys at my school. Basketball, volleyball, of course. I even did gymnastics at one point. So I was just doing a little bit of everything. I love to be active and I’m very competitive. Two years ago I ran track and then I'm actually doing it again this year. Just being involved as much as I can, I feel like that's really helped me as an athlete overall.

The recruiting process, talking to schools, basketball was the priority, and then volleyball was just something that I couldn't let go because I just enjoy the game so much. So being able to have the opportunity to play both at the next level and them really not colliding with the other seasons, it’s really special to be able to do that. (With beach volleyball) there's a lot of different rules that are in place, and you're going from six players on the court to just having a partner, which is kind of crazy. That will be an adjustment, and just going from jumping off of the gym floor to jumping off sand, and the impact that that has on your body, that will be an adjustment too. But I think it'll be fun to try and learn how to play a different style of volleyball.

You’re a gifted athlete, obviously, Kylie. What would you say to others in your position, or just any athlete, who’s on the fence about giving up one sport or another to focus on a single sport?

Kylie Kinner: I would definitely tell them to just be involved in as much as you can, even if you think sports are not your thing. Being involved in many different activities, different social groups, I think just helps tremendously, even beyond sports. It helps you so much as a person, I feel like that's really what helped has helped me so far in life. You learn so much through sports and you deal with adversity in so many different ways. I would definitely advise all people to be involved in sports and as many as they can be.

Dawn Kinner: As a coach, I would tell kids just play ’em all. One of the reasons why she has been so involved in so many, and we have a lot of students here who do like her, is because we are such a small school. My basketball team is our volleyball team. And then those girls kind of roll into softball. A lot of our girls, and boys also, are multi-sport athlets.

And that's one of the things going through the recruiting process that maybe all kids don't know — that's what a lot of coaches are looking for, that athlete that plays multiple sports. Because so many of the skills transfer over to the next sport. I think that's what's really helped her too. So yea, play ’em all.

⚽ STATE TOURNAMENT

❝

Games listed in bracket order; all times p.m. and local to site

BOYS STATE TOURNAMENT

First round (Oct. 26-27)

  • Bardstown 2, Butler 1

  • Owensboro 3, Bowling Green 2

  • St. Xavier 2, North Oldham 0

  • Madisonville 4, McCracken County 3

  • Ryle 6, Bishop Brossart 0

  • Johnson Central 1, East Carter 0

  • North Laurel 8, Estill County 0

  • Paul Laurence Dunbar 4, West Jessamine 1

Quarterfinals (Oct. 31)

  • Owensboro at Bardstown, 7

  • Madisonville at St. Xavier, 7

  • Johnson Central at Ryle, 7

  • Paul Laurence Dunbar at North Laurel, 7

Semifinals (Nov. 4)

  • 4:30 and 8 at Paul Laurence Dunbar

Championship (Nov. 7)

  • 8 at Lexington Sporting Club

GIRLS STATE TOURNAMENT

First round (Oct. 26-27)

  • Central Hardin 7, Bullitt East 0

  • Greenwood 3, Owensboro 0

  • South Oldham 1, Assumption 0

  • Marshall County 4, Henderson County 0

  • Highlands 2, Bishop Brossart 0

  • Russell 3, Martin County 1

  • North Laurel 1, Estill County 0

  • Paul Laurence Dunbar 2, West Jessamine 0

Quarterfinals (Oct. 31)

  • Greenwood at Central Hardin, 2

  • Marshall County at South Oldham, 7

  • Russell at Highlands, 7

  • Paul Laurence Dunbar at North Laurel, 7

Semifinals (Nov. 3)

  • 4:30 and 8 at Paul Laurence Dunbar

Championship (Nov. 7)

  • 4:30 at Lexington Sporting Club

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