Jim Mashek

UNBEATEN GLASGOW CLOSES REGULAR SEASON AT FRANKLIN-SIMPSON IN THURSDAY NIGHT SHOWDOWN; WARREN CENTRAL PLAYS HOST TO MAROONS

At long last, we’re at the crossroads of the KHSAA football season.

One last regular-season game before the playoffs begin, during Halloween weekend, no less.

Trick, treat, or whoa, baby, there’s plenty of intrigue in store for high school football on THURSDAY, and then FRIDAY night in South Central Kentucky.

Starting with unbeaten South Warren High School’s regular-season finale against nearby rival Logan County High School (8-1 overall, 4-1 in the KHSAA’s ultracompetitive Class 4A, 1st District). The Spartans (9-0, 3-0 in the KHSAA’s Class 6A, 2nd District) lock horns in a high-profile matchup that should attract an overflow crowd — including college scouts, casual high school football fans and players from other teams in the area — on Thursday night on the Spartans’ artificial surface.

KIckoff is set for 7 p.m.

“We’re expecting a very good gate,” South Warren coach Brandon Smith said.

The Spartans and visiting Cougars aren’t the only area teams playing on Thursday night, with Halloween and the KHSAA playoffs on the horizon. Warren Central (3-6, 0-4 in the KHSAA’s Class 5A, 2nd District) squares off with Class 5A heavyweight Madisonville-North Hopkins (7-2 overall, 3-2 in the KHSAA’s Class 5A, 1st District) at Joe Hood Field, while unbeaten Glasgow (9-0 overall, 5-0 in the KHSAA’s Class 3A, 2nd DIstrict) is on the road to face the tradition-rich Wildcats of Franklin-Simpson High School (6-3, 3-2 in the KHSAA’s Class 4A, 1st District).

And that’s just for starters.

Greenwood High School, a team that’s shown steady improvement under eighth-year head coach William Howard, will play host to a stout Union County squad on Friday night at The Swamp. The Gators (5-4 overall, 3-1 in the KHSAA’s Class 5A, 2nd District) will tangle with the run-oriented Braves (5-4, 2-1 in the KHSAA’s rugged Class 3A, 1st District) on Friday night, with the playoffs looming one week down the road.

“We picked up Union (County) during COVID,” Howard said. “This has been a great matchup, for both teams, ever since. They have an excellent program and played for a state championship last year.

“Week Eleven is always a tough call. You never know where you’ll be, physically and injury-wise, at the end of the season … We’ll have Senior Night before the game.”

Other high-profile matchups featuring South Central Kentucky squads including two-time defending KHSAA Class 5A state champion Bowling Green High School (4-5 overall, 4-0 in the KHSAA’s Class 4A, 2nd DIstrict) takes a three-hour road trip to tangle with unbeaten Franklin County (9-0, 4-0 in the KHSAA’s Class 4A, 4th District) in the Greater Lexington area.

Sound familiar?

It should.

Eighth-year BGHS head coach Mark Spader has taken the Purples to the KHSAA’s Championship Weekend FOUR TIMES over the last five years, winning three of those state titles, including last year’s 37-24 thumping of previously unbeaten Cooper High School at UK’s Kroger Field.

“It’s a perfect matchup for us, right before the playoffs,” Spader said. “We’re finally healthy, so we can see what we look like, moving forward …

“We always want our Week Eleven to be a challenging game … Franklin County replaces St. Xavier on our schedule, and they prove to be another formidable opponent. They’ve had great success under Coach Eddie James, and they’re once again in the thick of a very competitive 4A class in Kentucky.

“It’s been a few years since they’ve lost a regular-season game, so it will take a focused effort, for us to travel to Frankfort and win on their turf. We’re looking forward to it.”

That’s what South Warren’s Brandon Smith and Logan County’s Todd Adler had in mind, for their respective squads, when this game was scheduled for the season finale five years ago.

“Todd is looking to grow his program, and look what they’ve done this year,” Smith said. “They want to be an elite team, and so do we.”

South Warren, which is ranked high in every KHSAA statewide football poll known to man, is playing in Class 6A for the first time. The Spartans won three previous state championships under Smith, most recently in 2021, since the school opened its doors just eleven years ago. South Warren has taken on all comers, against a top-flight schedule, and won all nine of its games to date.

The Spartans have become an offensive powerhouse behind their two underclassmen quarterbacks, 6-foot-3, multi-sport star Camden Page and promising 6-foot-4 sophomore Chase Bell, who have had reason to look forward to this matchup against a gang-tackling defense from Logan County.

“I’d say we’re focused on ourselves,” said South’s standout wide receiver, 5-foot-10, 170-pound senior Jake Carter. “No slacking ff, everybody on the same page …”

South Warren lineman Malik Butler, perhaps not surprisingly, is taking a more measured approach. Butler plays critical roles on both the Spartans’ offensive and defensive lines.

“Logan’s a good football team, but I feel pretty confident,” Butler said. “But we know what’s ahead, and that’s in the back of our mind …”

South Warren coach Brandon Smith spells it out in plain English.

“The focus is on the Logan County game,” Smith said. “We’ll start thinking about (first-round playoffs opponent) Christian County after this one …”

Meanwhile, in Glasgow, first-year Scotties head coach Jackson Arnett has his team on a serious roll.

Glasgow has won all of its games, by an amazing cumulative margin (373-41) one week from postseason play. Senior Scotties QB Hudson Gumm has completed 61 percent of his passes for 1,216 yards and 18 touchdowns. He’s been intercepted just twice.

On the ground, like William Howard’s Greenwood squad, the Scotties like to share the wealth.

The matchup at Franklin-Simpson, featuring two Wing-T squads, Glasgow and the homestanding Wildcats, may largely hinge on ball control and avoiding disastrous turnovers. Veteran Franklin-Simpson coach Max Chaney has a three-sport standout running the show in senior QB/free safety Brady Delk, who has passed sparingly but still accounted for a team-high 12 touchdowns.

Delk has scored four times by running the ball, seven times by throwing it, and one more on an interception return. The Wildcats, still equipped for another run at Lexington themselves, have a standout running back in junior Xavier Hampton, who also competes in three sports on the Franklin-Simpson campus. Hampton, who toils on the track in the spring, leads the Wildcats with 903 yards rushing and nine touchdowns, with F-S teammate Blake McPherson riding shotgun with 709 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns.

Fast forward to Friday night, when red-hot Russellville High School (4-5 overall, 3-0 in the KHSAA’s Class 1A, 1st District) takes the short trip to tangle with Butler County High School (3-6 overall) in Morgantown. The Bears failed to win a district game, which means they’ll miss the playoffs with a collective eye toward the 2026 season.

Former UK defensive back Mikie Benton, the eighth-year Russellville head coach, always puts together a tough non-district schedule, and that’s paid dividends in the Panthers’ current four-game winning streak. Russellville earned another district championship and a first-round KHSAA playoff game against Louisville’s Holy Cross Academy, a recent nemesis that has twice knocked the Panthers out of postseason play in the last three years.

“We’ve been pretty much building for the postseason, all year,” Benton said.

The Panthers dominated visiting Fulton County last week, 64-14, to wrap up district play in impressive fashion.

In another matchup involving South Central Kentucky squads on Friday night, Warren East High School will close its season under Greg Howard, the Warren County Public Schools athletic director, with a home game against North Hardin HIgh School. The Raiders have a promising quarterback in sophomore Xavier Isable, who has passed for 1,742 yards and 18 touchdowns. Senior running back Jeremiah Lee leads Warren East with 981 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.

North Hardin, a Class 6A school, has had an up-and-down season, taking a 4-5 overall record into Warren East and its distinctive blue artificial turf. North Hardin’s Jakylin Kirkland has passed for 1,857 yards and 19 touchdowns, while adding two scores on the ground.

Perhaps South Warren’s Brandon Smith put it best.

“We know everyone’s talking about the playoffs,” Smith said, “but in this case, we can’t look any further than this game. Everybody has a pretty good idea, about their path going into the postseason.

“Logan County is an explosive team. Todd (Adler, the LCHS coach) has a really good team over there. It’s going to be a good test for both of us.”