Jim Mashek

SOUTH COACH BRANDON SMITH: ‘THEY CAME HERE TO WIN’

There was a packed house, plenty of fanfare and intrigue on both sidelines.

Then Dupont Manual’s Kaden Mack, a 5-foot-11, 160-pound senior quarterback, and the Crimson offense went to work.

And South Warren could do nothing to stop them.

Manual rolled past the Spartans, 42-21, on Friday night at the South Warren Stadium, avenging a 10-point defeat last year in Louisville while evening its record at 1-1 overall. South Warren also dropped to 1-1, after opening the season with a 32-9 victory over Bryan Station in Lexington. The Spartans were ranked fourth, statewide, by On3 and Kentucky Sports Radio heading into the game. Manual checked in at No. 14, but that figures to change.

Drastically.

Manual raced to a 21-0 lead before South quarterback Camden Page could get his team in the end zone, finding junior tight end Clay Helton for a 3-yard touchdown pass in the final moments of the first half. The Spartans took the second-half kickoff and used a quick-strike pass to Isaiah Bridges to get in the red zone, before Page scored on a quarterback sneak, trimming the Manual lead to a single score.

Manual converted a fourth-and-1 situation on its next series, on Mack’s 20-yard sideline completion to junior wideout Darion Cole, and two plays later, a busted coverage put the Spartans on the skids.

Mack found Manual teammate Noah Price on the right sideline, just short of the goal line, and his 25-yard touchdown pass extended the Crimsons’ lead to 28-14 with 4:21 left in the third quarter.

“I think the most disappointing thing was the difference in mentality,” South Warren coach Brandon Smith said when it was over. “We were like, ‘This is just another game.’ They came here to win.

“Defensively, we never recovered … We didn’t do a good job of tackling.”

South Warren, the KHSAA Class 6A runner-up last season, had a significant injury in its second preseason scrimmage. Senior defensive lineman Jaquise Smith, a second-team all-state selection in 2025, sustained a serious leg injury at Owensboro’s Rash Stadium and is wheeling around on a rehab bike these days. Smith is a 6-foot-3, 330-pound run stuffer, and Manual quarterback Kaden Mack acknowledged that factored in the Crimsons’ offensive game plan.

Mack, a star sprinter for the Dupont Manual track and field team in the spring, and Crimsons running back Jeremy Presley were an effective 1 -2 rushing punch in the first half. Presley missed most of the second half after being treated for an injury.

“We’ve got a lot of team speed, and we were trying to get (South’s defense) moving, side to side,” Manual coach Keith Eckloff said. “Our execution was really good. Kaden’s a three-year starter and he had a special night.”

South quarterback Camden Page completed 16 of 24 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns. The Spartans’ Jamir Boards, a compact junior running back, broke a tackle on the left sideline to complete a 36-yard scoring pass with 3:59 left in the game.

Moments later, however, Mack broke into the open field and scored on a 58-yard touchdown run to account for the final margin.

“I don’t want to be the guys who takes anything away from them,” South coach Brandon Smith said. “(Mack) was breaking tackles. He’s got great speed … Our defense just couldn’t get off the field.”

South Warren will play host to crosstown rival Greenwood High School next Friday. The Gators squeezed past Warren East, 15-14, on Friday night to even their record at 1-1. Manual, meanwhile, will play host to Lexington’s Frederick Douglass High School next week in Louisville.