Area high school football teams enter postseason play this week

Winter workouts, spring camps, long practices in the blazing summer heat, pre-season scrimmages and eleven weeks of regular season battles on the gridiron have all led up to this – the start of the 2023 Kentucky High School Athletic Association high school football playoffs.

This week, all four of the News Journal’s coverage area teams will be involved in playoff action. The following is a preview of what to expect…

Class A Playoffs: Hazard (1-9) at Williamsburg (5-4) – Friday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.

As their record indicates, it has been a difficult season for the Hazard football program. The Bulldogs’ sole win of 2023 came back on Aug. 25, when they barely defeated visiting Harlan County, 13-12. Since then, they have lost eight straight games by a combined score of 40-306.

Admittedly, Hazard has played a strong schedule this fall, going up against teams like Corbin, Raceland, Painstville and Pikeville, but for the most part, they haven’t even managed to be competitive with their opponents.

In terms of common opponents, Clay County is the only team that both the Bulldogs and the Yellow Jackets have faced off against this season. Interestingly, the margin of defeat in both contests was nearly identical, with the Tigers winning 44-20 over Williamsburg on Sept. 1 and winning 47-14 over Hazard just last week.

Home field advantage will mean a lot in this round one matchup between the Jackets and the Dogs, with Williamsburg being the favorites to pick up the win and advance to round two. Should they make it to round two, they will likely be looking at a road trip to play the Pikeville Panthers.

Class A Playoffs: Lynn Camp (2-8) at Middlesboro (7-2) – Thursday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.

The Lynn Camp Wildcats will go on the road to face a district foe in the first round of the Class A playoffs when they head to Middlesboro for some Thursday night football action.

The Wildcats did not fare well in their last encounter against the Yellow Jackets, suffering a 36-0 shutout loss on Sept. 22. Being familiar with their opponent could help some this time around, but the end result here is likely to be similar to the previous encounter.

In all likelihood, the Lynn Camp Wildcats’ 2023 campaign ends here.

Class 4A Playoffs: Whitley County (5-5) at Boyle County (10-0) – Thursday, Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m.

After finishing the regular season in a three-way tie with district opponents Perry County Central and Letcher County Central, the Whitley County Colonels entered last week’s contest against visiting Madison Southern still holding onto hope that things might work out and they would have the opportunity to host a round one playoff game. Unfortunately, a loss to the Eagles has resulted in Whitley being tasked with a road trip to face the three-time defending Class 4A state champion Boyle County Rebels.

Boyle County has had another unbelievable run in 2023, capping off an undefeated regular season last week with a convincing 28-7 win over the Frederick Douglass Broncos in Lexington. The Rebs have sat atop the Class 4A rankings all season long, and rightfully so.

It would have been great to be in the position of previewing a home game at WCHS to open up postseason play this week, but this road trip to Danville is almost certain to not end well for the visiting Colonels.

Class 4A Playoffs: Wayne County (6-4) at Corbin (9-0) – Friday, Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Old rivals meet again in the first round of the Class 4A state champions playoffs when the Wayne County Cardinals come to town this Friday.

Along with Boyle County, the Corbin Redhounds have also been ranked at-or-near the top of the 4A rankings since during the preseason. They have proved that they absolutely deserve to be there, too, dominating the competition en route to an undefeated record and wins over opponents such as Lexington Catholic, Pulaski County, Frederick Douglass and Johnson Central.

Wayne County isn’t a pushover opponent, despite the fact that the last half of the regular season has mostly not gone their way. A program rich in tradition, they will look to test the Hounds in this round one contest, but Corbin is simply on another level right now. They should continue their winning ways, and move on to host either Taylor County or Letcher County Central in round two next week.