KyPreps 5A football stock report: who's hot & who's not?

Covington Catholic is 5-0, has scored 226 points and given up a mere 37 points this season. Senior running back Casey McGinness has run amok so far with 589 yards and 13 touchdowns on only 60 carries. He's also made 10 receptions for 190 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Jacob Caleb has completed 60 of his 80 passes (75%) leading to 1,130 yards, 12 touchdowns and only two interceptions.

The Colonels will have their hands full this Friday against St. Francis de Sales from Columbus Ohio. Regardless how that one turns out, Covington Catholic is loaded and sits atop a loaded 5A class with Bowling Green and South Warren.

South Warren was supposed to be tested last Friday by a Grayson County team that entered 4-0. The Spartans unceremoniously sent the Cougars to 4-1 with a 41-7 blowout and that was that. South Warren has scored 224 points while allowing 60. The offense is paced by the efficient play of quarterback Gavin Spurrier who has completed 51 of 67 passes (76.1%) for 817 yards, 15 touchdowns, and one interception. Western Kentucky commit Clayton Bush keeps finding ways to score touchdowns with five rushing, three receiving, one punt return, one pick six, and a scoop and score on a fumble recovery. 4-star defensive tackle and Notre Dame commit Jacob Lacey plugs up the interior of the defensive line for the Spartans and lets the guys behind fly around and make plays.

The biggest instate threat to South Warren this regular season will come from Bowling Green on October 19th. That game will be played at South Warren and will definitely be the KyPreps game of the week.

Bowling Green completes the triangle of the top three schools in 5A. Like South Warren and Covington Catholic the Purples are 5-0. They have scored 159 points so far this season but have only given up 59. 4-star DeVito Tisdale leads the Purples' offense with 653 yards rushing on 95 carries for 8 touchdowns combined with 14 catches for 207 yards and two touchdowns. He also returned a punt for a touchdown. Don't kick the ball to Tisdale.

New head coach Mark Spader has slid nicely into the big shoes left by legendary coach Kevin Wallace, as a matter of fact he defeated Wallace and his new team 24-21 in week three. The battle tested Purples will try to earn some more stripes late in the season as they take on Indianapolis powerhouse Warren Central lead by QB Jayden George and WR David Bell then travel to South Warren to take on the aforementioned Spartans. The Purples may very well be the most battle tested squad heading into the 5A state playoffs.

Anderson County roared out of the gates by pulverizing a talented George Rogers Clark team 41-0. They haven't slowed down, racing out to a 5-0 record and look to be the team in 5A who is banging on the door to join the top group. Junior running back Charles Collins has paced the offense with 801 yards from scrimmage and 14 touchdowns on only 58 touches, meaning he averages 14 yards every time he touches the ball.

While Collins has been explosive, senior Brennon Maxberry holds the team together by doing a little bit of everything. The Senior has run for 280 yards and two scores on 42 carries, threw a 34 yard touchdown, while recording 3 sacks and 17 tackles on defense and also returned a punt for a score.

The defense is anchored by senior linebacker Colton Cornish who has compiled 58 total tackles, nine for a loss, three sacks, and an interception.

They don't face very stiff competition for the rest of the regular season. Their toughest lurking opponent is 4-1 Montgomery County. They are matched with district 5 this year meaning they will have to knockoff either Highlands or Covington Catholic, or both, to make it to state where they will probably have to face either South Warren or Bowling Green.

Highlands is the only squad with a loss to make the stock up list. That loss came to 6A Scott County, a team some consider to be the best in 6A right now. They are fresh off 44-29 victory over a tough Lexington Catholic team and their Power 5 prospect quarter back, Beau Allen. The Bluebirds have looked good this year and appear to have bounced back from two down seasons that saw them go a combined 9-14. This gives hope to their proud football community of Fort Thomas whose Blue Birds are secondly nationally for all time wins with 885.

They will have their hands full next week as 5-0 Simon Kenton comes to town.

Perry County Central sits at a perfect 4-0. So why aren't they stock up. Simply put, "they ain't played nobody" as the colloquialism goes. Their four opponents are a combined 4-14. Their toughest competition will come from a North Laurel team that was just blown out 41-0 by 2A Somerset.

Oldham County has suffered from the same early season scheduling good fortune as Perry Clounty Central. Their opponents are a combined 5-14 and their last two wins have come against two winless teams in the form of 0-4 Collins and 0-5 Seneca. Unlike Perry County Central, Oldham County's schedule does get tougher starting this Friday as they take on cross county rival South Oldham.

Southwestern falls just outside of the undefeated but "they ain't played nobody" category. That being said their combined opponents are 7-16 and if you excluded Madison Central form that group the overall record would fall to 4-14. They did play Madison Central however, and handled them quite easily at that, winning 26-7. The Warriors look to improve Friday against a 3-2 Pulaski County team that has surrendered 162 points this season. Stopping Pulaski County QB Wiley Cain and his favorite target Jake Sloan is a tall order for the defense however. Southwestern has scored 180 so if the trends stay the course, Southwestern should roll to 6-0 and firmly establish themselves as stock up.

Doss lost Head Coach Phil Hawkins to Apollo during the off-season and the Dragons haven't won since. Doss finished 8-4 last season but have started out with four straight losses in which they have managed only 39 points while surrendering 176.

Fern Creek finished last season at 6-5. This season they already have four losses and their lone win came in week one over 0-4 Seneca. The news is not all bad for the Tigers however. The rough part of their schedule is out of the way and the remaining five games are very winnable. Their remaining five opponents are a combined 6-15. For now the Tigers' stock is down but things don't look as bleak in Fern Creek as they do over at Doss.

Christian County went 11-1 last season on the heals of a 9-3 season. It appeared the program was trending up but after losing talented players like 3-star safety Corey Trice and quarter back Kolbe Langhi, some drop off was expected. It's not that Christian County is a bad team. They are 2-2 after all and started the season with a gritty 11-6 win over a talented Caldwell County team.

The reason they are stock down is based upon previous success compared to where they are now. If they can find their offensive identity going forward (60 points scored) their defense (72 points allowed) is good enough to right the ship and even knock a few teams off on the playoffs.