Football playoff pairings
The end of district play Friday brought the football playoff picture into focus across most of Kentucky. All six Advocate-area teams have qualified for the playoffs, and three of them — Boyle County, Garrard County and Lincoln County — will open the postseason at home Nov. 4.
There are very few three-way ties out there, although there is one that affects Boyle and Mercer County, which is explained below. Here are the first-round playoff pairings in regions including area teams (games are listed in bracket order with teams’ district seeds, overall and district records in parentheses):
Class 2A, Region 4
- Betsy Layne (4; 6-3, 0-3) at Somerset (1; 6-3, 3-0)
- Danville (3; 6-3, 1-2) at Prestonsburg (2; 5-4, 2-1)
- Middlesboro (4; 3-6, 0-3) at Leslie County (1; 7-2, 3-0)
- Shelby Valley (3; 5-4, 1-2) at Lexington Christian (2; 4-5, 2-1)
Class 3A, Region 2
- Casey County (4; 4-6, 1-3) at Central (1; 7-2, 3-0)
- Henry County (3; 2-7, 1-2) at Corbin (2; 5-4, 3-1)
- Elizabethtown (4; 0-9, 0-3) at Bell County (1; 8-1, 4-0)
- Wayne County (3; 7-2, 2-2) at LaRue County (2; 5-4, 2-1)
Class 3A, Region 3
- West Carter (4; 3-6, 2-3) at Garrard County (1; 8-1, 5-0)
- Western Hills (3; 5-5, 3-2) at Russell (2; 6-3, 4-1)
- Powell County (4; 6-3, 2-3) at Lewis County (1; 7-2, 5-0)
- Fleming County (3; 4-5, 3-2) at Bourbon County (2; 6-3, 4-1)
Class 4A, Region 3
- Clay County (4; 1-8, 0-3) at Lexington Catholic (1; 8-1, 4-0)
- Mercer County (3; 4-5, 2-2) at Knox Central (6-3, 2-1), Rockcastle County (8-1, 2-1) or Russell County (8-1, 2-1) (2)
- Marion County (4; 3-6, 1-3) at Knox Central, Rockcastle County or Russell County (1)
- Knox Central, Rockcastle County or Russell County (3) at Boyle County (2; 6-3, 3-1)
(NOTE: The three-way tie between Knox, Rockcastle and Russell will be broken by the system that awards points for the victories by teams that your team has beaten. The current point totals for the tiebreaker are: 1. Rockcastle 18; 2. Russell 14; 3. Knox 7. If the teams finish in that order — and it seems likely that they will — the first-round matchups will be: Mercer and Russell, Marion at Rockcastle and Knox at Boyle. However, each team has one game remaining and can gain points either by winning that game or if teams they have already beaten win this week.)
Class 5A, Region 4
- Whitley County (4; 3-6, 0-3) at Southwestern (1; 6-3, 5-0)
- South Laurel (3; 5-5, 3-2) at Perry County Central (2; 7-2, 2-1)
- Pulaski County (4; 3-6, 2-3) at Harlan County (1; 9-0, 3-0)
- Letcher County Central (3; 3-6, 1-2) at Lincoln County (2; 4-6, 4-1)
