Yahoo Finance Class 5A football finals preview: South Warren vs. Frederick Douglass
It’s championship weekend for the 2021 UK Orthopaedics State Football Finals. Here’s a look at Saturday’s Class 5A state title game at Kroger Field.
South Warren (13-1) vs. Frederick Douglass (13-1)
Kickoff: 4 p.m. Saturday.
RPI Ratings*: No. 4 South Warren (.63850); No. 2 Frederick Douglass (.65913).
Cantrall Ratings*: No. 1 South Warren (89.0); No. 4 Frederick Douglass (83.7).
Championship history: South Warren (2-0) — Spartans won the 2015 4A title and 2018 5A title both under Coach Brandon Smith. Frederick Douglass (0-1) — Broncos lost 2019 championship game to Covington Catholic.
Quick hits:
▪ South Warren features senior quarterback Caden Veltkamp, a three-star Western Kentucky commit who is sure to get some votes for Mr. Football (although Veltkamp threw his support behind Daviess County’s Joe Humphreys last week). Veltkamp is closing in on 2,500 yards passing with 32 TDs. A state title would burnish that Mr. Football résumé as it did last year for Beechwood’s Cameron Hergott.
▪ Douglass has, perhaps, a dark-horse candidate for Mr. Football in wide receiver Dane Key. The Kentucky commit doesn’t have the eye-popping statistics one might expect for the statewide honor due to Douglass’s ability to overwhelm most opponents early, but his coach, Nathan McPeek, believes him worthy.
“Going into every game, you’ve got to have a plan for him. To me, that’s a Mr. Football candidate in this state,” McPeek said. “Stats are misleading for us because of the COVID situation and a lot of our guys didn’t play a whole lot against city opponents (because Douglass often mercy rules its city and district rivals by halftime). “Up until, really, the Boyle game, we hadn’t played four quarters for eight weeks.
Key, a 6-foot-2 four-star wideout, is the No. 1 recruit in the state, according to 247Sports.com. He had at least 21 college offers.
▪ Other college prospects on the field Saturday include: South Warren — Senior WR Avrin Bell (WKU) and junior CB/WR Cristian Conyer, a four-star athlete with at least 11 offers, including Kentucky and Louisville; Douglass — Senior QB Samuel Cornett (Louisville), Senior LB Caden Johnson (Ball State), junior DB/RB Ty Bryant (Kentucky), junior TE Thomas Howard (Louisville baseball), junior DB/RB TJ Horton (UK offer) and junior safety Isaiah Kenney (UK offer). Douglass senior linebacker Davis Joyner, a three-star recruit with at least seven offers, suffered a season-ending knee injury against Boyle County.
▪ South Warren’s lone loss came on Aug. 27 against out-of-state Hendersonville, Tenn., a Class 6A semifinalist in the Volunteer State. The Spartans have won 12 straight. Frederick Douglass’s only loss came against Class 4A finalist Boyle County on Oct. 29. The Broncos have won four straight.
▪ Neither South Warren nor Douglass had particularly difficult regular-season schedules. Their composite opponents’ winning percentages were both below .500. But South Warren has Bowling Green, the 2020 5A champion, in its district and Douglass is districted with Scott County, the only non-Louisville program to win a 6A (or pre-2007 4A) title in more than two decades. They, of course, both swept those district rivals this year.
▪ Douglass’s closest regular-season win came against Class 6A Bryan Station, 27-14, in Week 1. South Warren’s closest regular-season win came against Class 4A power Central, 20-6, on Sept. 24. Douglass beats teams by an average of 32.8 points per game, fourth best in the state. South Warren deals out its whoopins by an average of 27.9 points per game, which ranks 10th.
▪ South Warren beat Class 5A top seed Woodford County handily last week by a score of 46-25. Douglass knocked off No. 3 Owensboro in similar fashion, 35-7, in its semifinal.
▪ Both South Warren and Douglass have top-10 scoring defenses with the Broncos allowing an average of 8.5 points per game and South Warren allowing 10.3 points per game. Douglass has three shutouts to South Warren’s one.
South Warren standouts: Caden Veltkamp Sr. QB (2,427 yards/32 TDs passing, 97 yards/seven TDs rushing); Kobe Martin, Sr. RB (1,165 yards/18 TDs rushing, 181 yards/two TDs receiving); Avrin Bell, Sr. WR (651 yards/nine TDs receiving); Mason Willingham, Sr. WR (573 yards/seven TDs receiving); Tyler Snell, Sr. LB (97 tackles/18 for a loss/four sacks); Jake Jackson, Sr. DL (60 tackles/25 for a loss/12 sacks); Luke Burton, Sr. LB (84 tackles/19 for a loss/six sacks).
Frederick Douglass standouts: Samuel Cornett, Sr. QB (2,318 yards/23 TDs passing, 97 yards/two TDs rushing); Davaun Hart, Jr., RB (460 yards/nine TDs rushing); TJ Horton, Jr. RB/DB (433 yards/11 TDs rushing, nine tackles); Ty Bryant, Jr. RB/DB (280 yards/11 TDs rushing, 58 tackles/two for a loss, two interceptions/one for TD); Dane Key, Sr. WR (804 yards/seven TDs receiving, one kickoff-return TD); Cameron Dunn, Jr. WR (612 yards/seven TDs receiving, 135 yards, two TDs rushing, one kickoff-return TD); Caden Johnson, Sr. LB (47 tackles/eight for a loss/two sacks).
@HLpreps pick: Douglass 28, South Warren 27.
*End of regular-season ratings.
State championships
At Kroger Field in Lexington
Tickets: Available by advance sale digitally at KHSAAtickets.org. No walk-up paper tickets sold.
Online: Subscription required for live video stream at KHSAA.tv. Pay-per-view live HD video at Go.PrepSpin.com. Free audio stream at KHSAA.net.
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Class A: Pikeville (13-2) vs. Russellville (12-1), Noon
Class 2A: Beechwood (14-0) vs. Lexington Christian (14-0), 4 p.m.
Class 4A: Boyle County (13-1) vs. Johnson Central (12-2), 8 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Class 3A: Belfry (8-6) vs. Paducah Tilghman (8-6), Noon
Class 5A: Frederick Douglass (13-1) vs. South Warren (13-1), 4 p.m.
Class 6A: Male (13-0) vs. St. Xavier (13-1), 8 p.m.
John Clay Podcast: Previewing Kentucky’s high school football championships
Class 6A football finals preview: St. Xavier vs. Male
Class 4A football finals preview: Johnson Central vs. Boyle County
Class 3A football finals preview: Paducah Tilghman vs. Belfry
Class 2A football finals preview: Beechwood vs. Lexington Christian
