The first week of the high school football playoffs commences this Friday, and the McCracken County Mustangs are on the hunt to start their postseason right in Class 6A. The excitement levels are high for McCracken as they host Warren Central at Marquette Stadium this Friday at 7 p.m.
“It’s playoff time in Kentucky, so our kids are ready to go,” McCracken head coach Tyler Brooks said. “They want to bounce back from last week. There’s a bunch of excitement going around.”
The 1-9 Bruins have not much success in the win column this season, but their only win was in their regular season finale last week against North Bullitt. Warren Central is a run-heavy offense with a physical style of play, so the guys in the trenches will be key players in this matchup.
Also, McCracken fell to Warren Central in the second round of last year’s playoffs, so some of the more experienced Mustangs may come into this week with an extra chip on their shoulder.
“They’re a big, physical team,” Brooks said about the Bruins. “Record wise, it deosn’t look very good, but they’re big and physical. They’re the guys that knocked us out last year, so we’re looking to return the favor.”
The Mustang offense has eclipsed 49 or more points this season six times this season, five of which in their last six contests. The connection in the passing game from quarterback Maddox O’Neal to receiver Jakari Matchem has been incredible to say the least. Matchem accounts for half of his quarterback’s yards and 18 of his 29 passing touchdowns, displaying himself as a young star for the Mustangs.
“I don’t know the last time we’ve had a kid that’s been number two in every receiving category in the state. Man he’s special. Then he turns around and plays on the other side of the ball. He returns punts, returns kicks, he just does it all for us. He’s fun to watch, and he’s just a sophomore, so he’ll be fun to keep around.”
Although McCracken has this massive offensive production, the defensive unit has struggled to find their footing. In fact, the Mustangs are yet to hold an opponent to under 20 points in 2025. Despite the limited success, Coach Brooks credits the unit for continuing to improve as the season progress, and expects a leap to start the playoffs.
“They’ve done a good job of consistently getting better. Our back end was a group that we were just trying to piece together at times. We’ve been hit with some nagging injuries and nothing has really been consistent back there, and I think that shows in our defensive stats of how we’ve given up so many yards. We’re finally starting to have the same guys show up there, starting to get stops, and they do a job of flying to the football and getting onto tackles.”
Five Mustangs from that defensive group have 40 or more total tackles. Junior Charlie Higdon leads the way with 63 and 9.5 tackles for loss, and senior Lukas Hoffman is listed just behind him at 60 and seven. There is no doubt these two key players as well as the rest of the impactful group need to step up and continue to improve now that everything is on the line in November.
McCracken County has a great chance to hit the ground running in the 6A playoffs against this Warren Central team Friday night. Coach Brooks has instilled a positive mindset and winning culture into the program this season, and they hope to display that against the Bruins. A combination of their red-hot offense and healthy, improving defense, the Mustangs will look to bring their best and kickoff the postseason with a win on their home turf.