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Lexington HeraldLeader
The Herald-Leader Hundred: 2024’s top Kentucky high school football players
By Jared Peck,
1 day ago
The favorite for Kentucky’s annual Mr. Football award isn’t always obvious before the high school season starts. And a lot can happen between now and the first weekend in December at Kroger Field.
But Boyle County’s all-everything Montavin “Tavi” Quisenberry might have a head start this year after our preseason survey of coaches ranked the West Virginia commit atop the 2024 Herald-Leader Hundred, our annual list of some of the commonwealth’s best players.
The 5-foot-9, 160-pound senior wide receiver/cornerback has been leaving would-be tacklers in his wake for two seasons for the four-time defending Class 4A champions and has twice been a Courier Journal first-team all-state selection. Before that, Quisenberry had a sensational freshman year at quarterback for neighboring Garrard County.
Boyle County’s powerhouse program doesn’t need Quisenberry to pile up gaudy statistics, but he seems to do so anyway. As a junior, he racked up 800 yards and 18 TDs rushing, 856 yards and 12 TDs receiving and had three kickoff return TDs and two punt return TDs, including one in the Class 4A finals that helped him earn championship game MVP honors. As a sophomore, he topped 1,000 yards rushing with 10 TDs and was the Rebels’ leading receiver with 833 yards and 13 TDs; he also had six special teams scores.
But Quisenberry is sure to have a number of formidable challengers by the end of the year for high school football’s highest individual honor when the Kentucky Football Coaches Association makes its Mr. Football pick.
Among them could be any of the seniors on the Herald-Leader Hundred list, especially the nine others who rank among our coaches’ survey top 10 — Cooper’s Austin Alexander, Paducah Tilghman’s Martels Carter Jr., Western Hills’ Javeon Campbell, Male’s Isaac “Spike” Sowells Jr. and Antonio Harris, Bowling Green’s Deuce Bailey, Owensboro Catholic’s Brady Atwell, Central’s Cortez Stone and Murray’s Jeremiah “JJ” Jones.
Quisenberry’s name appeared on a survey-best 50 of the 85 coaches’ ballots returned to the Herald-Leader and had the most No. 1 player votes as well with 25.
Keen observers of high school football and University of Kentucky recruiting will note the omission of incoming Frederick Douglass transfer Cedric Works , a 6-4 senior edge rusher from Clayton, Ohio, who has recently been reported to have enrolled at The Farm. As a four-star recruit, Works certainly would have been among the H-L Hundred. The list was completed before his arrival in Lexington.
The following Herald-Leader Hundred is @HLpreps ’ preseason list of some of the best players in the state as put forth by high school head coaches and also selected by sports writer Jared Peck. The top 10 players are presented in order of votes received from the coaches, who were asked to rank the top 10 players in the state regardless of school classification.
The next 40 players, in alphabetical order, are among those most often named as part of that survey combined with Peck’s picks based on their career statistics, recruiting rankings and coaches’ comments. Then, 50 additional notable players from Kentucky’s various geographic regions are recognized as players to watch.
The online version of this story links to each player’s Hudl.com highlights from their names.
Boyle County multi-purpose standout Montavin Quisenberry tops this year’s Herald-Leader Hundred list of Kentucky’s best high school football players. Quisenberry and the Rebels are taking aim at the school’s fifth consecutive Class 4A state championship in 2024. Silas Walker/Herald-Leader File Photo
Total points received in survey: 441 (25 No. 1 votes).
Cooper’s Austin Alexander helped the Jaguars reach last season’s Class 5A state championship game. The senior tight end/defensive end is committed to North Carolina. Brandon Wheeler/Linknky.com
Martels Carter Jr., a four-star 2025 recruit out of Paducah Tilghman, chose the University of Kentucky in May over fellow finalists Auburn, Colorado and Louisville. Ryan C. Hermens/rhermens@herald-leader.com
Kentucky football recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow with Javeon Campbell during the Western Hills defensive lineman’s visit to UK before he ultimately committed to the Wildcats on July 2. Javeon Campbell on X
Quarterback Deuce Bailey (2) was named MVP of last year’s Class 5A state title game after leading Bowling Green to the school’s eighth state championship. Jack Weaver
Methodology: The Herald-Leader invited head coaches from all 219 teams eligible for postseason play to participate in our preseason survey with 85 responding to the top 10 player rankings question out of 166 preseason surveys returned. Players were assigned point values of 10 points for a coach’s top pick down to one point for the 10th player on their list. Players outside the top 10 were selected by Jared Peck based on input from the surveys, recruiting rankings, known college offers and career accomplishments.
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