Lucas McKinney charges down the field during a 2025 high school football game.
The 2025 high school football season has come to an end for Bracken County, following their 49-14 loss to Breathitt County in round two of the Class 2A playoffs.
Although they didn’t make history as the first Bracken County team to reach the third round, they did have several successes throughout the 2025 season, and a lot to be proud of after walking off the field for the last time this year.
All the way back in week one of the season, the Polar Bears hosted the inaugural “Sunset Bowl”, where they kicked off against the Mason County Royals for the first time in program history. That game, they rolled to a strong 35-21 win over the Royals to start the season 1-0. Following a tough, 25-24 loss to Holy Cross in week two, Bracken County bounced back with a 41-13 rout of the Bishop Brossart Mustangs.
Two weeks later, they held Walton-Verona to six, marking the first of a four-game winning streak that included wins over nearly all of their district opponents, the Bearcats, Gallatin County, Owen County and St. Henry.
The Polar Bears then hit the road for the final two weeks of the regular season, kicking off against two powerful teams in the Beechwood Tigers and Pikeville Panthers.
Bracken County’s first-round playoff game against the West Carter Comets, was a 37-0 shutout, advancing them to round two against Breathitt.
At the end of the season, Bracken County sits with a 7-5 season record, with a 62.2 passing yards per game average, 199.2 rushing yards per game average and 24.2 points per game average. The 2025 Polar Bears will lose several powerful seniors to graduation, including Daulton Tarter, Greg Benefict, Jordan Bravard, Lucas McKinney and Jackson Whitten, among others.
These members of the roster have been instrumental in Bracken County’s recent success, helping their team go 22-10 since their reclassification to 2A in 2023.
Although their season ended sooner than they may have hoped, Bracken County had a strong run in 2025, and are already eager for the first kickoff of 2026.
