Ryle keeps youthful Frederick Douglass from going further in Class 6A playoffs By Josh Moore Special to the Herald-Leader Updated November 22, 2025 2:19 PM Gift Article Photos from the Class 6A region championship between the Frederick Douglass Broncos and the Ryle Raiders at The Farm in Lexington, Kentucky on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. By Pablo Alcala Key Takeaways AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom. Despite a Herculean effort from Dakari Talbert, Frederick Douglass’ football season ended the same way it began: with a walk-off loss to a Northern Kentucky juggernaut. Ryle, last year’s Class 6A state runner-up, defeated the Broncos 28-27 at “The Farm” after quarterback Nathan Verax rushed for a game-ending 2-point conversion in overtime. That score followed a touchdown run by teammate Dameyn Anness, his third of the night and second in about five minutes of real time. Anness rushed for a game-tying TD as time expired in the fourth quarter, but the Raiders’ potential game-winning extra-point attempt hit the right goal post and reignited the Douglass sideline. Talbert needed just two touches in overtime to score his fourth touchdown of the evening. He finished with a game-high 210 yards on 33 carries and seemed ready to propel Douglass into the state semifinals for the seventh straight year. Had Ryle not elected to go for a 2-point bid, Talbert might still be running on the Raiders (10-3). “That kid’s a stud,” said Bo Gay, a defensive lineman at Ryle. “He’s a stud.” Frederick Douglass’ Dakari Talbert runs the ball against Ryle during the Class 6A playoffs in Lexington. Pablo Alcala He’s also just a sophomore, one among many underclassmen who started or played a large number of snaps this season for the Broncos (8-5). In what amounted to a “down year” for Lexington’s premier football program, four of its five losses were settled by a single score. Not a single senior made a rushing attempt or threw a pass this season. Among more than a dozen offensive and defensive linemen, only two will graduate. The top four tacklers on the team were juniors, and seven of the top 10 were underclassmen. And for most of the season a freshman, Jayden Guzman, ran the show at quarterback. “I’m proud of our kids,” Broncos head coach Nathan McPeek said. “We took ’em pretty far for as young as we are. … I wanna thank the 13 seniors, they did a great job for us, and like I told ’em after the game, I can’t take this hurt away. It’s just something that’s gonna take time. Only one team walks away happy in this deal.” Douglass last year fell to Trinity in the state semifinals. The Shamrocks were the only team that beat the Broncos decisively this season, 37-0 in Louisville on Aug. 29. That came on the heels of a 21-20 double-overtime loss at Highlands, settled on a walkoff 2-point conversion by Bluebirds star Tayden Lorenzen. Douglass opened its home slate against Manual, which won 28-21; the Broncos won six straight after that before dropping a 20-13 decision to Boyle County at home. Three of the teams that defeated Douglass are still alive after Friday night. Ryle is joined by Trinity, a 64-27 winner against Madison Central, and Boyle County, which handled Covington Catholic 49-14. Highlands fell 35-21 to Corbin on Friday. (Manual lost last week.) Had Douglass capitalized on some early opportunities, it might have been among the survivors. The Broncos drove inside Ryle’s 25-yard line on their first three series and failed to convert on fourth down each time. The Raiders scored almost immediately after the third stop, but Douglass was able to respond in kind with the first of four TD runs by Talbert. That Ryle scoring drive was the only one in its first six possessions. Douglass forced punts on the first three, a turnover on downs on the fifth and another punt on the Raiders’ first series following intermission. But Ryle found the end zone on three of its final four trips; Douglass’ Demond Green blocked a field goal to end the other Raiders possession. Douglass in its short history — next season will be the program’s 10th — had never played an overtime game until 2023 when it fell 14-7 at Trinity in the state semifinals. The Broncos as of Friday are 0-4 all-time in overtime decisions. “That’s something we need to really look at and analyze as we move forward in our program,” McPeek said. “But I’m proud of our kids and our staff. It just didn’t go our way.” Ryle's Nathan Verax was surrounded by his teammates after he scored on a game-winning two-point conversion in overtime against Frederick Douglass. Pablo Alcala

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