MOUNT WASHINGTON – It might be a little bit late in the recruiting process at the Division I level, but it all worked out just fine for Bullitt East senior Jay’Quan Crawford.
Last week, Crawford gave the University of Kentucky his commitment as a running back. The senior becomes one of just a small handful of players from Bullitt County to sign with a Division I program in football.
Crawford picked the Wildcats over offers from Toledo, Eastern Michigan and Kent State. He visited Lexington in January.
The 6-2, 200-pound power runner might not be that well known even in Mount Washington as he played in just seven games in his entire career with the Chargers.
In the spring, Crawford transferred to Bullitt East from Franklin County High School where he was a 3-star standout and ranked 13th in his class in Kentucky. However, the administration at Franklin County did not release Crawford, meaning that the process had to go through the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA). As is often the case with KHSAA involvement, the process slowed to a crawl.
In a nutshell, Crawford had lived with one parent in Franklin County and then shifted to Mount Washington where the other parent resided.
As a junior with the Flyers, a team that reached the Class 4-A State Championship game before losing to Paducah Tilghman 27-20 in 2024, Crawford was third on that team in rushing, playing in 12 of the team’s 14 games. In those dozen games Crawford carried the ball 68 times for 446 yards, an average of 37.2 yards a game. He scored eight touchdowns on the ground.
Out of the backfield, Crawford caught five passes for 51 yards with no touchdowns.
Crawford was on the sidelines for Bullitt East from the opening scrimmages and was very supportive of his new teammates. However, it wasn’t until the sixth game of the season, against Manual, that the senior was ruled eligible. He played sparingly in that loss.
The next week in a district game against Fern Creek, Crawford had a breakout game as he carried the ball 25 times for 168 yards as the Chargers won the game 28-14. A week later in a game against Southern, the senior had 12 carries for 149 yards and two scores as Bullitt East had an easy win.
On a team that already had senior Cole Cornell as a running back in a normal one-back attack, Crawford was never an every down player for the offense and he did not play at all on defense. The games against Fern Creek and Southern were the only times he rushed for over 50 yards.
The final numbers for Crawford in his seven games with Bullitt East had him second on the team with 91 carries for 539 yards, an average of 77 yards a contest. He scored five touchdowns on the ground. Crawford also caught one pass in his Bullitt East career but it did go for a 35-yard touchdown.
Depleted at the running back position due to the transfer portal, Kentucky has signed seven players either from the high school ranks or through the transfer portal to man the running back position under new head coach Will Stein.