Darius Ridener Darius Ridener 5'10" | 165 lbs | ATH Mccreary Central | 2029 State KY caught my attention when evaluating freshman year film. He is a true big play threat out of the backfield, using his explosive speed to hit the running lane in a hurry then run away from the defense on long runs. Ridener has also shown the contact balance to break tackles with ease without losing stride. He finished his freshman season with 72 carries for 437 yards and five touchdowns in nine games. Ridener also led his team in receiving with 20 catches for 269 yards and three touchdowns. He also made an impact on defense at outside linebacker, recording 22 tackles as a freshman. Darius also proved to be a reliable returner on special teams. Ridener should be a player to keep a close eye on as his role on both sides of the ball continues to grow moving forward.

An outstanding four-sport athlete (football/wrestling/basketball/baseball) who has accomplished a ton during his middle school career. In just the past year he’s been named Conference MVP, Kentucky Future Stars Defensive MVP and Prep Redzone Next Middle School Linebacker MVP. Very agile plays with great foot speed. Ridener also starts at Running Back and has even split outside as a Wide Receiver. His skill set offers versatility, as he’s capable of playing all three LB positions and in nearly type of defensive playcall.

Last year as a seventh-grader, Ridener earned MVP honors in the Tennessee vs. Kentucky Future Stars Game. While he didn’t repeat as the MVP in this year’s border war, Ridener still had an excellent showing at Outside Linebacker. He didn’t start the game for Kentucky, which was a bit surprising, but he made the most of his playing time. Ridener (unofficially) finished with six tackles on the day and recorded a 12-yard sack, which was Tennessee’s biggest loss on the day.

This group of 2029 Kentucky prospects needed literally every second of last June’s Future Stars Game against Tennessee, as they eked out a victory with a TD as the clock struck 0:00. One of the brightest stars that day was Darius Ridener, who earned Defensive MVP of the game with an outstanding day at Linebacker. The athletic Linebacker/Running Back combo has only upped his stock since that game. For this efforts during the 2024-2025 season, he earned a KYMSFA Division 2 Honorable Mention Regional player of the Year nod nod and a selection to the Region 4 team in the Battle of Regions.

Looking back at my in-game notes from the weekend, I described nearly every run Ridener made as “tough”, “physical” and “earned”. Like Wooldridge listed above, Ridener was a force on the defensive side of the ball for the Kentucky Future Stars and even earned the Defensive MVP as a Linebacker. This weekend he flipped sides and showed what he could do as a Running Back. Up two inches and 15 pounds since June, Ridender had countless runs up the gut, gashing the defenses with power.

Earning defensive MVP for his performance was Darius Ridener, a huge gamechanger for Team Kentucky in the 7th grade game. What made Ridener so explosive was his ability to read the pass as well as his ability to pick off the quarterback. I also liked Ridener’s ability to lock down receivers in coverage and force mistakes in fourth down scenarios.