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Friday, Dec. 19, 2008

Diaper dandy, indeed

Football finals have wrapped up, and holiday hoops get ramped up ...

■ John Dudley Hilton was two weeks old when he attended his first state football finals in 1991. He was wrapped in a blanket in his mom's arms while his dad, Dudley Hilton, coached Bell County to a state title at Fairgrounds Stadium. Six years later he returned to the finals with his parents, but he was sick and sat in the parking lot with his mom Jan as Dudley guided Bourbon County to an improbable championship. This year, John Dudley got to revel in the title game experience like he never imagined. A sophomore starter at tight end and linebacker, he was a key player in Bell County's 15-13 victory over Bullitt East at Papa John's Stadium. He had a TD catch and an interception, and he led the Bobcats in tackles. "I did it for my dad," John Dudley said. "He's coached me all along and gave me great words of wisdom." Dudley credited his son for "playing a heck of a game. He did this old man proud." As for bringing another title to Bell County and its loyal fans, Dudley Hilton said, "I'm 60 years old, and there's no better feeling a man can have. I'm a thankful person."

■ Bob Schneider has guided Newport Central Catholic to three state titles, and after last week's loss to Fort Campbell in the Class 2A finals for the second year in a row, Schneider has six state runner-up finishes. Owen Hauck, another Northern Kentucky icon, is the only other coach in state history whose teams have been second so many times. Hauck guided Highlands to a state title in 1964, and was runner-up with the Bluebirds in 1963 and '66, and with Boone County in 1986, '87, '92 and '94.

■ Breathitt County tailback Channing Fugate ran for 133 yards and a TD in the Bobcats' loss to Central in the 3A finals. That performance gave the 6-foot-2, 225-pound junior 3,052 yards and 36 TDs rushing this season. Fugate is in fast company. Only four other players have run for 3,000 yards in state history — Bath County's Frank Jones (3,361 in 1969); Boone County's Shaun Alexander (3,166 in 1994); Lincoln County's Jeremy Simpson (3,044 in 1993) and Fort Knox's Derek Homer (3,003 in 1996). Alexander, Simpson and Homer were all Mr. Football winners.

■ Highlands QB Tony Guidugli gave his family its eighth state title. Tony will get to order a second championship ring. His brothers Gino, Ben and Jeff have five among them. "Gino has the most with three, but I'm up there with him," Tony said.

■ After helping Highlands win a state football title Friday night, starting tackle Tyler Grubbs and tight end Kyle Welz reported for Bluebirds' basketball practice at 9 a.m. Saturday morning.

■ As Fort Campbell junior quarterback Antonio Andrews walked off the field after leading his team to the 2A title, a Falcons fans shouted to reporters that Andrews was going to be Mr. Football in 2009. Andrews will certainly be in the race for Mr. Football next year if he comes close to duplicating this season's stats. He ran for 1,771 yards and 27 TDs, and threw for 1,698 yards and 22 TDs.

■ The gap between Trinity and its public-school challengers has never been wider, and as long as Bob Beatty is the Shamrocks coach, the Big Green Machine figures to keep rolling up state titles. Asked about the gap, Beatty said, "That's something I really don't think about. Those kinds of things, other people are going to make those decisions. My job is to prepare our football team and do the best that I can." Trinity, rated 13th in the nation by USA Today, won its seventh title in eight years, and became the third school to win four in a row. Boyle County won five consecutive championships from 1999 to 2003, and Beechwood won four straight from 1991 to 1994. Trinity has won 19 titles overall, one more than Highlands. After Highlands beat Christian County for its 18th crown Friday night, the Bluebirds' players and coaches said they would be rooting for Simon Kenton to knock off Trinity Saturday night. When that didn't happen, Beatty said the honor of having the most titles belongs to the Rocks. "That's where it should be."

■ Twenty years after Jeff Brohm was a perfect 10-for-10 passing for 163 yards and two TDs in leading Trinity to a 28-0 win over Manual in the state finals, Cameron Smyth was a perfect 12-for-12 passing for 232 yards and three TDs in a 48-0 rout of Simon Kenton in the finals.

■ It's time to wheel the cannons away from high school football. There are safer ways to punctuate pep rallies and celebrate touchdowns. During a pep rally at Highlands last week, Steve Roller suffered severe injuries to his hand when the Bluebirds' cannon misfired as he tried to reload it. Roller is a former Highlands player whose son Brandon is on the team this year. A couple months ago, Georgetown firefighter Jason Skinner suffered injuries to his face, left ear and left eye when a cannon was fired to celebrate a Scott County touchdown in a game against Madison Central at Toyota Stadium. "He's lucky he's not blind, and he's lucky he's not dead," said Jason's dad, Danny Skinner. Jason, 28, had a lengthy operation to have 1,000 pieces of gunpowder removed from his face. He will have more surgeries in January. He has not been able to return to work. Danny Skinner sees no reason to have a cannon at a high school football game. "It's a bomb on wheels," he said. "It's an accident looking for a place to happen."

■ Henry Clay linebacker Mike Federspiel, who led the Blue Devils in tackles the past two years, has committed to Western Kentucky. The 6-3, 210-pound senior was also recruited by EKU, Cincinnati and Miami of Ohio. He is the son of former UK and NFL player Joe Federspiel.

■ Henry Clay principal John Nochta was at Papa John's Stadium to pull for Bullitt East in the 4A finals. Bullitt East Coach Doug Preston played at Bourbon County in the early 1990s when Nochta was the Colonels coach.

■ Former South Laurel star receiver Zack Marcum will play for Troy University in the New Orleans Bowl against Southern Mississippi Sunday night. Marcus, a junior, has 13 catches for 127 yards this season.

■ Holmes, No. 2 in pre-season boys' basketball, was impressive in knocking off No. 1 Scott County 70-65 Sunday night. But Holmes Coach David Henley wasn't too excited about the early-season upset. His Bulldogs play in the Defenders of the Station tournament over the next few days, and will face Knox Central, Ballard and Tates Creek. "If we don't play hard, we could lose all three," Henley said. Holmes' only loss this season was to Bryan Station, and the two could end up meeting again in Tuesday's finals.

■ Chelsea Stinnett, the only senior on Meade County's girls' basketball team, died in a car wreck on her way to school last week. "She meant the world to us," Coach Josh Hurt said. "She was our captain and the heart of our team. Our community as a whole suffers greatly."

■ Warren East's Ashley Rainey, who has signed with Louisville, had 44 points and 23 rebounds in an overtime loss to Christian County.

■ Bullitt Central's Lindsey Hester has a school-record 134 three-pointers.

■ Boys' basketball schedule update: Henry Clay's home game against Tates Creek has been changed from Jan. 2 to Jan. 3 at 6 p.m.

■ Eric Mosley of Moore wasn't rated among the top players in the state in the pre-season, but he's playing like one of the best. The 5-11 senior point guard is averaging more than 30 points for the undefeated Mustangs. He had 38 against Male and 37 against Pleasure Ridge Park. "He's phenomenal," Coach Larry Miller said. "He just makes big play after big play at the end of games." Mosley played as a sophomore at Fern Creek, and at New Creations Christian in Indiana last season. After transferring to Moore, he didn't become eligible until mid-November. "He's a surprise to everybody in Kentucky; I don't think anybody knows he's here,' Miller said. College coaches are finding out. Southern Cal has been in to see him play. Washington State is coming during the holidays. Alabama and Cincinnati are showing interest.

■ Elliott County's boys were at their runnin' and gunnin' best in a 132-67 victory over Boyd County. The Lions had 74 points at the half. Jonathan Ferguson led the way with 41 points, and Timmy Knipp had 31. Elliott County (4-0) plays South Charleston, W.Va., in the Kentucky Bank Shootout at Bourbon County on Saturday.

■ Trigg County is 5-0, led by senior guard Jonathan King (29 ppg, 10 rpg) and junior guard Zeke Wright (13 ppg, 10 rpg). Zeke is the son of Mike Wright, who is in his second stint as the Wildcats coach. He led Trigg County to the 1997 Sweet Sixteen.

■ Steve Fugmann is returning to town to coach soccer again, taking over the girls' program at Lexington Christian. Fugmann has hop-scotched his way around the city, first coaching Henry Clay's girls, then moving to Northern Kentucky for a few seasons before coming back as Lafayette's boys' coach. After taking another year off, he's been hired by LCA. The Eagles return most of their starters from this season's 12-4-3 team. Fugmann has a career coaching record of 184-96-17 in 14 years.