High school football highlights: All gas, no brakes for Bryan Station, LCA, Douglass
Bryan Station 42, Oldham County 21: Last year’s 10-win campaign was a surprise to Bryan Station head coach Phillip Hawkins, but this season has come with the weight of expectation, both externally and internally.
Hawkins has set the internal expectation for the Defenders (7-1) at capturing a region title, something the Defenders seem more than capable of doing after another strong showing Friday night against Oldham County (6-2).
The Defenders led 28-7 at halftime and got three first-half touchdowns from junior Damin Green, via a 66-yard receiving score, a 55-yard receiving score and a 5-yard touchdown run.
“The kids played great tonight. We’re still making a lot of mistakes, so I don’t even know what the ceiling is for this bunch,” Hawkins told the Herald-Leader.
Hawkins was hired at Bryan Station in early 2020, and said that now with his players 1 1/2 seasons into a new coaching philosophy, the benefits are beginning to show.
“When you got that combination, and you’ve got some kids that are athletic and want to buy in, that’s a good recipe for success,” Hawkins said.
Sophomore quarterback Trenton Cutwright finished Friday’s win over Oldham County with 288 passing yards and three passing touchdowns, along with 55 rushing yards and a score on the ground.
Hawkins said he knew his team was ready to handle business against the Colonels when the Defenders emerged for pregame warm-ups in a driving rainstorm and remained focused on the task at hand.
Figuring out different ways to win, and handle success, has been the natural evolution for Bryan Station, which is now a combined 17-3 during Hawkins’ time as head coach.
Bryan Station won 10 games in the previous four seasons combined.
“These kids are going to figure out a way to win,” Hawkins said, citing last week’s last-minute 9-7 win over Clark County as an example. “That’s the kind of team you want to have, ultimately.”
Lexington Christian 63, Somerset 13: Xavier Brown rushed for 154 yards and two touchdowns, including a breakaway score of 66 on LCA’s first play from scrimmage and 69 yards later in the first quarter as the Eagles (8-0) rolled.
LCA quarterback Drew Nieves threw TD passes to Mason Moore (59 yards) and Jeffrey Selby (31 yards) while Jeremiah Riffle added a pair of TD runs to help the Eagles establish a 42-0 margin early in the third quarter. Somerset (1-8) scored on a pair of 80-yard plays in the second half, a Guy Bailey run and a pass from Josh Bruner to Hayden Dick.
Frederick Douglass 38, Great Crossing 7: The Broncos (8-0) stayed undefeated with a dominant victory over the Warhawks (6-2). In the first half alone, Frederick Douglass recorded 249 total yards of offense with senior Samuel Cornett tossing a pair of touchdown passes to senior Dane Key.
The Broncos ended up out-gaining the Warhawks 370 to 71. Great Crossing’s lone score was a Cayden Allen fumble return touchdown.
Tates Creek 42, Lafayette 6: Matthew Underwood rushed for three touchdowns and quarterback Andrew Witherington threw for 192 yards and two scores as the Commodores (2-6) got their first district win.
Lafayette (2-7) scored on an 88-yard kickoff return in the first quarter, but managed only six first downs and 40 yards of total offense. Derrion Stewart and Kobe Middleton caught the Witherington TDs. Aliyon Blevins scored first for Creek on a 4-yard run.
Madison Central 43, George Rogers Clark 7: Brady Hensley racked up 245 yards rushing and four TDs for the Indians (7-1), who got a safety on Clark County’s first drive and were never threatened. Adrien Parks also scored for Madison Central. Kalen Washington scored on an 81-yard run in the fourth quarter for the Cardinals (3-6).
Hazard 14, Sayre 0: A pair of touchdowns from junior Max Johnson powered the visiting Bulldogs (6-3) to a shutout victory over the Spartans (6-2). Johnson had an 11-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and a 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Lexington Catholic 48, Bourbon County 35: Lexington Catholic raced out to a 35-14 halftime lead on the strength of three first-half rushing touchdowns from junior Walker Hall as the Knights (6-2) defeated the Colonels (4-4). Hall finished the game with five rushing touchdowns and 296 rushing yards for LexCath, which ran for 355 yards as a team.
Bourbon County’s Josh Moody had a strong day on the ground as well, as the junior accounted for 174 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Paul Laurence Dunbar 45, Henry Clay 24: Paul Laurence Dunbar ran for 355 yards as a team and senior Kamarion Robinson ran for 178 yards and three touchdowns on his own as the Bulldogs (4-4) kept the Blue Devils (0-8) winless. Sophomore Julian Hyden and junior quarterback Cole Colony also had rushing scores for the Bulldogs.
The game was tied at 24 at halftime before Dunbar outscored Henry Clay 21-0 in the second half. Junior Blake Van Horn had two passing touchdowns for Henry Clay.
West Jessamine 34, Madison Southern 28: Dalton Carter’s 67-yard kickoff return with under two minutes left in the game set up a short-yardage Jacob Jones’ go-ahead touchdown run for the Colts (4-3).
West Jessamine rallied from 14-0 first-half deficit to take a 28-22 lead in the fourth quarter on a 54-yard bomb from Jones to Ernest Stanfield before the Eagles tied the game late on a 1-yard run by Rocky Whitehead. The Eagles’ two-point conversion attempt failed.
First-half touchdowns by Rocky Whitehead and Jayshaun Etheridge staked the Eagles to an early lead, West Jessamine answered with a 7-yard TD pass from Jones to Stanfield with under a minute left before the break and narrowed the gap to 14-13 when Jones hit Carter on a 30-yard pass play on the opening drive of the second half.
Near the end of the third quarter, Stephen Whitehead’s short TD run pushed Madison Southern’s advantage back to 22-13, but West Jessamine quickly answered. Jones had a 1-yard plunge to cut the Madison Southern lead to 22-20 on the next series before his big play to Stanfield.
Kentucky Country Day 28, Frankfort 20: Luke Russo and Nathan Caldwell each rushed for more than 100 yards and a touchdown as the Class A No. 2 Bearcats (7-1) fended off a road upset. KCD leading rusher Eric Dickerson was held to just 60 yards on the ground, but scored the game’s opening TD and had a touchdown catch from Russo with only 18 seconds left before halftime as the Bearcats established a 21-6 lead.
But seconds later, Frankfort (5-3) answered with a 49-yard pass play from Sam Davis to Charlie Ellie to narrow the margin to 21-12 before the break. Azeno Williams rushed for 108 yards and scored on a 27-yard run to cut the lead to 28-20 with eight minutes left in the game. Frankfort’s Jaden Morgan also scored.
Boyle County 54, Anderson County 0: Jagger Gillis completed 11 of 15 passes for 249 yards and five touchdowns as the Rebels (7-1) ran off to a 48-0 lead by halftime. Cole Lanter had five catches for 118 yards and three TDs and Avery Bodner added a pair of rushing scores for Boyle. Jakei Tarter and Luke Imfeld had the other TD catches.
Danville 40, Washington County 2: The Admirals (6-3) opened the scoring with a pair of defensive touchdowns and got huge running scores from Caleb Burns and Mauri Brown. Keelan Story returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter followed by a 55-yard fumble return by Brown.
Brown then scampered 50 yards for his second TD. Caleb Burns had 57 of his game-high 136 yards rushing on a breakaway in the first quarter. Burns added another rushing score in the second quarter to go with a 20-yard TD passing play from Brady Morse.
Bishop Brossart 15, Paris 6: Senior Jacob Leicht had a first-half quarterback sneak into the end zone and in the fourth quarter junior Austin Schadler blocked a punt that was recovered in the end zone by senior David Govan as Bishop Brossart (9-0) remained undefeated with a road win at Paris (3-6).
The Mustangs have not allowed more than eight points in a game this season.
Franklin County 31, Waggener 6: Franklin County (5-3) secured a homecoming win over Waggener (2-6). The Flyers led 21-6 at halftime and didn’t allow any points in the second half.
Covington Catholic 8, Highlands 7: Owen Leen scored on a 4-yard run for the Colonels as they rallied late and gambled for a go-ahead two-point conversion run by Brayden Collins to win it with 2:50 left in the game. Highlands took the lead on a team fumble recovery in the end zone late in the third quarter that was credited as a team recovery.
Thursday’s game
Scott County 53, Montgomery County 6: Freshman quarterback Andrew Hickey threw for three touchdown passes and senior Montago Jones ran for two more as Scott County (5-3) steamrolled Montgomery County. Hickey completed only seven passes against Montgomery County (4-4), meaning that nearly half of his completions went for touchdowns.
