Highlights: Dunbar rallies in wind and rain; Douglass, Boyle, LCA romp in district finals
Trailing 34-27 with four minutes left in the game, Paul Laurence Dunbar faced a fourth down on its own 44-yard line with 3 yards to gain to try to keep its season alive against visiting Tates Creek in the Class 6A District 7 championship.
Running back Justin Bayubahe did that 53 yards better.
Lined up in an old-school “stack-I” formation with two blocking backs in front of him, Bayubahe broke free around the right end for the 56-yard score to help Dunbar tie the game at 34.
“Justin really is a game-breaker,” Dunbar Coach Wes Johnson said. “When he puts his shoulders downhill and sees a hole, he turns on the jets. He’s our home run hitter from that position.”
After stopping Tates Creek on its next series, Dunbar put the game away with a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped by a Kamarion Robinson 1-yard TD run, his fourth score of the game. Dunbar had a 41-34 lead with 36 seconds left. Kaylib Nelson intercepted a last-gasp Tates Creek pass to seal it.
The victory gave Dunbar (7-5) back-to-back district championships and clinched its third straight winning season under Johnson.
Robinson finished the game with 188 yards rushing and scores of 8, 20, 23 and 1 yards, the last three in the second half.
“Kamarion is just such a hard kid to tackle,” Johnson said. “He’s just so shifty and does such a good job.”
But things were not going to plan for Dunbar for much of the game.
The Bulldogs trailed 20-14 at halftime and verged on letting the crosstown Commodores salvage a losing regular season with another playoff win. Aliyon Blevins punched in a 1-yard TD run to put visiting Creek up 26-14 midway through the third quarter.
A Robinson score narrowed the margin to 26-21 on its next series, but Dunbar had to punt as time wound down in the third quarter.
Then, as the night’s nagging wind and rain turned angrier, the game got crazier. And while it might have made the fans in attendance more miserable and cold, it proved to be just what Dunbar needed as the Bulldogs rallied with 20 fourth-quarter points.
“It’s funny to think about now, but we just are built for wind and rain and snow and sleet,” Johnson said. His team had 426 rushing yards to Tates Creek’s 132. “All of a sudden in the second half, the wind and monsoon rains came, and I just felt like that was a turning point. The way we run the football, that kind of weather just really helped us.”
Blevins led Tates Creek (3-9) with 110 yards rushing and two TDs. Creek sophomore quarterback Andrew Witherington threw for 212 yards and three touchdowns, two to Marquevion Smith, who had a game-high 128 yards receiving, and the other to Theo Jones.
Dunbar’s Cole Colony had a 39-yard TD pass to Jose Kazadi in the first half and rushed for 59 yards.
Next, Dunbar travels to Madison Central for the regional championship round of the playoffs. The Indians defeated Dunbar 34-24 in the second game of the season for each.
Class 5A
Frederick Douglass 48, Scott County 7: Kentucky commit Dane Key’s 80-yard kickoff return less than two minutes into the game sparked 41 unanswered points for the host Broncos (11-1) as Douglass won its third consecutive Class 5A, District 6 title.
Incredibly, the Broncos and Cardinals traded a pair of scores before Key’s moment. Douglass quarterback Samuel Cornett connected with Ty Bryant on a 51-yard touchdown on the game’s first play from scrimmage. Scott County’s Jeremy Hamilton responded with a 47-yard TD run moments later.
But Scott County (6-6) would not gain more than 7 yards on seven of its next eight series, as the Broncos defense forced four successive punts, got two fumbles, an interception and five turnovers on downs the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, Cornett threw for 184 yards and two more TDs, one each to Cameron Dunn (26 yards) and Tylon Webb (43 yards). TJ Horton scored on a 1-yard run and Bryant added a rushing TD and a fumble recovery TD.
Woodford County 51, West Jessamine 16: The Yellow Jackets improved to a perfect 12-0 on the season with a dominant home Class 5A, District 7 title win over the Colts. The victory also marked a school record for wins in a season by Woodford County.
For the Yellow Jackets, junior Aiden Carroll had a pick-six, senior Jacob Jackson had a rushing score and senior Jackson Geilear scored on both sides of the ball with a fumble return touchdown and a rushing touchdown.
Southwestern 27, Pulaski County 7: Southwestern is now 11-1 on the season and hasn’t lost since mid-September following a 20-point home win over Pulaski County to secure a Class 5A, District 8 championship. This is the third straight district title won by Southwestern.
The game was tied 7-7 entering the fourth quarter before Southwestern scored 20 unanswered points, including a pair of short rushing touchdowns by senior Connor Crisp.
Covington Catholic 35 Conner 14: Reid Hummel and Preston Agee both topped 100 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns each as the Colonels advanced to the third round for the 11th straight year. Eli Nally kicked field goals of 37 and 30 yards in the second quarter. Conner’s Alex Castrucci threw a TD pass to Alijah Thompson and ran for their other score.
Owensboro 43, Graves County 0: Now 11-1, the Red Devils shut out the Eagles at home to win the Class 5A, District 1 championship. Owensboro junior quarterback Kasey Boone had touchdown passes to juniors Kenyatta Carbon and Jeremiah Goodwin, and Carbon himself had rushing touchdowns of 64 yards and 53 yards. Junior Ethan Pendleton also had a pick-six for the Red Devils.
South Warren 28, Bowling Green 3: The 11-1 Spartans defeated the Purples at home for the second time this season en route to a Class 5A, District 2 championship. While a field goal by junior Colin Fratus gave Bowling Green a 3-0 lead late in the second quarter, South Warren senior quarterback Caden Veltkamp connected with senior Avrin Bell for a touchdown pass as time expired entering halftime to give the home team an ultimately decisive lead.
Veltkamp found Bell again for a 32-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter as South Warren pulled away.
Class 4A
Boyle County 47, Lexington Catholic 13: The Rebels (11-1) opened the game with a 79-yard TD pass from Jagger Gillis to Trey Lanter on their second play from scrimmage and never looked back.
Boyle County had a mercy rule running clock by halftime with a 41-0 lead over the Knights, who couldn’t keep their offense on the field and were forced to punt away their first five possessions. The game marked a stark contrast to the teams’ regular-season contest, a closely fought 16-10 Rebels win.
Boyle’s Avery Bodner rushed for 156 yards and a touchdown. Gillis threw for 144 yards and rushed for 51 yards and three TDs. Cole Lanter had a 20-yard touchdown, as well. Blake Busson scored twice for LexCath (9-3) in the fourth quarter.
Franklin County 14, Central 8: The Flyers (9-3) reversed the regular season win curse in this series as Kentucky commit Kaden Moorman scored a 2-yard touchdown for the go-ahead score with 4:17 left. Moorman also had Franklin County’s other score, a 50-yard TD run in the first half.
Central (7-5) led 8-7 at halftime on Xavier Brown’s 1-yard keeper and a two-point conversion catch from Brown by Jaylen Thomas.
Franklin County topped Central earlier this season, but each of the last two years the winner of this new rivalry’s first game has lost the playoff rematch.
Corbin 42, Lincoln County 21: Senior Seth Huff ran for four touchdowns for Corbin, while senior Clayton Davis had two rushing scores of his own for Lincoln County in a losing effort. The Redhounds remained perfect on the season and are now 12-0 following the 21-point home win over the Patriots in the Class 4A, District 7 title game.
Class 3A
Christian Academy-Louisville 43, Mercer County 7: Mercer County led 7-0 on a short rushing score by senior Brayden Dunn in the second quarter before CAL scored 43 straight points to close the game, although the Titans still led 7-6 at halftime.
The eventual scoring barrage from the Centurions, now 11-1, included a 44-yard screen-pass score by senior Easton Messer, three rushing touchdowns by junior Gavin Copenhaver and a 14-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Cole Hodge to senior Adam Ballard to help win the Class 3A, District 4 title game.
Bell County 28, Rockcastle County 8: Bell County junior Dawson Woolum ran for 191 yards and scored two touchdowns on the ground in the Class 3A, District 5 championship game win for the Bobcats. Rockcastle County didn’t score until the fourth quarter when sophomore quarterback Caleb Moore threw his lone touchdown pass of the game.
Class 2A
Lexington Christian 61, Danville 13: In the first half for LCA, senior Xavier Brown and junior Jeremiah Riffle each had rushing touchdowns and senior Mason Moore had both an interception return for a touchdown and a 45-yard touchdown catch as the Eagles secured a Class 2A, District 4 championship.
LCA is now a perfect 12-0 on the season and has scored at least 55 points in a game for the sixth straight week.
Beechwood 48, Holy Cross (Covington) 0: Beechwood senior quarterback Cameron Hergott completed only seven passes for 164 yards but four went for touchdowns to help the Tigers improve to 12-0. The victory for Beechwood was its fifth shutout of the season en route to a Class 2A, District 6 championship.
Mayfield 55, Murray 6: Mayfield led 28-0 after the first quarter, and the game’s opening two drives for the Cardinals featured touchdown passes by sophomore Zane Cartwright to junior Isaac Stevenson and junior Gavin Jackson. Now 11-1, Mayfield scored at least 50 points for the sixth time this season and for the third straight game overall in a decisive Class 2A, District 1 title game win.
Senior Kylan Galbreath also had first-half touchdown runs for the Cardinals.
Class A
Pikeville 28, Hazard 6: Pikeville led 14-6 at halftime before scoring second-half touchdowns via a pass from senior quarterback Isaac McNamee to junior Wade Hensley and a 42-yard run by junior Blake Birchfield. The 11-2 Panthers defeated the Bulldogs for the second time in a month to claim the Class A, District 7 title at home.
