‘A lot of people have some input.’ Woodford County adds region title to historic year.
Dennis Johnson remembers what was said before he became Woodford County football head coach in 2015.
He recalls people saying that he shouldn’t take over the Woodford County program, that he could bypass the high school coaching route and jump to the college game, or at the very least that he should go somewhere other than the Yellow Jackets, who had just one winning season in the seven seasons before his arrival.
But the former star Kentucky defensive end and third-round NFL Draft pick came to Woodford County anyway, and the turnaround was slow.
There were consecutive three-win seasons in 2015 and 2016. A winless campaign in 2017. A 2-9 mark in the 2018 season.
Incremental progress came with a 6-5 record in 2019 and a 4-3 mark last season, but this year is when the dam burst.
An undefeated regular season has stretched through the first three rounds of the state playoffs, as Woodford County is now a perfect 13-0 and has already set the school record for most wins in a season.
Friday night’s 28-14 home win over Covington Catholic at an overflowing Community Stadium in Versailles secured a region title for Woodford County in addition to district hardware, and sent the Yellow Jackets into next week’s Class 5A state semifinal against South Warren.
But in the moment — and surrounded by another crowd of students, parents and alumni that stormed the Community Stadium field after a Woodford County win — Johnson was grateful the community stuck with him through those lean seasons.
“I wanted to come here and try to build a program. It’s not about me. I want to do it for this community, these kids, so I’m happy for all (of) them,” Johnson said, moments before receiving a double Gatorade bath from his players in frigid temperatures. “We’ve done a lot in the community to build our football program, so a lot of people have some input in what you see on the field today.”
What was on display Friday night was another defensive masterclass by the Yellow Jackets, as Woodford County still hasn’t allowed more than 21 points in a game this season.
The Yellow Jackets built a 14-0 lead Friday night behind a quarterback sneak by senior Bryce Patterson and a highlight-reel 26-yard touchdown run by senior Jackson Geilear on a fourth-and-2 in the second quarter.
Covington Catholic answered immediately with a 99-yard kick return touchdown before then taking advantage of a botched Woodford County punt to get within a yard of a game-tying touchdown.
That’s when the Yellow Jacket defense forced a game-defining turnover, with freshman Makhi Smith recovering a fumble by Covington Catholic senior quarterback Preston Agee right on the goal line.
Second-half scores by senior Jacob Jackson on the ground and from Patterson to junior Preston Stacy through the air confirmed the Woodford County win, with Covington Catholic scoring its only offensive points in the closing minutes on a 76-yard touchdown pass to senior Adam Holtz.
“Our defense just played great as a whole,” Johnson said, hours after he was announced as the Class 5A, District 7 Coach of the Year by the Kentucky Football Coaches Association.
In addition to the kick-return touchdown allowed and the botched punt, Woodford County also missed a short field goal late in the third quarter that would have made it a three-possession game.
But those special teams miscues aside, Johnson was pleased with his team’s positive response to those missteps.
“Once those bad things happened, we just preached being good and we knew we had enough to win the game,” Johnson said.
And once the game was won, it was time for Woodford County to revel in what continues to be a historic season.
Postgame photos with the region championship trophy soon gave way to a celebration of “two claps and a Ric Flair,” followed by a team huddle with a chant of the Woodford County motto for this season, “You Choose.”
Johnson took time to explain the phrase behind the most successful season in school history.
“You’ve got to choose every day how you wake up, how you’re going to treat your mom and dad, how you’re going to go about school, how you’re going to go about your workday, how you’re going to go about practice,” he explained. “Each person has to make a choice every single day to either be successful or not, and that’s their choice.”
This story was originally published November 20, 2021 at 8:05 AM.
