Boyle County passes test against Bryan Station ahead of long-awaited Title Town tilt
In two-plus seasons at Boyle County, Coach Justin Haddix has a 27-1 record and two Class 4A state championships to his credit.
The only notch that’s not in the belt, yet, is a win over Title Town-rival Danville because COVID-19 wiped the historic tilt off the schedule in both 2020 and 2021.
Danville has 11 state championships. Boyle County got its 10th last December. And after a 36-12 win over Bryan Station at home in the Rebel Bowl on Saturday, Boyle looks primed to tie its crosstown neighbor on the banner tally.
“That’s the thing about being here. You expect to win. You expect to compete in state championships,” Haddix said. “I think that goes a long way with our kids, our town. They have those expectations and we talk about it during the week — what it means to have that ‘Rebels’ on the side of your helmet and ‘Boyle County’ across your chest. That means a lot to them. And that means a lot to everybody in this town.”
So does the rivalry with Danville, which won its own Whitaker Bank Pigskin Classic on Saturday 36-0 over Garrard County.
“It’s going to be good. Tensions are going to be high,” Boyle running back Avery Bodner said. “We’ve just got to come out and do what we do.”
There won’t be any issues getting up for Danville-Boyle County, even though the Rebels have won 15 of the last 22 meetings and the last two in a row by a combined score of 93-17.
“I think our guys are excited. … I hope we play. That was something we were amped up to play last year and it didn’t work out. We’re hopeful. We get it at home,” Haddix said. “You see a little light in their eyes when we talk about that game.”
Though the Rebels (2-0) jumped on top of Class 6A Bryan Station (0-2) early thanks to Montavin Quisenberry’s 82-yard return for a touchdown on the opening kickoff, the Defenders eventually settled down and made Boyle County claw for every yard in the win.
Holding a 22-6 lead at the break, the Rebels got an important turnover on downs at midfield to thwart Bryan Station’s first possession of the second half. Boyle quickly moved downfield to go up by another score on Sage Dawson’s 4-yard TD run less than two minutes into the third quarter.
“We got to halftime and I said, ‘I’m so glad we’re in a game. We need to be in a game.’ This is going to get us ready,” Haddix said. “Our guys responded. I felt we got better and we got some great film to learn off of.”
Bodner rushed for 117 yards and two TDs, earning bowl game most outstanding player honors, but he had to acknowledge his new teammate Quisenberry, a sophomore transfer from Garrard County who had the kickoff return TD and an interception in the game’s first two minutes.
Bodner was on the opening kickoff special teams unit.
“I saw him drop it, so I just went up to block and the next thing I know, he’s gone,” Bodner said. “He’s fast as lightning. It’s crazy, dude.”
Quisenberry had 43 yards and a TD rushing, 24 yards receiving, the interception and a pass break up off his fingertips in the second half that looked like a surefire big play for Bryan Station. He said he feels right at home since joining the Rebels.
“It’s fun. The players are like family,” Quisenberry said. “I feel like I’ve been playing here forever.”
The Rebels had some miscues, including a mishandled punt snap in the first half and an interception in the second. The botched punt set up Bryan Station in Boyle territory and helped lead to the Defenders’ first TD, a 5-yard pass from Trenton Cutwright to Dahvon Frazier. Cutwright hit a pair of big pass plays late in the fourth quarter, the last a 17-yard TD toss to Jayden Walker, to set the final margin.
“You’re never where you need to be,” Bodner said. “You don’t want to be playing your best ball until December. So, there’s a few things we need to work on, but I think this week was a good win for us. We’ve just got to keep focusing.”
Other Saturday highlights
Lexington Christian 49, Mercer County 19: Cutter Boley threw for 418 yards and three touchdowns as LCA (1-1) shrugged off a sluggish start to open up a 42-7 lead by the end of the third quarter.
“Right now, we’re just gathering all the pieces. I feel like we put them together in the second half, especially,” Boley said. “I didn’t start game out like I wanted to. … I should have had 600 (yards). I didn’t start off well.”
Jay Emerson had a pair of rushing TDs and had one of the plays of the game with Boley in the first half as he kept himself alive as his quarterback avoided a sack. Emerson took the last-gasp dump-off pass 63 yards to set up his first score.
“I was going to throw it out of bounds, but I know Jay has a hook up on my backside when I’m rolling out, so I just tried to bide time and was able to get it out to him,” Boley said.
Parker Chaney had 156 yards and two TDs receiving. Evan Brown caught the other touchdown pass.
Mercer County got a rushing TD from Ashton Drakeford and TD throws from Thaddeus Mays to Wade Lane and Landon Yates.
Unfortunately, LCA wideout/safety Drew Nieves suffered a knee injury on an awkward tackle at the end of a first-half offensive play. He did not return. The fifth-year senior led the Eagles to back-to-back state finals as their quarterback the last two seasons.
Danville 36, Garrard County 0: Jakeem Ray hit Mauri Brown for a 67-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage and the Admirals (2-0) rolled. Brown would later add a short rushing TD to go along with a 31-yard score by Jalen Dunn, a 35-yard TD run by Braidin Baughman and Demontrae Trumbo’s pick-six.
Covington Catholic 27, Pikeville 19: Braylon Miller’s 32-yard punt return for a touchdown early in the second quarter helped provide the visiting Colonels (1-1) the cushion it needed to hold off the defending Class A champions.
CovCath’s Evan Pitzer opened the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown run and hit Louie Hodge on a 25-yard TD pass in the first quarter to help stake his team to a 20-6 halftime lead. After Pikeville’s Blake Birchfield broke a 77-yard TD run early in the third quarter to cut the lead to 20-12, Owen Leen capped an 11-play drive with a 2-yard plunge to extend the advantage.
Birchfield finished the game with a game-high 129 yards rushing for the Panthers (1-1), who got a pair of rushing TDs from quarterback Tayvian Boykins.
Raceland 53, Russell 14: The Rams (2-0) snapped a three-game losing streak to their Rail Cities Bowl rival thanks to an outstanding performance from quarterback Logan Lundy. Lundy threw for 277 yards and four touchdowns, including 66- and 42-yard scoring passes to Connor Hughes, and two more to Mason Lykins. Lundy also had a 68-yard TD run.
