Best passing offense in Kentucky powers LCA football to another district title
Doug Charles was pleasantly annoyed during his postgame routine Friday night in Danville.
Charles — Lexington Christian Academy’s charismatic and cordial head football coach — was speaking to the Herald-Leader following a 38-21 LCA win over Danville, a result that gave the Eagles the Class 2A, District 4 championship, when he paused momentarily.
In the postgame huddle, a prized possession was passed along to the LCA players: A hand-operated whistle courtesy of an LCA coach who lives in the Danville area.
It was long teased as a reward that would be given to the players should they earn a third straight district championship.
The Eagles did that.
Now, the whistle was getting out of hand.
“I’m trying to do an interview son, OK. Alright,” Charles softly, yet sternly, communicated to his joyous group of players.
The rebuke given by Charles about the constant whistle noise is one he will gladly issue, especially given that this year’s path to a district title hasn’t come easily for LCA.
In 2020 and 2021, LCA earned district titles during the postseason as part of a previous KHSAA format.
But those LCA teams were dominant, each reaching the Class 2A state title game with one or no losses.
This year’s LCA team (now 5-4 overall and 3-0 in district play) has had speed bumps, including a three-game losing streak to top-tier opponents.
But a constant has been LCA’s prowess at passing the football.
The Eagles boast the best passing offense in Kentucky high school football, which had averaged more than 330 passing yards per game before Friday night.
LCA sophomore quarterback Cutter Boley — formerly of LaRue County — averaged 361.6 passing yards per game before Friday, and his 2,531 total passing yards led the state ahead of the Danville game, despite playing one fewer game than most other top signal-callers.
Boley boosted those stats Friday with three touchdown passes to give him 23 for the season, including two to senior Will Nichols.
“He’s a kid that never played in a spread offense before. He threw the ball 103 times last year in 12 games, under center most of the time,” Charles said of Boley. “We’re giving him more and more command. He’s very poised. … Cutter is a consummate leader and his best football is ahead of him.”
The return of senior J’Vontae Emerson in the backfield after an extended illness was also immediately felt, as he scored a 7-yard rushing touchdown on LCA’s first possession of the game.
The future also looks bright for Charles. Freshman Mac Darland capped the scoring for LCA with a bruising 35-yard rushing touchdown.
“There’s an old saying that there’s two things that die in November: Dogs that play in the road and teams that can’t run the football,” Charles joked. “We have run the ball better the last couple weeks, that’s something we’re going to focus on because we know we’ve got to be a balanced (team).”
Does Charles have a plan for the whistle in case it gets out of hand again?
“I’ll probably end up having to bust the whistle, or I’ll lose my mind,” Charles joked.
From a Danville perspective, the ability for the Admirals to learn from this experience was a principal takeaway for head coach Mark Peach.
Danville, 11-time state champions but without a district title since 2017 (also the year of the Admirals’ last state title), held a 14-7 lead with six minutes to go until halftime of Friday’s district championship game.
Then, LCA rattled off 24 straight points.
Peach praised his team’s consistent effort for 48 minutes on Friday, and said the experience would hopefully serve the Admirals well in a potential region championship game in the playoffs.
Postseason success for Danville, which also hasn’t won multiple playoff games in a season since 2017, will be directly tied to the play of standout sophomore Demauriah Brown.
Normally a running back, Peach said Brown is the third player Danville has played at quarterback this season.
Brown has been behind center for the last four games for the Admirals, finding success in a run-heavy offense.
Entering Friday, Brown averaged 141 rushing yards per game and totaled 1,128 rushing yards, both second in Class 2A.
While the LCA defense largely kept his yardage in check, Brown did record two rushing touchdowns (including a 54-yard run) and a passing touchdown against the Eagles.
Brown now has 18 rushing touchdowns this season, and is set to remain among the top 15 scorers in the state.
This story was originally published October 22, 2022 at 8:21 AM.
