Highlights: Scott County upends Ballard, Tates Creek rallies past Henry Clay
Highlights from this week’s Kentucky high school football games:
Scott County 22, Ballard 13: Luke Valencia recovered a fumble and blocked a punt in the second half to help spark the host No. 19 Cardinals’ (8-1) upset of No. 11 Ballard.
Valencia returned the fumble 33 yards to the Bruins’ 1-yard line to set up Jacob Fryman’s TD to put Scott County ahead 7-6 with 4:45 left in the third quarter.
His punt block early in the fourth quarter forced a safety that gave the Cardinals a 15-13 lead and helped set up the scoring drive capped by Ellis Huguely’s 10-yard TD run for the final margin. Huguely also had a 13-yard TD earlier to tie the game at 13.
“Our defense is what kept us in the game. Our defense has played really well all season,” Scott County Coach Jim McKee said. “We turned them over and that seemed to be the spark that we needed.”
Ballard (7-2) scored the opening TD of the game on a strip sack and fumble return by Cameron Norfleet early in the second quarter. The Bruins later completed a 61-yard TD pass from Tristian Hawkins to Ethan Barnett for a 13-7 lead on the ensuing drive after the fumble.
But Ballard, a team that has beaten Class 6A powerhouses Male and Trinity this season, couldn’t get much going offensively otherwise, turning the ball over on downs three times with four punts, a safety and the fumble.
The Cardinals will finish the regular season as host to No. 3 Lexington Catholic as a tuneup for their Class 5A postseason run.
No. 3 Lexington Catholic 63, Anderson County 8: The Knights (8-1) claimed their first district championship since 2016 as Jackson Wasik threw for 258 yards and seven TDs, four to wideout Max DeGraff, who tallied 193 of those receiving yards.
The first three of those passes to DeGraff went for 50, 51 and 55 yards. Two Wasik TDs went to Hunter Foster and the other to Tanner Pedroche.
Lexington Catholic scored on every one of its possessions while its defense held Anderson County (2-7) down except for one 80-yard breakaway score by Nehemiah Wilson in the second quarter that accounted for nearly half of the Bearcats’ total offense.
Sayre 15, Paris 12: The Spartans (5-4) rallied from two scores down in the second half as Luke Pennington connected with Grant Barnsten for TDs in the third and fourth quarters.
“The opportunity was there, the quarterback found me and the line gave him enough time,” Barnsten told Joshua Moore, who covers Sayre games for WZNN-FM 96.1.
Sayre won despite injuries to some of its key players including two-way standout Brock Coffman.
“Our best player, he’s out, but we showed that we can still accomplish things without him,” Barnsten said. “We’ve still got some people that can do some pretty good things.”
Paris (6-3) took a 13-0 lead with short-yardage third quarter rushing scores by Darian Bell and Kaden Frederick.
Tates Creek 22, Henry Clay 19: Emmanuel Casto’s 24-yard field goal midway through the third quarter provided the only score of the second half and helped the Commodores (3-6) secure District 7’s second seed behind champion Paul Laurence Dunbar when playoffs begin Nov. 4.
Tates Creek rallied from a 19-3 first-half deficit with two touchdowns inside the final 90 seconds of the first half.
Andrew Witherington hit Keshon Douthitt for a 27-yard score with 1:13 remaining in the second quarter. Its defense then turned Henry Clay over on downs by stuffing a fourth-and-1 on the Blue Devils’ own 33-yard line and got the ball back with 29 second left till the break. Four plays later, Theo Jones scored a 1-yard TD with no time left and Witherington converted a two-point conversion pass to Douthitt to tie the game 19-19.
Blake VanHorn threw for 157 yards and three TDs for Henry Clay (3-6), but had two interceptions. The scoring throws went to Jackson Kreutzer, Malcolm Paul and Walden Cole.
Tates Creek’s Castro had a 34-yard field goal late in the first quarter.
No. 2 Frederick Douglass 58, Montgomery County 13: The Broncos (8-0) continued their domination of Class 5A, District 6 with scores from six different players including two rushing TDs by TJ Horton and a TD run and punt return score by Ty Bryant.
Devaun Hart and Josiah Lemond also had rushing TDs to go with TD receptions by Tate Johnson and Tylon Dunn from quarterback Cole Carpenter.
Douglass established a running-clock 37-0 margin five seconds into the second quarter on Horton’s second touchdown.
Paul Laurence Dunbar 44, Lafayette 6: Noah Chapman rushed for 100 yards and two TDs and Cole Colony ran for one score and threw for another as the Bulldogs (5-4) kept the Generals (0-10) winless.
Kyan Miller returned a blocked punt 35 yards for Dunbar’s first touchdown. Ryan O’Hara, a soccer player who shares football kicking duties with girls’ soccer’s Skylar Vaught, had a 33-yard field goal in the second quarter. Lafayette scored on Erickson Pierre-Louis’ 11-yard run in the third quarter.
No. 10 Boyle County 55, Bourbon County 12: Montavin Quisenberry returned a punt 55 yards for a TD and had an 18-yard TD catch in the first quarter as the Rebels (8-1) rolled. Sage Dawson ran for two scores and completed another TD pass to Austin Bodner. Bodner totaled 133 receiving yards. Boyle’s Dalton Stone also had a pair of rushing TDs.
West Jessamine 48, Collins 34: Jacob Jones rushed for 235 yards and six TDs and threw for 144 yards and another score to Brody Jones as the Colts (4-5) outscored the Titans (6-3) 27-6 in the second half.
Jones’ rushing TDs included breakaways of 61 and 71 yards as West Jess traded blows with a Collins offense led by Kenyon Goodin. Goodin threw for 262 yards and four TDs, two each to Darius Evans and Hunter Klusch, while also rushing for 206 yards and a touchdown.
Central 24, Franklin County 0: The Yellow Jackets (6-4) won their first district title over the Flyers (4-5) since 2019 as Cortez Stone had a 28-yard TD run and a 67-yard TD catch from Xavier Brown. Brown also had a 3-yard score.
Clark County 48, Oldham County 7: Kalen Washington scored on TD runs of 11 and 21 yards and had a 23-yard TD catch from Tyleik Maxwell for the Cardinals (6-3). Zaydin Turner opened the scoring for Clark with a 42-yard pick six and later had a 41-yard TD reception from Maxwell. The Cardinals also got a 50-yard onside kick return for a score by Paxton Hammonds and two field goals by Clay Turley.
No. 23 Bullitt East 24, No. 9 Male 17: The Chargers (8-1) stunned the Bulldogs (5-4) thanks to three second-half scores, two from quarterback Travis Egan and another from Mason Gauthier, to win the district championship under first-year head coach Keegan Kendrick. After trailing 7-3 at half, the Chargers led 24-7 early in the fourth quarter and held on. Colin Elder had the first-half field goal for Bullitt East. Lucas Cobler had TD passes to Matthew Hinz and Antonio Harris for Male.
No. 17 Pikeville 52, Hazard 7: Blake Birchfield rushed for four TDs, including a 57-yarder in the first half as the Panthers (7-2) devoured district rival Hazard (6-3). Carson Wright capped the rout with a 60-yard pick six. Isaac Duty had a TD pass to Grant Scott and Brandon Anthony also scored.
No. 21 Southwestern 31, No. 23 Pulaski County 20: Tanner Wright rushed for 199 yards and three TDs, including an 80-yard burst in the third quarter as the Warriors (9-0) claimed their fourth consecutive Class 5A, District 8 championship over the Maroons (8-2). Southwestern’s Maison Hibbard had a 67-yard TD reception from Roger Oliver. Pulaski’s Ethan Idlewine scored twice, while Brysen Dugger threw for 251 yards with a TD and an interception.
No. 16 Covington Catholic 42, Conner 3: Zacc Roberts threw for 250 yards and three TDs, two to Braylon Miller and the other to Aiden Jones for the Colonels (7-2). Owen Leen added 89 yards rushing and two TDs.
No. 8 Highlands 34, Cooper 5: Brody Benke scored on a pair of TD runs while kicker Davis Burleigh hit field goals of 37 and 39 yard to set the school record for makes in a season for the Bluebirds (8-2). Cameron Giesler added a rushing TD and Carson Class had a 60-yard pick six.
Bell County 38, Estill County 13: Daniel Thomas rushed for 266 yards and four TDs for the Bobcats (7-2) who also got 76 rushing yards and a score from Dawson Woolum.
Thursday’s game
Great Crossing 42, Grant County 0: The Warhawks (7-2) got a scoop and score by Zach Morris and a pick six by Malakhi Young in addition to two rushing scores from Cayden Allen and another from Jakeece Patterson. Quarterback Gabe Nichols also had a TD pass to Zackarrey Kelley in his return to the lineup from injury.
