‘We control our destiny.’ Frederick Douglass proves to be too much for Bryan Station.
In a Saturday matinee showdown between Lexington’s two biggest and best teams, Class 6A No. 5 Frederick Douglass overpowered No. 7 Bryan Station 24-6.
The Broncos’ defense forced Bryan Station to punt on its first four possessions and turned the Defenders over on downs near midfield in their other first half drive.
Meanwhile, the Douglass offense shook off two first-half interceptions to take a 10-0 lead at the break that it extended to 24-0 midway through the third quarter.
Douglass senior running backs Peyton Smith and Pharo Watts ran for 110 yards and 101 yards, respectively, while sophomore Dakari Talbert proved to be a goal-line specialist with TD runs of 7, 4 and 23 yards.
“The defense played their butt off. The O-line played their butt off. They got our run going,” Talbert said. “And I feel like when our O-line is going, nobody can stop us. … The O-line works hard, so I work even harder to make them look good.”
It was the Broncos’ 35th straight win over their Lexington rivals. Douglass has never lost to a fellow city team.
Bryan Station (4-4) did not sustain a scoring drive until midway through the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach. Kalen “Jaws” Washington ran it in from inches away with 1:04 left. Washington racked up 136 rushing yards of the Defenders’ 183 yards of total offense.
“That’s the best our defense has played in a while,” Douglass coach Nathan McPeek said. “We played today how you’ve got to win in November. When the weather cools down, you’ve got to be able to run the ball and play great defense.”
The margin could have been larger if not for Bryan Station’s two interceptions of Douglass QB Jaxon Strautman. The first by ZjaLijuon White gave the Defenders the ball at their own 1-yard line late in the first quarter. Jordan Haskins nabbed the other at the Bryan Station 5-yard line just before halftime.
The Broncos’ defense held Bryan Station to just 25 yards and forced a punt after the first interception. The Defenders opted to let the clock run out going into halftime on the second.
“We just read our keys and got all 11 hats to the ball,” Douglass linebacker Logan Busson said. “Our DBs played a really good game. They’ve struggled that past couple of games, but they played a really, really good game today. And if they play like that, we’re winning a state championship, plain and simple.”
Douglass essentially sealed the game on the opening two series of the second half. Talbert capped a nine-play, 58-yard drive out of the locker room with a 4-yard score to put Douglass up 17-0 with 7:41 left in the third quarter.
Then sophomore Cionne Conn forced a Bryan Station fumble on its own 20 on the ensuing kickoff. Two plays later, Talbert got his third touchdown.
Derion Talbert, Dakari’s older brother and last year’s top scorer for the Broncos, saw his first snaps of the season in coming back from a knee injury. His day was highlighted by a 20-yard catch.
Next, Douglass (5-3) travels to George Rogers Clark (4-4) to try to wrap up the program’s sixth consecutive district title. The Cardinals stunned Madison Central 27-15 in Richmond on Friday. After that, the Broncos will take on Class 4A No. 1 Boyle County (8-0) in Danville in their regular-season finale.
“We control our own destiny. Boyle’s, obviously, the best team in the state of Kentucky, but we’ve to beat GRC first,” McPeek said. “If we want to host more playoff games, we’ve got to win the next two.”
Other notable games from Friday
Tates Creek 46, Lafayette 30: The Commodores (4-3) are one step closer to their second straight district title as their offense exploded for 501 total yards against the Generals (4-4).
Tates Creek quarterback Darnell Burnside Jr. threw for 198 yards and five touchdowns, three to Luke Cooper and two to brother JT Cooper. Running back BJ Evans rushed for 256 yards and two TDs.
Woodford County 38, Scott County 35: Logan Ford kicked a 35-yard field goal with 1.8 seconds left as the Yellowjackets (7-1) forced a three-way tie atop Class 5A District 5 with its road win over the Cardinals (5-4). The game included five ties, but Woodford never led until the end.
Woodford QB Justus Wertzler threw for 404 yards and four TDs, two to Omari Jointer and one each to Makhi Smith and Leland Taylor. Wyatt Crowe helped Woodford tie the game at 35-35 with a 3-yd TD run with 3:55 left in the fourth quarter.
