For the first time in two years, Henry Clay football gets to cheer
Our Friday night. (Yeah!)
Was like a ball. (Yeah!)
Whoever thought. (Yeah!)
The day would come. (Yeah!)
Offensive coordinator Griffin Brixey led Henry Clay’s players in a traditional call-and-response victory cheer, started by a former Blue Devil at the turn of the century. He also had to teach them — and the couple-dozen Henry Clay students and parents who stormed the field — how to do it.
With a 21-6 win at Paul Laurence Dunbar, Henry Clay on Friday night ended a 22-game football losing streak and kept themselves in contention for the Class 6A Seventh District championship.
The Blue Devils’ run of futility started just a little more than two years ago in the same stadium when Dunbar defeated Henry Clay 22-19 on Oct. 14, 2022. Henry Clay the following week lost to Tates Creek by the same score. Since then, it hadn’t played a team in Lexington within single digits, and seldom was competitive with any foe. The Blue Devils were held without a point in eight of the 22 losses, and during that stretch were outscored by 32 points, on average.
The day has come. (Yeah!)
To take a ride. (Yeah!)
And somebody. (Yeah!)
Is gonna die. (Yeah!)
Henry Clay’s 20-10 defeat at Lafayette on Oct. 11 was revelatory in more ways than one. Not only did the Blue Devils (1-7) demonstrate teamwide fight, but they stumbled onto something that jolted an offense that had managed to score just 13 points in the preceding five games. Senior Keontae Edwards looked good in some wildcat packages, prompting head coach Demetrius Gay to name him the starting quarterback against Dunbar (1-6).
In his first time starting at quarterback — at any level — Edwards ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, and finished 7-for-9 passing for 93 yards and a TD.
“I was just ready to take it on, play a good game and put my heart out there and get this win for my team,” Edwards said.
You read the papers. (Yeah!)
You see the name. (Yeah!)
The Blue Devils. (Yeah!)
Have won the game. (Yeah!)
Edwards, previously the team’s starting running back and a free safety, missed all of last season after suffering a spine fracture while making a tackle in a preseason scrimmage. He watched his teammates struggle from the sidelines, never giving thought to the idea of hanging up his cleats. He was more nervous about taking his first snaps at quarterback than he was returning to the football field after a scary injury.
“It was tough for me, mentally and physically, but I love this sport,” Edwards said. “I was going to do whatever it takes to be on the field.”
Henry Clay hosts its final two regular season games, against Tates Creek and Southwestern. The former is the final district game for both teams, and could factor into a logjam at the top if the Blue Devils were to spring an upset and Lafayette hands a third district loss to Dunbar (Tates Creek beat Lafayette 46-30 on Friday).
For the first time in two years, Gay and his staff get to prepare their team coming off a victory. His eyes were as wet as most of his players’ and their supporters’.
“When you lose that many games and finally get one,” Gay said, “it feels a great.”
A hidey hidey. (Yeah!)
A hidey ho. (Yeah!)
The Blue Devils (Yeah!)
Have stole the show. (Yeah!)
This story was originally published October 19, 2024 at 10:27 AM.