‘We don’t worry about what people say.’ How Great Crossing took down Kentucky’s No. 1 team.
Great Crossing and Manual combined to score 42 points in the first half of their second-round playoff game Friday in Louisville. They managed just seven the rest of the way.
Luke Ballard rushed for a 30-yard touchdown to put Great Crossing in front 28-21 with 6:40 left. The No. 9 Warhawks’ defense continued to stifle the No. 1 team in Class 6A for the remainder, pushing them into the region finals for the first time in school history.
It’s been a short wait. Great Crossing High School opened in 2019 and has steadily built a second respectable football program in a city formerly ruled by Scott County High School. Still, their win over Manual (10-2) was the biggest shocker on a night where five of the eight Class 6A favorites (per the KHSAA’s RPI) lost at home.
Except, of course, to those in the Warhawks’ locker room.
“We don’t worry about what people say, ‘you’re the underdog,’ we don’t worry about all that,” Great Crossing coach Ricky Bowling said. “We play with a chip on our shoulder, and I don’t think for one minute that our football team did not believe we could win this football game tonight.”
The Warhawks (9-3) jumped out to a 7-0 advantage before Manual scored 21 straight to take a 14-point lead with 1:49 to play in the first half. Then things got wild: Great Crossing quickly answered that score and, on the ensuing kickoff, Manual muffed the return and the Warhawks recovered.
Not long after, quarterback Jeremiah Clark rushed for an 8-yard TD to even things with 33.2 seconds left in the half. Great Crossing erased a two-score lead in just a little more than a minute of game time.
“It could have went south real quick, but our guys stayed mentally tough,” Bowling said. He specifically noted Trey Campbell, a junior defensive back against whom Manual repeatedly had success in the first half. Bowling and some teammates kept his spirits up in the intermission.
In the second half, Campbell made several key stops, including three pass deflections.
“Our defense played lights out in the second half, it was unbelievable to watch us play,” Bowling said. “They’ve got some really good athletes and a nice looking offensive line. We were able to set the edge and take away their cutbacks, which they really like to do. They got loose a couple times on us but we bent and didn’t break in the red zone.”
Warhawks’ warpath
Friday’s result was a defining moment in a Great Crossing season that’s had as many downs as ups.
It started 4-0, including a 46-15 rout of rival Scott County when the Cardinals opened their brand new stadium. The Warhawks then dropped three of their next four, including a 36-8 defeat at Ryle that cost them their first district title. The other two losses, to Cooper (62-36) and Madison Central (37-20) proved to be high-quality measuring sticks heading into district play and the postseason.
All three of those teams are thriving in the postseason. Cooper, No. 1 in Class 5A, remained undefeated after eliminating Scott County; Madison Central upset defending 6A runner-up Bryan Station 21-19; and Ryle, ranked No. 2 in Class 6A, put a running clock on St. Xavier a month after losing by a touchdown to the Tigers.
Great Crossing last week defeated Meade County, 37-30, in the first home playoff game in its history. It’ll host another team from the western part of the state, Barren County (10-2), in round three.
The Trojans were also among the victorious underdogs on Friday; their 16-13 win at North Hardin was a reversal of a 14-6 decision on Oct. 4. It was also their second straight road win to open the postseason.
His Warhawks won’t be underdogs next week, but Bowling expects his team to handle itself well in a different role.
“A chance to win a region championship on our home field? You can’t ask for anything better,” Bowling said. “It’s rewarding for our program, what we’ve been able to do in our short existence, to be where we are right now.”