‘It’s definitely the standard.’ CAL tops LexCath, will play for third straight 3A title.
On a blustery, sub-40-degree Friday night in Louisville, No. 1 Christian Academy-Louisville faced a familiar scene.
Playing in front of the CAL faithful (in less-than-ideal conditions) for a shot at another state title in a matchup with Lexington Catholic, the Centurions accomplished again in 2024 what they did in 2023, triggering the running-clock rule in a state semifinal win over the Knights.
Christian Academy, which has won two consecutive Class 3A state championships, earned a crack at a three-peat by beating Lexington Catholic 50-14 on Friday night, a win a lot like last year’s 43-8 rout at the same stage.
“Well, it’s playoff weather, you know?” CAL head coach Hunter Cantwell said. “This is what you expect when you get late in the playoffs, and it’s tough for both teams. So I was proud of our guys. They didn’t let it affect them too much, came out and executed. And it was enough.”
The 2024 high school football season looked a bit different from that of 2023 for both programs. Beloved senior quarterbacks Cole Hodge, the Centurions’ two-time state champion slinger now at East Carolina, and Jackson Wasik, a stalwart of the LexCath program and a tough-as-nails leader, are no longer under center. Injuries plagued CAL all season, and the Centurions learned from three disappointing losses during the regular season — tripling last year’s total. The Knights, who dropped four regular season matchups but never looked too far from playoff contention last year, opened this year’s campaign 0-6 against several of the commonwealth’s top teams, then proceeded to fire off seven victories to return to the 3A semifinals.
“It’s a different path every year,” Cantwell said. “I feel like we’re a younger team this year, we’ve had more ups and downs than we’ve had in years past, we’ve had a lot of injuries this year. So I’m just really proud of this team. There’s a lot of perseverance happening behind the scenes that people don’t realize. This one’s special to be able to get to Kroger Field this year.”
And yet, the Centurions (11-3) and the Knights (7-7) just so happened to collide again, at the same stage on the same field.
“It’s a resilient bunch,” Lexington Catholic head coach Nick Baisch said of his team. “Today’s society and social media and everything, they’re gonna tell you you’re not good enough when you’re 0-6. You can let that outside noise creep in. It can ruin you. These kids are gonna be just fine when they go on in life if they’re able to keep coming together, stepping together and coming together as a team when everyone’s telling you you shouldn’t. So extremely proud of the group and the team that this has become.”
The Centurions closed the first quarter with three consecutive scores Friday night. First, ECU commit (and the aforementioned quarterback’s younger brother) Connor Hodge threw a TD pass to sophomore Ja’Hyde Brown before a successful two-point conversion from Hodge to junior Stone Perkins. After the CAL defense quickly forced a LexCath punt, Hodge found Trey Cotton on a 35-yard touchdown pass to tack seven more on the scoreboard. Perkins then delivered a pick six with 1:11 to play.
The Knights, undeterred by a 22-point deficit, punched one into the end zone with 3:29 to play in the second quarter on a QB keeper by senior Matthew Kern.
But CAL responded with a 19-yard touchdown connection between Hodge and sophomore Garyon Hobbs. The Centurions dominated the third quarter with a rushing touchdown from junior Tyree Stoner and a 10-yard touchdown pass from Hodge to senior Bryce Wilson, the latter of which would begin the running clock.
Cantwell told his team after the game that it was time to “defend our home turf, which is Kroger Field.” Hobbs said it’s the Centurions’ responsibility to uphold their program’s winning tradition in Lexington.
“It’s definitely the standard,” Hobbs said. “So we’ve gotta protect it.”
The Centurions recorded three takeaways (to the Knights’ one) during the victory, the third of which was a Hobbs’ pick six at the start of the fourth quarter. Kern answered with a short touchdown pass to junior Brady Wasik to bring the final score to 50-14.
“Oh man, (Kern has) been our team captain,” Baisch said. “And our whole goal during the offseason was to create competitions that he wouldn’t win. He kept stacking those, one at a time, and offensively, defensively, he’s a guy for us. We asked him to play out of position and play our quarterback this year, and it’s his first time he’s really been a starting quarterback in his career, and he did a great job. And he got better every single week, you know. And I’m proud of the way that he is.”
Hodge, who completed 16 of 20 passing attempts for 175 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 61 yards, said the opportunity to return to Kroger Field and play for a third state title “feels great.”
“I mean, we wanted to be in there from the start,” Hodge said. “So we just reached our goal, and now we gotta finish it.”
After all the ups and downs the 2024 season has brought thus far, Cantwell called the composition of his team “very special,” and “a testament to the teams of the past.” Without the 2022 and 2023 state title teams, Cantwell said, this year’s roster wouldn’t have been able to endure the adversity or book a return trip to Kroger Field.
“It’s unreal,” Cantwell said. “It’s so, so difficult. I mean, there were so many times in the course of this season where, even the coaches, we didn’t know if this was going to be the reality. Injuries, guys are banged up, next man up, how’s the next guy gonna respond? Ball’s gotta bounce your way to get to Kroger Field, and we’ve been very, very fortunate. So we gotta make sure we finish.”
Class 3A state championship
Christian Academy-Louisville vs. Union County
When: Noon Saturday, Dec. 7
Where: Kroger Field in Lexington
Records: CAL 11-3, Union County 12-2
This story was originally published November 30, 2024 at 8:47 AM.
