‘Teams don’t go easy.’ CAL holds off Union County, joins elite three-peat company

A no-quit effort from Union County in the second half wasn’t enough to dethrone Christian Academy of Louisville in the Class 3A UK HealthCare Sports Medicine State Football Finals. The Centurions, with a 42-21 win Saturday afternoon at Kroger Field, claimed their third straight crown.

It wasn’t as foregone as the final score might suggest. Trailing 28-0 and CAL driving for a touchdown that would have put a running clock into effect, Braves standout Jarren Johnson snagged a tipped pass from Centurions quarterback Connor Hodge and returned it 72 yards for Union County’s first touchdown with 5:03 left in the third quarter. The Braves (12-3) recovered the ensuing onside kick, leading to a Johnson TD run to cut CAL’s lead in half with 1:17 left in the period.

Hodge responded with a 22-yard TD rush less than two minutes into the fourth quarter, which Union County answered a few minutes later with a short pass from Johnson to Luke Thomas. The Braves, after nearly recovering another onside kick, forced a punt but failed to move far on their next series. Union County recovered a fumble on CAL’s next play but again couldn’t move the chains.

With 2:08 left, Hodge rushed for his fourth TD to seal the deal for the Centurions (12-3).

“It’s state-championship football, and you can throw records and all that stuff out the window,” CAL coach Hunter Cantwell said. “Teams don’t go easy. All credit to Union County for fighting to the end.”

CAL won its third straight state title and fifth overall. It joined just 11 other Kentucky programs that have won at least three consecutive state championships in their history: Beechwood, Belfry, Bowling Green, Boyle County, Central, Danville, Fort Campbell, Highlands, Mayfield, Pikeville and Trinity.

All of the Centurions’ titles have come in the last 10 years. They won their first in 2016 and their next in 2018, both as a Class 2A challenger under former coach Stefan LeFors (who’s coached in Louisiana since 2019). Their current streak has been achieved exclusively in Class 3A and with Cantwell at the helm.

CAL steamrolled through its past two seasons, going 15-0 in 2022 and 14-1 in 2023 (a two-point loss to Class 2A power Lexington Christian Academy was its only blemish). Between a quarterback shake-up — Hodge’s brother Cole was under center previously; Connor is a natural wide receiver who’s committed to play that position at East Carolina — a series of season-ending injuries to key players, and a smaller senior class, it wasn’t clear that this group would have all the pieces necessary to contend at the end.

“I’ll remember this year,” Cantwell said. “The last two years, it was kind of an unstoppable train. We felt like we knew where this thing was headed. This year there was a lot of uncertainty. … This is the most special of the three to me.”

Notes

▪ Hodge, the game’s MVP, factored into every CAL touchdown. In addition to his four scoring runs, he threw first-half TDs to Trey Cotton (70 yards) and Bryce Wilson (38 yards).

▪ Johnson — an uncommitted 5-foot-8 athlete whose only reported scholarship offer is from Kentucky Wesleyan College — demonstrated his playmaking repertoire on the biggest stage, evading multiple tacklers on multiple plays to keep a stingy CAL defense on its heels. In addition to his 72 yards on the interception return, he ran for 149 yards on 29 carries (5.1 yards per rush) and passed for 90 yards (10 of 23). Johnson, who recovered from a devastating ACL injury suffered during his sophomore season, finished his senior season with 45 total TDs (plus six TD passes) and 2,682 rushing yards. “I’ve known him my whole life, and you can’t put too much on him,” said Union County coach Derek Johns, battling tears. “I’m just glad to be able to coach him.”

This story was originally published December 7, 2024 at 4:38 PM.