Tayden Lorenzen seals Highlands’ double-OT thriller against Frederick Douglass
Highlands tight end Tayden Lorenzen capped an epic contest against Frederick Douglass on Friday night in Fort Thomas with a pair of touchdown runs and 2-point conversion in double overtime to help the Bluebirds take down Lexington’s Broncos 21-20.
Lorenzen, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound junior and son of the late, great Highlands and Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen, scored both of his TDs in the overtime periods as a quarterback in the wildcat formation.
He cashed in from 1 yard out for a 13-7 lead when Highlands had the first possession in the first overtime and then from 4 yards to cut Douglass’ lead to 20-19 when the Bluebirds had the final possession of the second OT.
Lorenzen then took a direct snap for the winning 2-point conversion around the right end and into the end zone before sprinting with his teammates toward a euphoric Bluebirds student section as horns blared in celebration.
“My coaches do a great job of putting me in those situations in practice a lot, so I’m pretty used to it,” Lorenzen told LinkNKy.com’s Josh Kalb. “Obviously, there’s going to be some nerves, because nobody goes through something like that without nerves. Honestly, it was just like playing first-and-10 on the 50 — just all it was.”
Lorenzen placed the ball down carefully in the end zone before pumping his fists.
“I have no idea what was going through my mind after that,” he said. “I was just yelling as loud as I can and having a great time with my friends.”
Douglass (0-1), ranked No. 5 in the Herald-Leader’s Class 6A preseason coaches poll and No. 9 overall in our Hype 25, had a chance to win the game in the first overtime after Brady Ross’ 10-yard pass to Terry Cayson tied the game at 13-13. Highlands had gone for two on the opening possession and failed.
But the Bluebirds blocked the extra point attempt by Ron’rekus Barber, a payback for Douglass’ blocks of two fourth-quarter Highlands field goal attempts that could have sealed the game for the Bluebirds earlier, including Kai Anderson’s 25-yard try as time expired.
Highlands (1-0), ranked No. 5 in Class 4A and No. 8 in the Hype 25, held Douglass to 128 total yards but gave up an interception and two fumbles. The second fumble gave the Broncos the ball on Highlands’ own 33-yard line.
Carter Ross broke a 30-yard TD run on the second play from scrimmage to help Douglass tie the game at 7-7 with 8:36 left in the third quarter. Highlands had opened the scoring late in the first half with Rio Litmer’s 22-yard TD pass to Cale Harris.
Dakari Talbert scored Douglass’ other touchdown in the second overtime, which was followed by a successful Barber kick for a 20-13 lead ahead of Lorenzen’s winning moment.
“Our defense came up huge. We only put up seven points at first. Our offense still played well, just got to take care of the ball. Besides that we played a really good game,” Lorenzen said. “This shows how good our coaches are and how much edge we have. It shows how hard we worked this summer to get here. Our team has worked our butts off for this and we were able to pull it out.”
Danville snaps losing streak
Danville, the 11-time state champions who had been mired in a 23-game losing streak, snapped out of it Friday night with a 49-12 home win against Fort Knox in Steve Stonebraker’s first game as head coach.
The 49 points were more than the Admirals scored all of last season.
Freshman Jayvian Meaux led Danville with 11 rushes for 136 yards and four touchdowns. Trinden Sellers returned a kickoff for a score in addition to his receiving touchdown from quarterback Dillon Cruver.
Other Lexington scores
- Ballard 19, Lexington Catholic 6.
- Collins 49, Lafayette 9.
- Kentucky Country Day 31, Sayre 28.
- Lexington Christian 41, North Hardin 21.
- North Oldham 46, Henry Clay 0.
- South Warren 56, Bryan Station 35.
Saturday’s games involving Lexington teams
- Paul Laurence Dunbar vs. Wayne County (at Somerset), 5:30 p.m.
- Tates Creek at Mercer County, 8 p.m.
