Henry Clay football wins in a rout for its first victory of the Hawkins era
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Henry Clay ended a 2-year home drought with a 46-8 win over North Bullitt.
- Zac Hoellein posted 163 rushing yards and 3 TDs in the Blue Devils' breakout.
- Coach Phillip Hawkins credited practice shifts for first win of 2025 season.
Starved for a home football win for nearly its entire high school experience, Henry Clay’s Devils Den student section rushed the field after the Blue Devils routed North Bullitt 46-8 Friday night.
“I have never seen a bunch of parents and students and football kids so damn happy to win a game,” Phillip Hawkins said with a laugh about his first win as Henry Clay coach after an 0-5 start. The program had not earned a home win since Sept. 9, 2022, and had gone 2-32 overall since. “They rushed the damn field like we won at Kroger Field.”
Hawkins felt the offensive explosion coming despite the Blue Devils not scoring more than 24 points in any game so far this season.
“As coaches, we have known that they are better than they have played,” Hawkins said. “But for some reason, they just gave up games. … We just kept on moving things around and motivating them a little bit differently until they put it all together.”
Zac Hoellein rushed for 163 yards and three touchdowns, including a 40-yard scamper, while Safal Gurung rang up 99 yards on the ground. That helped open up some big plays in the passing game. Aiden Huston connected with Chaii Paris for TD passes of 29 and 32 yards and hit Henry Morgan for a 31-yard score.
The defense showed up, too, holding North Bullitt to 157 total yards and nine first downs to Henry Clay’s 18. The Blue Devils’ last score was a safety.
Henry Clay seemed snakebit in some of its games earlier this season. Turnovers and a bizarre blocked punt mishap gave its opponent a first down after being backed up into its own end zone on a fourth-and-30 and culminated in an 18-6 loss at Madison Southern. Hawkins felt like his team let a win get away at Henderson County the next week, as well.
“This first five weeks was pretty tough for me,” said Hawkins, who had immediate success at Bryan Station with 10-2 records each of his first two seasons there in 2020 and 2021. “I did not think it would affect me the way it did. As coaches we try to do all we can and then when you don’t see a return on it and the kids aren’t all the way bought in, sometimes they can’t get out of their own way.”
But during a 46-24 loss at Dixie Heights last week, Hawkins and his coaching staff figured out something about their team. They scored 14 points in the fourth quarter. That set the tone for this week.
“This week’s practice was amazing,” Hawkins said. “I just had to turn it up a notch. It’s probably my fault, you know, we weren’t teaching them enough. Maybe we set our bar too low with them.”
The Blue Devils enter their bye week on a positive note and will look to be competitive in a district that seems ripe for the taking. Tates Creek, the two-time defending 7th District champions, is also 1-5 midway through the season, although against much stiffer competition. The Commodores lost 37-0 to Herald-Leader No. 17 Ryle on Friday.
“I feel like it’s a competitive district,” Hawkins said. “I sort of know what to expect, but I’ve got to teach 91 kids what to expect. I think it will be good fun the next month and I hope we can win a couple of games.”
Friday’s other Lexington victories
Bryan Station 24, Simon Kenton 14: Samarion Williams’ third-quarter interception helped spark the Defenders (3-3) as Raymond Young scored on a 4-yard run to cap the ensuing nine-play, 59-yard drive that put the home team up by two scores, 21-6, over the Pioneers (3-3).
In the first half, Bryan Station quarterback Coleson Carpenter threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Crutcher and Kamani Barbour scored on a 3-yard run. John Hannan’s 35-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter set the final margin.
Lafayette 38, East Jessamine 0: Kondo Jehovanis threw for 218 yards and four TDs, including a pair to Harrison Stephens, as the visiting Generals (3-3) recorded their first shutout since 2022.
Jackson Grantz and Colton Coleman hauled in the other two Jehovanis scoring throws. Grantz also nailed a 48-yard field goal and Jehovanis scored on a 1-yard run.
Paul Laurence Dunbar 38, Madison Southern 22: The Bulldogs (2-4) jumped to a 22-0 halftime lead thanks in part to two turnovers on downs and an interception by its defense.
Dunbar’s Jayshawn Crosby rushed for 95 yards and two TDs while quarterback Dominic Faulker threw a 12-yard TD pass to Ryan Barrett and scored on his own 8-yard run. Jett Bailey also threw a 14-yard TD pass to Conner Norsworthy.
The Eagles (1-5) got a 65-yard kickoff return touchdown by Cayden Chasteen to open the second half, but never threatened.
Sayre 26, Newport 0: Class A’s No. 5 Spartans (4-1) got interceptions by Hampton Monday, Beau Perry and Paul Miller and more than 100 yards rushing and two TDs by Caden Jones to take down the visiting Wildcats (3-3). Gannon Rice added three field goals.
