Playoff roundup: Improved Douglass offense sparks rout; Paris stuns Sayre
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Douglass offense surged; Talbert rushed 123 yds, team advanced to region final.
- Paris defense forced turnovers; Guy Turner scored twice to upset Sayre 14-10.
- Regional rounds set: Woodford, Scott, LCA and others advanced, key rematches loom.
Frederick Douglass running back Dakari Talbert’s bruising 41-yard touchdown run on the Broncos’ first drive Friday night at The Farm demonstrated how far his team has come from its 0-3 start to the season.
“We just took it step by step, listening to our coaches and buying into our system,” said Talbert, a junior who rushed for 123 yards and two TDs in Douglass’ 42-23 second-round win against district rival Bryan Station in the Class 6A playoffs. “It’s brought us this far.”
The victory advanced Douglass (8-4) to its seventh straight region finals appearance and its third since moving up to Class 6A in 2023. The Broncos have won them all, but will get a stern test when they host Ryle next week, last season’s state runner-up.
“They’re really good,” Douglass coach Nathan McPeek said of the Raiders, who have a Mr. Football candidate in running back/linebacker Jacob Savage, an Indiana commit. “There’s nobody bad left.”
Through the years, Douglass has always had an imposing defense, but this year the offense struggled early in a 21-20 loss at Highlands and a 37-0 loss at Trinity. And it committed key turnovers in a 21-20 home loss to Manual.
Friday, against familiar foe Bryan Station, the Broncos had the entire game plan working.
Freshman quarterback Jayden Guzman completed nine of 15 passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns, a 4-yard slant to Terry Cayson in the first quarter and a 10-yard post route to TJ Stewart in the third.
“I love him. He’s a great kid. He believes in himself and has all the confidence in the world,” Cayson said of his quarterback. “We knew coming into this game what this game meant to us. And going into it, we were very locked in and had a great week of preparation.”
Cayson’s touchdown put Douglass up 14-0 with 5:37 to play in the first quarter.
But Bryan Station responded with a 12-play drive capped by quarterback Jordan Haskins’ 3-yard TD run on a fourth-and-goal to cut the Defenders’ deficit to 14-7 with 11 seconds left in the period.
Douglass answered with a 77-yard drive over the next three minutes that ended with Talbert’s diving reach for the pylon on a 5-yard run that helped extend the lead back to 21-7.
The Broncos’ defense got in on the scoring when linebacker Zion Young pressured Bryan Station’s Haskins into a desperate throw to avoid a sack. Toby Robinson stepped in front of the pass for a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown to help give Douglass a 28-7 lead at half.
Bryan Station got an 85-yard kickoff return touchdown from Samarion Williams after Stewart’s TD catch for Douglass late in the third quarter. Jeremiah Turner’s 1-yard TD run gave Douglass a 42-15 lead with 6:07 left in the game. Kerwin Montgomery’s 9-yard TD run for Station with 2:52 left set the final score.
The win marked Douglass’ ninth victory over Bryan Station and extended the Broncos’ win streak over its Lexington rivals to 40 games. Douglass has not been beaten by any fellow Lexington school since its doors opened in 2017.
The Defenders (6-6) suffered their second straight second-round playoff exit after the program’s run to the 2023 state finals. First-year head coach J.T. Haskins praised his team’s resiliency. The Defenders also began the season 0-3 against a difficult schedule. Their 35 points against No. 1 South Warren in the season opener are the most the Spartans have given up all season by two touchdowns.
“I love how hard they fought all season,” J.T. Haskins said. “We’ve battled injuries. We’ve battled sickness. You name it. We went through adversity, and for them to make it to the second round of the playoffs, I’m happy for them. They didn’t stop fighting today.”
Paris takes down defending Class A champion Sayre
Paris quarterback Guy Turner rushed for two touchdowns as the visiting Greyhounds stunned defending Class A champion Sayre with a smothering defense that led to two key turnovers in a 14-10 second-round victory.
“I’ve heard these guys have never beat them in the playoffs … and for me and my boys to come out here — it wasn’t the greatest game — but it was really just a dogfight,” Turner told 10thRegion.com’s Will Jones.
Turner, a junior, transferred to Paris from Christian Academy of Louisville before the season.
“Paris is football. … I’ll be family with these guys forever,” he said. “For all the fans to show out and give all this energy and to see us take the W out on the field, it will be the talk of the town for a minute.”
Sayre (9-3) took a 3-0 lead late in the first quarter on a 42-yard field goal by Gannon Rice during a grinding first half that saw little offensive momentum for either side.
But Paris (7-4) caught a huge break just before halftime as a bad snap over the Sayre punter’s head gave the Greyhounds first-and-goal at the Spartans’ 5-yard line. Turner punched it in for a 7-3 lead with 1:41 left in the second quarter.
Turner then capped a 79-yard drive with a 7-yard TD run on Paris’ first series of the second half for a 14-3 lead.
A 75-yard run by Beau Perry set up Sayre’s only touchdown, a Gage Pennington pass to Hampton Monday that helped cut the Spartans’ deficit to 14-10 with 55 seconds left in the third quarter.
Sayre’s try for the lead got snuffed by Brandon Santiago’s interception in the end zone on fourth-and-11 from the Paris 19 with 4:56 left in the game. The Greyhounds did not let Sayre’s offense see the field again.
“Our kids played well,” first-year coach Dane Damron told 10thRegion.com. “This is a good win for the Greyhounds.”
Lexington Christian’s rout gives Eagles another shot at Mayfield
Lexington Christian’s Bennett Gudalis rushed for two first-quarter touchdowns on just six total carries, quickly setting the tone for the Eagles in a 51-21 win over Monroe County.
LCA (9-3) scored on eight of its 10 possessions and forced punts on Monroe County’s first five drives to win its eighth straight game. The Falcons (8-4) finally mustered a series, ending in their first touchdown, by driving 84 yards in a little more than six minutes to wind down the second quarter and stave off a first-half running clock.
The auto-ticker started less than four minutes into the second half, when Nash Whalen and Tyler King connected for their second touchdown exchange. Whalen, who finished 16-for-24 for 175 yards without an interception, also rushed for a touchdown earlier in the game.
King had 79 yards on seven catches to lead all receivers. LCA’s Daven Hood had a game-high 93 rushing yards on six carries. Branson Williams, who scored two of Monroe County’s TDs, led the Falcons with 77 rushing yards.
Next week, LCA will host Mayfield, a 55-0 winner over Hancock County in its postseason opener (the Cardinals did not have a first-round opponent).
This will be the fourth year in a row that the two have met in the postseason but the first time LCA gets to host. The Eagles fell to Mayfield in consecutive postseasons — 38-28 in a 2022 state semifinal and 58-36 in a 2023 region final — before overcoming the western Kentucky juggernaut last season, 47-7.
Other central Kentucky playoff games of note
Scott County 55, Cooper 34: Cardinals quarterback Charlie Ellison threw for 308 yards and four touchdowns on just nine completions — with touchdown tosses of 11 and 60 yards to Keller Furnish and 15 and 52 yards to Red Owens — while running back Timmy Emongo rushed for 124 yards and three TDs.
Skyler Way added 117 yards rushing as Scott County (9-3) racked up 604 yards of total offense compared to Cooper’s 315.
The win took out last season’s Class 5A state runner-up and avenged Scott County’s 45-20 loss to Cooper (8-4) at the same stage in last season’s playoffs.
It also sets up a rematch with district rival Woodford County next week. The Yellow Jackets beat Scott County 57-50 on Oct. 17.
Woodford County 55, Collins 33: The Yellow Jackets (11-1) scored 28 points in less than four minutes of play straddling halftime to put the game out of reach of the Titans (8-4).
Darrian Tomlin scored his first of his three TDs with 3:26 to play in the half and got his second on a 37-yard run following a Collins punt with 1:38 till the break. Then Woodford capitalized on Collins’ fourth-down gamble on its own 42 with a quick drive capped by Beechem Robbins’ fumble recovery in the end zone for a 28-7 lead at half.
Foxx Coons opened the second half with a 64-yard TD pass to Jalen Johnson on the first play from scrimmage. Coons also rushed for a TD and threw a 7-yard scoring strike to Omari Jointer.
West Jessamine 24, North Laurel 21: Sparked by an 83-yard kickoff return by Caleb Jones to start the second half, the Colts (9-3) earned their first region finals appearance in program history with an upset of Class 5A No. 4 North Laurel (9-3).
As 7th District champions, No. 11 West Jessamine hosted the Jaguars. The Colts held a 10-7 lead at halftime thanks to a 21-yard TD pass from Cooper Swaim to Nash Bird and a 21-yard field goal by Eastern Erhardt. Swaim added a 12-yard TD pass to Cooper Wiley with 9:17 left in the game.
Jude McWhorter scored twice for North Laurel, a 5-yard run and a 37-yard pass from Cam Anderson. But Cooper Robinson’s 52-yard touchdown run to cut the Jags’ deficit to the final margin with 9:04 left would be all they had left as West Jessamine’s offense held the ball the rest of the way.
Next week’s region finals pairings
All games scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, unless noted, and subject to change.
CLASS 6A
East: No. 6 Ryle at No. 5 Frederick Douglass and No. 7 Madison Central at No. 4 Trinity.
West: No. 8 Male at No. 3 St. Xavier and No. 23 Henderson County at No. 1 South Warren.
CLASS 5A
East: No. 11 West Jessamine at No. 1 Pulaski County and No. 5 Scott County at No. 3 Woodford County.
West: No. 17 Fairdale at No. 2 Owensboro and No. 13 Bowling Green at No. 6 Atherton.
CLASS 4A
East: No. 9 Covington Catholic (8-3) at No. 1 Boyle County and No. 8 Corbin at No. 4 Highlands
West: No. 14 North Oldham at No. 3 Franklin County and No. 7 Logan County at No. 5 Paducah Tilghman.
CLASS 3A
East: No. 11 Russell at No. 2 Lloyd Memorial and No. 5 Lawrence County at No. 4 Bell County
West: No. 20 Union County at No. 1 Christian Academy-Louisville and No. 7 Lexington Catholic at No. 3 Murray.
CLASS 2A
East: No. 9 Breathitt County at No. 4 Belfry and No. 7 Prestonsburg at No. 5 Beechwood.
West: No. 6 Somerset at No. 1 Owensboro Catholic and No. 3 Mayfield at No. 2 Lexington Christian.
CLASS A
East: No. 12 Paris at No. 1 Raceland, 7:30 p.m., and No. 5 Middlesboro at No. 4 Pikeville.
West: No. 6 Newport Central Catholic at No. 3 Campbellsville and No. 11 Newport at No. 2 Kentucky Country Day.
Freelancers Josh Moore and Will Jones (10thRegion.com) contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 15, 2025 at 11:06 AM.
