Playoff roundup: LCA tops Mayfield, Lexington Catholic falls in overtime
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- LCA ran for season-high 282 yards; Whelen and Hood led victory over Mayfield.
- LexCath took late lead; Murray forced overtime and won on Chapman’s 10-yard score.
- Boyle’s Ji’Dyn Smith-Hisel rushed 432 yards to set up game against Corbin.
Nash Whelen ran for a career-high 181 yards and Daven Hood had three touchdowns to lead Lexington Christian Academy football to a 35-14 win over Mayfield in the Class 2A playoffs.
The Eagles (10-3) racked up a season-best 282 rushing yards against one of the stingiest defenses in Class 2A. Entering Friday, opponents of Mayfield (10-2) had averaged just 51 yards on the ground. That was sixth-fewest among all Class 2A teams and second only to Beechwood among teams that were still playing Friday.
Whelen and Hood combined for 75 yards on LCA’s opening drive, punctuated by Whelen’s lone TD run. Mayfield then snuffed the next five LCA drives — four of them ending in Eagles turnovers —but in that span only turned one of its own possessions into points. Hood scored from 12 yards out to put LCA back ahead with 1:53 left in the first half, and for good.
The Eagles stopped Mayfield’s opening drive in the second half and, after a series of misfires, extended their lead to 21-7 on a 72-yard pass from Whelen to Tyler King. LCA recovered a fumble three plays into Mayfield’s next possession, and Hood not long after turned it into another TD. The Cardinals answered quickly but never got closer.
“We’ve talked about being resilient all year with the adversity we’ve had,” LCA head coach Oakley Watkins said. “I felt like every time that they punched back, we were in a position to flip it twice. From a physicality standpoint, a discipline standpoint, I thought our guys played very, very well. That was a culture win for our program.” Hood, who added an insurance TD with 3:09 left to play, ran for 118 yards on 17 carries.
This was the fourth straight postseason meeting between LCA and Mayfield, a powerhouse from far west Kentucky, but the first in Lexington. LCA, now 2-2 in those matchups, had the misfortune of being lower in RPI seeding the past three seasons.
“That trip is no joke,” Watkins said. “Especially right now with the weather, it rained all day and it’s dreary and you’ve got to drive that distance? I know they left day-of today. It’s a hike.”
The No. 2 Eagles next week host No. 4 Belfry, a perennial contender from eastern Kentucky. The Pirates defeated Breathitt County 41-14 on Friday.
“You know what you’re getting with that bunch: they’re gonna run it downhill at ya,” Watkins said. “So it’s gonna be a physical week of practice, but anytime you get to practice on Thanksgiving, it’s pretty special.”
Murray tops Lexington Catholic in overtime after wild flurry of late scores
Lexington Catholic took an improbable lead with 1:06 remaining in the game, but could not keep host Murray from forcing their Class 3A region championship into overtime and then couldn’t hold off the Tigers’ 20-14 victory.
Murray’s Gage Chapman rumbled in from 10 yards out for the game-winning, walk-off score moments after the Tigers’ defense stuffed the Knights on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line on Lexington Catholic’s overtime possession.
The sequence followed an incredible last four minutes of action that saw the teams exchange the lead in the waning moments of regulation.
Murray quarterback Wyatt Robbins finally unlocked the scoreless game with a 6-yard touchdown run with 3:31 left in the fourth quarter to help give the Tigers a 7-0 lead.
Lexington Catholic answered with an 11-yard pass from Brady Wasik to Duncan Gaunce to knot it up 7-7 with 1:26 left.
Moments later, Ben Schlarman scooped up a Murray fumble at the Tigers’ 15-yard line that appeared to be an incomplete pass. But after discussion, Schlarman’s recovery-and-return was ruled a touchdown for a 14-7 LexCath lead with 1:06 to play.
It took Murray only a few seconds to answer. Robbins connected with wideout Isaiah Martin on a 45-yard pass to set up the Tigers at LexCath’s 12-yard line. Two plays later, Robbins found Martin in the corner of the end zone to help Murray tie it at 14-14 with 22 seconds left.
Lexington Catholic (10-3), playing under its fourth different head coach in five years, earned its third straight district title a week earlier, but could have made it three straight region crowns.
“The things we talk about the most is just leaving it all out there,” LexCath coach David Clark said. “Prepare as hard as you can. Play as hard as you can and live with the outcomes. That was the message we really tried to focus on all year and I thought the kids did a really good job of it. ... When you leave it all out there, it’s supposed to hurt a little bit.”
No. 3 Murray will travel to No. 2 Lloyd Memorial for the 3A semifinals. Lloyd defeated Russell 28-13. Bell County will go to Christian Academy-Louisville in the other semifinal.
Boyle County runs over Covington Catholic
Boyle County’s Ji’Dyn Smith-Hisel rushed for an eye-popping 432 yards and four touchdowns as the Rebels (12-1) avenged last season’s region finals loss to Covington Catholic (9-4) with 49-14 running-clock rout.
Smith-Hisel’s scores included breakaways of 69 and 80 yards. Boyle quarterback Jhet Raleigh also had a pair of short TD runs to go with a 54-yard TD pass to Jakeem Ray.
The 432 yards on 25 carries put Smith-Hisel into the record books as one of the top 20 individual rushing performances in Kentucky high school football history.
No. 1 Boyle County will host No. 8 Corbin on Friday in a Class 4A semifinal. Corbin defeated Highlands 35-21. No. 5 Paducah Tilghman, the defending 4A champions, will travel to No. 3 Franklin County in the other. The Flyers defeated North Oldham 42-25. Tilghman took down Logan County 48-27
This story was originally published November 22, 2025 at 11:21 AM.
