Playoff roundup: Boyle County escapes Corbin; Franklin County takes down Tilghman
A blocked extra-point attempt and a controversial dead-ball call late in the fourth quarter helped Boyle County escape with a 34-33 win at home against Corbin on Friday. The Rebels advanced to the Class 4A championship for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.
Jhet Raleigh was 12 of 12 for 216 yards and two TDs, each to standout junior Seneca Driver, who had the go-ahead score with 9:26 left.
Corbin (10-4) pulled within a point on a 25-yard run by Cam Estep with 3:19 remaining, but the Rebels blocked the extra-point attempt.
Looking to run out the game clock after recovering an onside kick with 3:17 to play, Boyle County (13-1) snapped the ball to Raleigh from the Corbin 46-yard line. The ball initially hit Raleigh’s hands but bounced backward. Raleigh attempted to recover it before the ball squirted further backward and, to most watching, seemed to be recovered by Corbin inside the Rebels’ 40-yard line.
However, when Raleigh made his recovery attempt, an official inadvertently blew his whistle, immediately ending the rest of the play with Boyle County (13-1) retaining possession and electing to replay the down. The Rebels ran out the clock from there.
Driver, a four-star recruit whose offers include Kentucky, Louisville, Alabama and Indiana, also rushed for 33 yards and a TD. He had 77 yards on three catches.
Friday’s other Class 4A semifinal
Franklin County 21, Paducah Tilghman 14: Flyers sophomore quarterback Knox Barrett threw one touchdown pass and ran for another score to help host Franklin County (14-0) reach its second straight Class 4A state championship game and third in six seasons under head coach Eddie James.
Barrett’s 15-yard scoring pass to Delano Collins helped put the Flyers up by the final margin with 8:44 to play and their defense held from there to avenge their loss to Paducah Tilghman (12-2) in last season’s finals.
Tied 7-7 at halftime after a bootleg run by Barrett from 3 yards out with 32 seconds left in the second quarter, the Blue Tornado retook the lead early in the third quarter on a 55-yard pass from Stone Crowe to Chance McPike. Tilghman’s Demarkus Wilson scored the game’s first touchdown on a 4-yard run late in the first quarter.
The Flyers’ win sets up a rematch of their 2020 Class 4A state championship game against Boyle County. The Rebels defeated Franklin County 31-28 in overtime for the first of four straight state titles.
Friday’s Class A semifinals
Raceland 17, Pikeville 10: The Rams (12-1) built a 17-3 halftime lead at home on the way to earning their fourth consecutive trip to the Class A state championship game.
Raceland quarterback Jacob Waller opened the scoring with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jonah Arnett midway through the first quarter. The Rams doubled their lead early in the second quarter on a 4-yard run by Landon Stiltner. Waller booted a 29-yard field goal on Raceland’s next possession.
Pikeville (10-4) answered just before halftime with a 22-yard field goal by Steven Gonzalez-Santes. The Panthers cut their deficit to the final margin on JJ Reynolds’ 4-yard TD pass to Mikey Hager with 8:16 left in the game.
Raceland’s win avenged a 35-27 regular-season loss to Pikeville, the team who spoiled the Rams’ first two trips to Kroger Field in 2022 and 2023. Raceland lost 27-22 to Sayre in last season’s finals.
Kentucky Country Day 31, Campbellsville 13: A 21-point second quarter helped the host Bearcats (12-1) turn a close game into a rout over their district rivals.
Breakaway touchdown runs of 42 yards by Parker Rudolph and 31 yards by Tyler Wilson preceded a 27-yard TD pass from Caden Long to DJ Lawless to help KCD pull away to a 31-7 halftime lead. Rudolph had a 1-yard TD run to go with a 41-yard field goal by Filip Popa in the first quarter.
Campbellsville (11-2) defeated KCD 27-17 in the regular season to claim a district championship, but it could only muster one touchdown in each half against the Bearcats on Friday, both on short-yardage Kace Eastridge runs.
KDC will make its second trip to the state finals. It lost 38-7 to Paintsville in 2020.
Friday’s Class 3A semifinals
Murray 27, Lloyd Memorial 20: The Tigers (14-0) rallied with a fourth-quarter TD run by Isaiah Martin and a 21-yard field goal by Hank Fronza to grab the road victory and earn their first trip to a state championship game since 1994.
Juggernauts quarterback Kaleb Evans connected with Colten Barger on a 98-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter and added a 1-yard TD run later in the period to stake Lloyd Memorial (13-1) to a 20-17 lead going into the fourth.
Murray led 17-6 at halftime on TD runs by Wyatt Robbins and Simon Rickman and a 29-yard field goal by Fronza against a 1-yard TD pass from Lloyd’s Evans to Lincoln Tomlinson.
Christian Academy-Louisville 56, Bell County 20: Tyler Stoner scored four first-half touchdowns as the three-time defending state champion Centurions (14-0) cruised to their 21st straight win and fourth straight Class 3A state finals appearance.
Jackson Burke added a 26-yard TD pass to Micah Akin in the second quarter as CAL built a 35-6 halftime lead in a game that was never in doubt. Burke connected with Akin again in the second half to go with scoring throws to Gaines Howard and Ja’Hyde Brown.
Bell County (12-2) got TD passes from Blake Burnett to Logan Greene and Joseph Brigmon and a 53-yard TD run by Kaleb Miller.
Friday’s Class 6A semifinals
Trinity 50, St. Xavier 7: The Shamrocks (12-2) made quick work of parochial rival St. Xavier (10-4) in an afternoon rout.
Shamrocks junior quarterback Zane Johnson threw for 279 yards and six touchdown passes on just 12 throws. Three scoring tosses went to Jack Stivers. Holden Schoen, Marlon Harbin and Cross Watson caught the rest.
It was the last game for Tigers head coach Kevin Wallace, who announced his planned retirement ahead of the season. He coached six state championship teams (five at Bowling Green and one at St. X).
South Warren 36, Ryle 20: The Spartans’ Kayden York scored four touchdowns against the visiting Raiders (10-4), last season’s 6A runner-up. York accounted for 228 of South Warren’s 284 rushing yards in the contest.
South Warren (13-0), a Bowling Green-area expansion school that opened its doors in 2010, has won three state titles across Class 4A and 5A and now has a shot at a 6A championship in its first season of promotion to the KHSAA’s division for its largest schools.
The Spartans are coached by Brandon Smith, a three-time state championship winning quarterback at Boyle County and the son of former University of Kentucky assistant and legendary Boyle County head coach Chuck Smith.
KHSAA Football State Championships
At Kroger Field, Lexington
FRIDAY’S FINALS
Class A: Raceland vs. Kentucky Country Day, noon.
Class 2A: Lexington Christian vs. Owensboro Catholic, 4 p.m.
Class 4A: Boyle County vs. Franklin County, 8 p.m.
SATURDAY’S FINALS
Class 3A: Murray vs. Christian Academy-Louisville, noon.
Class 6A: Trinity vs. South Warren, 4 p.m.
Class 5A: Pulaski County vs. Owensboro, 8 p.m.
