Two Lexington contenders win despite losing QBs

Miss what happened in the first round of the Russell Athletic/KHSAA Commonwealth Gridiron Bowl? We’ve got you covered.

On Friday night both Lexington Christian and Frederick Douglass punched tickets to the second round of the playoffs. LCA cruised past Leslie County 48-0 as it pursues the program’s first Class 2A title, while it took a gritty come-from-behind effort for Douglass to secure the school’s first playoff win.

Both teams had to overcome the loss of their starting quarterbacks. LCA senior signal caller Logan Nieves was a star during the regular season, passing for 2,058 yards and 22 touchdowns against just eight interceptions and rushing for 953 yards and 15 scores.

Nieves suffered a leg injury in the first half. LCA Coach Ethan Atchley said he “fell awkwardly.”

“Everything was still intact, so the hope is that he just felt something funny and he’ll be OK,” Atchley said. “We had some mixed opinions on the sideline, which I guess is good in a way. So hopefully we get some good news.”

When Nieves went down, the Eagles turned to backup Josh McClurg.

The sophomore held his own in the second half, rushing for a score and throwing touchdown passes to Drayden Burton and Caelen Lebryk. McClurg completed 5 of 9 passes for 57 yards as the Eagles went conservative to run out the clock.

If Nieves misses time going forward, the Eagles have the luxury of a workhorse running back that can help McClurg ease into an expanded role. As he has been his entire career, senior Dillon Wheatley was a load against Leslie County, ripping off 198 rushing yards on 23 carries and scoring all three of LCA’s first-half touchdowns.

In Frederick Douglass’ matchup with visiting Lafayettte, starter Montaveon Bean exited with a knee injury in the first half. With the Broncos trailing 12-7, true freshman Dekel Crowdus took the reins and led the offense to three unanswered touchdowns for a 28-12 win. Crowdus gave Douglass the lead for good with a 3-yard touchdown run midway through the third, then put the game away with touchdown runs of 35 and 13 yards later in the quarter.

“Wow. To be a true freshman and come out and make the plays he did ... he just needs that ball in his hands because he can do some pretty special stuff,” Douglass Coach Brian Landis said.

Jefferson Harkless accounted for more than half of the Broncos’ offense, rushing for 134 yards and the game’s first touchdown.

The Broncos’ defense rose to the occasion under tough circumstances as well. Douglass held the Generals to 177 yards of offense and forced four turnovers while making nine tackles-for-loss.

“The key to it was we got some turnovers,” said Landis. “Once we got a little momentum our guys really started believing.”

Henry Clay bedevils favored Indians

With the game tied 7-7 after three quarters, Henry Clay scored 13 unanswered points to pull off a 20-7 road upset of No. 25 Madison Central.

Graham Wald connected on field goals of 32 and 22 yards to put Henry Clay ahead 13-7, then Langston Jackson sealed the victory with an 80-yard interception return for his second touchdown of the night with 3:06 to play. Jackson gave the Blue Devils a 7-0 late in the first quarter with an 8-yard TD run. Tyree Clarke had 108 yards on 21 carries.

Next up is a trip to No. 4 Scott County, which roughed up the Blue Devils 57-28 in Georgetown in late September.

“They’ve got an outstanding program, so we’ve got to have a great week of practice and come out and play our best,” said Henry Clay Coach Sam Simpson.

’Dores secure rematch with Douglass

Leading 24-14 at halftime, host Tates Creek scored 29 unanswered points to knock off Bryan Station 53-14 for its fifth straight win.

Tates Creek outgained Bryan Station 534 yards to 270, with senior running backs Laron Warner and Teonte White each eclipsing 100 yards on the ground. Warner ran for 144 yards and three touchdowns, and White added 110 yards and a pair of scores.

The win sets up a return trip to Frederick Douglass. The Broncos pasted the Commodores 49-22 in the second game of the season.

Tates Creek Coach Antoine Sims said that game means very little now.

“I don’t think we’re the same football team we were in week two,” said Sims. “We went into that game a little overconfident. Everything that could go wrong went wrong ... and they embarrassed us. But I don’t think we’re the same team that played that game. We’ll find out next Friday.”

Feel-good loss

Harlan could have left Pikeville feeling miserable following a 47-14 rout Friday night in the first round of the Class A Russell Athletic/KHSAA Commonwealth Commonwealth Gridiron Bowl. But one player gave his teammates a memory that will last longer than the Green Dragons’ season-ending loss.

Kyle Allison, a junior with high-functioning autism, scored Harlan’s second touchdown after he recovered a fumble and returned it about 40 yards.

“The football program has always been really good to him,” said Mike Allison, Kyle’s dad.

Kyle has played football for seven years and is also part of the tennis team, which Mike coaches. He’s also an honor-roll student at Harlan and is in the boys’ choir, from which he’s been chosen as an all-state selection in the past.

Cindy Allison, Kyle’s mom, said getting an opportunity to play has never been a major motivator for her son.

“He just likes to talk football and be with the guys, go to practice and eat with the team,” Cindy said. “He enjoys doing that with the choir too. I’ve been really thankful for the football because that’s given him a way to relate to his peers and helped him with his socialization and given him a sense of belonging.”

Mike works on the radio broadcast for Harlan. After the game he thanked Green Dragons Coach John Luttrell for giving Kyle the opportunity to have a special momemt; Luttrell said it was Pikeville Coach Chris McNamee who actually approached him to help arrange it.

“It was a big thrill for Kyle,” Mike said. “He was just all smiles and his friends were kidding him. It’ll be a big deal for him. ... The sportsmanship displayed by Pikeville was pretty special.”

Harlan’s bus broke down on the way back from Pikeville, giving the Green Dragons a little bit more time to reflect on their most recent game and the season overall.

“It could have been a not very fun bus ride home,” Cindy said. “They got beat pretty badly but I think the boys love Kyle and they love sharing in moments for him. What could have been a really sad trip home was kind of fun and the memory they’ll take away from this ball game tonight is, ‘Kyle got to score.’”

Other highlights

Lexington Catholic 49, Bath County 39: Visiting Bath County led 21-14 after a 35-yard TD run by Landan Swartz midway through the seond quarter, but Dameon Jones got the Knights even with a 56-yard TD on the next posession then put them ahead for good 28-21 with a 5-yard score with less than three minutes to play in the half.

Jones was dynamic for Lexington Catholic, churning out 248 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. He had 23 of the Knights’ 24 rush attempts. LexCath won despite surrendering 476 yards on the ground and being outgained in total offense 517 yards to 403.

Scott County 43, Clark County 14: Brice Fryman returned the opening kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown and fourth-ranked Scott County (9-2) was off to the races, running up 36 first-quarter points. Glenn Covington got in on the special-teams action, taking a punt 60-yards to the house for a 14-0 Scott County lead. Fryman added a 55-yard TD reception from Josh Davis.

Simon Kenton 48, Jeffersontown 17: Matt Shearer passed for 119 yards and three touchdowns and John Sergent rushed for 129 yards and two scores as No. 8 Simon Kenton rolled.

Covington Catholic 56, Bullitt East 14: The No. 1-ranked Colonels wasted no time on Friday, jumping all over the visiting Chargers with a 42-point first quarter that featured two long touchdown runs by Casey McGinness and AJ Mayer TD passes to three different receivers. McGinness gained 172 yards on seven rushes for a 24.6 yards-per-carry average as Covington Catholic ran for 355 yards as a team.

Highlands 34, Oldham County 7: The host Bluebirds scored in all three phases as they dominated the Colonels. Nick Veneman caught a pair of touchdown passes from Grady Cramer before Alex Starkey’s 44-yard interception return put Highlands ahead 28-0. Brycen Huddleston returned a punt 55-yards for the Bluebirds’ last TD of the night.

Anderson County 14, Fern Creek 7: Blake Franklin returned a blocked field goal 76 yards for a touchdown and Zach Labhart ran for a 77-yard TD as visiting Anderson County (8-3) knocked off Fern Creek (6-5).

Bowling Green 48, Owensboro 14: Vito Tisdale opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown plunge then put the host Purples ahead for good with a 73-yard kickoff return later in the first quarter. Dazhon Blakely caught two of Beau Buchanon’s five touchdown passes for Bowling Green (9-2). Arione Phillips and Imonte Owsley had touchdown runs for Owensboro (4-7).

LaRue County 14, Union County 0: Bryson Cobb got host LaRue County (10-1) on the board with a 9-yard TD run in the second quarter then added a 35-yard score in the third to put away visiting Union County (8-3).

Monroe County 36, Newport 6: Senior quarterback Ty Mink did it all as the Falcons scored all of their points in the first half to put away the visiting Wildcats. Mink rushed for 59 yards and a touchdown, threw a pair of touchdown passes and connected on all four of his extra-point kicks.

Paintsville 41, Nicholas County 21: Tyrese Allen, who’s committed to West Virginia University as a defensive tackle, had 170 rushing yards and three TDs before the Tigers pulled their starters at halftime, leading 41-0 on Thursday.

Hazard 50, Pineville 22: Bailey Blair threw three touchdowns of 50-plus yards as the host Bulldogs built a 36-6 halftime lead en route to a blowout of Pineville (2-8). Skylar Pelfrey caught Blair’s first bomb to open the scoring while Braxton Whitaker hauled in the other two.

Pikeville 47, Harlan 14: Connor Roberts accounted for six touchdowns as the host Panthers routed the Green Dragons for their fifth win in a row. The junior quarterback completed 8 of 10 passes for 141 yards and three touchdowns and added 52 yards and three more TDs on the ground. Seth Pugh caught two touchdowns for Pikeville.

The Panthers allowed Harlan junior Kyle Allison, who has autism, score the final touchdown of the game on a 39-yard fumble return. Allison’s father was the game’s radio broadcaster.

This story was originally published November 4, 2017 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Two Lexington contenders win despite losing QBs."