Highlights: ‘Beast mode’ emerges in rain, Lexington QB becomes a king

A little rain wasn’t about to stop one of the top offenses in Class 2A. It just had to move the ball a little differently.

Lexington Christian Academy, ranked second only to unbeaten Mayfield in its class with an average of 227 passing yards, did most of its damage on the ground in a 35-7 victory over Kentucky Country Day on Friday night.

LCA ranked 21st in Class 2A with 99 rushing yards per game coming into the evening. The Eagles piled up 276 yards ground yards against the Bearcats, a Class A team out of Louisville. They ran 50 rushing plays to just 16 pass attempts.

Senior Jed Green and sophomore Tom White each carried 14 times for LCA (4-2). White had a game-high 88 yards while Green finished with 71; both scored touchdowns. Xavier Brown, a freshman, had 66 yards on 10 carries, the bulk of that yardage coming on 32-yard TD burst in the game’s waning moments to put things out of reach.

Green’s score came with 6:43 left in the fourth quarter to put LCA up 28-7. He was pushed into the end zone by a pile of teammates for the last several yards.

“We work together as a unit, man,” Green said. “I got pushed 6 yards into the end zone, just like you see beast mode on TV man. We were just out there having fun, doing our thing.”

Junior Jayden Barnhardt was 12-for-16 for 151 yards and two TDs.

Blake Caldwell led KCD with 75 yards on 16 rushes. Nick Smith scored the Bearcats’ lone TD on an 11-yard reception from Luke Russo.

DeSales 38, Lexington Catholic 24: Antione Johnson rumbled for 150 rushing yards as the host Colts dealt the Knights their second straight loss and stayed undefeated.

Both teams started slow, combining for a scoreless opening quarter, but the points came fast in the second. After Johnson’s 15-yard touchdown run and a 27-yard field goal by Blake Evans, DeSales led 17-0. Lexington Catholic (4-2) finally got on the board with a 45-yard touchdown pass from UK target Beau Allen to Tommy Knopp with 2:37 left in the first half and only trailed 24-14 at the break.

The Knights late in the fourth quarter pulled within 31-24 on another 45 yard TD pass by Allen, this time to Nathan Schnurr, but a 20-yard touchdown run by DeSales quarterback Aaron Pfaadt with less than a minute to play put the game away.

Pfaadt threw for 148 yards and two touchdowns, both to Demitri Scott, and added 55 yards and another score on the ground.Allen completed 32 of 46 passes for 392 yards and two touchdowns, but a pair of interceptions proved costly in the loss.

Schnurr caught 15 passes for 199 yards and two TDs for the Knights, who managed just 36 rushing yards, 31 of which came from Allen.

Scott County 57, Bryan Station 18: Scott County belted out 342 rushing yards and kept the host Defenders winless.

Bryan Station quarterback Jalen Burbage hit Kendrick Curry for a 44-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 28-18 halfway through the second quarter but it was all Cardinals the rest of the way. Payton Brown’s second TD run of the third quarter set the final score.

Bronson Brown led Scott County (5-1) with 141 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries. Austin Barnett added 90 yards and a TD and Payton Brown finished with 88 yards rushing. Glenn Covington had 81 yards and a touchdown receiving, catching three of quarterback Cade McKee’s four completions on the night.

Burbage led Bryan Station (0-5) with 243 yards and two touchdowns through the air and 89 yards and one score on the ground. Curry caught six passes for 11 yards and two TDs in the loss.

Henry Clay 30, Lafayette 7: Lexington’s oldest football rivalry went Henry Clay’s way for the second straight season.

The host Generals (1-5) got on the board first on TeAndre Newcomb’s 15-yard TD pass to John Combs but the advantage was short-lived. Langston Jackson got Henry Clay even with a 2-yard touchdown run on the following possession and the Blue Devils were off to the races.

DJ VanHorn hit Jackson with a 23-yard TD pass then a safety gave Henry Clay (2-3) a 16-7 halftime lead.Cameron Maynard recovered a blocked punt in the end zone and VanHorn rushed for a 41-yard touchdown in the third quarter to put the game away.

The Blue Devils rushed for 224 yards while holding the Generals to 67. Austin Anderson caught six passes for 78 yards for Lafayette, which leads the all-time series 39-34-2.

Frederick Douglass 49, Paul Laurence Dunbar 15: Cameron Jones threw two TDs before halftime, during which he was named Homecoming King. That was about the only thing left in doubt at that point.

Douglass (6-0) built a 36-0 first-half lead before Dunbar’s Brent Angel connected on a 33-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter. Dekel Crowdus, a sophomore whom the University of Kentucky has offered, returned the second-half kickoff 78 yards for a TD to keep the party going for Douglass.

Damarco Fishback led Douglass with 95 yards and 4 TDs on just five rushes. Jones, a Cincinnati commit, finished 7-for-9 for 141 yards. Haiden Hunt caught three of those passes for 81 yards and a score while Crowdus had the other TD and two receptions for 44 yards.

Dre Thruston had 71 yards and a TD on only 2 carries to lead Dunbar (1-4).

Madison Central 43, Bourbon County 0: The Indians bounced back from a big loss by the Colonels their third straight defeat.

Ethan Hahn rushed for 117 yards and two TDs on only four carries for Madison Central (4-2). The Indians finished with a 311-99 advantage in offensive yardage.

Derrick Miller was 5-for-11 for 77 yards and 2 TDs, one to Ben Snapp and another to Jarrett Mullins. Chase Smith had the longest reception of the night — a 53-yard score — courtesy of sophomore reserve Canon Scenters.

Danville 28, Garrard County 22: Senior quarterback Zach Thornton connected with Brennen McGuire for an 85-yard TD inside the final minute to put the Admirals ahead and then nabbed the clincing interception about 20 seconds later to stun the hosts.

Garrard County (2-4) lost for the third time in its last four games. Danville (3-3) won its second straight after a three-game slide.

Mayfield 45, Corbin 21: Junior Jaden Stinson was 13 of 19 for 243 yards and 2 TDs as the Cardinals cruised in a neutral-site matchup between defending state finalists looking to avenge title-game losses this December.

Mayfield, ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, outgained Corbin, the second-ranked team in Class 3A, 430 yards to 213. The Cardinals lost to Danville in last year’s finals while Corbin fell to Boyle County.

Covington Catholic 35, St. Francis de Sales (Ohio) 14: CovCath trailed briefly for the first time in some time but still managed to improve its state-best win streak to 21 games.

St. Francis took a 14-7 lead on a 16-yard TD reception but sophomore quarterback Caleb Jacob scored on a 1-yard run with 1:09 left in the first half to tie the game for CovCath, which controlled things out of the break.

Senior Casey McGinness rushed for 194 yards and 2 TDs on 28 carries for the Colonels (6-0). Daniel Felix, a junior, rushed only twice but fled for a 99-yard TD run with about 2 minutes left in the game to put a cherry on top of the CovCath victory.

Highlands 38, Simon Kenton 9: Brycen Huddleston returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a TD and the Bluebirds never looked back. Highlands (5-1) defeated Simon Kenton for the first time since 1998 and handed the Pioneers their first loss this season.

Caleb Farfsing ran for 84 yards and a TD and passed for 59 yards for Simon Kenton (5-1). Highlands’ sophomore running back Joe Buten broke loose for a 69-yard rushing touchdown to cap the night.

Collins 34, Spencer County 14: Jaden Wilson rushed for 154 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Joe Lucas threw for 142 yards and a score as the host Titans got their first win of the season.

Lucas connected with Mikaii Stoner for a 16-yard touchdown early in the first quarter and Collins (1-5) scored two more first-half touchdowns to take a 20-0 lead into the locker room. Colton Price and Seth Thompson both ran for scores for Spencer County (2-4), which was led by Brandon Jewell’s 95 rushing yards.

Male 30, Butler 12: Garrett Dennis finished with 351 yards and two TDs on 20-for-29 passing to lead the unbeaten Bulldogs (6-0) in a matchup of Class 6A contenders. He also rushed for a score.

Trinity 65, Jeffersontown 0: Bradley West was 6-for-6, five of those completions going for TDs, as the Shamrocks got their first win of the season following an 0-5 start.

This story was originally published September 22, 2018 at 12:23 AM.