HS football semifinals: UK baseball commit leads upset, fun rematches in store

CLASS 6A

Male 27, Trinity 20: Senior quarterback Garrett Dennis put the host Bulldogs on his back, scoring four touchdowns to lead Male past the defending Class 6A champion Shamrocks.

Dennis rushed for 137 yards and a TD on 34 carries and completed 16 of 26 passes for 252 yards and three more scores.

Trinity scored 20 straight points to take a 20-13 lead at halftime. After Male recovered a Trinity fumble on the first possession of the third quarter, Dennis engineered a 5-play drive that culminated in a 30-yard touchdown pass to Geremiah Edison to tie the game. Dennis capped the win with a 10-yard keeper for a score with just under seven minutes to play.

The Bulldogs will face Scott County in the Class 6A finals, looking for their first state title since 2015.

CLASS 5A

Covington Catholic 36, Pulaski County 14: Caleb Jacob accounted for four touchdowns as the visiting Colonels jumped out to a 28-0 first-quarter lead then cruised to another blowout victory on Friday.

Jacob completed seven of eight passes for 161 yards and three touchdowns, including a 59-yarder to Luke Summe on the Colonels’ first drive. Jacob also ran for a TD and threw a 12-yard touchdown to Casey McGinness for Covington Catholic’s last score of the game early in the second half.

McGinness added a 10-yard touchdown run and finished with 70 yards rushing on six carries. The top-ranked team in the Cantrall ratings, Covington Catholic will face South Warren at Kroger Field next week looking to repeat as Class 5A champs.

South Warren 31, South Oldham 10: The Spartans scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to make the difference in what was a 10-10 game at halftime to reach the finals for the first time as a 5A school. South Warren won its first state title in 2015 as a Class 4A school.

CLASS 4A

Johnson Central 59, Knox Central 20: The Golden Eagles reached 50 points for the fourth time in four playoff games and for the seventh time this season to lock up their fourth straight trip to the state finals.

Franklin-Simpson 33, Taylor County 0: The defending Class 4A champs earned their third straight title berth after handing the Cardinals their first shutout of the season. It is the third straight season that the Wildcats will face Johnson Central for the 4A crown; the Golden Eagles won in 2016.

CLASS 3A

Corbin 21, Boyle County 0: Chase Estep — who’s committed to play baseball for the University of Kentucky — ran for two TDs to help Corbin avenge its loss to the Rebels in last year’s state finals. The Redhounds snapped Boyle County’s 25-game win streak. UK football target Reese Smith, a Boyle junior, played with a broken hand and was limited to two catches for 1 yard in the loss.

Central 48, LaRue County 8: The Yellowjackets scored two defensive TDs — a 10-yard interception return by Aiden Moore and a 37-yard fumble return by Quintez Payton — in the rout. They’ll play Corbin for their sixth state title — and first since 2012 — next week.

CLASS 2A

Christian Academy of Louisville 35, Somerset 12: Milton Wright was held without a TD until the third quarter but CAL scored 21 straight to break open a game that it led 7-6 late in the first half. The Centurions are in the finals for the second time in the last three seasons; they won in their title-game debut in 2016.

Mayfield 38, Walton-Verona 7: The Cardinals will meet CAL for the third straight postseason but in the finals for the first time during that stretch. Mayfield won the last meeting but fell in the 2017 finals; it hasn’t won a state championship since 2014.

CLASS A

Pikeville 38, Raceland 19: Christian Billiter scored on offense and defense as the host Panthers built a 24-0 halftime lead and held off the Rams for their eighth straight win. Billiter caught a 31-yard pass from Jackson Hensley for Pikeville’s first touchdown, then returned an interception 48 yards for a score to put the Panthers up 17-0.

Raceland closed the gap to 24-12 in the third quarter after touchdown runs by Judd Adkins and Hunter Lacks, but John Collum and Connor Roberts scored on the ground to put the game away for Pikeville in the fourth quarter.

Roberts ran for 130 yards on 25 carries. Collum rushed for 84 yards on just three carries.

Gunnur Lewis returned a kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown for Raceland. Pikeville will face Beechwood for the Class A championship.

Beechwood 41, Campbellsville 13: Logan Castleman scored five TDs for the Tigers, who will play for their third straight Class A title next Friday. Next week’s game is a rematch of the 2015 finals, which Pikeville won, 42-28.

This story was originally published November 24, 2018 at 12:53 AM.