Highlights: UK commit Allen keys wild comeback win over Creek, Boyle blanks Bluebirds
Lexington Catholic 54, Tates Creek 50: Lexington Catholic has grown accustomed to sweating out close games of late, with their previous three contests having been decided by a combined five points. But Friday’s matchup with the visiting Commodores was a nail-biter for the ages.
Behind another huge performance from University of Kentucky commit Beau Allen and a heroic late-game star turn by JD Woodall, LexCath erased a 29-point deficit and stunned Tates Creek.
“We are guaranteeing that we are working people’s heart muscles and making them stronger,” Lexington Catholic Coach Nigel Smith told the Herald-Leader after the game. “Tates Creek, credit to them in the first-quarter especially, they brought their ‘A’ game and really took it to us.”
With just under eight minutes to play, Woodall returned an interception 95 yards for a touchdown to pull the Knights within 50-48. Moments later, Woodall caught a 62-yard score from Allen to seal the comeback. It was the first time LexCath led.
“JD has been really good for us this year in big situations,” Smith said. “He was just able to make the play (on the interception) and once the play started he had two blockers on his side and got to the sideline, and 95 yards later took care of business.”
Once we got down ... we did things a little bit better and made some plays,” Smith said. “We still struggled with a few things throughout the game and weren’t able to really get the snowball rolling all the way down the hill. But we got just enough.”
Tates Creek (2-4) jumped out to a 28-0 lead as Luke Duby threw four first-quarter touchdowns, two of them, including an 88-yarder, to Miles Thomas. The Knights responded with a 26-yard TD pass from Allen to Jackson Corbett to make it 28-7. Duby’s fifth TD of the night, a 21-yard pass to Cion Townsend, put Creek ahead 36-7. Three more Allen touchdown tosses made it 36-28 at halftime.
The teams combined for nearly 1,200 yards of offense. Allen completed 31 of 42 passes for 464 yards and six touchdowns and was intercepted twice. He added a rushing TD. Duby went 31-of-42 passing for 535 yards and seven scores. Thomas made 12 catches for 281 yards and three TDs in the loss.
“We had over 500 yards ... we played well offensively,“ said Tates Creek Coach Jonathan Smith. “Defensively, we were able to pick (Beau Allen) off twice, we were able to rattle him in the pocket. We just didn’t make plays when it came down to the time to make the plays. We just came up a little short.”
Jackson Corbett caught 11 passes for 132 yards and three touchdowns for Lexington Catholic (4-2). Blake Busson added eight catches for 108 yards and a TD.
Lexington Christian 55, Williamsburg 21: Eagles quarterback Jayden Barnhardt threw four TD passes in the first half, three to DeAirious Smith and LCA (5-1) jumped out to a 35-14 lead at the break and went on to beat the Yellow Jackets for their fourth victory in a row.
Barnhardt also ran for two TDs in the second half to go with his 15-of-19 passing line for 352 yards. Smith totaled 245 yards receiving on eight catches. Smith also had a 32 yard TD pass to Xavier Brown. Brown also scored on a 59-yard run.
Williamsburg (4-2) has now lost two straight after starting the season 4-0. Dalton Ponder led the Yellow Jackets going 19-37-2 for 224 yards and two TDs.
Lafayette 21, Bryan Station 13: Oumar Toure ran for a 34-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter and the host Generals shut down the Defenders the rest of the way to get their first win of the season.
Bryan Station (1-4) took a quick lead as Trai Jenkins returned the opening kickoff 63 yards for a touchdown. The Defenders went ahead 10-0 on James Robinson’s 34-yard field goal with 23 seconds left in the first quarter. Lafayette (1-5) got on the board when JaeWon Kendrick ran for a 5-yard TD, then took the lead on a 75-yard interception return by John Combs with one second left in the first half.
Robinson connected on a 36-yard field goal to pull Bryan Station within 14-13 as time expired in the the third quarter. Kendrick rushed for 104 yards for Lafayette. Amodeus Taylor led Bryan Station with 59 yards on the ground. Dennis Abwe made an interception for the Defenders.
Paul Dunbar 35, Great Crossing 6: Mitchell Joseph scored three of his four touchdowns in the first quarter as the visiting Bulldogs jumped all over the Warhawks and cruised the rest of the way.
Mitchell caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Jake Smith to get Dunbar (3-3) on the board then added two 1-yard TD plunges. He scored from two yards out late in the second quarter, then Smith hit Jamarcus Robinson with a 57-yard TD pass to cap the scoring in the third.
Robinson caught five passes for 85 yards and Smith completed 12 of 17 throws for 161 yards. Mitchell finished with 53 yards on the ground. Caleb Griggs ran for 50 yards and scored the lone touchdown for Great Crossing (0-6).
Central Hardin 38, Henry Clay 16: After Graham Wald hit a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter to draw the visiting Blue Devils even with the Bruins at 16-16, Central Hardin scored three unanswered touchdowns to close the game.
Kyler Lee ran for three touchdowns, including a 27-yarder to put Central Hardin (5-0) ahead for good. Chase Elmore completed 11 of 15 passes for 235 yards in the win. Gavin George made five catches for 172 yards for the Bruins.
DJ VanHorn led Henry Clay (0-5) with 121 yards passing and 159 yards rushing to go along with two TDs.
Boyle County 30, Highlands 0: Will McDaniel ran for a a pair of touchdowns and Jackson Smith connected on two field goals as the host Rebels dominated the Bluebirds to remain undefeated.
McDaniel gave Boyle County (6-0) a 7-0 lead with a 3-yard TD in the first quarter. His 2-yard score in the fourth capped the scoring. Smith hit a 30-yard field goal to give the Rebels a 10-0 lead at halftime then nailed a 27-yarder in the third quarter. Boyle quarterback Reed Lanter threw a 66-yard touchdown pass to Reiley Colwick in the fourth.
The Rebels outgained the Bluebirds on offense 324 yards to 97. Lanter finished with 218 yards passing. Reese Smith had two interceptions and ran for a 2-point conversion in the win. The loss ended a three-game win streak for Highlands (4-2).
Lanter became Boyle’s all-time leader in passing yards, according to reports by media following the Rebels.
Mercer County 45, Christian Academy-Louisville 42: Malachi Yulee ran for 178 yards and three touchdowns, including a 1-yard score with just over two minutes left in the game which helped seal the win at the 2018 Class 2A state champ who has become Mercer’s Class 3A district foe. Kaelin Drakeford ran for two more scores and threw one to Dillon Warren, a 52-yard strike, for the Titans (5-1). CAL (3-3) got a 70-yard kickoff return in the first half from Gage Garen.
East Jessamine 56, West Jessamine 18: A scoreless first quarter for the Jaguars (4-2) gave way to a torrent of touchdowns against their neighbors. Valdon Miles broke away for TD runs of 42 and 26 yards in the first half. Turner McHolan, Dylan Moore (twice), Jaylen Taylor Donovan Motley and Chance Jackson also scored on run plays in the rout.
Anderson County 28, Lincoln County 14: After Lincoln County took a 14-7 lead on a 2-yard TD run by Nick Harris, the host Bearcats scored three unanswered touchdowns to put the game away and end a 2-game skid.
Anderson County’s Jagger Gillis threw a 51-yard touchdown to Sam Herrod to tie the game late in the third quarter, then gave the Bearcats the lead for good with a 10-yard strike to Kynan Russell halfway through the fourth. Zach Labhart added the exclamation point with a 35-yard TD run.
Labhart rushed for a game-high 149 yards and intercepted a pass for Anderson County (4-2). Harris had 186 yards passing for Lincoln County (3-2).
Madison Southern 28, Collins 27: Walt Smith ran for a a 10-yard touchdown with 35 seconds left in the game and Tobias Storm rushed for a 2-point conversion and the host Eagles turned back the Titans.
Storm threw for 152 yards and a touchdown, rushed for 44 yards and also returned an interception 45 yards to the house for Madison Southern (3-3), which forced three turnovers. Joe Lucas passed for 162 yards and three TDs for Collins (1-5).
Dixie Heights 38, Madison Central 23: Leon Marshall ran for 75 yards and three touchdowns and visiting Dixie Heights (2-3) rebounded from back-to-back losses. Matt Jones ran for 148 yards and Canon Scenters passed for 155 yards and two scores for Madison Central (1-5).
Pikeville 49, Lawrence County: 26: Cody Raines scored on a 45-yard run to open the game and the Panthers (6-0) never looked back. Raines added an 17-yard run in the second quarter as Pikeville jumped out to a 36-6 lead. Harvard commit Jackson Hensley scored on an 11-yard TD run and a 39-yard TD pass from Isaac McNamee.
Belfry 59, Magoffin County 14: Ben Bentley rushed for 163 yards and two TDs and Peyton Hensley added 102 yards and another score during the Pirates’ rout. Belfry (3-2) had a 34-0 lead at half. Brett Coleman completed two passes, both for touchdowns, an 8-yarder to Daniel Oliver, and a 60-yarder to Brenden Rash.
This story was originally published September 28, 2019 at 12:36 AM.
