Highlights: Tates Creek rallies, Boyle romps, Madison Southern avenges and Franklin falls
Tates Creek 37, Paul Laurence Dunbar 29: The Commodores’ Luke Duby threw for 369 yards and two touchdowns with Miles Thomas and Cion Townsend each catching for more than 100 yards and a score, as Tates Creek won the Class 6A 7th District championship on Friday night.
Trailing 21-14 midway through the second quarter, host Tates Creek responded with 23 straight points sparked by a 52-yard Thomas TD catch from Duby to tie it with 1:41 left until the break. Creek then forced a quick three-and-out from Dunbar and tacked on a 23-yard Osvaldo Vasquez field goal at the buzzer to put the Commodores up 24-21.
“Going into half and being able to show us being up instead of down seven, I really feel like that little momentum push really fed into the kids,” Tates Creek Coach Jonathan Smith said. “I was able to go in at halftime and give a little bit better speech. ‘Hey kids, let’s relax.’”
Creek started the second half with the ball and drove right down the field in seven plays, capped by a 23-yard TD run by Matthew Underwood to make it a 30-21 lead.
The teams exchanged punts until Tates Creek capitalized on burying Dunbar deep in its own end in the fourth quarter and got the ball back on a shanked Dunbar punt with only 20 yards to the end zone. Underwood carried again, this time with a 5-yard score to make it 37-21 with 6:42 left in the game. Underwood finished with 90 yards and three TDs.
For Tates Creek (8-4), the win marks the first time it has advanced past the second round of the playoffs since 2001. The Commodores will host Simon Kenton next Friday for a Class 6A regional championship. Simon Kenton beat Dixie Heights 41-17.
Dunbar (7-5), completed its best season since 2005. Jamarcus Robinson had 153 yards receiving, including a 94-yard pass from Jake Smith in the first half. Mitchell Joseph ran for 126 yards and a TD.
Class 6A
Oldham County 35, Clark County 21: Sam Young threw TD passes of 57, 80, 31, 61, and 47 yards as the Colonels (8-4) were never threatened in Winchester after losing to the Cardinals in overtime earlier this season. Young finished with 322 yards passing. Tyler Holvey caught three of those scores, totaling 149 yards receiving. Oldham next faces Trinity, a 42-12 winner over Ballard.
Class 5A
Madison Southern 24, East Jessamine 21: The Eagles (7-5) avenged their regular-season loss to the Jaguars in a back-and-forth game that saw seven lead changes capped by Cameron Holbrook’s game-winning 3-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.
East Jessamine (9-3) had two more possessions but couldn’t capitalize, ultimately turning it over on downs on its final drive. The Jaguars got TDs from Turner McHolan, Dylan Moore and Valdon Miles.
The Eagles, who will face Covington Catholic in Class 5A next Friday, connected on a 57-yard pass from Tobias Storm to Jonah Farnstrom and got a 47-yard TD run from Adrian Jones.
Covington Catholic 38, Conner 8: Caleb Jacob threw for 201 yards and three TDs, two of them to Notre Dame tight end commit Michael Mayer, as the Colonels (12-0) scored all of their points in the first half to establish the running clock mercy rule for the Class 5A, 5th District title. Michael Boydston opened the game with a 60-yard TD run 18 seconds into the game.
Southwestern 21, Whitley County 15: Tanner Wright’s touchdown with 3:15 left in the game gave the Warriors (7-5) a come-from-behind win for the Class 5A 8th District title as a No. 4 seed in the group. Whitley County led 15-6 at half. Southwestern has won five straight heading into next week’s matchup with undefeated Frederick Douglass.
Bowling Green 20, South Warren 13: JaVyan Collins’ 3-yard touchdown with under a minute to play gave the Purples the lead and Class 5A’s 2nd District title. Bowling Green jumped to a 14-0 lead that included a 47-yard TD run by Javeius Bunton in the first quarter. Bowling Green next faces South Oldham, a 50-21 winner over North Bullitt.
Class 4A
Boyle County 54, Lexington Catholic 7: Reese Smith caught TD passes of 9, 7 and 65 yards as the Rebels (12-0) blew out to a 40-point lead by halftime over the Knights in Class 4A’s 5th District championship.
Boyle quarterback Reed Lanter completed 11 of 13 passes for 238 yards and three scores, and running back Andrew Sacco ran for 114 yards and two TDs.
Lexington Catholic (7-5) committed seven turnovers, including five fumbles in a disastrous first half that saw every drive either end on a turnover or a turnover on downs. Knights QB Beau Allen was held to 226 yards passing and a lone TD with two interceptions.
The Rebels face Scott next week in the third round. Scott defeated Holmes 40-29.
Central 18, Franklin County 7: Yellowjackets running back Dayshawn Mucker ran for 200 yards on 44 carries with two TDs as Central (7-5) scored 18 unanswered to win the Class 4A, 4th District title.
Playing without junior quarterback Nick Broyles, who was injured last week, the Flyers (11-1), struggled to get things going. Sophomore QB Jayden Mattison scored Franklin’s touchdown in the first quarter, but the Flyers netted only 108 yards of offense — nearly 300 yards off their average. Franklin County averaged more than 40 points per game during an undefeated regular season.
Central won the Class 3A state title last year and moves on to face Moore in Class 4A’s third round. Moore beat John Hardin 32-30 on Friday night.
Class 3A
Bell County 39, Rockcastle County 0: Senior fullback Will Dean had six carries for 79 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bobcats (12-0). Rockcastle County (8-4) was held to 112 yards of offense. Bell will face Fleming County next week. Fleming beat Mason County 35-7.
Class A
Pikeville 45, Hazard 12: The Panthers (11-0) got a 55-yard punt return for a TD from Cody Raines and a 61-yard punt return TD from Jackson Hensley as they pulled away. Isaac McNamee threw for TDs of 22 yards to Hensley and 38 yards to Zac Lockhart. Carson Wright added a 14-yard run and Tanner Hamilton tacked on a field goal. Pikeville next faces Nicholas County, an 18-13 winner over Bishop Brossart.
Paintsville 32, Raceland 18: The Tigers (9-3) got four TDs from John Walker Phelps, including a 47-yard fumble recovery return for a score. Jake Hyden added a 10-yard TD run for Paintsville, which next faces Williamsburg, a 61-0 winner over Lynn Camp.
Playoff results, schedules
This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 1:32 AM.
