‘We wanted it bad.’ Two top teams, a playoff rematch and sweet revenge.
Ever since their one-point loss to Lexington Christian Academy during the regular season, the Briar Jumpers of Somerset had their eyes on their Class 2A rival from Lexington.
The Briar Jumpers knew they would probably meet LCA again early in the state playoffs, but instead of shying away from the dangerous opponent, Somerset looked forward to the opportunity for revenge.
“We wanted it bad, we knew it was going to come this round,” Somerset junior quarterback Kaiya Sheron said after Friday night’s 28-26 victory for Somerset over the Eagles in Lexington.
Sheron was a big reason why Somerset got its revenge, as he rushed for three touchdowns and 80 yards while throwing 159 yards and another touchdown.
Lexington Christian, which finished its season 10-2, was the No. 1-ranked team in Class 2A, according to the KHSAA’s new RPI system. Somerset, now 11-1, was No. 3.
Sheron’s passing touchdown went to Kade Grundy, who scored from 24 yards out to put the Briar Jumpers on top by eight with 3:43 remaining.
On LCA’s ensuing drive, the Eagles used chunk plays to set up a 1-yard touchdown run from senior quarterback Jayden Barnhardt with 1:31 left in the game. This left LCA in need of a two-point conversion to tie the game, and unlike the attempt that won the teams’ regular-season meeting one month ago, Friday night’s attempt was unsuccessful and left the Eagles with a deficit they couldn’t overcome.
LCA would get one last chance to steal the game after its defense held firm and forced a punt while burning its timeouts. The Eagles got the ball back with 36 seconds left at their own 37-yard line.
“We were confident, nobody was worried, we were ready to go,” Barnhardt said of the offense’s mentality before the last drive. “We just had to get down field, at least get in field goal range and we were going to score.”
The Eagles were able to get into Somerset’s territory on the drive’s first play but Barnhardt threw an interception to Tate Madden on the next play to end LCA’s chances at completing the comeback.
“I knew they were going to run some type of rouge route, and I saw the wheel coming and I was like, ‘all right, I got to run with this,’” Madden said of his interception. “The next thing I see — I turn around and there’s the ball, I was like, ‘that’s mine, I’ll take that.’”
Barnhardt finished with 161 passing yards and two touchdowns, both of which went to DeAirious Smith.
Smith caught five passes for 103 yards and the two scores.
Smith’s first touchdown was from 41 yards out and gave the Eagles a 14-13 lead just before halftime. LCA received the opening kickoff in the second half looking to increase its lead, but fumbled away its momentum on the drive’s second play, giving the ball to the Briar Jumpers.
Somerset turned the ball over on downs at the 1-yard line after the fumble recovery, but its defense stepped up and put two points on the board off a safety thanks to Jase Bruner.
Sheron rushed for one of his three touchdowns on Somerset’s next possession to score nine straight points in 2:35.
“That was a big momentum turn,” Briar Jumpers head coach Charles Lucas said of the fumble recovery. “Biggest thing we needed to do was to score points off of it; we did some.”
The Briar Jumpers took home their 21st district title with Friday’s win, but are hoping to put another trophy next to it in the coming weeks. Somerset will host McLean County (8-4) in next week’s Class 2A quarterfinals.
“You can be all-state, you can be all-district, you can be a leading receiver, but the one thing nobody has ever done at Somerset is win a state title, so we preach that quite a bit,” Charles Lucas said. “… It’s a great goal for our community, for our kids, every year we talk about doing it and nothing has changed this year.”
Playoff results, schedules
This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 9:04 AM.