Eastern Kentucky high school teams set to flood Kroger Field for state title games
Male 48, Tates Creek 18: Jaylin Bross scored three of the Bulldogs’ four first-half touchdowns as Male (14-0) jumped out to a 28-0 lead over the visiting Commodores and cruised to next week’s Class 6A state championship game.
Bross would finish with 293 yards rushing and five TDs for the game, while Male’s Elijah Parish threw for 226 yards and a touchdown to wideout Izayah Cummings, a University of Kentucky commit. Cummings finished with five catches for 93 yards.
Tates Creek climbed into the game with a 7-yard TD pass from Luke Duby to Cion Townsend to end the first half and a Duby to Miles Thomas 41-yard TD to start the second half, but both conversion attempts failed as the Commodores cut the Male advantage to 28-12.
Male answered with two more Bross TD runs and a 26-yard TD pass from Nic Shutte to Vincel Anthony to run the score to 48-12 with 4:07 left. Duby hit Elliot Bryant for a 24-yard TD pass to set the final margin.
The Commodores (9-5) completed 2019 with their deepest postseason run since 2001. Male next faces Trinity at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8 at Kroger Field.
Trinity 54, North Hardin 7: Armon Tucker scored five touchdowns, including a 59-yarder in the third quarter as the Shamrocks (12-2) scored 54 unanswered on the host Trojans.
North Hardin scored first as Lavell Wright converted a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line to put the Trojans up 7-0 with 3:35 left in the first quarter, but it was all Rocks from there.
Trinity quarterback Nathan McElroy threw TD passes to Tucker and Kaelin Racculia and had a 2-yard TD run of his own as the Rocks put on the mercy-rule running clock with one minute left in the third quarter.
North Hardin finished the season 13-1.
Class 5A
Covington Catholic 28, Bowling Green 0: Caleb Jacob completed TD passes of 15, 27, and 35 yards and the Colonels defense held the Purples scoreless for the first time since 2014.
Michael Mayer, Andy Molique and Ethan Reardon each caught one of the TDs and Owen Nally provided the final margin on a 2-yard run late in the third quarter. Jacob finished with 240 yards passing.
Bowling Green finished the season 9-4. Covington Catholic (14-0) next faces Frederick Douglass at 8 p.m. Saturday at Kroger Field. Douglass beat Owensboro 28-17.
Class 4A
Johnson Central 52, Madisonville 14: Devin Johnson scored three rushing touchdowns and Cody Rice added two more as the Golden Eagles (14-0) established an early lead and shrugged off the visiting Maroons (11-3).
Madisonville got a pair of touchdown passes from Hayden Reynolds to Marquise Parker, one in the first half and and the other on its first possession of the second. The latter score came on a 73-yard pitch-and-catch to cut Johnson Central’s lead to 29-14, but it would be all Golden Eagles from there.
On the next Johnson Central series, it converted a fourth-and-1 with a 39-yard pass play from Ryley Preece to Seth Dalton, setting up Johnson’s third TD from 2 yards out to make it 37-14 about midway through the third quarter. Preece also scored on a 1-yard run for the game’s first touchdown.
Johnson Central next faces Boyle County at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7 at Kroger Field. The Rebels defeated Central 31-14. This is Johnson Central’s fifth consecutive state finals appearance. They won it in 2016.
Class 3A
Belfry 15, DeSales 14 (2OT): Isaac Dixon swept around right end for a two-point conversion and the win as the Pirates survived a semifinal that went into overtime scoreless with a daring call in the second extra period.
Belfry got the ball to start the first overtime and scored from 7 yards out on a run by Peyton Hensley. DeSales answered immediately on the next play with a 10-yard run by James Johnson and an extra point to make it 7-7.
DeMarcus Avery plunged in from a yard out as DeSales got the first possession of the second OT and the score was 14-7.
On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Hensley punched it in to make it 14-13 with an extra point left to tie it. But after a DeSales timeout, Belfry opted instead to go for the win on the road and converted to end the game.
Belfry (10-3) next plays Bell County for the title at Kroger Field at 7 p.m. Friday. It will be Belfry’s 14th state finals appearance. They’ve won it six times.
Bell County 46, Taylor County 28: London Stephney threw for two touchdowns, had a 53-yard interception return for a TD in the second half on defense and capped the game with a 44-yard TD run to set the final margin as the Bobcats (14-0) fended away the Cardinals’ challenge.
Wes Oliver and Tre Goodin each scored twice for Taylor County (11-3) with Oliver breaking away for a 39-yard score in the second half to cut the lead to 26-21.
But Dawson Woolum scored for the Bobcats from 12 yards out to make it 32-21 moments later and then Stephney applied his two big-play daggers, according to the Middlesboro Daily News.
Class 2A
Somerset 40, Breathitt County 25: Kaiya Sheron threw TD passes of 30, 41 and 7 yards, two of those shots to his favorite target, Kade Grundy, and the Briar Jumpers (13-1) overcame a 13-0 deficit for the win.
Breathitt County struck for a pair of big plays in the first quarter with Jaylen Turner hitting Jacob Noble for an 80-yard TD and then C.A. Collins bolting for an 83-yard TD run to make it 13-0.
But Somerset scored on its next three possessions to take the lead, starting with a 9-yard run by Jase Bruner and followed by the Grundy catches.
Mikey Garland had a pair of TD runs for the Briar Jumpers, as well. Collins finished with three TDs on the night. Breathitt’s season ends at 13-1.
Somerset will face Mayfield at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7 for the state title at Kroger Field. Somerset will make its sixth appearance in a state finals. It has not won one.
Mayfield 35, Beechwood 7: Kylan Galbreath scored three rushing touchdowns, including a pair of 80-yarders as the Cardinals (13-1) dominated the visiting Tigers.
Jayden Stinson threw two TD passes to Cade Neely, including a 79-yard play on their first official snap after a penalty.
Beechwood scored on a 41-yard pass play from Cameron Hergott to Parker Mason late in the second quarter.
The Cardinals will be going for their 13th state title in 24 appearances.
Class A
Paintsville 44, Kentucky Country Day 20: John Walker Phelps gashed KCD for TD runs of 52, 45, and 68 yards and quarterback Jake Hyden had a 40-yard run as the Tigers (11-3) held their hosts scoreless in the second half.
Thanks in part to some extra-point difficulties by Paintsville, the Bearcats (13-1) were able to grab two leads early in the game, the first, 7-6, on a 1-yard run by Dorian Heard and the second, 14-12, after a 61-yard breakout by Drew Russell.
Paintsville would go on to score 32 unanswered with Zach Thompson crossing the goal line twice from short range and Luke Hyden adding a 4-yard TD.
Paintsville (11-3) will make its fourth state title game appearance and first since 1985 when it takes on Pikeville on Friday at 2 p.m.
Pikeville 36, Holy Cross 7: Isaac McNamee threw for four TDs to four different receivers as the Panthers (13-0) established a running clock barely two minutes into the second half with a 36-0 lead.
Cody Raines scored on a run and a catch for the first two TDs of the game.
The Panthers will play for their fifth state championship in program history and first since 2015 after trouncing visiting Louisville Holy Cross (11-3). Pikeville lost a 21-20 heartbreaker to Beechwood in last year’s title game at Kroger Field. Next week they’ll face a Paintsville team which they edged 9-8 on the road on Sept. 6.
Pikeville has beaten its three playoff opponents by a combined score of 135-32.
This story was originally published November 30, 2019 at 1:34 AM.
