High school football highlights: Big plays abound as Dunbar opens with a blowout
Paul Dunbar 49, West Jessamine 10: It shows just how far Paul Laurence Dunbar football has come when third-year head coach Wes Johnson can talk about how much his Bulldogs need to improve after their first game of the season — a 39-point win Friday night.
“We got a lot of stuff to work on,” Johnson said. “We scored on some big plays. Our offense got a little better as it went along. I think you could tell in the first quarter that (West Jess) had played a game and we hadn’t.”
You couldn’t tell from the first play, however. Dunbar’s Frank Ilunga took the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown.
After Luke Barr nailed a 21-yard field goal to pull West Jessamine within 7-3, Ilunga caught an 87-yard touchdown pass from Jake Smith.
“Frank had a great game,” Johnson said. “He had an interception. He had a catch for a score and the return for a score. We had a lot of guys step up.”
Mario Paul ran for a 79-yard TD to put Dunbar (1-0) up 22-3 in the second quarter. Smith tossed a 15-yard touchdown to Andrew Jones, then with less than a minute to go in the half, Jones returned an interception 55 yards for another score and the Bulldogs led 36-3. A 56-yard touchdown run by Kamarion Robinson early in the third quarter made it 42-3.
West Jessamine (1-1) held Dunbar to 379 yards of offense while gaining 284, but the Colts struggled to prevent big plays and hold onto the ball. West Jessamine turned over the ball four times, while Dunbar had no turnovers.
“I just told our guys we’ve got three ‘scrimmage’ games before it really counts (when Dunbar plays its district foes),” Johnson said. Johnson’s Bulldogs had three wins his first year, seven in 2019, and this year, they’re focused on taking another step, a district title. “We’ve just got to get everything honed in and polished up before we get to district, because that’s our ultimate goal.”
For Dunbar, Jones had a sack in addition to his pick-six. Ilunga also made an interception for the Bulldogs. Jackson Green had a big game for West Jessamine, catching 11 passes for 135 yards.
Bryan Station 41, Tates Creek 21: The Defenders (1-1) scored 20 unanswered in the second half, sparked by AhTraivon Jenkins’ 60-yard interception return for a TD, to give new Coach Phillip Hawkins his first win in their home opener.
“Once we got them going, they did what I expected them to do,” Hawkins said. “It felt good. I’d like to put a couple or three together. That’d be awesome.”
Bryan Station racked up 561 yards of total offense highlighted by Joseph Bond’s 222 yards rushing and a score and Amodeus Taylor’s 104 yards rushing and two TDs. Station QB Terik Mulder threw for 185 yards and a TD to Dadrien Taylor. Da Marius McKee-Ross also had a touchdown run. Tates Creek got two TDs from quarterback Aaron Klein and a pick-six from JT Acosta.
Scott County 49, Great Crossing 18: After surviving a nail-biter against Bryan Station last week, Scott County had an easier time against its cross-town rival. Campton Martin ran for two touchdowns early as the Cardinals jumped out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead at Birds Nest Stadium in Georgetown.
Martin added another rushing score in the second quarter and Scott County (2-0) led 35-12 at halftime. Montago Jones also ran for three touchdowns for the Cardinals, capping the scoring with a 37-yard scamper in the fourth quarter.
Jake Broughton threw a 67-yard touchdown and ran for another for Great Crossing (0-2), which ran for 204 yards as a team. Scott County chewed up 437 yards on the ground, with Jones’ 219-yard effort leading the way. Jacob Coulter caught five passes for 88 yards for Great Crossing.
Madison Central 21, Lafayette 0: The ground game proved to be the difference as the host Indians got the best of a defensive affair. Kenyatta Hardge scored two rushing touchdowns and Canon Scenters added another for Madison Central (1-0), which outgained Lafayette (0-1) 200 yards to 100. Blake Snyder led the Indians with 100 yards on 13 carries.
Darreon Stewart caught five passes for 58 yards for Lafayette, which lost 46 yards on the ground as a team. Edgren Sweat made four tackles for loss and a sack and also forced a fumble for Madison Central. Noah Shipley had two sacks in the win. Donovan Jackson made two sacks for Lafayette.
Sayre 42, Berea 6: The Spartans (2-0) jumped to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and quarterback Cole Pennington threw for 221 yards and six TDs in the rout. Wide receiver Trey Dennis had four TDs, including scoring runs of 19 and 24 yards in addition to 107 yards receiving.
Franklin County 40, Woodford County 22: Flyers QB Nick Broyles threw for 431 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another in a game the Yellow Jackets kept close much of the way. Zack Claudio caught the biggest one, an 8-yard strike in the first half. Fred Farrier caught a bubble screen that he took in from 43 yards out in the second half. Gavin Hurst, Phillip Peiffer and Kaden Moore also scored for Franklin (2-0). Woodford’s Bryce Patterson had TD passes of 78 and 30 yards to Nicholas O’Toole and Coy Hanes, respectively. Preston Stacy added a 2-yard TD run.
Boyle County 56, Christian Academy-Louisville 21: Jagger Gillis threw for 330 yards and five touchdowns as the Rebels (2-0) scored 35 unanswered to pull away in the second half. After CAL’s Gage Garrett returned the second-half kickoff 99 yards for a score, Boyle dominated. Gillis connected with Sheperson on TD passes of 54 and 46 yards, Eli Glasscock for 26, Cole Lanter for 12 and 36. Gillis also ran for a touchdown and caught an interception as a defender.
Danville 27, Hazard 15: Sage Dawson threw for a pair of scores to Corydon Crawford, including a 52-yard TD strike in the first half for the Admirals (1-0). Caleb Burns rushed for 198 yards and two TDs as Danville led by as many as 20-3 late in the third quarter.
Mercer County 20, Taylor County 14: The Titans (1-1) got big plays from a pair of Peavlers and a Brayden Dunn 7-yard TD run as they jumped to a 20-0 lead in the first half and hung on. Riley Peavler came wide open as the Titans tossed a reverse to Cayden Devine who then uncorked a 63-yard TD pass for a 14-0 lead. Jackson Peavler later tacked on a 60-yard touchdown run.
Southwestern 15, Clark County 13: The Warriors (2-0) turned Clark County (0-1) away from a potential go-ahead touchdown after the Cards had a first and goal at the 2-yard line with under a minute left. Three runs and a pass attempt all failed. Clark had a 13-7 advantage in the second half thanks to two TD runs by Azariah Israel who finished with 142 yards rushing. Tanner Wright scored on TD runs of 47 and 17 yards for Southwestern.
Western Hills 28, Frankfort 26: The Wolverines denied a two-point conversion attempt to tie in the game’s final minute and thwarted Frankfort’s last gasp after a successful onside kick. Jeffrey Parker’s 65-yard TD run late in the fourth gave the Wolverines (2-0) the cushion they needed. Jason Rogers scored two rushing touchdowns and returned a fumble recovery 43 yards for another. Azeno Williams and Charlie Ellis each had two touchdowns for the Panthers (0-2).
Somerset 48, Williamsburg 13: Kentucky commit QB Kaiya Sheron threw for 239 yards and two TDs and ran for another 13 yards and two more scores to lead the Briar Jumpers (2-0). Somerset’s Chase Doan added 101 yards rushing and two TDs. Ricky Gilmore had 95 yards receiving and a touchdown.
Wayne County 42, Harlan County 0: Braedon Sloan accounted for 162 of the Cardinals’ 408 rushing yards, including TD carries of 41, 30 and 22 yards. Brody Weaver tacked on 113 yards and another three touchdowns on only 10 carries. Wayne County held Harlan County to 36 yards of total offense in the shutout.
Covington Catholic 19, Beechwood 17: Trey Gronotte nailed a 33-yard field goal with less than six minutes to play and the host Colonels held on for the comeback win. Beechwood (1-1) led 17-9 at halftime, thanks to a pair of touchdown runs by Cameron Hergot and Colin Graman’s 34-yard field goal. Sam France pulled Covington Catholic (2-0) within 17-16 with a 3-yard TD run in the third quarter, setting the stage for Gronotte’s game-winner.
Highlands 23, Ryle 14: Charlie Noon ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns — one a 75-yarder — as the visiting Bluebirds outlasted the Raiders. Franklin Rogers hit field goals of 30 and 26 yards for Ryle (1-1), which hurt its cause by turning the ball over three times. Vance Moore’s fourth-quarter safety sealed the win for Highlands (1-1).
Harrison County 25, Anderson County 22: Devin Lewis plunged in from 4 yards out for his second TD of the game to seal the win with under a minute left. The Bearcats’ Isaiah Fitzpatrick rushed for 193 yards and two TDs in the loss.
Simon Kenton 36, Walton-Verona 6: Chase Crone threw two touchdowns and ran for another as the host Pioneers cruised. Jayden Lawson and Reed Carmony also scored on the ground for Simon Kenton (2-0), which outgained Walton-Verona (0-2) on offense 334 yards to 136. Jacob Gaines ran for the Bearcats’ lone touchdown.
Conner 29, Campbell County 6: A pair of pick-sixes proved instrumental as visiting Conner beat Campbell County ( 1-1) for the second year in a row. Cody Crawford picked off a pass in the end zone and returned it 103 yards to put Conner (1-0) up 13-0 in the second quarter. Alijah Thompson’s 30-yard interception return made it 22-6 in the fourth.
Trinity 43, Male 14: Bradley West and Armon Tucker each scored a pair of touchdowns for the Shamrocks (2-0), who cruised in this rematch of last year’s Class 6A state championship foes. Trinity’s biggest scoring play went 49 yards on a pass from Nathan McElroy to Tucker in third quarter to push the advantage to 29-7.
This story was originally published September 19, 2020 at 12:29 AM.
