‘The kid is a freak.’ Son of former UK standout has career game in blowout win.
His dad was known for his prowess on the defensive side of the ball, but Mason Moore’s breakout performance Thursday night for Lexington Christian in a 54-14 win over Paul Laurence Dunbar came from highlight plays on offense.
Moore, the son of former Kentucky and NFL linebacker Marty Moore (an LCA assistant coach), hauled in six passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns in the rout of the Bulldogs, the first-ever football game played between LCA and one of Lexington’s public high school teams.
“We played a bigger team, a 6A school, and I had to step up, help the team out and make some big plays for us,” said Moore, a junior, who scored his TDs on back-to-back drives — one an 8-yard square-in he snatched out of the air above his head and the other a 33-yard fly pattern he caught over his shoulder in the corner of the end zone.
Moore started on defense last year and got a few snaps at quarterback, but never figured as a receiver. Before tonight, he had only four catches for 56 yards and a score.
“This offseason, I recently picked it up. I got a little bit faster, a little bit stronger, I got my routes cleaner and got everything tightened up,” Moore said.
Moore still plays defense as the Eagles’ strong safety.
“The kid can play every position in the secondary, quarterback, every receiving position, running back ... ,” LCA Coach Doug Charles said. “I told people early in preseason — somebody asked me ‘who’s going to be a surprise?’ … I said ‘you better watch Mason Moore.’ The kid is a freak.”
LCA, a Class 2A team, took the game right to its Class 6A opponent from the outset, jumping to a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter after a 4-yard quarterback sweep by Drew Nieves and then a 13-yard pass from Nieves to Xavier Brown.
Dunbar executed a trick play midway through the second quarter as a lateral from quarterback Jake Smith set up wide receiver Howard Jackson’s 24-yard TD pass to Kamarion Robinson. That cut the lead to 17-6.
But it was all LCA from there. The Eagles took advantage of an interception, two mishandled kickoffs and a safety on consecutive series. Each gave LCA the ball deep in Bulldogs territory. The Eagles scored 37 unanswered.
“I just got in a rhythm, and we just executed,” said Nieves, who finished the game going 19-of-28 passing for 281 yards and five touchdowns.
First ever
For Lexington Christian, one of Lexington’s three relatively smaller private schools compared to its massive publics, there had never really been the opportunity to play Class 6A teams like Dunbar or Henry Clay.
But now, with some of its other games pulled off the schedule due to COVID-19, those opportunities have come and the Eagles met the challenge Thursday.
“We were a 1A school, and now we’ve been a 2A school for a few years, and my guidelines for our football coaches is ‘I’m just not putting our kids in harm’s way,’” LCA Athletics Director Terry Johnson explained. “The year before I got here (in 2013), we dressed 25 kids, because of injuries and we only had 33 on the roster. And to go up against 6A schools and 5A schools, that’s just not fair to ask these kids. That’s why we have (football) classes.”
It’s fair to say LCA has found a moment where it can compete with the bigger city rivals that it has long stood toe-to-toe with in other sports. The Eagles have their largest roster ever at 54 players.
The Ratings Percentage Index system implemented by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association last year factors wins against larger-school opponents more heavily for the purposes of seeding the playoffs, so, now, there’s a huge incentive to take on 6A foes.
“RPI does help the conversation (of scheduling other city teams),” Johnson said. “And, most of all, if we get through without any injuries, it helps prepare us to play Somerset and Danville.”
It’s also a big deal for the players.
“It was the first time in school history, so it was fun to just get out there and get after it,” said Xavier Brown, who caught two TD passes and ran for another score. “A lot of schools don’t respect us because we’re Class 2A. We’re a top-notch program. I believe we’re one of the best teams in the state.”
Thursday’s other city game
Frederick Douglass 64, Grant County 0: The Broncos scored 36 points in the first quarter to kick on the mercy-rule running clock early in its district matchup with the Braves.
Darius Neal opened the scoring with a 57-yard TD run on the Broncos’ second play from scrimmage. Douglass followed with consecutive TD passes from Samuel Cornett to Dekel Crowdus (5 yards) and Dane Key (4 yards and 3 yards), a 14-yard TD run by Cameron Dunn and another 5-yard TD pass from Cornett to Thomas Howard.
The Broncos defense held Grant County to 56 total yards and four first downs. The Braves attempted fourth-and-long conversions from under the shadow of their own goal posts on three of their first four possessions and fumbled on their other drive to set up Douglass scores from close range.
This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 1:35 AM.
