High school football highlights: Female kicker perfect on the night as Dunbar rolls
Highlights from the final weekend of the high school football regular season around Kentucky on Friday night:
Paul Laurence Dunbar 45, Lafayette 0: The visiting Bulldogs routed the Generals, ending the regular season with their fourth straight win.
Dunbar’s defense dominated — holding Lafayette to 15 total yards — and its offense chewed up the Generals to the tune of 202 rushing yards and 207 yards through the air.
It’s been a storybook season for the Bulldogs, and a new character joined the narrative Friday night. Bethel Green was recently added to the roster following the conclusion of the Dunbar girls’ soccer team’s season and she was perfect in her debut against the Generals.
Green went 4-for-4 on extra-point kicks as Dunbar built a 28-0 lead. She capped the performance with a 22-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter.
“She was great — cool, calm and collected,” Dunbar Coach Wes Johnson said. “She ran out there each time and just drilled it right down the middle. ... The whole sideline erupted when she kicked it for the first one. She did a great job and got a lot of high fives.”
Green, a senior, is believed to be the third female kicker in Lexington high school football history. The two others were Beth Hall at Henry Clay in 1991 and Claire Henkel at Bryan Station in 2008.
Several other Bulldogs had big nights. Kamarion Robinson accounted for two touchdowns as he rushed for 93 yards and had 38 yards receiving. Luke Olive caught two passes for 69 yards and Jake Smith completed nine of 13 passes for 171 yards and two scores.
Josiah Brown dominated on defense for Dunbar (4-2), coming up with three sacks. Mason Hayslett made a sack and an interception.
Madison Southern 44, Madison Central 14: Madison Southern poured it on early, jumping out to a 31-0 halftime lead on its way to a blowout of the visiting Indians.
Walter Smith scored three unanswered touchdowns for Madison Southern (4-3), beginning with a 57-yard punt return to make it 10-0. Smith ran for a 14-yard touchdown early in the second quarter then moments later caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from Cole Carpenter.
Next, it was Jayshaun Ethridge’s turn to pull off the the hat trick. Ethridge ran for touchdowns of 6 and 5 yards, then capped the scoring for Madison Southern with a 56-yard TD reception from Carpenter.
Canon Scenters had 129 yards passing for Madison Central (1-7), connecting with Zach Holbrook for a 14-yard touchdown.
Sayre 48, Fairview 14: The Spartans (8-0) completed their first varsity season in four decades undefeated with a dominating road win that included scores from six different players. QB Cole Pennington, in one half of work threw for 199 yards and four TDs and also ran in a short TD himself. Jackson Marshall scored twice, including a 47-yard breakaway to start the second half. Caleb Kern, Trey Dennis, Cory Givens and Ford Webb also reached the end zone.
Clark County 22, Great Crossing 0: Azariah Israel rushed for 296 yards and two TDs and Jordan Manley hit Jeremiah Johnson on a 17-yard score for the other as the Cardinals (3-4) won their third straight game. The tally pushed Israel, a Louisville football commit, over the 1,000-yard rushing mark in a pandemic-shortened season in which he also missed a game.
Bryan Station 54, Simon Kenton 39: Joseph Bond scored three TDs and racked up more than 100 yards in the first quarter as the Defenders (8-1) got their eighth straight win in a rout. Bond finished with about 275 rushing yards, according to unofficial stats from his coach.
Franklin County 36, South Oldham 0: Zach Claudio had three interceptions, including two pick-sixes as the Flyers (5-1) rolled despite playing without regular starting QB Nick Broyles for a second week in a row due to injury. In his stead, Jayden Mattison completed nine of 15 passes for 104 yards and a TD to Braedyn Tracy, and also rushed for 30 yards and a score. Kaden Moorman also scored.
Mercer County 59, Anderson County 22: Trosper Buchanan threw for 250 yards and five TDs, including an 80-yard connection to Riley Peavler as the Titans (6-1) rolled. Brayden Dunn went for 170 yards on 11 carries with three scores, also including an 80-yard scamper. Jackson Peavler and Jalen Lukitsch had two TD catches each for Mercer.
Wayne County 42, Barren County 20: Braedon Sloan racked up 231 yards on 20 carries with five TDs to lead the Cardinals (4-3) to victory in a first-ever meeting between these two schools. Carson Simpson got a hot first half started with an 87-yard kickoff return as Wayne led 28-0 at halftime. Jameson Bule scored three times for Barren, including an 80-yard TD catch from Jamarcus Miley.
Collins 24, Shelby County 21: Joe Lucas’ fourth-and-goal 2-yard pass on a quick slant to Darius Evans with just over three minutes remaining capped a back-and-forth game that saw the Titans (6-2) end a two-game skid. Lucas also had a TD throw to Kenyon Goodin and took a TD in himself from a yard out. AJ Bradford scored three TDs for the Rockets (4-4).
Highlands 34, Campbell County 21: Jason Noe set the tone with a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter and visiting Highlands (4-5) held off the Camels.
It was the third straight loss for Campbell County (2-6), which trimmed the deficit to 21-14 at halftime on Preston Agee’s 7-yard touchdown pass. Highlands went back up two scores on Jake Fahlbusch’s 4-yard TD run in the third and pushed the lead to 34-14 on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Charlie Noon to Jake Welch.
DeSales 41, Western Hills 0: James Johnson rushed for 105 yards and two TDs and Jayden Scroggins threw for 220 yards and two more scores to Zane Wilkerson and Caleb Winebrenn as the Colts (3-2) cruised in their first game since Oct. 9 coming off three consecutive COVID-19 cancellations.
This story was originally published November 7, 2020 at 12:03 AM.
