High school playoffs: Male and Boyle County roll, Beechwood survives furious rally.
Highlights from the semifinals of the high school football playoffs around Kentucky on Friday night:
Class 6A
Male 49, Paul Laurence Dunbar 6: Behind a big first quarter from Daniel Swinney, host Male jumped all over Paul Dunbar and cruised into the Class 6A finals for the third year in a row.
Nic Schutte got Male (8-1) on the board with a 20-yard touchdown run less than three minutes into the game. Swinney added two more first-quarter TD runs, the second from 48 yards out, to give Male an early 21-0 lead.
Schutte tossed a 21-yard touchdown to Vincent Anthony to make it 28-0 before Frank Illunga caught a 35-yard touchdown from Jake Smith for Dunbar’s only score of the game.
The loss ends a four-game win streak for Dunbar (7-3), which took yet another step forward under third-year head coach Wes Johnson. Following a winless season in 2017, Dunbar went 3-7 in Johnson’s inaugural season and 7-5 last year, falling to Tates Creek in the second round of the playoffs. This year’s trip to the state semifinals was Dunbar’s deepest playoff run since 2003.
Swinney ran for 120 yards on 11 carries for Male, which will face Trinity next week in a rematch of last year’s championship game, which the Shamrocks won, 28-6. Male won its eighth state title in 2018.
Trinity 31, St. Xavier 0: The Shamrocks got a blocked punt for a score in the first half and a fake punt for a score in the second and two TDs from Brad West as Trinity (9-0) rolled. Jack Dingle fell on the ball in the end zone after the punt block by Michael Patterson to open the scoring. In the third quarter, the Rocks’ special teams struck again as Branden Stearman found 45 yards of daylight to the end zone on a fake punt.
Class 5A
Bowling Green 20, Covington Catholic 0: Conner Cooper’s 72-yard touchdown early in the first quarter proved to be enough as Bowling Green (9-2) knocked off defending state champion Covington Catholic (10-2) on the road.
Cooper added an insurance touchdown with a 4-yard plunge late in the third quarter. He finished with 123 yards on the ground and 56 passing yards. Javeius Bunton ran for 149 yards in the win, scoring a 1-yard TD late in the second quarter to send the Purples into halftime with a 13-0 advantage.
Bowling Green’s defense held the Colonels to 207 yards and intercepted five passes. Dylan Echols and Eli Burwash had two picks each. Rece Jones also came up with an interception and returned it 22 yards to set up the Purples with good field position.
In next week’s state finals the Purples will face Owensboro, which upset Frederick Douglass in the semifinals, 28-27, when the Broncos failed to convert a potential game-winning field goal.
Class 4A
Boyle County 55, Hopkinsville 0: The host Rebels routed Hopkinsville (7-3) to remain undefeated and reach the state finals for the third time in four years. Boyle County (10-0) won its eighth state title in 2017.
The Rebels scored on five of seven first-half possessions, rushing for 386 yards in the first half as they took a 33-0 lead into the locker room. Boyle County quarterback Jagger Gillis completed 17 of 21 passes for 224 yards.
Cole Lanter caught seven passes for 105 yards in the first half then took the rest of the night off. Will McDaniel ran for 159 yards and three touchdowns in the first half.
Boyle County will face Franklin County in the finals next Friday. The Flyers upset defending champion Johnson Central, 20-12, in the semifinals.
Class 3A
Elizabethtown 39, Christian Academy-Louisville 20: Kam Sherrard scored two touchdowns, including a 51-yard breakaway in the third quarter that stemmed a Centurions rally. Kam’s brother Khia Sherrard also scored for the Panthers (12-0). Khia capped a 97-yard drive with a 40-yard touchdown in the first quarter after a devastating fumble near the goal line by CAL on its first drive of the game. That was the first of two first-half fumbles by the Centurions (7-3), who also gave up a safety when a high snap sailed out of its punter’s reach.
Ashland Blazer 10, Belfry 3: JT Garrett ran in for a 14-yard TD in the second quarter and SJ Lycans tacked on a 20-yard field goal in the third as the Tomcats (12-0) held on to topple the defending state champions and remain undefeated. The Pirates (8-4) got a 27-yard field goal from Gideon Ireson late in the game. An interception by Ashland’s Jack Alley on Belfry’s final drive sealed the victory.
Class 2A
Beechwood 35, West Carter 34: What looked like a blowout early on turned into one of Friday’s most thrilling matchups.
After visiting Beechwood jumped out to a 20-0 lead, West Carter ripped off 27 unanswered points capped by Leetavious Cline’s 14-yard TD run and a successful two-point conversion.
Beechwood finally got back on the board again to tie things at 27 before Orry Perry hit Jackson Bond with a 31-yard touchdown pass to give West Carter (9-3) a 34-27 lead with 5:02 to play.
Beechwood (9-2) answered quickly, with Cameron Hergott throwing a touchdown to Brady Moore. Hergott and Moore connected for the two-point conversion to give the Tigers the lead. West Carter had one more chance but couldn’t convert on fourth down.
Beechwood will face Lexington Christian in the finals next Friday at 3 p.m. LCA routed Murray, 48-13, to reach the state finals for the first time since winning its only championship in 2009.
Class A
Kentucky Country Day 27, Williamsburg 7: Nathan Caldwell scored twice and Luke Russo connected with Drew Russell on a 35-yard TD pass in the third quarter as the Bearcats (10-1) earned their first trip to the state finals. The teams exchanged first quarter scores with Eric Dickerson’s 9-yard TD run for KCD matched moments later by Sydney Bowen’s 52-yard TD pass to Gavon Thomas for Williamsburg (6-3). But the Yellow Jackets struggled offensively the rest of the game.
Paintsville 21, Newport Central Catholic 7: Harris Phelps scored on TD runs of 31, 36 and 11 yards in the second, third and fourth quarters, respectively, as the Tigers (9-2) advanced to their second straight state championship game. Phelps finished the game with 168 yards rushing. Newport Central Catholic (8-3) took an early lead on Malaki Herndon’s 46-yard TD pass to Joey Runyon on a third-and-16 play near the end of the first quarter.
State championships
At Kroger Field in Lexington
Friday, Dec. 18
Class A: Kentucky Country Day (10-1) vs. Paintsville (9-2), 11 a.m.
Class 2A: Lexington Christian (10-1) vs. Beechwood (9-2), 3 p.m.
Class 4A: Boyle County (10-0) vs. Franklin County (9-1), 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 19
Class 3A: Elizabethtown (12-0) vs. Ashland Blazer (10-0), 11 a.m.
Class 5A: Owensboro (12-0) vs. Bowling Green (9-2), 3 p.m.
Class 6A: Trinity (9-0) vs. Male (8-1), 7 p.m.
This story was originally published December 12, 2020 at 1:06 AM.
