Class 4A championship: ‘Nobody deserved to lose this game.’ Boyle escapes in OT.
On Friday night in Lexington, a thrilling blow-for-blow championship fight was decided by a fingertip.
With the season on the line in overtime, Boyle County linebacker Luke Sheperson leaped into the air near the goal line and tipped away a fourth-down pass to give the Rebels a 31-28 victory over Franklin County in the UK Orthopaedic/KHSAA Class 4A State Football Championship at Kroger Field.
Playing in its first championship game in the program’s 62-year history, Franklin County opted to go for the win. The Flyers fell behind for the first time of the back-and-forth battle when Boyle County’s all-state kicker Jackson Smith nailed a 23-yard field goal on the first overtime possession.
Instead of attempting to send the game into a second overtime with a field goal try on fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line, Franklin County Coach Eddie James dialed up a rollout pass. Kaden Moorman broke free in the right side of the end zone and quarterback Nick Broyles lofted a throw that at first seemed destined to drop right into Moorman’s mitts, but Sheperson came up with the play of the year for the Rebels’ defense, delivering the program an undefeated season (12-0) and its ninth state championship.
“I knew we were going to step up and make a play, I had complete faith in them,” Boyle County first-year head coach Justin Haddix said.
Franklin County’s James didn’t hesitate to make the fourth-down call.
“We want to be aggressive. We feel like our offense is a weapon,” James said. “We didn’t want to play mash-it-in with them on the 10-yard line again, so we just went for it. I stand by this, I think all of our coaches and our team stand by that decision, and I’m proud of them. We’re a fingertip away from being state champions.”
Haddix inherited quite a burden when he took over the reins of the Rebels from legendary coach Chuck Smith, who retired following Boyle County’s 21-20 loss to Johnson Central in last year’s championship game. But following an unannounced visit to one of the team’s offseason workouts, Haddix realized he’d been handed the keys to a well-oiled machine.
“After I took the job, I came and watched one of the first workouts they had that morning, I didn’t even tell them I was coming,” Haddix said. “I smiled all the way home.”
Boyle County senior running back Will McDaniel capped his high school career in storybook fashion, powering the Rebels’ offense as they traded blows with a tough Franklin County (9-2) squad. McDaniel was named MVP after rushing 32 times for 195 yards and two touchdowns.
“One of my longtime role models and middle school coach sent me a text message two days after we lost that state championship last year, and he said, ‘The ball is in your court, you can choose how to respond to this,’” McDaniel said. “I’ve read that message probably 30 times in this past year, it’s been fresh in my mind every single day.”
The Flyers looked as if they were out to make a statement early, forcing a three-and-out on the first possession of the game, then marching downfield to take a 7-0 lead on Moorman’s tough run up the middle for a 5-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1.
Each time Boyle County scored, the Flyers had an answer; whether it was the 71-yard drive in which Peyton Ledford plowed into the end zone on fourth-and-goal or the 99-yard drive following a huge defensive stop on fourth down that was bookended by Moorman’s 6-yard score to give Franklin a 28-21 lead with less than six minutes to play.
Boyle County had a shot to win the game in regulation with less than a minute to go, but Franklin County’s Blair Tate came up with a huge tackle for loss, forcing the Rebels to attempt a 44-yard field goal which Tate blocked to send the game to overtime.
“Nobody deserved to lose this game,” James said. “I’m just so proud ... That’s a really good football team, and we are too.
“The expectation at Franklin County anymore is not to score a bunch of points, it’s not any of that stuff anymore. We’re going to start expecting to be here.”
This story was originally published December 18, 2020 at 11:30 PM.
