Boyle County aims to recapture glory. Franklin County goes for first taste.
They don’t call it “Title Town” for nothing.
But last season, the ball bounced another team’s way and the Boyle County Rebels football program suffered only its second defeat in 10 trips to a state title game, now called the UK Orthopaedics State Football Finals.
The Rebels are back. Their returnees remember the feeling. And they aim to rectify matters against title-game newcomer Franklin County in the KHSAA Class 4A championship on Friday night.
“Everybody has a chip on their shoulder this year because it’s just so disappointing to lose the state championship, especially by one point like that in such a dramatic way,” Boyle County senior running back Will McDaniel said about that 21-20 defeat to Johnson Central in which the Rebels committed five turnovers. “So, we’ve just taken that to heart this year, and we’ve worked hard all summer, all winter. I think we’re ready.”
Boyle’s players found a kindred spirit in new head coach Justin Haddix. He too knows what it’s like to lose in a state title game. Haddix took Corbin there in 2017 and 2018 and lost both times. The 2017 loss came at the hands of the program he now leads.
“He’s been in the same boat as us,” McDaniel said. “So, we’ve been on the same page from day one — both wanting to get back and win it this time.”
Haddix had already proven himself to be a great coach, and he’d admired the Boyle County program as a competitor. Once he got inside the halls himself, he got to see up close why they’re successful.
“I called (former) coach (Chuck) Smith after I’d been here a few weeks … just the foundation, the hard work and things he had built into them,” stood out Haddix said. “Taking over a quality program that was run the right way and the kids have the right attitude — that just doesn’t happen overnight. … It’s impressive.”
Similar styles
Boyle County has the state’s No. 1 scoring offense at 49.4 points per game. Franklin County’s ranks No. 13 with 39.9 points per game.
Haddix has added his own tweaks to Boyle’s patented big-play punch. His spread scheme proves just as potent as Rebels’ attacks of years past with a bonus of having a dual-threat senior quarterback like Jagger Gillis able to add some run-pass-option nuance to the play calling.
Though the spread is known more as an air attack, McDaniel has broken the 1,000-yard rushing mark as the feature back in just nine games. He was featured as the primary weapon with three rushing TDs in the first half against Hopkinsville last week in a 55-0 rout.
“Will’s just been a leader since I showed up here,” Haddix said. “He’s tough with the ball. He’s picked up the offense and what we want to do. And then on defense, he’s playing the same spot he did last year as our strong safety.”
Gillis threw some pinpoint deep passes against Hoptown and has 1,869 yards passing to go with 24 TD throws and 11 TDs rushing. Five different receivers have caught touchdown passes for Boyle, led by Cole Lanter’s nine and Luke Shepperson’s seven.
Franklin County head coach Eddie James likes the challenge even though it’s a huge change from the option running attacks they faced last week from Johnson Central and in the regular season from the Flyers’ district rival Louisville Central.
“Now, we just have to prepare for every formation known to man,” James joked.
At a glance, James’ Flyers play a lot like Boyle County.
Franklin County has a dynamic, multi-faceted offense led by senior Nick Broyles who gets the ball out of his hands quickly and into the waiting arms of playmakers like Fred Farrier, one of the top receivers in the state with nearly 1,000 yards and 12 TDs.
Broyles has thrown for 2,176 yards on the season and hit seven different receivers with scoring strikes.
“We’ve got to tackle well in space,” Haddix said, pointing out that Franklin junior Zach Claudio also makes big plays.
The Flyers can run, too. Sophomore Kaden Moorman has 568 yards and 11 TDs to lead a keep-them-honest rush offense that has generated over 1,000 yards.
Both teams’ defenses punish quarterback indecision and stifle opponents. Boyle’s Coleman Clark has nine sacks and 12 tackles for a loss. Franklin’s Phillip Peiffer leads the state with 13.5 sacks. Boyle County’s scoring defense ranks fifth, allowing 9.2 points per game; Franklin County’s ranks 10th at 10.6 points per game.
“The big thing for us will just be to trust our reads and just try to play good fundamentally sound defense,” James said. “And we’re gonna have to do the same thing on offense.”
Program building
Boyle County and rival neighbor Danville are why their community has been affectionately dubbed “Title Town” by themselves and others with 19 state football titles between them.
Franklin County High School was established in 1958. The Kentucky High School Athletic Association began holding state football championship games the next year. The Flyers have never appeared in a state finals. From the community, only Frankfort has reached a title game, and the Panthers lost both. The last more than four decades ago.
James knows a lot about Boyle County. He coached there under Smith for two years before taking the top job at his alma mater in 2017. James said he learned more than X’s and O’s from Smith and the Boyle program.
“What I learned there is what matters is your kids’ beliefs and your culture, and how hard they’re willing to play for you,” James said. “And that’s one thing that I’ve always thought just as an outsider and working there is (that) Boyle County’s kids play extremely hard. And so, we’re trying to get that out of our kids. And I think we’ve been able to do that this year.”
James believes he has a team good enough to be first-time lucky against an eight-time champion and that he and his staff hope they can be part of a winning program that will endure like their Friday night foes.
“There’s a lot of guys on my staff that have either played here or have put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears for this community and this program,” James said. “It’s special. And we hope it’s not a one-time thing. We think we’re building something that can be here.
“But we also understand that this opportunity doesn’t come around every year, so we were trying to relish it and go out there and try to win a football game.”
State football championships
Where: Kroger Field
Tickets: Available by advance sale at KHSAA.org. No walk-up sales.
Online: Subscription required for live video stream at KHSAA.tv. Free audio stream at KHSAA.net
FRIDAY’S GAMES
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’S GAMES
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 17, 2020 at 10:42 AM.
