The No. 3 Highlands Bluebirds did what the two teams ranked ahead of them could not Friday night.
Highlands capitalized on the running attack of senior quarterback Will Bardo to score a 12-7 road upset over nationally ranked Cincinnati St. Xavier.
Cincinnati St. X, which came into the home game ranked 17th in the country by USA Today, had already defeated Kentucky No. 1 St. Xavier 24-7 and state No. 2 Trinity 43-13 in recent weeks.
Highlands, regularly ranked just behind the two Louisville schools in recent years, finally broke through.
While the Cincy St. X defense focused on Bluebirds star Austin Collinsworth, Bardo ran 16 times for 135 yards and a touchdown.
The Bluebirds improved to 6-0 on the season and should have a chance to pass up St. Xavier and Trinity in Monday's ratings.
"We haven't shown a lot of quarterback runs this year," Bardo told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "Whenever I would hand it to Austin, they were going right for him. So we were giving counter fakes off that and going the other way. ... It was wide-open really. I was untouched a few times."
Bardo left the game in the fourth quarter after hyperextending his left (throwing) elbow, and the team's medical staff didn't give him a recovery time.
No. 20 Bryan Station 22, Pleasure Ridge Park 12: Tevin McCaden kept on running, and the visiting Defenders put their record at 5-0 for the first time in 17 years.
McCaden rushed for 293 yards and two touchdowns on 30 attempts. He moved his season total to 1,181 yards through five games.
Station's passing attack went 1-for-8 for four yards, but the Defenders gained 349 yards on 40 attempts on the ground.
Tates Creek 29, North Bullitt 7: The Eagles scored a touchdown on their first drive, and the Creekers blanked them the rest of the way for a road victory.
Tates Creek struck back quickly and took the lead for good on John Diliberto's 13-yard touchdown catch midway through the first quarter. Diliberto had six receptions for 105 yards and two touchdowns.
Tates Creek quarterback Dee Christopher was 16-for-24 passing for 207 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 37 yards and a score.
No. 17 Scott County 40, Clark County 0: Host Scott County scored 20 points in the first quarter and another 20 points in the second quarter before the game was called because of lightning midway through the third quarter. Josh Walls led the winning Cardinals with five rushes for 84 yards and two touchdowns. Steven Travis chipped in with 42 yards and two scores on the ground.
Fairview 45, Paris 22: The visiting Eagles put up 25 points before Paris scored at all, and the two teams played even the rest of the way.
Fairview running backs Drew Boyd and T.J. Shelton combined for 350 yards and six touchdowns, pounding the Greyhounds from the start. Boyd ran 20 times for 224 yards and four scores, and Shelton had 14 carries for 126 yards and two TDs.
Johnson Central 36, Breathitt County 14: Sophomore running back J.J. Jude ran for a 91-yard touchdown to start the game and never stopped from there in a road victory over the Bobcats.
Jude had 20 carries for 245 yards and three touchdowns for the Golden Eagles (2-4).
Johnson Central kept Mr. Football hopeful Channing Fugate out of the end zone, and Breathitt County fell to 1-5 on the season.
Bourbon County 28, Owen County 7: Colonels running back Taylor Barnes ran for all four Bourbon touchdowns in a home victory. Barnes rushed 33 times for 278 yards and four scores.
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