Highlights: Boyle County heading to 4th straight title game; Mayfield, Cooper eke out wins

Highlights from Friday’s state semifinals games:

Class 4A

Boyle County 41, Franklin County 14: Avery Bodner rushed for 151 yards and three touchdowns as the Rebels (14-0) took down the previously unbeaten Flyers (13-1) in Frankfort.

The victory sets up the first matchup between two storied Kentucky high school football programs at Kroger Field for the Class 4A state championship. The Rebels, an 11-time state champ, will face Covington Catholic, an eight-time state champ, at 8 p.m. Friday.

Montavin Quisenberry scored a pair of TDs for Boyle County and Demauriah Brown added another as the Rebels took control of their state semifinal game from the outset. Franklin County scored via a Delano Collins pick six in the first half and a DuRi Trahan 12-yard pass to Jacob Taylor late in the second half.

Covington Catholic 22, Paducah Tilghman 14: Trailing 14-13 near the end of the third quarter, Covington Catholic (14-0) capitalized on a bad snap over the Blue Tornado punter’s head and tackled him for a 22-yard loss and a safety to take its first lead of the game.

The Colonels’ next drive started at the Tilghman 48-yard line after the free kick and CovCath quarterback Evan Pitzer capped it with a 14-yard touchdown that helped seal the game.

Turnovers helped doom Tilghman (13-1) as CovCath’s Cash Harney picked off junior quarterback Jack James twice and recovered two fumbles.

But Tilghman scored first on an 18-yard touchdown pass to Amari Williams from James in the first quarter. CovCath soon answered with a 38-yard TD run by Braylon Miller for a 7-7 tie at halftime.

Martels Carter put Tilghman back up 14-7 by capping a 70-yard drive with a 4-yard score to start the third quarter. CovCath quickly answered again with a short Evan Pitzer TD run, but the Colonels’ try for a two-point conversion failed, setting up its defense and special teams for the game’s defining moment.

Class 5A

Cooper 17, Highlands 15: Carson Taylor’s 34-yard field goal in the game’s closing minutes lifted the Jaguars (12-2) to the program’s first state championship game appearance.

Cooper jumped to a 14-0 lead over the Bluebirds in the first half on Cam O’Hara touchdown passes to Austin Alexander, but Highlands rallied with a safety and a Brodie Benke 1-yard TD run to cut its deficit to 14-9 at halftime.

Highlands (12-2) then took a 15-14 lead on Adam Surrey’s 15-yard TD pass to Jackson Arnold in the fourth quarter, but its two-point conversion attempt failed.

Bowling Green 38, Owensboro 6: Deuce Bailey ran for a pair of scores and threw an 11-yard TD pass to Jaxen Smith as the Purples (11-3) rolled to a mercy-rule margin win against the Red Devils (9-5)

Smith also had a 21-yard TD run to go with a Javen Huddleston rushing touchdown and a Braden Widener 39-yard field goal. Owensboro scored on a 68-yard TD run by Evan Hampton to avoid the shutout.

Class 3A

Bell County 30, Hart County 28: The Bobcats (13-1) clinched their first trip to the Class A state championship game since 2019 with a close victory over the Raiders (13-1).

Hart County was first on the scoreboard with a 1-yard rushing score from Hunter Monroe. Bell County star Daniel Thomas rushed for a 1-yard TD at the start of the second before Monroe answered with a 31-yard scoring run. Thomas scored the next three touchdowns (10-, 1- and 6-yard runs) for the Bobcats, each topped with a successful two-point conversion to put Bell County up 30-13 early in the fourth quarter.

Hart County made a late push with a pair of Clark Rexroat TD receptions (12 and 39 yards) in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, but it could not complete the comeback.

With his four touchdowns, Thomas broke the record for rushing scores in a single season previously set by Boone County’s Shaun Alexander (50), who went on to play at Alabama and become the 2005 NFL MVP for the Seattle Seahawks. Thomas now has 53 TDs and holds the single-season marks for rushing yards, points and rushing TDs.

Class 2A

Mayfield 31, Beechwood 28: Lincoln Suiter’s 18-yard field goal with two seconds left in the game helped send the Cardinals (12-1) to their second state championship game in a row and avenge the loss they suffered to Beechwood (12-2) there last season.

The win ends Beechwood’s three-year run as Class 2A state champions.

With the game tied, Mayfield linebacker Carter Morris intercepted Beechwood’s Clay Hayden late in the fourth quarter and set up the game-winning drive. Jutoriaus “JuJu” Starks carried the ball four times to get the Cardinals to the 4-yard line for the kick attempt.

Late in last December’s state championship against Beechwood, Suiter missed an extra point on Kroger Field’s narrower college goal posts that would have tied the game.

“I couldn’t even watch,” Mayfield coach Joe Morris told LinkNKY.com. “If he did miss that one, you know, how dejected he would be. I just kind of turned around, and I heard our crowd go crazy. And I looked out and they were hugging him. It was great. Redemption from last year.”

Starks rushed for 214 yards and three TDs. Mayfield also had a 35-yard TD pass from Zane Cartwright to Mak Hoover. Beechwood rallied from a 28-14 halftime deficit on Hayden TD passes to Tyler Fryman and Luke Erdman in the second half. Chase Flaherty had a TD catch and a TD run for the Tigers in the first half.

Owensboro Catholic 44, Somerset 15: The Aces (14-0) dominated Somerset to reach a state championship game for the fifth time in their history.

Brady Atwell threw four TD passes to William “Tutt” Carrico in the first half to help Owensboro Catholic to a 41-7 lead at the break. Waryn Ebelhar added a 31-yard TD run. Atwell also scored on his own 1-yard rush. Andrew Garvin tacked on a second-half field goal.

Somerset got a first-half TD run from Kam Hughes and a second-half TD run from Kris Hughes.

Class A

Pikeville 28, Campbellsville 21: Brenden Anthony led the Panthers (11-2) with four touchdowns in their victory over the Eagles (11-2).

Pikeville was first on the scoreboard with a 4-yard Anthony rushing score early in the second quarter, and it took a 6-0 lead into halftime. Anthony ran for another TD near the start of the third quarter, and Boykins caught a pass in the end zone on the two-point conversion before Anthony returned an interception for a score. Campbellsville answered quickly with a kick return all the way to cut Pikeville’s lead to 21-7 with 8:49 to play in the third quarter. Minutes later, the Eagles cut the lead to seven.

With 6:41 to play in the fourth quarter, Anthony rushed for an 82-yard score. Campbellsville answered on the next drive but couldn’t close the gap.

Raceland 42, Kentucky Country Day 6: The Rams (11-3) dominated the Bearcats (11-3) in a running clock victory to return to the Class A state championship.

Brody Austin caught a 36-yard touchdown pass early in the first quarter to get things rolling for Raceland. Parker Fannin caught a 59-yard score early in the second quarter, and Noah Wallace rushed 51 yards to reach the end zone but fumbled at the goal line before fellow Ram Jonah Arnett recovered the ball to put Raceland up 21-0 at the half.

With just over six minutes to play in the third quarter, Maclean Cantley scored on a 45-yard run for Kentucky Country Day. But Raceland’s three additional scores, courtesy of Wallace (9-yard run), Isaac Browning (16-yard run) and Bryson Rowsey (9-yard catch), sealed the deal for the Rams.

This victory, in conjunction with Pikeville’s win over Campbellsville, sets up a rematch of the 2022 Class A state championship which saw the Panthers come out on top, 41-9. It will be the second game this season between the two; Raceland defeated Pikeville 7-6 on Sept. 8.

‘You couldn’t ask for nothing more.’ Epic rally sends Bryan Station to state finals.

‘We got the job done.’ Trinity outlasts Frederick Douglass in defensive tug of war in OT.

‘We’re close.’ CAL gets a shot at back-to-back titles with defeat of Lexington Catholic.