Highlights: George Rogers Clark stuns Belfry; several games postponed by storm

A combination of extreme weather events made for a challenging night of high school football as many games that had been pushed later because of this week’s heat wave ultimately got postponed by a storm system that struck parts of Kentucky on Friday night.

Storms and heavy rain pounded Louisville, prompting the postponement of Frederick Douglass’ game at Trinity to a 2 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.

Also kicking off at 2 p.m. Saturday will be Lexington Catholic’s game at Madison Central.

Sayre’s game against Bracken County was called off at about 8:45 p.m. Friday night due to continued lightning in the area. It was rescheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday.

Paul Laurence Dunbar’s game against Mercer County that had been set for Friday at Woodford County will instead kickoff at 1 p.m. Saturday at Alvis Johnson Field in Harrodsburg.

The second half of that bowl game doubleheader at Woodford County, the Yellow Jackets’ game against Simon Kenton, was canceled with no makeup planned.

Tates Creek’s game at Madison Southern was reset for a 10 a.m. kickoff Saturday.

The Battle of the Birds between Scott County and Great Crossing was rescheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Here are highlights from the games that were played on Friday as scheduled.

George Rogers Clark 53, Belfry 27: The Cardinals (1-1) capitalized on three Belfry fumbles and scored 31 unanswered points in the second half to knock off one of Class 3A’s best teams in its own Pike County Bowl.

Sam Clements threw for 213 yards and TD passes of 25 and 48 yards and rushed for another TD to go along with two short rushing TDs by Bryce Chestnut and a fumble recovery in the end zone by Jones Howard. Landon Belcher got his first varsity touchdown for the final margin.

Belfry (1-1) got two TD runs by Caden Woolum and one each from Dre Young and Jonah Adkins.

Paris 58, Paintsville 12: The Greyhounds (2-0) scored 50-plus points for the second straight week in a commanding win against Paintsville (0-2).

In particular, senior Jakari Ransom had a strong game with an interception return for a touchdown, as well as rushing scores from 3 and 8 yards out. Ransom also had a 75-yard touchdown catch.

Junior Elijah Webb had a 79-yard kick return score for Paris, and he also hauled in a receiving touchdown.

While Paintsville only scored a pair of touchdowns in the game, they were both highlight-reel material: Senior Peyton Adams delivered a 40-yard touchdown pass to freshman Anderson Lauffer, and Adams ran for 50-yard score.

Harrison County 56, Estill County 46: Quarterback Kaydon Custard threw for four touchdowns, ran for two more and had an 80-yard pick six and a fumble recovery in a game Harrison County (2-0) led throughout.

Tanner Tumey caught two of Custard’s scoring passes with Jaxson Zink and Taylor Conway pulling in the others. Jesse Mitchell added a 13-yard TD run. Jax Niece and Caden Arvin each had a pair of rushing TDs for Estill County (1-1). Engineers QB Brody Mainous threw TD passes to Bryce Brinegar and Layden Rawlins.

Covington Catholic 35, Highlands 21: The Colonels (2-0) not only stayed unbeaten in the young 2023 season, but CovCath also secured a 10th win in its last 11 games against Highlands.

Senior Evan Pitzer was everywhere for Covington Catholic. In addition to a 5-yard rushing touchdown, Pitzer had three touchdown passes, all from inside of 10 yards out.

Sophomore Joseph Harney also had a headline-grabbing moment with a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown for the Colonels.

Highlands (1-1) had plenty of bright moments despite the rivalry defeat, though. Senior running back Cameron Giesler had a pair of rushing scores from 37 and 22 yards out, and senior Brody Benke also shook loose for a 74-yard rushing touchdown.

Bowling Green 42, Owensboro 28: After a wild shootout loss to Lexington Christian last week, Bowling Green (1-1) bounced back nicely with a road win at Owensboro (0-2).

Among the scores for the Purples were passing touchdowns from junior quarterback Deuce Bailey to sophomores Trevy Barber and Jaxen Smith. Owensboro counted a blocked field goal that was returned for a touchdown among its scores.

Cooper 42, Henry Clay 2: Cooper (2-0) scored more than 34 points for the second straight week while Henry Clay (0-2) could only manage a safety on the scoreboard.

Sophomore quarterback Cam O’Hara had three passing touchdowns for the Jaguars, and fellow sophomore Keagan Maher added a pair of rushing scores as well for Cooper.

Cooper outgained Henry Clay in total yards, 334-155.

Henry County 34, Lafayette 0: Visiting Henry County (2-0) used 185 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns from junior Ray Matthews to power its way to a win at Lafayette (0-2).

Senior Jordan King completed just six passes in the game for Henry County, but two of those were touchdown passes to junior Bodey Lyons and senior Kyle Gillingham. Sophomore Gavin Noe had a fumble recovery for Lafayette.

The Generals have lost 16 consecutive games. The last win for Lafayette on the gridiron came in October 2021 against Henry Clay.

Bell County 60, Boyd County 41: Bobcats running back Daniel Thomas carried the ball 21 times for 344 yards and six TDs and returned a fumble 78 yards for another score. Thomas’ rushing TDs included bursts of 59, 80, and 48 yards. Hayden Damron added an 80-yard TD catch off a throw by Blake Burnett for Bell (2-0).

Murray 35, Calloway County 14: In the annual Crosstown Classic played at Murray State, Murray (2-0) used a 66-yard touchdown pass from senior Collin Wilson to junior Jeremiah Jones, as well as a short rushing touchdown from Jones, to ease past Calloway County (0-2).

Murray has now won 14 of its last 15 games played against Calloway County, including seven in a row.

Greenwood 38, Warren East 6: Greenwood (2-0) continued its strong offensive start to the season thanks largely to the exploits of senior Cam Smith, who had a hand in just about all of the scoring plays for the Gators.

Smith threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to senior Tel Tel Long and a 37-yard TD to junior Canon Jaggers. Smith also added several rushing scores of his own.

The lone Warren East (1-1) touchdown of the game came on a kickoff return.

East Carter 35, Rowan County 6: Sophomore Landon Yoak had a banner day for East Carter (1-1), recording a trio of rushing touchdowns in a big home win over Rowan County (0-2).

In addition to Yoak’s three rushing scores, the Raiders also got a pair of receiving touchdowns by senior Gabe Roberts on passes thrown by junior Quentin Johnson.

Pike County Central 9, Martin County 6: It was a late score from a freshman that gave Pike County Central (2-0) a win over Martin County (1-1) in the Pike County Bowl as freshman quarterback Jamere Knuckles plowed forward for a short rushing touchdown with less than five minutes to go.

Martin County scored its only points of the night on an 11-yard touchdown run by senior Brock Messer in the first half.

Rockcastle County 56, Pineville 14: Few victories on the week two slate will be as comprehensive as Rockcastle County (2-0) over Pineville (0-2).

Junior Stephen Powell had an 18-yard rushing score for Rockcastle just 27 seconds into the game, and it was off from there. The Rockets also got touchdowns from senior Tucker Warren on a quarterback run and on receptions by sophomore Isaiah Jackson and senior Caleb Moore.

Rockcastle County put up 50 points in the first half alone.

Allen County-Scottsville 42, Monroe County 7: It was the Chase Ross show for ACS (2-0) in a commanding home win over Monroe County (1-1).

Ross, a junior, had a 14-yard interception return for a score, as well as two touchdowns on offense.

The Patriots also got touchdowns from junior Jackson Morris on a 47-yard fumble recovery scoop-and-score, as well as a scoring catch by senior Blayne Moore and a 27-yard touchdown run by senior Blayne Tracy.