Highlights: Lexington Catholic demolishes Lloyd Memorial; West Jessamine edges rival East

Lexington Catholic football has faced its fair share of adversity this season.

Currently sitting with an overall record of 4-4, the Knights have collected double-digit wins over Madison Central, Great Crossing, Bourbon County and — as of Friday night — Lloyd Memorial.

Prior to facing fellow class 3A competitors, LexCath struggled in disappointing losses to some of the best talent across the state.

“Playing tough teams prepares you,” Lexington Catholic head coach Nick Baisch said. “Ultimately, our goal is to be the one at the end of the year holding that trophy. But you can’t do that unless you beat the best. And you know, we’re playing the best. So playing those teams prepared us for this.”

Baisch wasn’t wrong. In fact, the four programs that have defeated the Knights this season — Highlands, Corbin, Boyle County and archrival Lexington Christian — have a combined record of 31-2.

So when the Knights traveled to then-undefeated Lloyd Memorial for a 3A battle, they were more than ready and prevailed 41-0.

It was a difficult start for Lloyd Memorial, with leading rusher Yurii Collins Comer, sustaining an injury on the Juggernauts’ third play of the game. That put a lot of pressure on the Lloyd Memorial defense, which had previously allowed less than eight points per game. Unfortunately for the home team, LexCath quarterback Jackson Wasik had himself quite the game.

Wasik threw for 239 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed for another score. And once he and the LexCath offense warmed up, there was no slowing them down. According to Baisch, Wasik’s ability to fire up the offense and extend plays is a key to the team’s success.

“He’s what makes us go,” Baisch said. “You look at Jackson, he’s a senior, he’s a quarterback who’s making good decisions. … He’s a great quarterback and he’s only getting better.”

The Knights found their way on the scoreboard in the first quarter when Wasik connected with Jackson Kreutzer for a 4-yard touchdown reception. In the second quarter, Wasik found the end zone on a 9-yard quarterback keeper before Sam Clements rushed for a 1-yard score to put Lexington Catholic up 21-0 at the half.

Alex Rayyan ran for a 2-yard score and Matthew Kern caught a 28-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, and Kaylib Nelson pulled in a 32-yard touchdown reception to send the game to a running clock with 10:36 remaining in the game.

“It meant a lot to us,” Baisch said. “We prepared for it as if it was a playoff game. It has huge playoff implications, so we talked about that.”

The winner of the 5th District gets to host the first round of the playoffs, so to hit the road and tackle the Juggernauts was enormous for the Knights. The win positioned LexCath well going forward as the team now looks to next week’s home matchup against Pendleton County.

“We’re gonna take it one week at a time,” Baisch said. “We’re gonna focus on getting better as Lexington Catholic. These two games are ultimately preparation for the playoffs. You know, if we lose one of these next two games, we still play the next week. In three weeks, if we lose, we go home, so we’ve got to get better as a team, we’ve got to execute. Our best football is still ahead of us, so I’m excited to see what that brings upon us.”

WEEK 9 RECAPS

Here are highlights from Week 9 of Friday’s high school football action.

Paul Laurence Dunbar 32, Henry Clay 0: Quarterback Ethan Teall threw for 166 yards and five touchdowns as the Bulldogs (2-6) shut out the Blue Devils (0-8).

Teall connected twice with Harrison Simpson, twice with Trae Berry and once with Mason Vandyke over three quarters.

Tates Creek 42, Lafayette 16: The Commodores (4-4) outscored the Generals (2-6) 27-3 in the first half on their way to a home victory.

Tates Creek’s Logan Julian turned a blocked Lafayette punt into seven points about halfway through the first quarter. The Commodores also got first-half TD catches from Marquevion Smith and JT Cooper. Lafayette kicker Jackson Grantz nailed a 32-yard field goal just before halftime.

In the second half, quarterback Andrew Witherington ran for a short TD and threw scoring passes to Smith and Luke Cooper.

DJ Walker ran for a 3-yard TD and Kevin Amuri caught a 3-yard pass for Lafayette.

Sayre 45, Frankfort 6: Luke Pennington connected with Brock Coffman for 160 yards and two TDs to lead the Spartans (8-0) to their second distinct win.

“We felt really confident about how we were going to play our game,” Coffman told WLXO-FM’s Josh Moore after a game in which Sayre had more resistance against Frankfort than it had over the previous seven weeks. “That team scored on our first team for the first time ever this year. I think that’s good for us. … We can get that over with, like, ‘OK, that’s done,’ and we get back to work.”

Caden Jones ran for 62 yards and two scores, and Travis Smith and Charlie Slabaugh added a TD apiece.

Pennington had an interception and Smith had a fumble recovery for the defense, which held Frankfort (2-6) scoreless until late in the third quarter.

Next week, Sayre will face Eminence in a game that could mean the Spartans’ first district championship since returning to the sport in 2018.

Lexington Christian 51, W.E.B. DuBois 0: Running back Brady Hensley ran for 139 of the Eagles’ 165 rushing yards and scored four touchdowns for LCA (7-1) in a shutout of the Lions (1-7). Hensley’s TDs, which covered 14, 13, 15 and 1 yard, all came in the first half.

The Eagles also picked up a safety, as well as TD catches from Will Rich, Saxton Howard and Payton Mayhorn.

LCA quarterback Cutter Boley threw for 144 yards and two touchdowns.

Mercer County 34, Casey County 21: Thaddeus Mays rushed for a pair of TDs and hit Cameron Bottoms on a 27-yard scoring pass as the Titans (7-1) put themselves one win away from clinching a district title.

Jacob Sanford scooped up an attempted onside kick by Casey County and returned it 55 yards for a TD to seal the victory in the fourth quarter. Denim Griffieth opened the scoring with a 1-yard TD plunge. The scoring plays for Casey County (4-4) included an interception return TD by Caleb Brown.

Boyle County 58, Lincoln County 14: Montavin Quisenberry had a pair of TD runs to go with a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown as the Class 4A No. 1 Rebels (8-0) took down the visiting Patriots (4-4).

Sage Dawson and Avery Bodner each had fumble recoveries for a touchdown and also connected on a 6-yard TD pass in the first half.

Demauriah Brown also scored for Boyle, which got a 21-yard TD pass from Baylor Murphy to Austin Bodner after the running clock kicked in during the second half.

Franklin County 41, Henry County 7: DuRi Trahan threw for 294 yards and four TDs to three receivers as the Flyers (8-0) continued to smash their district opponents. Jacob Taylor had 144 of those receiving yards and a TD, while Gavin Hurst had 92 yards and two scoring catches. Christian more caught the other TD pass to go with a touchdown run by Jayquan Crawford.

West Jessamine 24, East Jessamine 22: Isaac Maynard’s 36-yard field goal with 14 seconds left lifted the Colts (6-2) to their fourth straight win over the rival Jaguars (1-7) in a game that had three scores in the final three minutes of play.

East Jessamine had taken a 22-21 lead thanks to a TD pass from midfield by Dontae Parker-Morton to Isaac Johnson and a two-point conversion in which Parker-Morton took a pass back from Johnson on a trick play.

West Jessamine had a 21-14 lead with 2:20 to play on Gabriel Smith 10-yard TD run.

Among East Jessamine’s scores was a 100-yard interception return for a TD by Parker-Morton that put the Jags up 14-7 in the first half.

Bowling Green 36, South Warren 29: The Class 5A No. 1 Purples (6-2) executed a hook and ladder play off a pass from Deuce Bailey to Trevy Barber, who flipped it to Montravion Graham for a game-winning 40-yard touchdown with six seconds to play.

No. 3 South Warren (6-2) had taken the lead only seconds earlier on a 9-yard Bryce Button pass to Isaiah Grigsby with 34 seconds left in a game that saw 30 points scored in the fourth quarter.

Raceland 43, Paris 13: Noah Wallace rushed for four touchdowns and Logan Lundy had a pair of TD passes, including a 53-yarder to Fannin Parker, as the Rams (6-2) knocked the Greyhounds (7-1) from the unbeaten ranks.

Wallace had two of his scores in the fourth quarter as Raceland broke open the game. Bryson Rowsey had the other TD catch.

Jakari Ransom scored both TDs for Paris, which trailed only 14-7 until midway through the third quarter.

Somerset 50, Danville 7: The Briar Jumpers (6-2) picked off the Admirals (0-8) four times and got 211 yards and two TDs rushing from Kam Hughes. Josh Bruner threw a pair of TDs, including a 51-yarder to Cayden Cimala. Kris Hughes also scored for Somerset, which is a win away from a district title.

Collins 45, Anderson County 8: Kade Goodin completed 20 of 25 passes for 243 yards and five TDs and had 78 yards and one TD rushing for the Titans (5-3).

Covington Catholic 56, Harrison County 6: Quarterback Evan Pitzer was 8 of 8 for 228 yards and three touchdowns and the Colonels (8-0) rolled to a home win over the Thorobreds (4-4). Covington Catholic held Harrison County scoreless until the fourth quarter.

The Colonels got scores from Willie Rodriguez (8- and 22-yard catches), Oliver Link (29-yard catch), Owen Leen (7- and 23-yard runs), Dylan Gaiser (45-yard punt return) and Luke Rabe (3-yard run) before Tanner Tumey found the end zone on an 8-yard run for the Thorobreds. Covington Catholic’s Will Michels later punched in a 12-yard run for the final score of the game.

Madison Central 16, George Rogers Clark 13: Bryan Mathis scored a pair of TDs, including the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter, for the Indians (3-6), who will face Bryan Station next week for an important game for playoff seeding.

Clay Turley kicked a pair of long field goals for Clark (4-4), which led for much of the game, but his potential game-tying kick with three seconds left missed the mark. Clark scored its touchdown in the first quarter on a 21-yard pass from Sam Clements to Hayden Heath.

Scott County blows out Woodford County for first district football title in six years