MIDWEEK MIDLINE: Moore excitement

Oct. 27—Zack Moore's emotions Friday night ran the gamut from button-popping fatherly pride to struggling to keep his pregame meal down — and not because he was carsick.

Moore coaches the Greenup County football team that entered play Friday winless on the field and ignored that by giving storied Ashland all it wanted before losing on a touchdown in the final minute of play. That explains the discontentment.

"Our ability to almost finish," Moore said with a rueful chuckle after the Musketeers surrendered a score with 57 seconds to play in a 14-7 loss to the Tomcats, "is getting closer. Tomorrow, this will seem a lot better than tonight, this feeling right now. I'll wait until tomorrow so I feel better about this, because right now, I want to throw up."

Likely tempering that feeling was the other half of his night.

Moore's daughter is East Carter's homecoming queen, Maci Moore, and she was so honored at halftime of the Raiders' game with Russell on Friday night in Grayson.

With a big game and an important moment taking place simultaneously about 23 miles apart, Moore determined he needed to do all he could to be in two places at once.

"A long time ago, when I left college coaching," said Moore, formerly Kentucky Christian's head coach and Morehead State's defensive coordinator, "I promised the girls that I wasn't gonna miss anything else, and I hadn't. I just told (wife Kelley) I'd work something out."

So Moore, at the end of the first quarter of the Musketeers' contest at Ashland, left Putnam Stadium, found his truck, tuned in the game on the radio and charted course for Steve Womack Field in Grayson.

"That was the fastest first quarter I've ever gone through in my life," Moore said. "Just told (offensive coordinator) Travis (Jones) stay after it, and I went running."

And kept booking it when he got to his vehicle.

"I went faster than probably I should have," Moore said, "but at the same time, I don't drive fast anyway, so my fast and somebody else's fast are probably two different things. That's what my wife said.

"But I was motoring. I had to pass a few people, and you know, I might have run two red lights."

It paid off. Moore got to East Carter in time to walk Maci out for her recognition. She appreciated her dad's effort and the Musketeers coach's sacrifice.

"It was a really special moment for me, and I'm really glad that he was there to do that," Maci said. "I told him, 'If you really need to stay at the game, Mom can walk me out,' but he really wanted to walk me out. He wanted to have that special father-daughter moment."

Zack Moore would have made the decision he made anyway, he said, but having Jones back in Ashland to call offensive plays and handle game decisions and Matt Miller, formerly Sciotoville East (Ohio)'s head coach, to run the defense eased any trepidation about ducking out.

The Musketeers made Moore's hustle worth it. When he got back to Putnam Stadium midway through the third quarter, Greenup County remained locked up with Ashland, 7-7. That stayed the score until the Tomcats' Ricky Padron's game-winning touchdown with 57 seconds left.

It was another frustrating ending in a year filled with them for Greenup County, and it was the Musketeers' 23rd consecutive loss to Ashland.

But Friday clearly marked progress for Greenup County, and its fans recognized it with a hearty cheer from the visitors' stands as the Musketeers left the field.

"Tonight was coming into Ashland, not laying down and cowering down to Ashland like we have in the past ... proving to themselves that we've got a little grit to us," Moore said. "(District) seeding be danged, we'll play whoever, but tonight was about finally coming in here and not rolling over and subjugating ourselves to Ashland."

And Maci Moore shared a moment with her father that the Moores wouldn't have been able to get back if they'd missed it.

"I feel like this year especially, my parents and I have gotten to do a lot of things together than we haven't been able to in the past," said Maci, whose mother is East Carter High School's principal, "and it really means a lot to me to make these memories when I'm still in high school before I move on with my life."

Three-and-Out

—Logan Lundy's 137 rushing yards, to go along with three touchdowns, Friday night would have been remarkable simply because he is Raceland's quarterback.

It also marked the continuation of the Rams' commitment to reviving their running game.

Raceland, for whom a punishing running attack was a hallmark early in Michael Salmons's tenure as coach, had a back hit the century mark just once last season and once in 2019.

Lundy's effort Friday night was the Rams' fifth 100-yard rushing performance this season. Noah Wallace hit triple digits against Rowan County, Greenup County and Lincoln County (West Virginia), and Jules Farrow did so against Russell.

And Wallace was only seven yards shy of joining Lundy in the 100-yard club on Friday night.

Raceland had to run the ball 40 times more than it threw it on Friday night to get there, but the Rams amassed 343 rushing yards — the most the Tigers had allowed since their season opener against Pikeville.

"We want to be balanced in the sense of, we want to be able to control when we want to run or want to throw the ball," Salmons said, "but we just felt like we had an advantage in the run game. It was good for Logan to be able to take advantage of it."

Lundy's rushing output was the most by a Rams quarterback since Josh Young picked up 139 yards on 12 carries in a 32-21 win over Paintsville in the 2014 region final. (Hat tip to northeastern Kentucky five-tool media personality James Collier for digging that one out.)

Lundy was also the fifth Ram to lead the team in rushing in a game this season, joining Farrow, Wallace, Isaac Browning and Ross Burton.

—Among other big statistical nights on Friday: West Carter's Cole Crampton set the Comets' single-game record for rushing yards with 343 yards (to go along with three touchdowns) in a 52-12 West Carter win at East Ridge.

Crampton surpassed Braden Brown's 319 rushing yards against Bath County on Aug. 30, 2013.

Boyd County freshman quarterback Rhett Holbrook set Lions single-game high marks for passing yards (325) and attempts (41) in Boyd County's 38-22 loss to Rowan County.

He shattered both — the previous passing yardage record was the 287 Lance Evans tallied against Rowan County on Oct. 7, 2011, and the most passes a Boyd County signal-caller had ever slung on the same night was 32. Joe Mullins did that against Spring Valley on Aug. 30, 2002, and Austin Hunter matched it two years later, also against the Timberwolves.

And Holbrook's 18 completions was fourth in single-game program lore. Evans retains that mark, having hit on 21 tosses in the aforementioned game against the Vikings.

Lions junior Trey Holbrook helped out his younger brother with eight receptions. That tied four other outings for third-most in Boyd County single-game history, including one of his own — Holbrook also caught eight passes at Harrison County on Sept. 24.

Tony Williams's 10-catch night against Perry County Central on Nov. 8, 2002 is the Lions' mark to beat in that department.

Thanks are due to West Carter stat man Zach Stevens and Boyd County statistician Curtis Crye, as well as Mike Flannery, author of "Once a Comet, Always a Comet," for those tidbits.

—Ten northeastern Kentucky teams know their playoff seed after district play was completed last week. One team has been eliminated from postseason contention. Four others are safely in postseason play but are awaiting a tie to be broken to solidify their seed, and one is still waiting to see if it can sneak through a tie and into November football.

These playoff first-round games are locked in for next week:

Class A — Fairview at Raceland, Betsy Layne at Paintsville

Class 2A — Bath County at West Carter, Morgan County at Breathitt County

Class 3A — Magoffin County at Lawrence County

Class 4A — Clay County at Johnson Central

Fleming County knows it is the top seed in Class 3A, District 6 and Greenup County is locked into the No. 4 seed in Class 3A, District 7. The Panthers and Musketeers don't yet know their opponents as a result of three-way ties in their respective districts.

East Carter, Ashland and Russell are tied for the top seed in Class 3A, District 7. Whomever has the top RPI of the three after the completion of play this weekend will host Greenup County to open the playoffs. The other two will play each other.

The same goes for Rowan County, Holmes and Scott in Class 4A, District 6. The top seed entertains Harrison County.

Lewis County is still hoping to slip into the playoffs. The Lions are part of a three-way tie for third place in Class 3A, District 6. That leaves three teams — Pendleton County and Powell County in addition to Lewis County — vying for two spots.

Boyd County is the only area team officially eliminated from the postseason.

North of the river, Ironton opens the Ohio Division V playoffs on Saturday night by hosting Wellston.

Reach ZACK KLEMME at zklemme@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2658. Follow @zklemmeADI on Twitter.