Ryle 28, Christian Academy-Louisville 24
Ryle trailed 24-7 with 9:01 left in the fourth quarter before mounting a furious comeback and pulling out the road victory in Louisville.
It was the Raiders second win in a row over a top five ranked team in their respective class, CAL the No. 1 ranked team in Class 3A. Last week, the Raiders defeated No. 4 Highlands (5A) in overtime.
Ryle’s game-winning touchdown came with four seconds on the clock via Jacob Savage’s rushing touchdown. The win gets them to 4-1 with St. Xavier out of Louisville on deck.
Cooper 62, Great Crossing 36
The Warhawks of Great Crossing (4-1) traveled north to the “Den” high on the grasslands off Longbranch Road for a ‘battle of unbeatens’ against the Cooper Jaguars (5-0).
The Jags used a late second quarter flurry that swung the momentum of the game and allowed them to blaze their trail to victory.
The first half saw the green and blue clad Warhawks, ranked No. 8 in Class 6A, holding serve while setting the pace with a strong ground game and opportunistic pass game. Juniors Jeremiah Clark and Clayton Shaddix did a lot of the damage, Clark a slippery left-handed quarterback, Shaddix pacing the run game.
Great Crossing clung to a 21-14 lead with 37 seconds left in the half when Cam O’Hara connected with Austin Alexander for a 45-yard scoring strike to tie the game at 21. A quick three and out and punt gave the Jags the ball at their own 40 with five seconds left. With one play left, O’Hara threw a 60-yard bomb in which Isaiah Johnson caught the pigskin with his back to the endzone at the goal line, but the ball was on the back of the defensive back and somehow, Johnson was able to corral the ball in the endzone. It sent Cooper into the half with a 28-21 lead and all the momentum they would need to carry over into their explosive second half.
The second half Jaguar defense was buoyed by Ryker Campbell, who had two interceptions in the half, to go along with a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
The Warhawks could do little to stop the stampede, as Cam O’Hara proceeded to toss six touchdown passes on the night and finished 21-33 for 305 yards, while adding an additional rushing touchdown.
Isaiah Johnson finished with four catches for 107 yards and three touchdowns, while Austin Alexander collected a season-high 10 catches for 165 yards and three touchdowns.
Keagan Maher toted the ball 13 times for 75 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown scamper.
In all, Cooper amassed 425 yards of offense.
Great Crossing racked up 390 yards of offense led by Shaddix’s 10 carries for 135 yards and two scores.
Cooper travels to Ft. Thomas for their district opener versus Highlands next week.
Campbell County 29, Newport Central Catholic 28
The Thoroughbreds (3-2) scored a touchdown with 39 seconds left, but were unable to convert the two-point conversion as they went for the win.
The Camels (2-3) took the lead in the fourth on a 69-yard touchdown pass. Lucas Anthrop threw for 209 yards and a touchdown, Xander Guy also throwing for a touchdown while Trevor Bertram ran for a touchdown. Garyn Jackson had 111 yards receiving with a touchdown grab, Carson Clark with 81 yards receiving and a touchdown.
The big difference in this one was turnovers, NewCath with three, the Camels not turning it over once.
NewCath’s Kaleb Cole ran for three touchdowns on 64 yards rushing, Emmanuel Miles throwing for 171 yards and running for 38 more and a score. Charlie Ford was the Thoroughbreds lead receiver with five catches for 89 yards.
Walton-Verona 37, Holmes 0
Carter Daniels rushed for four touchdowns as Bearcats coach Gary Pence got his first win with the program.
Other Scores
Highlands 35, Raceland 0
Conner 42, Simon Kenton 19
Boone County 14, Paul Laurence Dunbar 13
Middlesboro 14, Holy Cross 12
Sayre 55, Dayton 0
Covington Catholic 49, Beechwood 28
Lloyd Memorial 44, Bishop Brossart 16
Newport 32, Ludlow 30