Kyle Niederman’s pregame wish was realized.
Lloyd Memorial’s football coach asked for divine help in Friday’s Class 3A, District 5 game against Bourbon County, and he got it – two touchdown passes from Kaleb Evans and two interceptions from LJ Herron were enough to allow the Juggernauts to escape Cecil Dees Field with a 22-20 win.
Friday was Lloyd’s closest win this season since a 36-22 win over Aiken on Sept. 12.
“Obviously, head coaches have proud moments, and this is a proud moment for me just to say ‘This is a good game’,” Niederman said. “We faced a lot of adversity and came through.”
No Juggernaut has faced more adversity than Herron – he missed his freshman and sophomore seasons with ACL tears in his left knee, and he didn’t play at all in 2024. In fact, he didn’t decide to come out for his senior season until this summer.
“I just think it’s something you’ve got to look forward to, especially when you haven’t had it happen before,” Herron said.
Evans threw for 158 yards and touchdowns to Bill Lewis and Isaiah Jones, and Lincoln Tomlinson added 73 rushing yards and a touchdown, but it almost wasn’t enough – Bourbon County’s Malachi Rennie tossed two fourth quarter touchdowns, and Jacob Ezell ran for a third.
Despite the loss, Bourbon County (6-1, 1-1 in district) is off to its best start since the 2013 Colonels compiled a 13-1 record and reached the Class 3A finals.
“We had too many mistakes, unforced errors,” Bourbon County coach Tyquan Rice said. “We limit some of those, man, and we’re in good shape.”
Lloyd’s task was obvious – contain Rennie, who led the Colonels in rushing, passing and tackles. For the first half, the Juggernauts did – Rennie managed just two passing yards.
After Ryan Miller’s 22-yard field goal gave Lloyd (7-0, 2-0) a 3-0 lead late in the first quarter, Evans found Lewis with nary a Colonel within 20 yards.
“It (was) a surprise nobody was guarding me because usually somebody’s back there,” Lewis said. “But I guess I just got lucky nobody was there.”
Except for Evans-to-Lewis, Bourbon County showed some stout defense – King Lee’s 14-yard sack of Evans stymied a second-quarter drive.
Penalties were the Colonels’ problem; they had nine for 65 yards. The most disheartening was possibly the ineligible man downfield flag late in the second quarter that nullified Rennie’s 50-yard pass to Ezell.
Two plays after Lloyd punter AJ Curry pinned the Colonels to their own 1, Herron’s second interception and Bourbon County’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty led to Tomlinson’s 1-yard plunge.
Bourbon County atoned in the fourth quarter. Rennie’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Ezell, Ezell’s 15-yard run and Rennie’s 13-yard toss to Bryson Carr pulled the Colonels to within the final margin.
“I’m going to give Bourbon some credit there,” Niederman said. “I thought they stayed patient with things, and then they were able to get a few things on us.
JUGGERNAUTS 22, COLONELS 20
BOURBON CO. — 0-0-0-20 — 20
LLOYD MEMORIAL — 3-6-0-13 — 22
Scoring Plays
First quarter
L-Ryan Miller 22 field goal, 4:10
Second quarter
L-Bill Lewis 27 pass from Kaleb Evans (kick failed), 11:06
Fourth quarter
L-Lincoln Tomlinson 1 run (pass failed), 11:15
BC-Jacob Ezell 10 pass from Malachi Rennie (Shayne Bowling pass from Rennie), 9:46
L-Isaiah Jones 63 pass from Evans (Miller kick), 8:44
BC-Ezell 15 run (kick blocked), 6:38
BC-Bryson Carr 13 pass from Rennie (run failed), 1:20
Records: Bourbon County (6-1, 1-1), Lloyd (7-0, 2-0).