The U.S. Open had some competition for turning heads left and right Friday night in Ft. Mitchell courtesy of Beechwood and Simon Kenton swapping scores at breakneck pace.
The Tigers survived by a whisker, 58-54 in a game that featured a combined 1,208 yards of total offense. This on the heels of their 49-48 overtime thriller over Dixie Heights last week.
Beechwood coach Jay Volker was asked how his heart’s holding up after another wild one that came down to the game’s final play.
“Not very good, to be honest with you,” he said. “Thank God for our offensive staff being able to put up 49 last week and 58 this week. We needed all of it.”
The two teams combined to score 47 points in the fourth quarter and 28 points over the game’s final 3:28.
Simon Kenton pulled to within 51-48 on a Durell Turner 46-yard touchdown run with 1:41 to play. The Pioneers recovered the onside kick, but the ball only traveled nine yards. Beechwood ball.
On the first play from scrimmage, Beechwood’s Luke Erdman ripped off a 49-yard TD run to stake the Tigers to a 10-point lead with 1:28 on the clock.
The Pioneers put it in the endzone once more on Brady Lee’s six-yard pass to Carter Blades with 12 seconds remaining. The two-point try failed.
However, Simon Kenton’s second attempt at recovering an onside kick did not. It included a 15-yard personal foul penalty to set up SK from the Beechwood 35-yard line and 11 seconds to overcome a four-point deficit.
Lee’s first pass attempt was batted down at the line of scrimmage. The Pioneers had one more shot with seven seconds left. Lee’s pass intended for Grayson Harris was broken up at the five-yard line as time expired.
“Props to (Simon Kenton). We think we put them down. We think we have them. Then, within like three plays, they score again, and they’re right back in it. They’re a good football program. I’m excited to see what they do the rest of the year,” Volker said.
Simon Kenton head man Roy Lucas was admittedly disappointed in the outcome but encouraged by his team’s performance and fight.
“We’ve just kept saying, ‘We’re right there. We’re young. We’re inexperienced. We can’t figure it out.’ And we just kind of figured it out (tonight) and pulled it together. It was fun offensively,” Lucas said.
Turner was the most fun to watch for the Pioneers. The junior running back toted the rock 29 times for 287 yards and four touchdowns to go with a two-point conversion and multiple kick off returns that gave his team excellent field position to begin drives.
Beechwood freshman receiver Tyler Fryman stole the show with six catches for 186 yards and three touchdowns. His TD receptions were 22, 47 and 81 yards. Fryman also had a 30-yard catch that didn’t go for a score and added a four-yard TD rushing on a direct snap from center.
“He’s athletically gifted. He’s a very good football player. Whether it’s on offense, defense or special teams, he does not carry himself like a freshman,” Volker said. “We knew going into this year that he was going to be a major part of this program. We didn’t know he’d be this good, but we’re happy we got him for this year and three more after this.”
Fryman is fortunate to have junior quarterback Clay Hayden as his trigger man. Hayden’s arm talent was on full display, completing 24 of 34 passes for 430 yards and five touchdowns, plus a TD on the ground.
“I haven’t seen anybody like him in awhile in high school. Not a lot of people can make the throws that he does with pinpoint accuracy. Colleges need to get on him quick,” Volker said of his signal caller.
It wasn’t all Fryman. James Cusick hauled in six receptions for 73 yards and a score. Luke Erdman had four catches for 76 yards and a touchdown. Chase Flaherty had seven catches for 80 yards, while also leading the Tigers in rushing with 81 yards on 19 carries.
On the other side, Brady Lee threw for 310 yards and a touchdown, coupled with 31 yards rushing and a score. His top target was Grayson Harris with seven catches for 110 yards.
On the first play from scrimmage of the third quarter, Beechwood’s Xavier Campbell suffered an injury and left the field on a stretcher, which was said to be as a precautionary measure as he did have movement in all of his extremities. The game was delayed for about 20 minutes while Campbell was being attended to.
Beechwood has now won four in a row and seven of nine in the series, which began in 2001. Simon Kenton last topped the Tigers in 2017.
Simon Kenton falls to 1-2 and visits Conner next week. Beechwood moves to 4-0 and hosts Covington Catholic next Friday, which will mark the 21st consecutive season the two will have met.
TIGERS 58, PIONEERS 54
SIMON KENTON – 7-7-14-26
BEECHWOOD – 7-20-10-21
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(B) Hayden 40-yard pass to Cusick (9:12) Lair kick
(SK) Lee 26-yard pass to Weaver (4:03) Garnett kick
2nd Quarter
(B) Hayden 22-yard pass to Fryman (10:14) Lair kick missed
(SK) Lee 2-yard run (8:53) Garnett kick
(B) Hayden 55-yard pass to Erdman (6:27) Lair kick
(B) Hayden 1-yard run (:13) Lair kick
3rd Quarter
(B) Hayden 81-yard pass to Fryman (9:44) Lair kick
(SK) Turner 34-yard run (5:30) Garnett kick
(B) Lair 42-yard field goal (1:05)
4th Quarter
(SK) Turner 6-yard run (10:57) kick blocked
(B) Hayden 47-yard pass to Fryman (9:15) Lair kick
(SK) Turner 10-yard run (7:02) kick blocked
(B) Fryman 4-yard run (3:28) Lair kick
(SK) Turner 46-yard run (1:41) two-point try good, Turner run
(B) Erdman 49-yard run (1:28) Lair kick
(SK) Lee 6-yard pass to Blades (:12) two-point try failed
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Simon Kenton 310 (Lee 21/32), Beechwood 430 (Hayden 24/34)
Rushing Yards: Simon Kenton 323 (Turner 29-287, Lee 8-31, Harris 1-5), Beechwood 129 (Flaherty 19-81, Erdman 2-56, Fryman 1-4, Hayden 7/-8)
Receiving Yards: Simon Kenton (Harris 7-110, Kitchens 5-79, Weaver 2-67, Blades 5-55, Turner 1-7), Beechwood (Fryman 6-186, Flaherty 7-80, Erdman 4-76, Cusick 6-73, Linder 1-15)
Turnovers: Simon Kenton 3, Beechwood 0
Records: Simon Kenton 1-2, Beechwood 4-0