Walton-Verona senior defensive back Brad Perry jumped the route, cradled the ball in his arms and admitted to a number of thoughts going to the ground while the visiting sidelines and stands let out a loud cheer of excitement.
Perry’s interception let the Bearcats (5-2 overall) leave Carrollton with a tight 28-26 Class 2A, District 5 victory over the Carroll County Panthers (3-4, 1-1 district). Walton-Verona and Owen County (5-2) are tied for the district lead at 2-0 each. Those two teams meet Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Owenton.
“We work on that stuff all the time,” Perry said. “We practiced their plays. I was ready for it. I saw the quarterback’s eyes and just jumped on it. It was a sigh of relief. Everyone jumped around me. It was fun.”
Perry also recovered a fumble in the second quarter at the Carroll County 15 on a punt. That led to a junior Ben Teipe scoring from one yard out to give the Bearcats a 14-0 lead with 8:39 remaining in the second quarter. Walton-Verona junior quarterback Jackson Smith completed a huge nine-yard pass to senior all-around Logan Ryan on a 3rd-and-5 on the play.
The final stats showed how evenly-matched both teams were. The Bearcats had 329 yards on 59 plays for an average of between five and six yards per play to 316 yards for the Panthers on 52 plays for an average of just more than six yards per play.
“You see them on film. They show they’re good,” said Jeff Barth, Walton-Verona head coach. “They have some big, physical guys up front so we knew it was going to be a scrum. I’m real proud of the guys for the way they competed and finished the game off.”
Walton-Verona came out in the Spread offense after running the Wing-T in the first six games. Smith faked the hand-off on a 3rd-and-3 and scampered 42 yards for the touchdown and junior Lincoln Mann kicked one of what proved to be four vital extra-point attempts to give the Bearcats the 7-0 lead with 10:23 left in the first quarter.
The Panthers came back to tie the game once. But the Bearcats never trailed allowing them to dictate things on the ground. They ran for 292 yards on 47 carries for an average of just more than six yards per carry.
Six different Bearcats had carries in the game. Senior Chris Harward led the way going for 146 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns averaging between eight and nine yards per touch. Smith finished with 111 yards rushing on 17 carries and a touchdown averaging between six and seven yards per touch.
“We’ve been preparing to just be extremely versatile and really just do anything on the field,” Harward said. “If one thing is not working, we’re going to go to whatever else is working for us. We’re going to find that one crease that will bring them down so we’re going to keep hammering them on that one thing that’s going to work.”
The Panthers passed a lot rolling out sophomore Parker Mumphrey a good bit trailing the majority of the game. He completed 22 of 34 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns to six different receivers with four hauling in at least four passes on a lot of curl and crossing routes.
Sophomore running back Landon Supplee led the Panthers in receiving yardage with 85 yards on four catches and senior Payton Williams had five for 77 yards. Junior quarterback Garrison Brumback had six catches for 39 yards and junior running back Zayn Satchwell added four catches for 31 yards.
Mumphrey also rushed for 43 yards on 15 carries averaging just less then three per carry. But the Bearcats go against Smith in practice so that helped them limit Mumphrey on the ground.
“That definitely helped us contain the outside with the speed and all that stuff. We just did what we did, got the job done and came out of here with a W,” said Braden Daniels, Walton-Verona senior defensive back. “We just had to block out the noise and keep playing our game. That’s it.”
Overall, Walton-Verona recovered two Carroll County fumbles and had that interception. But the Bearcats did not turn the ball over. Junior linebacker Johnathon Seibert ripped the ball out on the other Panther fumble.
“We preach hanging onto the ball offensively and the second and third man in trying to strip it (defensively),” Barth said. “On interceptions, the guys were in nice positions and made big plays.”
Down 14-0 in the second quarter, Carroll County scored on its next possession to cut the lead to 14-7 at halftime. Mumphrey found Williams on left side for a 32-yard touchdown reception. Junior Dylan Brock then booted the PAT with 6:02 left in the half.
The Bearcats came up with a huge stop on fourth down on the next Panther possession. Walton-Verona sophomore defensive lineman Luke Hyden sacked Mumphrey for a five-yard loss at the Walton-Verona 28 giving the ball back to the Bearcats.
Carroll County pitched the ball back to sophomore Treyton Troxell on the opening kickoff of the second half and took the ball down to the Walton-Verona 16. Then with members of the Carroll County coaching staff stepping a couple yards onto the field during the play, Mumphrey scored from a yard out on 3rd-and-Goal with 9:37 left in third quarter to tie the game at 14.
But the Bearcats came back lining up in the full house backfield in the shotgun then drove down the field. Harward broke free for a 20-yard touchdown with 6:16 left in the third quarter giving Walton-Verona the lead for good at 21-14.
But the Panthers responded when Supplee took a crossing route in the middle of the field and darted 47 yards down the right side for a touchdown with 4:06 left in the quarter. But the Bearcats held on the conversion run to preserve the 21-20 lead.
It took just three plays for the Bearcats to respond. A Carroll County personal foul penalty on the kickoff return gave Walton-Verona the ball on its own 45. Three plays later, Smith ran 41 yards for the touchdown to put the Bearcats up 28-20.
“We have to play 48 minutes,” Barth said. “We had one of our (offensive) guards and a tackle go down. We don’t have a whole lot of backup guys. We’re a little thin. But the guys fight hard and practice hard. But this is the payoff for it.”
Walton-Verona went three-and-out after its second fumble recovery on Carroll County’s next possession. The Panthers drove right down the field and scored with 8:53 left in the game. Mumphrey ran eight yards for the score then.
Mumphrey then tried to go around the right side to tie the game. But the Bearcats stopped him short making the final score.
Walton-Verona did go on a long and sustained drive on its next possession. The Bearcats did not score. But they took just more than six minutes off the block.
“We win or lose as a team, as a unit so when the (offensive) line performs, it’s because all of us are performing,” said John Harris, Walton-Verona senior lineman. “If it doesn’t perform, it’s because none of us are performing. We just have to have good teamwork and make something happen.”
The Bearcats needed one yard to end the game on a 3rd-and-1 from the Carroll County 14. But after a three-yard loss, Smith tried to scramble for the first down. But the Panthers stopped him one yard short at the 14 taking over the ball with 1:45 left in the game setting up Perry’s big play.
Walton-Verona has won 14 straight meetings between the two teams. But this one marked the closest score in those 14 games.
Box Score
Walton-Verona 7 7 14 0 – 28
Carroll County 0 7 13 6 – 26
First Quarter
WV (10:23) – Jackson Smith, 42 run (Lincoln Mann kick).
Second Quarter
WV (8:39) – Ben Teipe, 1 run (Mann kick).
CC (6:02) – Payton Williams, 32 pass from Parker Mumphrey (Dylan Brock kick).
Third Quarter
CC (9:37) – Mumphrey, 1 run (Brock kick).
WV (6:16) – Harward, 20 run (Mann kick).
CC (4:06) – Landon Supplee, 47 pass from Mumphrey (run failed).
WV (2:34) – Harward, 41 run (Mann kick).
Fourth Quarter
CC (8:53) – Mumphrey, 8 run (run failed).
