The Highlands Bluebirds had to answer the call when the host Lexington Catholic Knights tied the game 20-20 with 10:57 left in the game.
The Bluebirds responded with two scoring drives to pull off a 34-27 win in Lexington.
Senior quarterback Brody Benke hit senior Carson Class for a 29-yard touchdown on 4th-and-10 and Benke scored a short touchdown with 2:26 left to put the Bluebirds up two touchdowns. That final touchdown loomed large when the Knights scored with 1:23 left.
Highlands collected 478 total yards and showed balance with 245 yards passing and 233 rushing. put up better balance with 233 yards rushing and 245 passing.
Benke’s monster day included 111 rushing yards and two touchdowns and threw for 189 yards and two touchdowns. He even caught two passes for 42 yards and a score.
“Our offense was outstanding,” Benke said. “Our offensive line really helped us out. After they tied the game, we just ran the ball the whole time. Our offense stayed on the field as long as possible making trying to run the clock down and kept LexCath’s offense off the field.”
Benke had plenty of help. Cam Geisler rushed for 72 yards on 13 carries and sophomore Adam Surrey had four catches for 76 yards. Class’s two catches went for scores, the first a 13-yard reception for the game’s first score.
LexCath senior quarterback Jackson Wasik gave the Knights a chance completing 18-of-28 passes for 178 yards and one touchdown. Junior Jackson Kreutzer had seven catches for 92 yards and senior Tanner Pedroche had seven catches for 52 yards and one touchdown.
“The quarterback is phenomenal,” said Bob Sphire, Highlands head coach. “With this kid, the play is never over. He throws a great ball. He’s a heck of a player. Our defense actually played well. They just made some plays.”
Highlands led 13-7 at halftime. Senior Griffin Taylor picked off Wasik in the end zone on a key stop with seven minutes left in the first half.
“It was awesome. I just stayed to my keys and made a play on the ball,” Taylor said. “You just have to play the next play and keep on making plays.”
The Bluebirds play host to arch-rival Covington Catholic (1-0) Friday at 7 p.m.
Cooper 35, Bardstown 14
Cooper traveled to “My Old Kentucky Home” to take on a Bardstown team coming of an appearance in the 3A State finals last year.
It was inauspicious start for the Jags, which included two first quarter turnovers, one which resulted in the game’s first score via a Tiger fumble recovery in the end zone after an errant snap. Then the Tigers took advantage of a short field, off an interception to race to a 14-0 lead after one quarter of play.
“I don’t think the beginning of the game could have started any worse for us,” said Randy Borchers, Cooper head coach. “We had two bad snaps that gave up two scores early first quarter. Our guys kept fighting and showed a lot of resiliency. With us still having a young team and not a lot of seniors playing, for them to go into a hostile environment and come away with a victory against a team like that says a lot about our character.”
After the rocky start, the Jags offense kicked into gear, buoyed by a stout defense that began forcing three and outs and stymying the vaunted Bardstown running attack.
Sophomore Cam O’Hara tossed four touchdown passes in the last eight minutes of the second quarter. O’Hara finished with 305 yards passing and five touchdowns. His throwing scores went to Keagan Maher for 12 yards, a 51-yard strike and 30-yard touchdown to Isaiah Johnson, a 60-yard bubble screen to Austin Alexander. Cooper tacked on their final score halfway through the third quarter with O’Hara finding Alexander again who shredded tacklers and rumbled the distance for a 65 yard touchdown.
Johnson had six catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns and Alexander hauled in four passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns.
Sophomore Keagan Maher rushed for 85 yards on 10 carries.
The Jaguars knew they had to contain Bardstown senior standout running back Tyleeq Williams, who rushed for 1,882 yards and 25 touchdowns and caught 46 passes for 858 yards and 10 touchdowns last year. Senior linebacker Jack Lonaker led the charge defensively for Cooper with 11 solo tackles, six assisted tackles, three tackles for a loss and two sacks. Alexander had seven solo tackles, three assisted tackles, one tackle for a loss and two sacks.
“I think we’re really rolling off this one. It was a great team win,” Lonaker said. “We had multiple people making plays on both sides of the ball. (Williams) is super elusive, super shifty and I think he’s one of those guys who can make a play sometimes out of nothing so all week, we’re stressing being secure tacklers in the open field and making sure we’re not giving him opportunities to make the big plays that he usually does.”
Cooper plays host to Henry Clay (0-1) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Conner 45, Paul Laurence Dunbar 21
The Cougars ran for 364 yards and five touchdowns in a blowout victory over Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Eight different players ran the ball, led by Cordion Abernathy’s 20 carries for 164 yards and three touchdowns. Wyatt Hatfield also collected over 100 yards with 16 carries and 119 yards and two touchdowns.
“We were great in communication and we were physical at the point of attack. That enabled us to do it,” Cougars coach Dave Trosper said. “I only think we threw the ball four, maybe five times. We were able to control the line of scrimmage.”
Ben Fay was the leading receiver with four receptions for 36 yards and a touchdown. Fay also tied for the team lead with Evan Leitz with six tackles.
“A lot of those same guys got bigger, got stronger and smarter this year. You see the score. It shows how hard we worked this offseason,” Fay said.
Leitz, Austin Stephenson and Gabe Huff recovered fumbles as the Cougars forced three turnovers.
Conner led 28-7 at halftime and 35-14 after three. The Cougars play at Ryle on Friday at 7 p.m.
Ludlow 42, Lockland (Ohio) 6
It was the St. Elizabeth Healthcare Game of the Month and Ludlow rolled out the red carpet, literally.
Senior Breckin Ralston scored three touchdowns for the Panthers as they broke in their new red turf at historic James Rigney Stadium.
Ludlow looks to make it 2-0 when they host Sayre on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Other Football Scores:
Beechwood 31, Archbishop McNicholas (Ohio) 14
Gallatin County 21, Dayton 7
Sayre 41, Holy Cross 3
