Do you believe in miracles?
If Fern Creek didn’t before, they might now.
The Tigers were down 32-13 to Simon Kenton with under 11 minutes to play and left
Independence with a win, scoring 23 unanswered to knock off the Pioneers 36-32 in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.
Kaleb Passmore’s three-yard pass to Patrick Carr with 17 seconds left was the game-winner as the Tigers pulled off the stunner.
Through the first three quarters, it looked as if Simon Kenton was on their way to a second straight first round playoff win, something they hadn’t done since 2018-19.
Brady Lee’s third touchdown run of the night boosted their lead to 32-13 with 10:43 to play, but the Tigers comeback would start just 41 seconds after that when Passmore hit Landon Edwards for a 15-yard touchdown making it 32-21 with 10:02 to go.
Another Passmore scoring strike to Nazir Shahid-Stevenson from 21 yards out suddenly made it a one-possession game at 32-29 with 6:29 to play.
“We got out to a lead there in the second half and we’ve done this before where we
go in the tank on one side or the other and we just don’t put it all together. After we
got the lead, we struggled offensively and couldn’t get a first down,” Pioneers coach Roy Lucas said.
A pair of punts from each gave Simon Kenton the ball back with 2:39 left and looking to run out the clock to victory. But they were unable to do so without their lead running back Durrell Turner having to leave the game earlier due to injury and penalties pushing them back towards their own end zone.
The Tigers retained possession with 1:03 to play, forcing Simon Kenton to punt from their own end zone and taking over on the 50. A few plays later it was Passmore hitting Carr, who bobbled the catch at first, but was able to collect for the score. The win was Fern Creek’s first in the postseason since 2019.
“I guess I need to probably process it. When you’re in the moment it doesn’t really
hit you, but the biggest takeaway for me was that our kids fought and fought hard,” Tigers coach Joshua Abell said. “Our theme this season was sudden change, something one of our assistants brought to us. I told them that the team last year or even week one would’ve folded down 32-13, but we didn’t. It was a great team win.”
Simon Kenton’s season ends at 5-5.
“We’ve got some really good players on this team. I’m just really proud of all of them
and the effort they gave, but consistency has been something we’ve struggled with
all year,” Lucas said.
Fern Creek moves on to the second round for a meeting with 10-1 Male, who defeated Great Crossing 49-15 in their first-round game.
The game was scoreless in the first, Fern Creek jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the second on Mykel Malone’s 33-yard rush.
Lee’s first rushing touchdown came with 9:45 left in the half, Cole Garnett giving Simon Kenton a 10-7 halftime lead with a 28-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the second.
Charles Oglesby’s eight-yard rushing touchdown gave Simon Kenton a 17-7 advantage, Fern Creek answering with a one-yard rushing touchdown from Eric Pickett to make it 17-13 with 4:18 left in the third.
Lee’s second and third scores made it look like the Pioneers were on their way to Louisville.
Fern Creek had other plans as Simon Kenton ends the season losing three straight games with fourth quarter leads.
Lee finished with 138 passing yards and 78 rushing yards. His top targets were Greyson Harris with five catches for 63 yards, Nathan Kitchens adding four catches for 55 yards and Carter Blades with three catches for 45 yards. Oglesby added 72 yards on the ground.
TIGERSÂ 36, PIONEERS 32
FERN CREEK — 0-7-6-23 — 36
SIMON KENTON — 0-10-15-7 — 32
Scoring Plays
2nd Quarter
(FC) Malone 33-yard run (11:49) Carr kick
(SK) Lee 17-yard run (9:45) Garnett kick
(SK) Garnett 28-yard FG (0:03)
3rd Quarter
(SK) Oglesby 8-yard run (9:55) Garnett kick
(FC) Pickett 1-yard run (4:18) Carr kick failed
(SK) Lee 2-yard run (0:16) Schieber run
4th Quarter
(SK) Lee 4-yard run (10:43) Garnett kick
(FC) Passmore 15-yard pass to Edwards (10:02) Passmore pass to Carr
(FC) Passmore 21-yard pass to Shahid-Stevenson (6:29) Passmore pass to Edwards
(FC) Passmore 3-yard pass to Carr (0:17) Carr kick
Game Stats
Passing Yards:Â Fern Creek 220 (Passmore 17/31), Simon Kenton 163 (Lee 11/25,
Weaver 1/1)
Rushing Yards:Â Fern Creek 93 (Malone 16-61, Edwards 4-28, Pickett 3-12, Cothron 1-
5, Passmore 4-(minus)13), Simon Kenton 165 (Lee 17-78, Oglesby 17-72, Weaver 2-11,
Turner 2-1, Harris 1-0)
Receiving:Â Fern Creek (Edwards 10-138, Shahid-Stevenson 2-58, Carr 2-21, Cothron
1-9) Simon Kenton (Harris 5-63, Kitchens 4-55, Blades 3-45)
Turnovers:Â Fern Creek 1, Simon Kenton 2
Penalties:Â Fern Creek 11-85, Simon Kenton 8-60
Records:Â Fern Creek 7-4, Simon Kenton 5-5