At 7 p.m. Central Standard Time Friday, all hell will break loose at War Memorial Stadium.
It’s Mayfield and Beechwood. It’s the Class 2A state semifinals. And it’s the type of game with more story lines than Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones — with just as much royalty, just as much hardware, and just as much blood at stake.
And for the third time in as many years, either the Cardinals or the Tigers are going to slam the storybook shut on the other.
When the Beechwood team bus and its long caravan pull up following the long trek from Fort Mitchell, there will be a thick barbecue smoke lingering over the gravel and grass. Don’t mind the full-roasted, spit-fired hog: that’s just a delicious and carnal Thanksgiving Cardinal tradition.
The hallowed concrete steps will house rowdy, rambunctious fans, but more than 100 vehicles and over a 1,000 of the town’s most faithful — many of them former Cardinals themselves, championship rings always in tow — will be swirling around the far end zone and fence row, ready to high-five and hug any of their own cashing in for a touchdown, or relentlessly taunt and beleaguer “the enemy.”
Xavier Campbell, Beechwood senior lineman, is one of a few Tigers to grace the grounds, doing so back on November 29, 2019.
It’s not exactly among his top career highlights, but the game and atmosphere stuck with him just the same. He was a freshman then, playing both sides of the ball, yet was on the wrong side of a 35-7 defeat to a Cardinal crew that came painfully close to the state crown — getting nipped at the buzzer by Somerset, 34-31.
“I can’t really describe it in words,” Campbell said. “It is surreal. Just going down there and seeing all the trucks and cars lined up in the end zone. It’s really unbelievable. I’ve had the chance to go down there, and it’s so fun. It just reminds me of a small college stadium. And it’s just electric. The fans are going to go crazy. We’re going to go crazy. It’s going to be an awesome game.”
Campbell, of course, plans to relay all of these finer details to his first-year skipper, Jay Volker. A reconnaissance of sorts.
But when the Cincinnati native, former Thomas More football standout and Talawanda High School coach took the job this past March, somehow…someway…he just knew these two teams were going to meet again.
“Even when I first got the job, the first thing I think about is [fans] were like: ‘You don’t want to go to Mayfield, you don’t want to go to Mayfield,” Volker laughed. “So I was like, I almost knew back in March, I was like: ‘We’re going to end up going to Mayfield. Like, I don’t know how it’s going to work out, or what’s going to happen, but we’re going to end up going to Mayfield.’ And it’s definitely the first game that I turned on: watching them battle in the state championship last year.”
That very tape, of course, wells up wide-ranging emotion.
A narrow 14-13 victory for the Tigers, it capped a championship three-peat, sent legendary coach Noel Rash out on a high note and allowed for exhale from a fervent fan base.
Volker issued that last year’s game “doesn’t matter,” adding that “hopefully, it gives [these Tigers] a little confidence, but not too much confidence.”
“We always like to play with a little bit of confidence, but not cocky, in a way that we can just roll the ball out and the Tiger paw on the helmet is going to take care of it,” he added. “We know we have to come and play, or we’re going to have it handed to us. [Beechwood] graduated a ton of seniors last year, so we have a bunch of guys that are still itching, still wanting to make a mark and put their stamp on this game. We know it’s going to be a battle.”
For the Cardinals, a missed PAT and a missed field goal from kicker Lincoln Suiter served as unfortunate scapegoats, while a Zane Cartwright interception and so many other small miscues painfully added up in the defeat.
During last week’s 58-36 regional championship win over four-star quarterback Cutter Boley, elite running back Brady Hensley and Lexington Christian, Mayfield forced five turnovers — three interceptions and two fumbles.
Joe Morris, long-time Cardinals coach, noted it’s the kind of effort needed to laser in on another championship appearance.
“If we can turn [Beechwood] over five times, and we only turn it over once, we’re going to win the game again; I’ll guarantee you,” Morris said. “I can’t guarantee that’s what’s going to happen, but you get this far in the playoffs, and turnovers are a big key.
“Last year we lost by one point, and we turned it over twice and they only turned it over once. We know it’s going to be tough. It’s supposed to be tough. And that’s what I told our guys. But hopefully we can turn them over, and somehow come out with a win. We want to get back to Lexington. We have that bitter taste from last year and that championship game.”
Super Scouting
Cartwright’s athleticism, accuracy and acumen certainly have Beechwood’s attention. He’s thrown for more than 2,100 yards and 31 touchdowns with just two interceptions, completed more than 70% of his passes, and intentionally runs with more than 30 carries, 150 yards and another two scores on the ground.
Five Cardinal receivers have at least 13 catches, with Murray transfer Xavier Biggers (24 receptions, 483 yards, nine touchdowns), Braden Morris (29-476-7), Mak Hoover (22-375-6), Malik Kirby (16-295-5) and Will Morris (13-167-1) among those benefactors.
But No. 24, Jutoriaus “JuhJuh” Starks, commands more than 48% of Mayfield’s touches this year, and in doing so has more than 1,300 yards and 26 touchdowns on just 147 carries.
“We’ve got to stop the run,” Campbell said. “I’ve seen JuhJuh, on like 47 Stretch, really act like he’s going outside and then cut up the middle. Defensively, we can’t over pursue because we know he’s going to cut back. And he has great vision. He’s an unbelievable player. He’s one of one.”
Volker pointed out that Mayfield doesn’t have as many of the same offensive tendencies as it did a year ago.
“They’ll run the ball to either side,” he said. “They’ll run the ball to the same side that the running back is set up. They’ll throw the ball out of every formation. It’s very impressive.”
Flip the card, and Cartwright totes immense respect for the Tigers — particularly on defense.
“We’ve got to be able to establish the run early,” he said. “The way they play, it’s a defense you don’t see from any other team in the state, I don’t think. I’ve only seen it twice, and it was both times we’ve played Beechwood. They’re in a 4-1. Five in the box, which is what you want to see as a running team, which we are. But their linebackers are really talented. They play run heavy. We’ve got to be able to establish our run because that’s a really good pass defense.”
Mayfield also knows Beechwood has been equally impressive, albeit a little more pass-heavy, with star gunslinger Clay Hayden — who’s among the state’s top five with 3,490 yards passing and 46 passing touchdowns between Luke Erdman (43-989-15), Tyler Fryman (41-916-10), James Cusick (39-627-12), Talon Linder (22-400-5) and Chase Flaherty (30-362-2).
Flaherty serves as the Tigers’ top option in the backfield: 107 carries, 610 yards, 15 touchdowns. Thus far, however, they’ve only averaged around 120 yards per game on the ground.
“[Hayden] does a great job running an offense, seeing what’s going on, delivering the ball and delivering the ball on time,” Morris said. “It’s a really, really good football team that’s going to come here. They’re a little bit different than some Beechwood teams. They run the ball, but they like to sling the ball around with that quarterback. They’ve got a lot of weapons. We’ve got to bring our ‘A’ game again. But that’s what you’re supposed to do. You’re in the final four games. Regional championship games. They don’t just hand out that hardware to anybody. You’ve got to bring your ‘A’ game each and every week, or you go home.”
A Common Thread
As if the two teams didn’t mirror each other enough, both squads experienced early losses to terrific opponents this season. Losses that redefined and rebuilt work ethic, self evaluation and belief.
This Friday, those opponents — undefeated Paducah Tilghman and undefeated Covington Catholic — play in the Class 4A semifinals.
One of the country’s longest-running rivalries in high school football history, the Cardinals hadn’t lost to their hated brethren in 17 previous tries, yet couldn’t overcome three turnovers nor the stellar play of quarterback Jack James in Week 3 — falling 35-28 at McRight Field in Paducah.
Then, in Week 5, the Tigers had an early lead and Fort Mitchell advantage on the Colonels — before getting edged 35-31.
“I look at both Covington Catholic and Beechwood, and then Mayfield and Tilghman, as huge rival games,” Cartwright said. “No matter how those two teams shape up, both of those are going to be close games just because of the rivalry, and everyone is playing their heart out in those games. More so than others, even. You expect both of those games to be close. I look at that game against Tilghman, and still I look back on it often because I think we very much should’ve won that game. That’s a great Paducah Tilghman team, don’t get me wrong. We had our chance to win it, and just didn’t make plays.
“But I’ve been watching the film of Covington Catholic and Beechwood already this week, and Beechwood was actually up 21-0, and I didn’t realize it. And so I’m sure they’re thinking the same thing. That they should’ve won that game. They think they should be undefeated, too.”
Unbridled Respect
For years to come, Mayfield and its citizens will have to deal with the aftermath of the December 10-11, 2021, tornado — an EF-4 monster that physically, and spiritually, changed the landscape of Graves County and the other municipalities along its perilous path.
Among the first to answer the call for Mayfield’s needs: Beechwood football.
Each side already admires the other for their tenacity, talent and toughness. But a touch of kindness has gone a long way in the eyes of Morris.
“Mayfield, Beechwood; I don’t know, several state championships between both programs,” he said. “They’re a classy program. That program up there gave, I think, it was about $60,000 to the tornado relief here in Mayfield, to help Mayfield kids. We’ve got the utmost respect for that program.”
Extra Points
— After their lopsided regional-championship win against Martin County, Campbell said he and several teammates fired up streams and social media to check in on the Mayfield-LCA contest.
“We wanted Mayfield to win, because we know that we haven’t won down there,” he said. “And I was just telling the team: ‘I know it’s going to be tough, but I think we can do it.’
“There’s something about going down to Mayfield, or anywhere, in the state semifinals. It’s literally win or go home at this point. If we win, we’re going to the state championship. If we lose, kudos to Mayfield. I told the team: leave it all on the field. We’re going to do our best. They’re going to play exactly how they did against LCA: phenomenally. We just have to stay focused and just play our game.”
— Volker made clear a spread offense wasn’t necessarily the early-season game plan for Beechwood.
“We’ve definitely needed the pass more this year than expected. I know that’s not what we thought we would look like going into the year. We’ve kind of come into our own a little bit. We’ve started to run the ball a little bit better the last couple of weeks. We know when it gets cold, when it gets rainy, like it is today, that might happen on game night. It might be snowing. It might be wet. You’re going to need to be able to run the ball in order to win state championships, and we understand that.
“But having a quarterback like Hayden, that we can get into spread, we can get into empty and he can throw the ball around and be able to recognize defenses and kind of put the ball where he needs to is definitely something we’ve leaned on a lot, as well.”