Gunning for an 11th straight region championship, Beechwood wasted no time in doing so with a 44-7 victory over Martin County on Friday night.
The Tigers put up 31 points in the first quarter and got the game to a running clock with 7:38 to play in the second.
From there, it was on to scoreboard watching as the next matchup in the Class 2A state semifinals was out of their hands, awaiting to see if they were going to have a five-hour bus ride to Mayfield or one last home game for the season against Lexington Christian Academy.
“We had a couple guys on the sideline kind of reporting on that,” Tigers quarterback Clay Hayden said. “The injured guys had to let us know the score.”
Turns out it’s the latter, as LCA went down to Mayfield and beat them 47-7.
“We know it was going to get real headed into next week,” Tigers coach Jay Volker said. “Can’t argue anytime we don’t have to take a five-hour trip and get to play at home and go through our normal routine.”
So one last home game it is for the Tigers, as they’ll face LCA next week for the right to the Class 2A state championship at Kroger Field in Lexington.
Friday’s contest was pretty much over right after it started. Tyler Fryman caught a pass on the second play from scrimmage and took it 50 yards for a score. Fryman then caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Clay Hayden, Chase Flaherty breaking off a 56-yard touchdown run. The result, Beechwood 22-0 a little over six minutes into the game.
The Tigers had run five plays of offense to that point, three of them went for touchdowns.
Pick your poison with Beechwood, Luke Erdman later scoring on a six-yard touchdown pass from Hayden, Flaherty adding two more touchdown runs from three and 22 yards out in the second and third quarters.
Fryman’s return from an injury came last week after missing the majority of the season, giving the Tigers yet another weapon in their receiving core.
“Feels good to be back,” Fryman said. “My teammates have been there for me and they knew what I was going through. Just fun being back with the guys.”
Then there’s the defense, who shored up a lot of things after giving up 28 last week to Breathitt County. The Cardinals lone score came late in the fourth on Tiger backups. Beechwood forced three turnovers, two fumble recoveries and an interception.
“Coach Volker sent me on a blitz almost every time,” Tigers senior Mattox Kelly said, who recovered one of the fumbles. “Shoutout to Bo Sowder for destroying them on the edge so I just filled the gap and Bo would do his job and make the tackle if needed. Chase McDaniel started on the outer edge and contained the edge. Our approach was five down, clogged the holes and stopped the run.”
Now comes LCA, by far the toughest opponent the Tigers have faced since Sept, 20 when they went up against Covington Catholic.
“The expectation is to make it to state. The expectation is to win,” Volker said.
TIGERS 44, CARDINALS 7
MARTIN COUNTY — 0-0-0-7 — 7
BEECHWOOD — 31-7-6-0 — 44
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(B) Hayden 50-yard pass to Fryman (11:39) Pabst run
(B) Hayden 21-yard pass to Fryman (7:58) Lair kick
(B) Flaherty 56-yard run (5:41) Lair kick
(B) Hayden 6-yard pass to Erdman (3:16) Lair kick
(B) Safety (1:36)
2nd Quarter
(B) Flaherty 3-yard run (7:38) Lair kick
3rd Quarter
(B) Flaherty 22-yard run (8:34) kick failed
4th Quarter
(MC) Maynard 5-yard run (3:13) Horn kick
Records: Martin County 9-4, Beechwood 12-1