A game of inches.
Fittingly, when time expired Friday night at Eugene “Cotton” Correll Stadium in Paris, a game that saw Lloyd Memorial and Bourbon County trade blows all night long came down to just that…inches.
The game ended when the Colonels got the last stop of the night, as the Juggernauts fell 41-34 in a Class 3A, District 5 matchup with seeding implications on the line.
With seven seconds remaining and Lloyd on Bourbon County’s 22-yard line, Colten Barger rolled to his left out of the pocket and threw one last ball toward the back of the end zone to junior Marjae Peterson, who came down with the catch. But Peterson was called out of bounds, inches separating a potential game-winning play.
Those inches represented an entire night — just how close the two teams played in the back-and-forth battle.
“Iron sharpens iron,” Bourbon County head coach Tyquan Rice said. “I knew it was going to be one of those games where we go score, maybe a punt in between, they go score.”
From the point when the score was tied at 14 early in the second quarter, the teams traded scores the rest of the way.
For the Juggernauts, Avery Conrad and Colten Barger did most of the damage, Conrad running for three scores and Barger adding two.
For the Colonels, quarterback Julius Gregory punched in two touchdowns with his legs and another through the air, while Madi Bell caught the touchdown from Gregory and ran in two.
After Conrad ran in for a 13-yard touchdown to give Lloyd a 34-33 lead, Gregory answered with the night’s final trip to the end zone before finding Bell for the two-point conversion, which ultimately led to the 41-34 final score.
“Our kids played hard,” Lloyd Memorial head coach Kyle Niederman said. “We never gave up. We played until the end and I’m proud of them for that. We needed a couple stops on defense. It’s hard to win games scoring 41 points, but credit to them, we knew it was going to be a good game. There was a lot of talent and athletes out there.”
On the opening kickoff, Fred Carson took an 85-yard return to the end zone, and not too many minutes later, Gregory scored his first rushing touchdown to give Bourbon County a 14-0 lead.
Barger got Lloyd on the board before the first quarter ended with a 45-yard touchdown run, and Conrad later tied the game with his first of three touchdown runs.
The Colonels jumped back in front at halftime, but after a missed extra point, Lloyd finally took its first lead on a made PAT with 8:23 to go in the third quarter, thanks to another long run from Barger.
But for every blow Lloyd had, Bourbon had an answer and eventually the last answer.
“We prepare better for games like this,” Rice said. “We told them at halftime, we expected something like this.”
Bourbon County is 2-0 in district play and is in a good position to hold the No. 1 seed come the postseason.
Lloyd is 1-1 in district play, with Henry County up next.
“Great bunch of kids with great attitudes and work ethics,” Niederman said. “We’ll rebound next week against Henry.”
BOURBON COUNTY 41, LLOYD MEMORIAL 34
BOURBON COUNTY — 14-6-7-14 — 41
LLOYD MEMORIAL— 7-7-7-13 — 34
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(BC) Carson 85-yard kickoff return (11:46) Bell run
(BC) Gregory 1-yard run (6:27) McKinney kick no good
(LM) Barger 45-yard run (3:17) Gomes kick
2nd Quarter
(LM) Conrad 2-yard run (8:37) Gomes kick
(BC) Bell 8-yard run (7:20) Run failed
3rd Quarter
(LM) Barger 30-yard run (8:23) Gomes kick
(BC) Bell 35-yard run (4:44) McKinney kick
4th Quarter
(LM) Conrad 5-yard run (11:55) Gomes kick
(BC) Gregory 42-yard pass to Bell (8:45) Run failed
(LM) Conrad 13-yard run (3:20) Pass failed
(BC) Gregory 1-yard run (0:53) Gregory pass to Bell
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Bourbon County 64, Lloyd Memorial 80
Rushing Yards: Bourbon County 101, Lloyd Memorial 262
Turnovers: Bourbon County 1, Lloyd Memorial 0
Penalties: Bourbon County 4, Lloyd Memorial 6
Records: Bourbon County 6-1, Lloyd Memorial 6-1
