St. Joseph Healthcare Bluegrass Bowl
Lexington Kentucky
August 18, 2001
©2001 by Ron Harrison
Introduction
Four quality football programs will have the opportunity to showcase their talents on the beautiful synthetic turf at Joseph K. Ford Stadium.
Game One will pit Class 4A schools Nelson County against Pulaski Southwestern. The second game will match Class 4A Ryle against the home team Lexington Catholic, who has moved up to Class 3A this season.
Bowl History
| 2000 | St. Xavier | 56 | Madison Central | 3 |
| Lexington Catholic | 28 | Covington Catholic | 13 | |
| 1999 | Covington Catholic | 24 | St. Xavier | 14 |
| Lexington Catholic | 62 | Harrodsburg | 13 | |
| 1998 | Trinity | 40 | Henry Clay | 7 |
| Lexington Catholic | 34 | Prestonsburg | 14 | |
| 1997 | Trinity | 41 | Campbell County | 7 |
| Lexington Catholic | 30 | Henry Clay | 26 | |
| 1996 | Trinity | 41 | Henry Clay | 7 |
| Lexington Catholic | 34 | Beechwood | 27 | |
| 1995 | Trinity | 40 | Jessamine County | 0 |
| Lexington Catholic | 44 | Hazard | 0 |
Nelson County (0-0) vs. Pulaski Southwestern (0-0)
Nelson County comes off a 6-5 record and starts the 2001 campaign with a new head coach Glenn Spalding at the helm. Pulaski Southwestern, coached by Dale Anderson moves up to Class 4A this year after going 24-9 in Class 3A the last three years.
Southwestern overcame four turnovers of their own to enjoy a decided 398-69 edge in total yards and defeat Nelson County by a score of 20-0. Nelson County had four turnovers and was further hampered when their starting QB Nick Morris was forced to the sideline early with an injury. Nelson County had their best opportunity to score in the second quarter as Brent Boone intercepted a deflected pass and raced 61 yards to the Southwestern 9 yard line. A penalty took the ball to the 4 but a Nelson County fumble ended the drive.
Southwestern's offensive line did an excellent job and the inside-outside combination of Jeryd Flynn and G.J. Wooldridge each rushed for over 100 yards. QB Sam Sexton rushed for two touchdowns. LB Bo Sibal had an excellent game on the defensive side with 10 tackles and a recovered fumble.
Southwestern's G.J. Wooldridge and Nelson County's LB Chance Downs were named MVPs for their respective teams. Pulaski Southwestern was impressive on both sides of the ball in winning the Class 4A debut. Running backs Jeryd Flynn and G.J. Wooldridge give Southwestern an excellent inside-outside combination that should give opposing defenses headaches all season.
Scoring Summary
| Pulaski Southwestern | 20 | Nelson County | 0 |
| School | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
| Pulaski Southwestern | 0 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 20 |
| Nelson County | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
SW - Jeryd Flynn 5 yard run (kick fails)
SW - Sam Sexton 1 yard run (G.J. Wooldridge run)
SW - Sexton 4 yard run (kick fails)
Selected Statistics (Unofficial)
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| Rushing | No. | Yds. | Avg. | Long | Rushing | No. | Yds. | Avg. | Long | |
| Nick Morris | 03 | -22 | -7.3 | -- | Sam Sexton | 17 | 44 | 2.6 | 17 | |
| Lance King | 07 | 28 | 4.0 | 8 | Jeryd Flynn | 16 | 108 | 6.8 | 14 | |
| Ricky Primus | 05 | 12 | 2.4 | 5 | G.J. Wooldridge | 17 | 135 | 7.9 | 18 | |
| Allan Harmon | 04 | -28 | -7.0 | -- | Bo Sibal | 01 | 10 | 10.0 | 10 | |
| Brent Boone | 02 | 12 | 6.0 | 2 | John Cooper | 01 | 04 | 4.0 | 4 | |
| Justin Watkins | 01 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | Chase Welch | 01 | 35 | 35.0 | 35 | |
| Passing | A-C-I | Yds. | TD | Long | Passing | A-C-I | Yds. | TD | Long | |
| Nick Morris | 4-2-0 | 34 | 0 | 25 | Sam Sexton | 12-6-2 | 59 | 0 | 13 | |
| Allan Harmon | 8-4-1 | 29 | 0 | 12 | ||||||
| Receiving | No. | Yds. | TD | Long | Receiving | No. | Yds. | TD | Long | |
| Ricky Primus | 1 | 25 | 0 | 25 | Michael Haney | 3 | 30 | 0 | 11 | |
| Elliot Hurst | 2 | 17 | 0 | 12 | G.J. Wooldridge | 2 | 19 | 0 | 13 | |
| Justin Watkins | 2 | 12 | 0 | 9 | Martin McPherson | 1 | 10 | 0 | 10 | |
| Lance King | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 | ||||||
Ryle (0-0) vs. Lexington Catholic (0-0)
Ryle, led by coach Kyle Hockman, finished 8-4 last year and the Raiders expect another successful campaign. RB Travis Grant has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of the last two campaigns. Coach Bob Sphire's Lexington Catholic moves to Class 3A this year but the Knights are talented and deep and should make a smooth transition. QB Jacob Doss put up some large numbers as a sophomore (2177 yards, 31 TDs) and should continue to improve. They return an excellent LB corps with Logan Tweardy, Patrick Hawthorne, and Dane Holland. DB Jacob Carney is also a threat returning kicks and Tripp Eckerline kicked 62 of 62 extra points last year. John Logan moves from WR to RB and is a threat anytime he touches the ball.
This was a night of big plays as Lexington Catholic defeated Ryle by a score of 45-21. Jacob Carney began the evening by returning the opening kickoff for 88 yards and a touchdown. Ryle tied the score when Ryan Salyers intercepted a pass and raced 80 yards for the score. Lexington Catholic's John Logan scored on a 61 yard run and Catholic never looked back. The play of the night took place shortly before halftime. Tripp Eckerline entered the game to attempt a 50 yard field goal. However, he was forced to swoop up an errant snap and calmly flipped a pass to Dan Fitzgerald who made it to the end zone to complete a 33 yard scoring play.
Catholic substituted liberally in the final period and Ryle, who never gave up, put up two
scores in the final period.
QB Ryan Fossett was named MVP for Ryle and he completed 15 of 32 passes for 164 yards
and one score. He also ran for 56 yards on eight carries. Lexington Catholic was
led by co-MVPs John Logan and
Tripp Eckerline.
Logan ran for 111 yards on 15 carries and scored three times.
Eckerline kicked 6 of 6 extra points, booted a 48 yard field goal,
and threw for a touchdown pass.
QB Jacob Doss was 9 of 14 through the air for
66 yards and one touchdown pass.
Scoring Summary
| Lexington Catholic | 45 | Ryle | 21 |
| School | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
| Lexington Catholic | 17 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 45 |
| Ryle | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
LC - Jacob Carney 88 yard kickoff return (Tripp Eckerline kick)
R - Ryan Salyers 80 yard interception return (Keith Lagesse kick)
LC - John Logan 61 yard run (Eckerline kick)
LC - Eckerline 48 yard field goal
LC - Jacob Doss 7 yard pass to Adam Revelette (Eckerline kick)
LC - Logan 22 yard run (Eckerline kick)
LC - Eckerline 33 yard pass to Dan Fitzgerald (Eckerline kick)
LC - Logan 5 yard run (Eckerline kick)
R - Matt Wingrove 5 yard run (Keith Lagesse kick)
R - Ryan Fossett 20 yard pass to Vince Bowman (Keith Lagesse kick)
Selected Statistics
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| Rushing | No. | Yds. | Avg. | Long | Rushing | No. | Yds. | Avg. | Long | |
| Ryan Fossett | 08 | 56 | 7.0 | 20 | John Logan | 15 | 111 | 7.4 | 61 | |
| Matt Wingrove | 08 | 47 | 5.9 | 8 | Seth Hill | 2 | 37 | 18.5 | 35 | |
| Travis Grant | 19 | 38 | 2.0 | 8 | Phillip Martin | 6 | 34 | 5.7 | 17 | |
| Vince Bowman | 01 | 12 | 12.0 | 12 | Jarrell Snowden | 4 | 13 | 3.3 | 13 | |
| Brandon Coplen | 01 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | Aleks Smith | 5 | 12 | 2.4 | 6 | |
| Ryan Palmer | 01 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | Ryan Postel | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 6 | |
| Dan Fitzgerald | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | ||||||
| Jacob Doss | 3 | 7 | 2.3 | 12 | ||||||
| Tanner Doss | 2 | 4 | 2.0 | 3 | ||||||
| Jonathan Webb | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | ||||||
| Dan Thompson | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | ||||||
| Joe Heink | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 2 | ||||||
| Matthew Walton | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||
| Tyler Greer | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||
| Brandon Logan | 1 | -3 | -3.0 | -- | ||||||
| Passing | A-C-I | Yds. | TD | Long | Passing | A-C-I | Yds. | TD | Long | |
| Ryan Fossett | 32-15-1 | 164 | 1 | 22 | Jacob Doss | 14-9-1 | 66 | 1 | 16 | |
| Seth Hill | 3-1-1 | 19 | 0 | 19 | ||||||
| Tripp Eckerline | 1-1-0 | 33 | 1 | 33 | ||||||
| Receiving | No. | Yds. | TD | Long | Receiving | No. | Yds. | TD | Long | |
| Vince Bowman | 9 | 95 | 1 | 20 | Ryan Postel | 4 | 21 | 0 | 10 | |
| Ryan Palmer | 3 | 45 | 0 | 22 | Dan Fitzgerald | 3 | 57 | 1 | 33 | |
| Ben Brzenski | 1 | 12 | 0 | 12 | Adam Revelette | 2 | 13 | 1 | 7 | |
| Craig Bresch | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 | Cameron Nichols | 1 | 9 | 0 | 19 | |
| Josh Haggard | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 | Matt Beavin | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 | |
Other Area Games of Interest
| Recreation Bowl | |||
| Paul Dunbar | 45 | Ballard | 42 |
| Boyle County | 52 | Clark County | 7 |
| Lafayette | 33 | Pikeville | 14 |
| Rockcastle County | 48 | Washington County | 0 |
| Danville | 28 | Glasgow | 6 |
| St. Xavier | 24 | Oldham County | 6 |
| Lawrence County | 34 | Bellevue | 14 |
| Bell County | 42 | East Jessamine | 6 |
| Belfry | 14 | Harrison County | 12 |
A special thanks to the WL Stats crew for their in-depth stats of the Ryle-Lexington Catholic game.
