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 3A school Lawrence County against 4A school Pleasure Ridge Park.  The Lawrence County Bulldogs finished 6-5 last season and coach Billy Goldsmith returns home to take over the head coaching job.  The Bulldogs graduated a number of people at the skill positions and 5-9 Jr. Luke Moore take over at QB to direct the Stack-I offense.  Lawrence County should have a solid offensive line including 5-8 276 pound Sr. center Dustin Branham, 6-2 205 pound Sr. guard Will Hatten, 6-4 320 pound Jr. tackle Doug Thompson, and 6-0 250 pound Sr. tackle Michael Keeton.  The defense utilizes a 4-4 alignment, but only one starter returns at linebacker.  This is a relatively young team with only nine seniors but, according to the coaching staff, has an outstanding work ethic. 

The Pleasure Ridge Park Panthers, coached by Danny Leasor, finished 5-6 last season but are picked in the top 10 4A pre-season rankings.  The Bruins feature speed at the skill positions and a huge defensive line.  6-0 170 pound Sr. RB Jajuan Spillman has blazing speed and is considered one of the best all-around players in the state.  6-0 185 pound Sr. RB/LB Jeremy Ruff and 6-0 210 pound Sr. OL/LB Corey Hendricks lead a solid linebacker corp.  The Bruins defensive line includes Antoine Doyle, Chavez Gibbs, and Dwayne Rutledge.

Game Two will match 3A powers Boyle County against the host school Lexington Catholic.  Boyle County, coached by Chuck Smith, has won five straight state titles and has compiled a 73-2 record during that period.  Boyle County enters the season ranked #1 in the Class 3A rankings.  6-1 195 pound Sr. QB Brandon Smith passed for 2971 yards and 40 touchdowns last season.  He also ran for 943 yards last year.  5-10 180 pound Sr. RB Quinn Givhan added 924 yards and 19 TDs on the ground.  The Rebels return a lot of talent on both sides of the ball. 

Coach Bob Sphire's Lexington Catholic Knights finished 10-2 last season and enter the season ranked #6 in the Class 3A pre-season polls.  6-2 183 pound Jr. QB Justin Burke exploded on the scene last year, completing 170 of 261 passes for 2656 yards and 34 TDs while throwing only four interceptions.  His deep and talented receiving corp includes 5-11 165 pound Jr. Cornell Burbage, 6-1 175 pound Sr. Kevin Vogelsang, and 5-11 153 pound Sr. Tyler Hinkel.  The defense will be led by another blue chip prospect, 6-1 205 pound Sr. LB Brandon Logan.  5-11 164 pound Sr. Tanner Doss should be a leader in the socondary.  Other key performers on defense should include 5-9 206 pound Sr. LB Matt Walton, 6-1 191 pound Sr. DE Joe Barkley, 5-11 217 pound Jr. DT A. J. Neltner, and 6-1 271 pound Sr. DT Coleman Savage.

Bowl History

Game One

Lawrence County (0-0) vs. Pleasure Ridge Park (0-0)

Pleasure Ridge Park utilized their team speed and all-around play of Jajuan Spillman to defeat Lawrence County 34-14.  Pleasure Ridge Park led 14-8 at the half put pulled away in the second half to claim the victory.  PRP held a 325-236 yard edge in total offense.  Lawrence County was penalized six times for 27 yards while Pleasure Ridge Park was flagged seven times for 36 yards. 

Pleasure Ridge Park had several heroes on offense today.  Jajuan Spillman carried the ball 15 times for 108 yards including a 21 yard TD run.  He also caught one pass for 14 yards, and returned two punts for 51 yards, including a 38 yard return for a TD.  Spillman, who was named game MVP for Pleasure Ridge Park, also recorded six unassisted tackles.  Josh McCloud carried the ball eight times for 60 yards and TD runs of 26 and four yards.  McCloud also completed four of six passes for 106 yards including a 67 yard scoring strike to Jeremy Ruff. 

Luke Moore led Lawrence County with 58 yards on 19 carries and completed four of eight passes for 65 yards including a 20 yard TD pass to Jason Spradlin.  Aaron Smith and Morgan Roberts gained 58 and 54 yards respectively on the ground.  Aaron Smith, who was named MVP for Lawrence County, also recorded nine solo and one assisted tackles.

Scoring Summary

Pleasure Ridge Park

34

Lawrence County

14

School	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Lawrence County	0	8	6	0	14
Pleasure Ridge Park	7	7	14	6	34

PRP	- Jajuan Spillman 38 yard punt return (Adam Harrison kick)
LC	- Harry Blevins 1 yard run (Luke Moore run)
PRP	- Spillman 21 yard run (Harrison kick)
PRP	- Jeremy Ruff 67 yard pass from Josh McCloud (Harrison kick)
PRP	- McCloud 26 yard run (Harrison kick)
LC	- Jason Spradlin 20 yard pass from Moore (run fails)
PRP	- McCloud 4 yard run (kick fails)

   

Game Two

Boyle County (0-0) vs. Lexington Catholic (0-0)

Lexington Catholic overcame six turnovers and a 35-21 deficit midway through the third quarter to gain a 43-42 victory over Boyle County.  The Rebels had one last chance to pull out a victory, but Adam Dickinson's 32 yard field goal attempt with approximately 16 seconds remaining missed wide left.  The outcome looked bleak for Lexington Catholic when they fell behind 35-14 but then QB Justin Burke went to work.  Lexington Catholic scored on a two yard run by Tyler Greer and a conversion run by Tanner Doss to close within 13, 35-22, at the end of three quarters. 

The Knights continued their comeback in the final quarter as they tied the score 35-35 on a 10 yard TD run by Justin Burke and a conversion kick by Brian Behr.  However, Boyle County came back to take a 42-35 lead on an 11 yard TD run by Brandon Smith with 4:26 remaining in the game.  Justin Burke once again orchestrated a drive which resulted in a Burke two yard TD pass to Cornell Burbage to pull Catholic to within one, 42-41.  Burke hit Tyler Hinkel in the end zone on the two part conversion to give Lexington Catholic a 43-42 lead, a margin that held up after the failed Boyle County field goal.  The key play on the winning drive was a 40 yard pass from Burke to Cornell Burbage on the Boyle County three yard line. 

Boyle County had 489 yards total offense for the evening, with 303 on the ground and 186 through the air.  Lexington Catholic rolled up 440 yards with 284 yards through the air and 156 yards on the ground.  Boyle County was penalized six times for 39 yards while Lexington Catholic was flagged twice for 15 yards. 

Boyle County was led by their game MVP Brandon Smith, who completed 14 of 31 passes for 186 yards with one TD and one interception.  Smith also carried the ball 19 times for 136 yards and four touchdowns.  Quinn Givhan carried the ball 19 times for 89 yards.  Greg Peck added 78 yards on four carries including a 52 yard TD run.  Seth Tamme caught seven passes for 94 yards.  Andrew Bertram and Dan Commarford led the defense as each recorded five unassisted and two assisted tackles.

Lexington Catholic game MVP Justin Burke completed 13 of 31 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions.  Burke also carried the ball 11 times for 93 yards and three touchdowns.  Joe Barkley added 63 yards on five rushing attempts.  Cornell Burbage caught four passes for 63 yards.  David Vicini and Kevin Vogelsang caught three passes each for 75 and 48 yards respectively.  Wes Caldwell added two receptions for 84 yards.  Brandon Logan led the Knight defense with six unassisted and four assisted tackles.

Scoring Summary

Lexington Catholic

43

Boyle County

42

School	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Boyle County	0	21	14	7	42
Lexington Catholic	0	14	8	21	43

BC	- Brandon Smith 1 yard run (Adam Dickinson kick)
BC	- Greg Peck 52 yard run (Dickinson kick)
LC	- Justin Burke 20 yard run (Brian Behr kick)
BC	- Smith 7 yard run (Dickinson kick)
LC	- Burke 2 yard run (Behr kick)
BC	- Smith 58 yard run (Dickinson kick)
BC	- Peck 10 yard pass from Smith (Dickinson kick)
LC	- Tyler Greer 2 yard run (Tanner Doss run)
LC	- Wes Caldwell 25 yard pass from Burke (kick fails)
LC	- Burke 10 yard run (Behr kick)
BC	- Smith 11 yard run (Dickinson kick)
LC	- Cornell Burbage 2 yard pass from Burke (Burke pass to Tyler Hinkel)

 
  Selected Statistics
 

Boyle County						Lexington Catholic
Rushing	No.	Yds.	Avg.	Long		Rushing	No.	Yds.	Avg.	Long
Brandon Smith	19	136	7.2	58		Justin Burke	11	93	8.5	20
Quinn Givhan	19	89	4.7	19		Joe Barkley	5	63	12.6	24
Greg Peck	4	78	19.5	52		Tyler Greer	14	19	1.4	7
						team	3	-19	-6.3	0
Passing	A-C-I	Yds.	TD	Long		Passing	A-C-I	Yds.	TD	Long
Brandon Smith	31-14-1	186	1	32		Justin Burke	31-13-3	284	2	59
Receiving	No.	Yds.	TD	Long		Receiving	No.	Yds.	TD	Long
Seth Tamme	7	94	0	23		Cornell Burbage	4	63	1	40
Josh Miller	4	22	0	11		David Vicini	3	75	0	59
Greg Peck	3	70	1	32		Kevin Vogelsang	3	48	0	28
						Wes Caldwell	2	84	1	54
						Tyler Hinkel	1	14	0	14

Acknowledgements

A special thanks to Lexington Catholic athletic director Greg Todd for the hospitality extended me during my stay.  Also, a special thanks to the WL Stats crew for the comprehensive stats provided for both games tonight. 

Other Games of Interest

Please see Week 1 in Review.

Please send your comments and questions to Ron Harrison at prepgridiron@yahoo.com.

Ron Harrison’s reports on this and other football events appear on https://www.angelfire.com/ky2/prepgridiron.