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 2A school Mercer County against Class A Lexington Christian Academy.  This is a new and exciting era for Mercer County as the Mercer County Scotties and Harrodsburg Pioneers have merged and Coach Marty Jaggers' new 95 strong squad will be called the Titans.  This merger brings a lot of talent to the field expecially in the backfield where three 1000 yard rushers return including Donald Walker (Mercer County), Brandon Ford (Harrodsburg), and Cory Jackson (Harrodsburg). 

Coach Paul Rains' Lexington Christian Academy Eagles finished 11-2 last season but graduated a lot of talent from last year's squad.  Coach Rains has decided to move from the Wing-T offense to a spread-the-field style of passing attack to take advantage of some good receivers.  LCA is depending on a solid defense holding until the "new look" offense gels.

Game Two will match 3A school Franklin County against Class A school Somerset.  Coach Donny Walker's Franklin County Flyers finished 10-2 last season but graduated star receivers Colton Riggs and Shane McDonald.  The good news is 6-1 185 pound QB Kaelin Ammons returns for his senior campaign.  Ammons passed for 3355 yards and 41 touchdowns last year.  He is equally adept on the groud as he rushed for 836 yards and 15 touchdowns.  The Flyers have enough talent returning to make them a dangerous foe this season.

Coach Jay Cobb's Somerset Briar Jumpers finished 12-2 last season and made it to the state semifinals.  The Briar Jumpers lost some key players but they have talent returning .  6-0 211 pound Sr. QB Ross Deaton threw for 2175 yards and 28 TDs last season.  His favorite receiver will be 6-0 173 pound Jr. John Cole who caught 49 passes for over 1000 yards and 15 touchdowns.  Somerset also has a good kicker returning in John Wright Polk.

Bowl History

Game One

Mercer County (0-0) vs. Lexington Christian Academy (0-0)

Mercer County totally dominated action tonight as they defeated Lexington Christian Academy 63-0.  The victors held an 18-3 advantage in first downs and held a 429-26 advantage in total offense.  LCA had two passes intercepted and lost two fumbles.  Mercer County was penalized seven times for 46 yards while LCA was flagged three times for 15 yards.

Brandon Ford was named game MVP for Mercer County and gained 102 yards on 10 carries including two TD runs of 38 and four yards.  Tyler Mays carried the ball once for 80 yards and a TD.  Nathan Griffith carried the ball eight times for 63 yards and scored on a two yard run.  Cory Jackson added 63 yards with TD runs of 26 and 12 yards on 13 carries.  Jackson also caught a 57 yard TD pass from Justin Morgan.  Morgan completed two of five passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns.  Chris Lewis and Rashaad Buster led the Titan defense with five and four solo tackles respectively.

Dominique Hayden led the LCA ground game with 25 yards on three carries.  Dalton Henzman completed five of 14 passes for 24 yards with one interception.  Hunter Swain was named team MVP for LCA.  Swain caught two passes for for eight yards and led the Eagle defense with five solo and one assisted tackles.  Darren Pounds added five solo tackles.

Scoring Summary

Mercer County

63

Lexington Christian Academy

0

School	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Mercer County	14	12	21	16	63
Lexington Christian Academy	0	0	0	0	0

MC	- Brandon Ford 38 yard run (Josh Ewing kick fails)
MC	- Cory Jackson 26 yard run (Ford run)
MC	- Jackson 57 yard pass from Justin Morgan (Ewing kick fails)
MC	- Ford 4 yard run (Ewing kick fails)
MC	- Chase Wofford 5 yard pass from Morgan (Ewing kick)
MC	- Jackson 12 yard run (Ewing kick)
MC	- Nathan Griffith 2 yard run (Kyle Chadwick kick)
MC	- Jordan Yeast 14 yard run (Chadwick kick)
MC	- Tyler Mays 80 yard run (Chadwick kick)
MC	- Norris Yeast safety

 
  Selected Statistics
 

Mercer County						Lexington Christian Academy
Rushing	No.	Yds.	Avg.	Long		Rushing	No.	Yds.	Avg.	Long
Brandon Ford	10	102	10.2	39		Dom. Hayden	3	25	8.3	12
Tyler Mays	1	80	80.0	80		Steve Stoll	4	10	2.5	12
Nathan Griffith	8	63	7.9	14		Will Maupin	1	-1	-1.0	0
Cory Jackson	13	63	4.8	26		Bran. Burdette	2	-3	-1.5	7
Matthew McCloud	2	30	15.0	16		Dalton Henzman	2	-12	-6.0	0
Jordan Yeast	3	21	7.0	14		Team	3	-31	-10.3	0
Trevor Short	1	9	9.0	9
Russell Mays	1	8	8.0	8
J. D. Gilliam	1	3	3.0	3
Josh Ewing	1	1	1.0	1
Justin Morgan	3	-2	-0.7	0
Freeman Edwards	3	-11	-3.7	0
Passing	A-C-I	Yds.	TD	Long		Passing	A-C-I	Yds.	TD	Long
Justin Morgan	5-2-0	62	2	57		Dalton Henzman	14-5-1	24	0	16
Freeman Edwards	0-0-0	0	0	0		Bran. Burdette	3-1-1	14	0	14
Receiving	No.	Yds.	TD	Long		Receiving	No.	Yds.	TD	Long
Cory Jackson	1	57	1	57		Hunter Swain	2	8	0	8
Chase Wofford	1	5	1	5		Dom. Hayden	1	16	0	16
						Patrick Fort	1	14	0	14
						A. J. Schmitke	1	4	0	4
						Kyle Gaffney	1	-4	0	0

Game Two

Franklin County (0-0) vs. Somerset (0-0)

Franklin County raced out to a 56-17 halftime lead on their way to a 70-31 victory over Somerset.  There was a lengthy delay starting the second half due to lightning in the area.  QB Kaelin Ammons who was named team MVP for Franklin County provided the thunder and lightning in the first half as he ran for four touchdowns and threw for two more TDs before the intermission.

Franklin County recorded 24 first downs and rolled up 585 yards of total offense.  The Flyers were penalized three times for 17 yards and had one pass intercepted.  Somerset recorded 20 first downs and had 450 yards of total offense.  The Briar Jumpers were penalized seven times for 57 yards, lost a fumble, and had two passes intercepted. 

Kaelin Ammons engineered the high octane Franklin County offense as he completed 17 of 25 passes for 333 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.  Ammons carried the ball nine times for 188 yards and scored on runs of 21, 16, 16, 2 and 66 yards.  Terry Metcalf carried the ball eight times for 57 yards and one touchdown.  Larry Taylor caught six passes for 161 yards.  Demetrius Hicks led the defense with five solo and one assisted tackles.  Ammons added four solo tackles and intercepted a pass.

Ross Deaton Somerset led their ground game with 77 yards and a TD on seven carries.  Kenny Hughes carried the ball nine times for 64 yards.  Deaton completed 18 of 32 passes for 282 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.  John Cole caught seven passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns.  Hager Michael led the Somerset defense with four solo and one assisted tackles.

Scoring Summary

Franklin County

70

Somerset

31

School	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Franklin County	21	35	7	7	70
Somerset	10	7	7	7	31

FC	- Kaelin Ammons 21 yard run (Chase Schneider kick)
S	- John Cole 64 yard pass from Ross Deaton (J. W. Polk kick)
FC	- Ammons 16 yard run (Schneider kick)
S	- Polk 45 yard field goal
FC	- Demetrius Hicks 65 yard pass from Ammons (Schneider kick)
FC	- Ammons 61 yard run (Schneider kick)
FC	- Willie Smither 52 yard fumble recovery (Schneider kick)
S	- Deaton 86 yard run (Polk kick)
FC	- Terry Metcalf 11 yard run (Schneider kick)
FC	- Chris Hogan 54 yard interception return (Schneider kick)
FC	- Ammons 2 yard run (Elliot Potts kick)
FC	- Kevin Stiles 11 yard pass from Ammons (Potts kick)
S	- C. J. Megargel 20 yard pass from Deaton (Polk kick)
FC	- Ammons 66 yard run (Potts kick)
S	- Cole 62 yard pass from Deaton (Polk kick)

   

Acknowledgements

A special thanks to Lexington Catholic athletic director Andy Listerman 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.