James Collier
The Ashland Beacon
ASHLAND 34 GREENUP COUNTY 21
Ashland has shown it's not about what happened in August but rather what have you done for me lately when the Tomcats visited Greenup County in the Class 3A, District 7 Championship. After starting 1-3 on the season, Ashland had won three consecutive coming into the matchup of unbeaten in district tilts, including 23 straight over Greenup County dating back to 2007. Make it 24 after the Tomcats raced out to a 12-0 lead after one and never trailed the entire contest in a 34-21 win in Lloyd.
Brandon Houston ran under a LaBryant Strader pass midway through the first and raced 62 yards to paydirt for a 6-0 lead. Braxton Jennings scampered 25 yards for a 12-0 lead before the Musketeers got off a punch in the contest. Tyson Sammons got the Musketeers on the board with 3:50 to play in the half on a 6-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 12-7. But the Tomcats answered with a Strader touchdown run for a 20-7 halftime lead. Jennings pushed the lead to 28-7 on a 1-yard touchdown plunge with 5:44 to play in the third while ultimately pushing the game out of reach in the final 12 minutes. Jennings (29 yards) and Sammons (3 yards) each added a fourth-quarter rushing touchdown for their respective team to close the scoring. Jennings led the Tomcats with 106 yards on 17 carries. Strader added 81 on the ground and threw for 164 more. Houston hauled in 88 yards on four balls. Sammons paced the Musketeers with 178 yards on 23 totes. Ashland will exercise its bye week while Greenup County travels to undefeated Mason County on Friday. Ashland will play host to Magoffin County in the opening round of the playoffs while Greenup County will entertain Pike County Central.
BOYD COUNTY 14 ROWAN 7 OVERTIME
Boyd County has been waiting since 2008 to claim a district championship. Friday night in the Lion's visit to Morehead and their final district tilt with Rowan County, the wait lasted past the regulation 48 minutes after a 7-7 tie forced an overtime showdown. Boyd County needed only two plays to break the plane after Malachi Wheeler rolled in from two yards and a 14-7 lead. Rowan County’s possession, however, was not as clean as the Viking's final snap of the game came from their own 45-yard line as the Lions withstood the upset-minded host for the overtime victory to secure the Class 4A, District 6 crown. Both scores in regulation came in the second stanza with Rowan County denting the scoreboard first after Zach Menard hit Louis Hayes for a 27-yard touchdown five seconds into the frame. Boyd County found paydirt two minutes before the half on a Trey Holbrook 5-yard reception from Rhett Holbrook that evened the affair at 7-7. Rhett Holbrook threw for 165 yards. Trey Holbrook hauled in seven balls for 120 yards. Wheeler paced the Lion's rushing attack with 62 yards on 13 carries. Boyd County will play host to Anderson County in the opening round of the Class 4A postseason in two weeks.
RACELAND 38 PAINTSVILLE 14
Raceland wanted to make certain their home turf would experience a full complement of home playoff games this season when the Rams welcomed Paintsville Friday night for the Class A, District 6 Championship. Raceland took a 10-0 lead to the locker room but found themselves in a tight contest midway through the third after Paintsville scored only the second touchdown in the third quarter the Ram's defense has allowed all season. What took Raceland nearly 24 minutes to score 10 points quickly became a distant memory after the Rams rolled off 14 points in 10 seconds to cruise to a 38- 14 win over the Tigers. Conner Hughes had a senior night to remember with three touchdowns in the winning effort. Hughes first visit to the endzone came with 29 seconds to play in the first on an 8-yard run. Hughes hauled in a 44- yard touchdown pass from Logan Lundy to push the Rams lead to 17-7 with 4:19 to play in the third. On the ensuing Paintsville possession, the Tigers would attempt only one play after Mason Lykins ran under a tipped AJ James pass for a 25-yard pick-6 and a 24-7 lead. The flurry of points culminated into 28 straight and a 38-7 lead with 3:53 to play in the game. Noah Wallace led the Rams with 65 yards on 11 carries. His lone TD of the night closed the Ram's scoring after rolling six yards to paydirt untouched. Lundy threw for 155 yards with his lone passing touchdown going to Hughes. Hughes led the Rams with 56 yards on two grabs. Lykins added 54 yards on five catches. Raceland secured back-to-back district titles for the first time since 2013-14.