Beechwood Defeats Mayfield 14-13 in 2A Finals Thriller to win 17th State Championship
The No. 17 Beechwood Tigers defeated the No. 15 Mayfield Cardinals 14-13 in the 2A state championship game on a somewhat rainy, windy Friday afternoon at Kroger Field.
For the Tigers (14-1) it is the 17th title in school history and the sixth in the last seven years. Only Trinity and Highlands have more state championships. Mayfield (14-1) suffered its first loss and fell just short of winning their first title since 2015 and 13th overall. The Cardinals are 8-2 all-time against Beechwood in the playoffs but have now been eliminated by the Tigers the last two years.
Sophomores Chase Flaherty (23 carries for 115 yards and one touchdown) and Clay Hayden (7-for-16 for 116 yards) provided the Tigers with just enough offense, player of the game Austin Waddell notched six tackles, and Beechwood survived a late missed extra point to win their third straight state championship.
Trailing 14-7, Mayfield forced and recovered a Beechwood fumble inside the final four minutes and scored a touchdown on a pass from Zane Cartwright to Isaac Stevenson with just over a minute remaining. The potential game-tying extra point nicked the left upright though. The Tigers recovered an onside kick and converted a first down to run out the clock. Mayfield head coach Joe Morris said he decided to attempt the extra point instead of going for two despite windy conditions because the Cardinals had the momentum along with three timeouts in their pocket.
“We were moving the ball. I felt like we could play them in overtime,” Coach Morris said. “We still had timeouts. I thought we had the momentum because we scored right there. After we missed (the extra point) I was hoping that we had gone for two.”
As it usually does in Beechwood title games, special teams played a big role. The fact is that goalposts at Kroger Field are much smaller than at high school games throughout the year — that came in to play again. Beechwood survived the potential game-winning double-doink (left upright, then crossbar) against Lexington Christian Academy to win the 2020 state title. The Tigers converted a key field goal to edge out LCA last year in the title game.
Beechwood head coach Noel Rash was almost at a loss for words when asked about what it is about that left upright in state title games here at Kroger Field.
“I don’t know,” Coach Rash said. “Maybe you guys (know). Some voodoo. I don’t know what’s going on. Thank the good Lord it’s gone our way.”
The game featured two perennial powers — this year marks the 11th time out of the last 12 years that either Beechwood or Mayfield won a state football title — and if Somerset doesn’t have an incredible last drive in 2019 against Mayfield it would be 12 of 12. It was a defensive battle as expected, with both teams coming in ranked among the top 10 in the state in points allowed.
First Quarter
The first half was a defensive struggle with few possessions and missed field goals for each team.
Mayfield opened the game with some solid defense. Landon Kemp had a big third-down tackle to force a Beechwood punt on the opening series of the game.
Mayfield got a big third down conversion on a 21-yard slant from Cartwright to Gavin Jackson to move the ball to midfield. Cartwright also had a nice completion to Stevenson. Jutarious Starks had a grown man 13-yard run to convert a 4th-and-1, setting up 1st and goal at the 6. Beechwood stuffed Starks on three straight carries and a Cardinal false start on 4th-and-1 made them settle for a field goal attempt. The kick missed, making for a futile end to a 14-play, clock-churning drive.
Beechwood 0, Mayfield 0
Second Quarter
The Tigers ground out a few first downs and then got a 14-yard crossing route completion from Hayton to Wake Forest commit Antonio Robinson. A pair of Chase Flaherty runs got Beechwood to the Mayfield 21. Hayton and Liam McCormack then hooked up for two crucial conversions: a 4th and 12 conversion and a wide-open 7-yard, back-of-the-end zone touchdown strike to put the Tigers up 7-0 with 8:20 remaining in the half.
Carson Craycraft came up with a big interception for Beechwood and returned it 17 yards to the Mayfield 31-yard line. After some nice Flaherty runs the Mayfield defense bowed up to force a field goal attempt, but now it was Beechwood’s turn to miss a field goal after an awkward hold on the snap.
A big Starks run up the middle got Mayfield inside the Beechwood 40-yard line but the Tiger defense stuffed some Starks runs including a stop on 4th-and-3 to get the ball back on their own 36-yard line. Robinson then made an impressive, leaping 35-yard reception. Ethan Kemp came up with a big sack for Mayfield to force a 3rd-and-19, essentially ending the half.
Beechwood 7, Mayfield 0
Third Quarter
Mayfield went to the air to start the second half, completing a pair of passes to move into Tiger territory. A huge play happened when McCormack’s interception of Cartwright was nullified due to a roughing the passer penalty. A separate personal foul on the same play gave Mayfield 30 extra yards and a first down. Starks cashed in with a touchdown run to pull the Cardinals even.
The teams traded punts and then Ethan Kemp came up with a big sack for Mayfield. Beechwood converted third downs on a pass to Luke Erdman and a Hayden draw on 3rd-and-long. Flaherty followed it up with a 16-yard run to get to the Mayfield 10.
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Beechwood 7, Mayfield 7
Fourth Quarter
A 10-yard touchdown run by Flaherty on the first play of the quarter put the Tigers back on top 14-7.
Mayfield continued to struggle on 3rd-and-short situations, this time electing to punt on 4th-and-3 from midfield with under eight minutes remaining.
Beechwood went for a deep pass on third down, but Novi Barnes had a great pass breakup to get the Cardinals the ball back.
Beechwood lineman Xavier Campbell batted away two straight passes at the line of scrimmage, which led to Mayfield punt with under six minutes remaining.
Mayfield wasn’t done, though. They forced a fumble inside the final four minutes and eventually scored the Stevenson touchdown with 1:13 remaining. But the missed extra point would loom large.
Beechwood 14, Mayfield 13
Beechwood found a way to win without their Mr. Football candidate Mitchell Berger, who suffered a season-ending injury in week eight. When asked about what made this championship special, Berger’s coach cited the team’s resiliency and “Next Man Up” mentality.
“When you lose Mr. Football (candidate Mitchell Berger) we have never had to deal with that,” Coach Rash said. “You have to remember, Mitchell’s talent on the field, everybody sees, but it’s everything he does when nobody it’s looking. It’s the locker room stuff. I think that along with the quarterback being out (for several games early in the season), we have a freshman quarterback, Cash Harney stepped in and played his tail off in the first half (of the season). So I think Next Man Up would be the theme for this team.”
Starks led Mayfield with 104 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. Cartwright finished 16-for-23 for 137 yards. The Cardinals have a bright future with the backfield of Cartwright and Starks returning next season., along with Ethan Kemp, who had a big game on defense. They rolled through the regular season, only challenged once in a close victory over rival Paducah Tilghman.
Coach Morris said the football team gave the community something to talk about and made them proud as they have been dealing with the devastating tornado suffered last December.
“This team made our community smile every Friday,” Coach Morris said.
“That town isn’t fixed,” Coach Rash said about how the Mayfield community is still picking up the pieces. “I hope we all put them in our hearts. Of all the stuff they have been through, now you have 14-to-18-year old’s struggling in their hearts with this loss.”
How does Beechwood keep winning close games?
“At the end of the day we just kept believing and our will won out,” Coach Rash said. “I know I say that every year, but it is. It comes down to a testament of will, and you gotta want that thing. Our guys had a little more in the tank than they did.”
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