KHSAA Football Week Seven: Trinity wins, Pikeville drops second straight

Week seven of the KHSAA football slate saw some big-time upsets, a couple overtime games and a team honoring their fallen coach with a blowout victory in the mountains.

Here are some notable scores and stories from around the state from Friday night:

No. 10 Trinity 33, No. 1 St. Xavier (Cincinnati) 32

Trinity (1-6) is basking in the words of their haters Saturday morning after knocking off the No. 10 ranked team in the nation in Cincinnati’s St. Xavier.

“They’ve been close all year,” Shamrocks head coach Jay Cobb said after the win. “We’ve been competitive with everybody we’ve played. This is by far the best football team we’ve played. This is a quality football team and that’s a quality win.”

Trinity’s quarterback Brady Willis compiled 313 passing yards on 17-22 attempts—not to mention his 104 rushing yards. Armon Tucker’s fourth-and-goal touchdown on the ground was the difference in the final score with under one minute remaining for his second touchdown of the night.

Trinity was also aided by the leg of kicker Kellan McLaughlin, who was perfect on his four field goal attempts, including a 53-yarder that split the uprights.

“We’ve showed a lot of heart this year,” Cobb said. “I think we’re really maturing as the weeks go on.”

With three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Shamrocks still have a shot to salvage one of the worst starts in program history before KHSAA’s 6A playoffs.

No. 21 Madison Central 21, No. 12 Pikeville 19

Pikeville (5-2) has been a step ahead of every other 1A school in KHSAA this season. In turn, they’ve scheduled some tougher opponents for 2021.

With a loss to LCA in last week’s Kroger KSR Game of the Week, Pikeville traveled to the Lexington-area for the second straight week to battle the No. 21 Indians on homecoming night.

Madison Central’s (5-1) Brady Hensley ran two scores in to lead his team. The Indians came up big on the defensive end as well, forcing three turnovers and blocking a field goal that would ultimately be the difference in the game.

“We just wanted to come out here and win,” Central running back Edgren Sweat said after the win. “We wanted to prove that we’re the best team in the state.”

No. 13 Johnson Central 42, Clay County 6

The entire KHSAA football community was rocked when news of the death of Johnson Central head coach Jim Matney died earlier this week from complications from COVID-19.

Prior to kickoff, Johnson Central Athletics announced that Eagle Field would change it’s name to Jim Matney Field.

As of tonight, Eagle Field will be renamed Coach Jim Matney Field in honor of our beloved coach.
We will always be #MatneyStrong.#WingsUp pic.twitter.com/VCqYfm0XtD

— Johnson Central Athletics (@JCAthletics_) October 1, 2021

With Coach Matney in mind, the Golden Eagles (4-2) blew out Clay County 42-6 behind a complete rushing attack from Johnson Central. Not once did they pass the football, rushing for 354 total yards.

Zack McCoart took four rushes past the pylon two times on 154 yards complemented by Carter Conley’s three rushes for 100 yards and two touchdowns.

Scott County 14, Great Crossing 6

Great Crossing (5-1) suffered their first loss of 2021 against in-town rivals Scott County (3-3) Friday night. The Cardinals improved to 3-0 all-time against Great Crossing.

Scott County rushed for 245 total yards led by Montago Jones’ 94 yards on 19 attempts. Quarterback Andrew Hickey went 3-7 for 71 yards and a score. The lone passing touchdown came on the biggest play for either squad all night as Taylor Luttrell took a 43-yard reception into the end zone en route to victory.

The Warhawks were held to 79 yards rushing as Scott County came up big on defense time and time again.

Barren County 15, Central Hardin 14

One of the bigger upsets throughout KHSAA Friday night, the Trojans (3-4) handed Central Hardin (5-2) their second loss of the season even though the Bruins held them to just 167 yards of total offense.

While the offense was struggling, Barren County’s defense had three players amass at least 10 tackles. Ryan Shirley’s 15 tackles, one TFL and sack led his team to help turn their upset hopes into reality. Jaxen Arms and Trigg Carter also tallied 10 tackles on the night.

Hancock County 28, Butler County 22 (OT)

Jack Duncan’s 10-yard touchdown rush in overtime snapped a two-game skid for Hancock County (5-2) after winning their first four games of 2021.

Duncan finished with two scores—the first of which came with under 30 seconds remaining in regulation that would send the game to overtime after a successful two-point attempt.

“It was great,” Hancock County head coach Bobby Eubanks said post-game. “We challenged our guys at halftime. It was tied 8-8, but it didn’t feel like that. We’d had some drives stall out—we didn’t get what we needed in certain situations, but they responded well in the second half.”

Gallatin County 29, Owen County 28 (OT)

The Wildcats notched their first victory of the season over Owen County (2-5) Friday night. Prior to the win, Gallatin County (1-4) hadn’t scored more than once in each of their first four games.

They have another chance to improve their win total next week as they take on Shawnee—a team that’s won once since 2014.