Blog Class 3 State Final: Kettle Run (13-1) v. Lake Taylor (12-2)

[CRF4Dan]

Good Evening, we are live and in person from Williams Stadium here at Liberty for today's Class 3 Final between a Lake Taylor (12-2) team and Kettle Run (13-1).

For the Kougars this is their third trip to the finals where they are 0-2 with losses in 2022 and 2024. They have been outscored 26-107 in their first two title appearances.

On the other end of the 50 is Lake Taylor who is making their 8th trip to the finals where they are 3-4. Their last win was 2019 versus Tuscarora and their last appearance was Spring 2021 when they lost to Salem.

We are about 27 minutes from kick-off with a beautiful sunset ahead while we wait for this one to get started.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Lake Taylor facing 3rd & 7 and they air it out to Cassaun Hesson. Titans will punt for the first time today. Kettle Run should have the field with good field position.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Kettle Run's first look on offense will begin at their own 41 yard. Pete Kuzma on second down runs for a first. Across midfield the Kougars are. 1st & 10 at the Titan 47.

JT Taylor gets the carry this time but is stopped by Keon PEterson at line of scrimmage.

Colton Lubbe and Dycen Tapscott connect on a play of 12 yards. 1st & 10 Kettle Run at the 35.

Tapscott with the keeper but met in the middle by a host of Titans.

2nd & 8 pass is out of bounds. Kougars now facing 3rd & 8.

Travis Willis finds Tapscott. Kougars promising drive ends with a punt.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Lake Taylor on offense for the second time today. Ball sitting at their own 15.

Kevin Adams breaks through, ball comes out. Fumble is recovered by Kettle Run's Dycen Tapscott. Kettle Run back in business nearly where it ended but Casaun Hesson flies to Tapscott for a sack and a loss of 7 yards.

2nd & 17 for the Kougars. Lataveon Hill meets him for a loss of 4. Lake Taylor defense is quick to the ball.

Lake Taylor picked by JEremiah Ferebee at about the Kettle Run 37 , returned 63 yards for a TD with 5:42 to go in the first quarter. LAke TAylor 6-0

 

[CRF4Dan]

Kettle Run has the ball at their own 20 following a false start. 1st & 15 for Kougars playing from behind now.

JT Taylor stood up by the Titans defense. Keon Johnson & Kevin Adams making sure he gets nowhere.

Tapscott's second down pass is overthrown.

Kettle Run facing 3rd & 15. Pass is covered by 3 Titans to break it up. Kettle Run struggling on offensive side of the ball. They punt.

Lake Taylor calls for fair catch. First play is a Jeremiah Ferebee 53-yard run. Lake TAylor goes for 2 and is denied but the lead is 12-0.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Kettle Run is being suffocated by the defense. Kougars going backwards facing 2nd & 11.

Zach Roth comes up with big catch to the 32 of Lake Taylor. Kougars need points.

2nd & 8 for Kettle Run. Tapscott and Jack McCartney connect for 5. 3rd & 3 at the 25. Big moment for Kougars offense here.

4th & 3 KEttle Run will go for it. Colton Lubbe with the catch but Magerald Clark stops him short of the first down... or so we thought. Refs feel otherwise and Kettle Run has new life.

1st & 10 at the 22 and pass is breoken up in the end zone... either going to be pass interference or roughing the passer against Lake Taylor. Think it is PI. That's the call.

Kettle Run is now at the 11 yard line with a fresh set of downs.

Dylan Tapscott with a lot of yards just to get back to the original line of scrimmage.

2nd & 10 pass is incomplete.

3rd & 10 and Tapscott hits his man, Zach Roth is the man in the end zone for an 11-yard TD. Kougars stop the bleeding and trail 7-12 with less than a minute to go in the quarter.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Lake Taylor has the ball at their own 36. Jeremiah Ferebee continues to fuel the Titans offense with a first down run to their own 46.

Titans across midfield at the 48. False start called against the Titans pushing them back. Lake Taylor is now 2nd & 9 and Jackson Alexander brings Ferebee down for a pickup of 1.

Titans facing 3rd & 8. Colton Lubbe breaks up a pass along the Kettle Run sideline. Titans will punt from their own 48 rather than risk it. Kougars with a big run back but there is laundry on the field that will likely bring it back.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Blindside block is the call pinning Kettle Run back at their own 23 instead of midfield.

A pickup of a yard from Carter Lubbe. Bray Jenkins on the receiving end of a 76-yard Dycen Tapscott pass. After falling behind early KEttle Run takes a 14-12 lead over LAke Taylor with 10:02 to go in the 2Q.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Lake Taylor has the ball at their own 41 down 2 and the Kougars defense is beginning to tighten up.

Titans facing 3rd & 8. Momentum on the side of the Kougars.

Keon Johnson hauls in for a game of 16 yards. Had he been able to stay on his feet he could have taken it the distance. It is all a moot point though as they are called for holding. Now it is 3rd & 4 for the Titans.

Johnson comes right back and gets the ball to the 43 of KEttle Run. Fresh set of downs for the Titans. Lake Taylor is going with the hot hand, Keon Johnson. Ball sitting on the 39, 2nd & 6.

Titans are in a 3rd & 3 situation and Keon Johnson pushes ahead for the first. Ball now sitting at the 31 of Kettle Run with 6 minutes to go in the half.

LAke TAylor faces 2nd & 4 with Keon Johnson taking it to 14 yard line of Kettle Run.

Kettle Run defense stout on first down run up the middle. Kevin Adams picks up a couple.

A pass to the end zone intended for Magerald Clark hits him but he wasn't looking for it yet. 3rd & 8 for Titans with 3:37 to go in half.

There is a fumble, ball recovered at the Kettle Run 3. 1st & goal Lake Taylor.

Titans 1 yard away from re-taking the lead.

Lake Taylor scores. They go for two and get it. Lake Taylor takes a 20-14 lead with 2:34 remaining in the first half.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Kettle Run with a 66-yard kick return to the Titans 22.

2nd & 10 for Kougars and Taspscott goes long to Zach Roth with 1-handed catch in the end zone! Kettle Run re-takes lead 21-20!

 

[CRF4Dan]

Lake Taylor back on offense down 1 with 2:04 to go in the first half. 1st & 10 at their own 32 and its Keon Johnson to the right for a gain of 7 yards.

Lake Taylor quickly to the Kougars 29 with a Causaun Hesson 39 yard pass play.

Keon Johnson met at the line of scrimmage by a pack of Kougars. Titans facing 2nd & 9 with under a minute to go in the half.

Kevin Adams goes long to the end zone but pass is broken up. Titans facing 3rd & 9.

Noah Frye gets to Adams for a loss of 5. 4th & 15 for Titans with 35 seconds to go in half.

Fourth down pass falls incomplete. There is a flag on the field though so lets see how this sorts out. Illegal forward pass against Titans.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Kettle Run 1st & 10 at their own 39 with 21 seconds to go in the half.

Halftime Kettle Run has 21-20 lead over Lake Taylor.

 

[CRF4Dan]

At the half the two teams are about even although Titans have 23 more yards of offense.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Kettle Run will received to kick the second half off.

First offensive play for Kougars is a fumble with Titans on the recovery. Not the start Kettle Run hoped for. Titans ball at the Kettle Run 39.

Keon Johnson picking up where he left off in the first half for a very minimal gain, 3 yards to be exact.

Kevin Adams shoved out of bounds at the 4 by Jackson Alexander.

Lake Taylor 1st & goal. Keon Johnson is in to give the Titans a 26-21 lead with 2-pt no good.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Kettle Run with 19 yard return to their own 35. JT Taylor up the middle for a pickup of 9 and follows that up with a first down run. 1st & 10 at their own 45.

JT Taylor to the middle then sharp turn to the right where Travis Willis meets him with a tackle.

2nd down pass is out of reach. 3rd & 9 coming up for Kougars. Dylan Tapscott extends the play, bounces off a defender and gets it to the Lake Taylor 41. No quit in these Kougars.

Carter Lubbe with a run up the middle for 3. That's followed up by another run for Lubbe. 1st & 10 for Kettle Run at the 30 yard line of Lake Taylor.

Lubbe up the gut for 9. 2nd & 1 for Kettle Run and Lubbe just keeps coming... 1st & 10 at the 15 of LAke Taylor.

Carter Lubbe, a workhorse on this drive is limping off the field following his latest run. Hopefully he can return.

With Lubbe out JT Taylor gets the call who manages a yard. Kettle Run can't slow down at this point. JT Taylor from 14 yards out! Kettle Run back on top 28-26 with the PAT.

Kettle Run in two previous appearances in finals had combined for 26. They have surpassed that today.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Lake Taylor 1st & 10 at their own 35.

Kevin Adams to the left and brought down by JT Taylor but not before 16 yards are chewed up.

1st & 10 at Kougars 49. Kevin Adams tracked and captured by JT Taylor.

2nd & 6 for Lake Taylor. Kougars defense swallows up Adams in a sea of black. 3rd & 5 for Titans coming up.

Ricochet pass finds Payton Mattox. 1st down Lake TAylor at the Kettle Run 35.

Kettle Run clogs the middle keeping Johnson to just 2 yards.

Keon Johnson with a run, spin, fumble and recovery. Titans ball at the 22 with a fresh set of downs.

Jeremiah Ferebee with his first action of the second half. 2nd & 3 at the 15 of Kettle Run. Titans offense goes with a reverse to Magerald Clark but Kougars sniff it out for a loss of 4 yards. 3rd & 7 for Titans.

Jeremiah Ferebee with a run slipping through defenders to the 12 of Kettle Run for an all important first down.

Ferebee wrapped up from jump. Titans player down and we have 35 seconds to go in the third quarter.

Kevin Adams with a pickup of 5. 3rd & 5 for Titans as the teams flip the field for the start of the 4th.

The Titans get the first. 1st and goal with the ball sitting on the 1 after another Keon Johnson run.

Jeremiah Ferebee scores from a yard out. Titans back on top with 2-pt conversion good. Lake Taylor 34-28 with 11:21 to go.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Kettle Run gets a nice return from Colton Lubbe to their own 38. JT Taylor swallowed up by Messiah Basnight and Devaughn Powell.

Colton Lubbe hauls in a pass for the Kougars for a fresh set of downs. 1st & 10 at the Kougar 48 and flag comes out for false start.

1st & 15 at their own 43, JT Taylor picks up a couple.

Tapscott with a keeper, trips but does pickup a yard. 3rd & 13. Kougars need something here... and they get it with a Tapscott run to LAke Taylor 35 where he takes a hard hit and pops right up.

Kettle Run's JT Taylor with a run of his own to the Lake TAylor 23. Another set of downs for the Kougars with 8 minutes to go in the game.

Devaughn Powell stops JT Taylor in his tracks. Loss of 2 yards for Kougars.

A pass to Colton Lubbe to the 18. 3rd & 5 for Kettle Run. A simply amazing catch but Colton Lubbe off a pass from Tapscott as he is getting thrown to the ground.

1st & goal for Kougars at the 10. JT Taylor up the middle for a couple.

Ziyon Knight gets to Tapscott for a big time loss. 3rd & 20 for the Kougars. Not a good spot to be in with 4:50 to go.

Pass to the end zone is no good.

4th & goal at their own 20... this could be the game with 4:37 to go. Over the top to to Zach Roth! 35-34 Kettle Run with 4:29 to go!

 

[CRF4Dan]

34-34 with PAT no good

 

[CRF4Dan]

Kettle Run defense has to stop the Titans with so little time left. Titans with big return to the Kettle Run 47!

 

[CRF4Dan]

Lake Taylor with a run up the middle. Ferebee the ball carrier but there is a Titan down.

Kougars defense stuffs Titans on third down. 4th & 2 for Titans with the ball at Kettle Run 45!

Lake TAylor is stopped! Turnover on downs!

 

[CRF4Dan]

Kettle Run 2nd & 10 at their own 45. Three flags rain down on the field!

What's the call? PI against Lake Taylor! Kettle Run ball at Titans 40 with 1:41 to go!

JT Taylor up the middle... not much there.

Tapscott stopped by 3 Titan defenders who all get up a little slow but the ball is at the Lake Taylor 29.

1st & 10 with under a minute to go.

JT Taylor to the left and up the middle for little to no gain. Another Titan slow to get up.

2nd & 8 for Kougars. Intentional grounding against Kettle Run as Tapscott is taken to the ground.

Kettle Run faces 3rd & 30 at the 50.

PAss to 36. 3 seconds to go in regulation.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Tapscott throws to left side of field at the sideline. Flag comes from end zone. Will this be PI? That would be an untimed down for Kougars.

38-yard field goal attempt is no good. We are headed to OT!

 

[Virginia HS Football Fan]

You have the game of the day and it’s not even close.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Here we go folks... do or die for Lake Taylor and Kettle Run. Titans will get first crack in OT.

Keon Johnson to the 4. 2nd & goal for Titans.

Keon up the middle again. Ball at the 2. 3rd & goal.

Keoon up the middle and down at the half yard line.

4th * goal... Keon Johnson is in! Lake Taylor goes for two and they get it! 42-34 Kettle Run.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Kettle Run scores on first play with pass to Pete Kuzma. Has to go for two here and they get it.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Kettle Run on offense first this time around. 2nd & 10 coming up after incomplete pass on first down.

End zone catch dropped by Zach Roth! That was a sure fire TD. 3rd & 10 for Kettle Run.

Holding against Kettle Run on a pass that was caught at the one. Now it is 3rd & goal at the 20. Series of penalties doom drive and then Titans intercept.

LAke TAylor fumble and now they are backed up at their own 26.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Casaun Hesson hauls in pass and goes the distance for TD. Lake Taylor breaks Kettle Run's hearts 48-42 in 2OT!