Johnson Central Dominant in 55-19 Victory Over 6A Fern Creek
On a beautiful night at Lexington Catholic High School, the No. 9 ranked Johnson Central Golden Eagles (2-0) dispatched the Fern Creek Tigers (1-1) by a score of 55-19 in the first game of the Bluegrass Bowl doubleheader. Lexington Catholic easily defeated Henry Clay 48-6 in the nightcap.
Johnson Central played smashmouth football to beat their second 6A big city opponent in as many weeks – the Golden Eagles also dominated Lafayette last week.
“With most of (our coaching staff) growing up in Johnson County, we do take a lot of pride in where we come from,” Coach Jesse Peck said. “And we feel like we’re just as good as anybody else that plays in the state, and we try to put that in our kids, that just because they’re in a little bigger city they are no better than we are.”
Johnson Central showed why they might have the deepest pool of running backs in the entire state. The game was pretty much over at halftime with the Golden Eagles rushing for 301 yards in the first half alone and 423 yards overall. Sophomore Zack McCourt, who was named MVP, rolled up 133 yards and a touchdown on eight carries, with all the carries coming in the first half. He also had a receiving score. Junior Carter Conley racked up 180 yards and four touchdowns on 13 carries.
“We are blessed with our offensive backfield,” Coach Peck said. “The scary thing really is that we are so good (in the backfield) it is hard to get everybody the reps that they need so they fill satisfied, because all our guys are hungry, they want the ball.”
McCourt had a 67-yard run on the first play from scrimmage to set up Conley’s first touchdown run.
Fern Creek answered with a beautiful deep pass over the top from Landon Edwards to Ramari Taylor for a 75-yard quick strike. Conley’s second score capped off a long drive that saw numerous 3rd and 4th down conversions to make it 14-7 in favor of the Golden Eagles. After forcing a Fern Creek punt, Johnson Central lost a fumble but got the ball back after another Fern Creek punt. Conley had a dazzling 57-yard rush to set up a McCoart touchdown. The extra point was not successful.
Johnson Central’s Mason Lawson, returning from a nearly year-long ACL injury, added a score on his first carry of the season. A two-point conversion pushed the lead to 28-7. He was coming off months of physical therapy and was featured heavily on defense in the victory.
The Golden Eagles, a team that rarely throws, caught the Tigers by surprise with a 45-yard touchdown pass over the top from Jacob Grimm to McCourt. Conley scored again on a rush right before halftime that was set up by a Fern Creek fumbled punt, giving JC a 40-7 lead going into the locker room.
Johnson Central will need to work on its special teams. They were not able to get off some extra point attempts and fumbled a punt early in the third quarter, resulting in a safety and two points for Fern Creek. The Tigers showed more life out of the break, with a 4th down pass completion eventually setting up a 37-yard field goal to Andrew Beck.
Johnson Central responded with a one-play, 60-yard touchdown drive on Conley’s touchdown run to make it 46-12. The successful two-point conversion made it 48-12, triggering a running clock. Freshman Logan Music capped off the Johnson Central scoring when he took the pitch and raced in for a long scoring run for the Golden Eagles.
Credit Fern Creek for fighting until the end. Mykel Malone’s three-yard scoring run for the Tigers with 14 seconds remaining made the final score 55-19 Johnson Central.
No one should be surprised if the Golden Eagles make it to their seventh state title game out of the late eight years. Jesse McCoy led the defense, which held the Tigers to only two first-half first downs. The offensive line looked dominant again, despite the graduation of current UK wildcat Grant Bingham.
Boyle County is the other favorite. The Rebels will be seeking their third straight state title with a potential rematch of last year’s title game against Johnson Central.
“Anything less than a state championship is just not acceptable at Johnson Central,” Lawson said. “So that is the goal every day and we come into practice and on Fridays and try to make it happen”
Lexington Catholic 48, Henry Clay 6
Max DeGraff kicked the game-winning field goal in last year’s Bluegrass Bowl win over Pulaski County. This year he had five touchdown catches, 274 receiving yards, and kicked two field goals in the Knights’ easy victory over Henry Clay in the Bluegrass Bowl.
DeGraff had two touchdown catches and a 48-yard field goal in the first six minutes of the game to help take a quick 15-0 lead, and Lexington Catholic never looked back. Jackson Wasik looked sharp in his first year as the Knights’ starting QB, throwing for five touchdowns and rushing for another.
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