[Stardust]

LEXINGTON — Boyle County held Lexington Catholic quarterback Kyle Bolin in check most of the game Friday night.

But the Rebels’ inability to make anything happen on the offensive end proved to be too much for them in a 10-7 loss in the Class AAAA, Region 3 final.

“They made all the plays when they needed to and we didn’t make plays when we needed to,” Boyle coach Larry French said. “That’s just the way the game’s played. You play in pressure situations and youve got to make those pressure plays, and we didn’t make those tonight.”

It was the fifth straight meeting in the playoffs for the two teams, with Boyle (9-4) having won the previous three over the Knights (11-2).

But Boyle’s offense turned the ball over twice, was stopped on downs two other times and was outgained 268-233 Friday.

Zach Hester was stuffed one a fourth-and-1 at the Knights’ 41 yard line by Trey Mattingly with 2:36 to play, halting the Rebels’ final chance at a win and ending their two-year reign as state champions.

“They got penetration. They came through the line and we didn’t block and they made the play. That’s a pressure situation there,” French said.

“We did a good job defensively. We kept them out of the end zone like we should have, but offensively, we couldn’t get anything going,” French said. “It was just a tough night offensively all the way around.”

Things went bad from the beginning for Boyle.

Lloyd Hall had a 9-yard run on an end around on the fist play, but fumbled the ball away at the Rebels’ 32 yard line. The Boyle defense held, however, and Jake Pumphrey missed a 44-yard field goal.

Bolin was finally able to get the Knights on the board late in the first quarter. After Adam Bush had dropped two passes, Bolin went back to his top target and hit him for a 32-yard touchdown pass to make it 7-0 with 4:55 left in the opening period. Bush had six catches for 102 yards on the night.

“He’s a good quarterback, he takes advantage of what the defense gives you, and he still made plays,” French said. “He’s a good one and the good thing for them is he’s back another year, which is probably bad for us.”

It was still 7-0 at the half, and Boyle stopped the Knights on downs on their first drive of the third quarter to seize momentum.

Casey Whittle hit Zach Hester for a 25-yard gain, then later found Blake Mason for a 27-yard pass to give Boyle the ball at the Catholic 23-yard line. A Knights' penalty gave Boyle a first down at the 10 yard line, and three plays later Whittle rolled right and hit Hester with a short pass he took into the end zone to tie the game at 7-all with 5:24 left in the third.

But that was all the Rebels could muster offensively, while the Knights made their plays.

On their next series, Hester lost a fumble, giving Catholic the ball at the Boyle 48 yard line. Facing a fourth-and-3, Bolin hit David Bouvier down the right sideline for a 28-yard grab to the Boyle 2.

Pumphrey eventually settled for a 21-yard field goal to make it 10-7 with 10:38 left to play.

Both teams traded punts before Boyle appeared to have a potential game-winning drive going. Starting at the Catholic 27 with 6:04 to play, Boyle marched 23 yards in four plays to the 50. Then, with a fourth-and-1 at the Knights’ 41, Hester got the ball in the wishbone set, but Trey Mattingly and the Catholic defense got the push and stopped him with 2:36 to go. Catholic was able to run out the clock and set up a semifinal game with Highlands.

That fourth-down play just typified the night for Boyle.

“We had a turnover right at the beginning of the game. I thought he was down before the ball came loose. But again, they got the break and we didn’t,” french said. “And they had a couple of breaks that went their way and we didn’t get those breaks.
http://www.centralkynews.com/amnews/spor...4782.story