[Stardust]

By TIM HYDEN, CJ Correspondent
Commonwealth Journal

Somerset — The Somerset Briar jumpers did something last night that had only been achieved once before in school history. After annihilating the visiting Eagles o9f Lexington Christian Academy 55-14, the 2011 Jumpers added to the accomplishments of Head Coach Rob Lucas’ first two Somerset teams, making it three straight Regional Championships for the Somerset program.

This game was never really in doubt from the outset. In their first meeting of the season, a 37-6

Briar Jumper win in Lexington, Somerset’s defense was just too much for the young Eagles to deal with. This time was no different, as LCA was held without a first down through three quarters, managing only 18 yards in total offense in the process. Of their 143 yards in the game, 52 came on one pass play, and 125 came in the fourth quarter against the jayvees. The rest of the game resulted in negative yardage.

“I didn’t realize we held them without a fourth down for so long,” said Lucas. “But it doesn’t surprise me much. They have playing really well for us, and Coach Swearingen has done a great job getting them ready week in and week out.”

In the beginning, LCA did everything they could to put themselves in a deep hole, but Somerset didn’t oblige. The first eight plays the Eagles ran resulted in four turnovers. The first two drives only resulted in a pair of field goals from Somerset’s emerging weapon, Trevor Herd. But when LCA fumbled the ensuing kickoff, the third time was the charm. Tevin Slaughter made his return to the backfield for the first time since injuring his foot in the first LCA game. Innis first carry he burst through the line and carried tacklers down to the four-yard line. Alex Lange punched it in from there for the first of several TDs on the night.

Somerset pushed it to 20-0 by showing a new wrinkle. Lange ran the option and made a perfect pitch to Storm Wilson coming out of the backfield for a beautiful TD play. After another fumble SHS was at their 19 and looking to pile it on, but the Eagles had their one moment for the highlight reel. Justin King intercepted a Lange pass and returned it to the 48. On the next play Henzman hit King on a perfectly thrown 52-yard TD pass to make it 20-7. But a Lange TD pass to Bryson Jones and a TD run by Will Lange pushed the halftime lead to a comfortable 34-7.

In the second half, the Jumpers drove it right down for another Will Lange TD run to make it 41-7. But the highlight reel play of the night came when Somerset forced LCA to punt from their own 3-yard line. Big Trey Slaughter slashed in to block the punt, and Jacoby Gilmore caught it in mid-air for the touchdown.

The fourth quarter saw LCA a 15-play 78-yarsd drive against the jayvees to make it 48-14. But the Young Jumpers answered back with an 11-play 53-yard TD drive of their own, which saw freshman Bricen McWilliams run it in from 10 yards out. Fellow freshman Chandler Dobbs came on to kick the PAT to make the final margin 55-14.

The first time the Somerset program won three straight regions was 1987-89 under head Coach John Cain. It was Randy Spaw and then Cain’s son Johnny who quarterbacked the purple and gold to those titles. This time, it was the combination of Erik Manning and Alex Lange who guided Lucas’ clubs over this three-year span.

“To be able to achieve something like that is just a testament to how hard these kids have worked this year,” said Lucas. “It hasn’t always been pretty, but they got the job done. With what we lost last year most people didn’t expect us to be able to do this. But I tell my kids that there is a standard of excellence at Somerset. And the standard is the standard. When one kid graduates, the next one has to come in and play up to that standard just like the guy before him. They’ve done that, and I couldn’t be any prouder of them.”

Late in the gamed sophomore lineman Jarrett Beasley had to be carted off the field. Lucas says the preliminary exam seemed to show a dislocated knee cap, but further tests are needed to rule out ligament damage.

The next stop for Somerset is Covington, where Holy Cross upset the 2A defending champions Newport Catholic to earn a berth against the Briar Jumpers.http://somerset-kentucky.com/localsports...ight-crown