[Stardust]

In its 14th year of existence, the Holy Cross football team will play for the Class 2A state championship next week. It will be an historic trip to Bowling Green for the Indians who will challenge for their first state title after routing Somerset, 48-14 in Friday's semifinals in Newport.

Holy Cross plays unbeaten Glasgow, a 40-10 winner over Murray, in next Friday's state final at Western Kentucky University's Houchens-LT Smith Stadium.


"This is what we played the whole season for," said Holy Cross quarterback Kyle Fuller, who passed for 278 yards and ran for 83 in the Indians' biggest game in program history, so far. "It's a great feeling to win and we're looking forward to next week."

Holy Cross (11-3) beat the Briar Jumpers (9-5) with heavy doses of its talented trio of Fuller, wide receiver Eric Walker and running back Jalen Beal. On defense, the Indians received heaping helpings from Adam Kozerski, Paul Lampone and Marcel Paul, who recovered fumbles while making key stops.

"Kyle's a beast, and who do you cover? Eric Walker had a nice game and Jalen Beal is a freak when he has the ball," said Holy Cross coach Bruce Kozerski. "And I thought our defense played great."

Fuller completed 22 of 31 passes with three touchdowns, two to Walker, who caught 12 passes for 126 yards, and one to Beal, who had six receptions for 91. Beal ran nine times for 67 yards and scored four rushing touchdowns, giving him five in the game.

"I'm on top of the world. It's so big, it hasn't really sunk in yet," said Beal. "This is the greatest feeling ever because we've worked hard since the summer."

The Indians seized momentum in the third quarter when they transformed a 14-7 halftime lead into a 28-14 advantage, thanks to a perfect performance from Fuller who completed 11 of 11 passes in the quarter for 145 yards. Fuller completed his first 12 passes of the second half.

"We knew the third quarter was going to be big, and we had to get it going," said Fuller, who's had a hand in 50 touchdowns this season. "We had to come out in the second half and take control."

Somerset tied the score at 14-all with 9:41 to play in the third on a 15-yard TD pass from Alex Lange (11-of-21 for 125 yards) to Storm Wilson (five catches for 66). Lange led the Briar Jumpers with 40 rushing yards as Somerset totaled 245 compared to 467 yards for Holy Cross.

From there, the Indians scored 34 unanswered points to seal the outcome in front of a wildly celebrating crowd at jam-packed Newport Stadium. Holy Cross answered Somerset's final touchdown with a four-play, 80-yard scoring drive. The possession was helped along by a 28-yard Fuller pass to Beal. It was capped by Fuller's 41-yard bomb to Walker, who caught it in stride and streaked down the sideline for the score and a 21-14 Indians lead, following Fuller's extra-point kick.

On the ensuing drive, Adam Kozerski stopped Lange for a 2-yard loss on fourth down, returning possession to the Indians, who were back in the end zone four plays later on a 13-yard Fuller TD pass to Walker. Fuller's kick made it 28-14. Beal scored three rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter, one on a 28-yard run.

"We've got guys who are tough as nails and they never backed down," coach Kozerski said. "It doesn't matter who we play, we are who are are - we're nails."

The teams persevered through a sluggish first half fraught with penalties. There were 14 penalties for 111 yards in losses, seven infractions whistled against each team, and five first-half punts as the Indians and Briar Jumpers scratched and clawed for early momentum.

Somerset was limited to 12 rushing yards before the break. The Briar Jumpers had minus-40 yards in rushing losses, while totaling 85 first-half yards. Holy Cross totaled 191 yards before intermission, 71 of that on the ground. Lange was the prime first-half weapon for Somerset with 55 passing yards and 24 rushing.

There were 28 penalties in the game, 15 against Somerset for a total of 135 yards in losses. The Briar Jumpers had four turnovers.

"Matching them physically was the key for us," coach Kozerski said. "We didn't back down from anything."
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