Northern Kentucky’s only high school football game Friday night between two teams in the Enquirer coaches’ top 10 poll proved the No. 10 team is better than the No. 9 team. And the gap is vast.
Tenth-ranked Simon Kenton beat No. 9 Holmes 48-14 at Tom Ellis Field, giving the Pioneers some momentum heading into next week’s all-important district game against Boone County.
“This is huge,” Simon Kenton coach Jeff Marskberry said. “To have that momentum and to have that confidence going in is big, especially because we controlled and dominated this game. If we had won by two, maybe it’s a different story.”
From the start of Friday’s game, it appeared obvious that the Pioneers would win by more than two points. Simon Kenton’s Chad Lawrence returned the opening kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown. Then the Pioneers capped their first two offensive possessions with touchdown runs from Miles Simpson, giving them a 21-0 lead.
Simpson finished the game with 15 carries for 148 yards and three touchdowns.
“I didn’t think Chad had it in him,” Simpson said of the game’s auspicious opening play. “But he’s got some moves. We just took it from there.”
Holmes regrouped from the opening onslaught, scoring on an 11-yard pass from Charlie Riley to tight end Tim Shafer, his first of two touchdown receptions. His second score, after an 8-yard touchdown run from Simon Kenton fullback Jordan Wilson, helped cut the lead to 27-14.
With time running out in the first half, the Bulldogs drove into Simon Kenton territory before a Nik Brown interception and return gave the Pioneers a scoring opportunity. They made good on the chance, scoring on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Pat Bustle to Zach Carroll to take a 35-14 halftime lead.
“There were lots of plays like that that could have changed the outcome, like giving up the return to start the game,” Holmes coach Stephen Lickert said. “We just need to take care of the football. You just can’t do that and expect to be a good football team.”
Simon Kenton opened the second half with an impressive drive, going 65 yards on four plays. Simpson capped the possession with a 9-yard touchdown run. Lickert said the drive showed the Pioneers’ physical advantage.
“They’re big, strong, fast and tough,” he said. “We knew what they were. And (Simpson) is pretty darn good.”
Simpson’s play was complemented by the effectiveness of Bustle, who finished with 104 yards rushing. He also completed eight of nine passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns.
“That’s what I’ve been waiting for from our quarterback for five weeks,” Marksberry said. “He was hurt during the summer. And I’ve been telling him every week that we need him and it just hasn’t kicked in. It did tonight.”
The Simon Kenton offense will face a stiffer challenge next week when the Pioneers play host to defending district champion Boone County. The Rebels are 3-0 in the district and have allowed just 35 points in their last three games.
The Pioneers, who are 1-2 in Northern Kentucky’s class 5A district, still can make the playoffs. But they’ll finish their district schedule against Boone and Campbell County – two of the top three teams in the district.“Those are big games,” Simpson said. “We need to keep things going the way they went tonight.”
Miles with another strong night:
Dirk Murray breaks up this play.
Austin Baldwin with a strong night. Here he puts a hit on the quarterback that forced a fumble.
A scary looking Picture:
No comments:
Post a Comment