By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The 2021 high school football season ended for five local teams on Friday when Brossart, Newport Central Catholic, Scott, Covington Catholic and Ryle lost region finals in the quarterfinal round of the state playoffs.
In the two closest games, Woodford County defeated CovCath, 28-14, in Class 5A and Russellville knocked off NewCath, 21-0, in Class 1A. The final scores in the other three games were Raceland 48, Brossart 7 in Class 1A, Boyle County 51, Scott 14 in Class 4A and Louisville Trinity 38, Ryle 18 in Class 6A.
Ryle ball carrier Gabe Savage finds some running room against the Trinity defense. (Photo by Dale Dawn)
Trinity, the defending Class 6A state champions, took a 24-3 lead in the first half when Ryle committed four turnovers. The Shamrocks picked off a pass early in the third quarter to set up another touchdown that made it 31-3.
Ryle’s touchdowns came on a 9-yard pass from Logan Verax to Kaden Gardner late in the third quarter and a 12-yard run by Lukas Colemire with 3:27 left in the game.
Russellville broke a scoreless tie with 9:52 left in the fourth quarter of its home game against NewCath. After a pass interception gave the Panthers a first down on the NewCath 27-yard line, they put the ball in end zone three plays later on a 4-yard run.
The home team then scored on its next two possessions to secure the victory and posted its fourth shutout of the season.
CovCath’s offense lost a fumble at the 1-yard line in the second quarter and turned the ball over on downs twice in the fourth quarter in the game at Woodford County. After the second turnover on downs, the Yellow Jackets scored on a 36-yard pass to open up a 28-7 lead with 6:11 left on the clock.
A Trinity pass receiver makes a leaping catch against Ryle defensive back Jayce Harden. (Photo by Dale Dawn)
The Colonels got the game’s final touchdown on a 76-yard pass from Preston Agee to Adam Holtz with 1:21 remaining. Their first touchdown came on a 99-yard kickoff return by Zion Mason early in the second quarter.
Scott took a 7-0 lead in the opening minutes of its game at Boyle County on a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown by Cameron Patterson, but the home team ran off 30 straight points after that big play.
After Scott receiver Riley Huff caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Gus Howlett to make it 30-14, Boyle County scored again to open up a 37-14 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Avery Bodner scored his fourth and fifth rushing touchdowns for the Rebels to set the running clock in motion.
Brossart fell behind 19-0 in the first quarter at Raceland and lost its first game of the season. The Mustangs got their only touchdown on a 7-yard pass from Jacob Leicht to Jed Martin late in the second quarter.
