Explosive Tates Creek offense overwhelms Madison Southern; Douglass stumbles vs. Trinity

Storms disrupted the start of several high school football games across Central Kentucky on Friday night.

When play commenced at Tates Creek, the Commodores had their own lightning and thunder in store for visiting Madison Southern in a 51-32 victory.

Quarterback Darnell Burnside Jr. and wideout Luke Cooper dished out some lightning first. The duo connected on an 84-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game. They struck again for a 76-yard TD toward the end.

BJ Evans Jr. brought the thunder in the form of 310 yards rushing, including TD runs of 39 and 74 yards in the second quarter followed by a 1-yard TD plunge and a 35-yard score in the second half.

“The O-line gave me great blocks, and when they give me a good push, I get them good yards,” Evans said. “All I saw was open grass and once I see open grass, I hit it.”

Evans’ first two touchdown runs steadied Tates Creek after Madison Southern shook off the Commodores’ one-play opening drive by notching the next two scores, showing it had some quick-strike ability, too.

The Eagles’ Preston Williams capped a seven-play drive with a 6-yard TD run with 8:23 left in the first quarter. Then Madison Southern’s Gabe Beard hit Ethan Moore for a 91-yard scoring play and a 13-6 lead seconds into the second quarter.

Tates Creek head coach Jonathan Hawks said some of his team’s first half issues Friday could be attributed to the late start due to the storm and the heat his team and others faced all week. Excessive heat forced midweek practices indoors three times.

“It took our team a little bit of time to adjust,” Hawks said. “We’ve still got a lot to fix, but at least the kids fought. We’re still young, and we’re still trying to get some guys experience on Friday night.”

Tates Creek held a 20-13 lead at the half. But the Eagles traded TDs with the Commodores in the third quarter to keep the game close.

Madison Southern’s Moore added a 1-yard score and Beard connected on another long TD pass, this time 71 yards to RJ Blair. Tates Creek responded with an 18-yard scoring pass from Burnside to Marquis Hale. Evans’ third TD of the game helped Tates Creek take a 36-25 lead into the fourth quarter.

“We took accountability. We know we would come back out and play good and play fast,” Evans said. “This is a great team. I love this brotherhood.”

The Commodores (2-0) next travel to the teal turf of North Oldham (2-0) on Friday. Madison Southern (0-2) will host rival Madison Central (2-0).

Trinity capitalizes on Douglass mistakes in 23-13 win

Opponents have very little margin of error when they play No. 1 Trinity, the defending and 28-time state champions.

And unfortunately for Class 6A No. 3 Frederick Douglass on Friday, the Broncos had too many miscues too deep in their own territory, resulting in a 23-13 loss to the Shamrocks at home.

A Douglass shanked punt set Trinity up at the Broncos’ 19-yard line for the Rocks’ first score, a 19-yard pass on third-and-10 from Zane Johnson to Kaleb Warner early in the first quarter.

Douglass later tied the game at 7-7 thanks to an 11-yard touchdown by Dakari Talbert.

But a mishandled punt return on what should have been the Broncos’ next possession gave Trinity the ball at the Douglass 13-yard line. Five plays later, Johnson completed a 4-yard TD pass to Jamaurion Berry. Trinity led 13-7 at halftime.

Another Douglass fumble on its own 7-yard line midway through the third quarter yielded Berry’s second touchdown one play later as Trinity took a 20-7 lead.

Trinity added a Carson Hilbert field goal early in the fourth quarter after another pressured punt gave the Rocks the ball at Douglass’ 13-yard line.

Despite lousy field position much of the night, Douglass’ defense kept the Broncos in the game, only allowing Trinity a mere 133 yards of total offense and just seven first downs.

And though Douglass quarterback Jaxon Strautman threw an interception in each half, he also connected on a 30-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Aveion Chenault that cut the Rocks’ lead to 23-13 with 3:13 left in the game. The two-point conversion and ensuing onside kick both failed.

Other Lexington results

Sayre 26, Bracken County 14: The Spartans rallied from a 14-13 halftime deficit on the road to improve to 2-0.

Madison Central 35, Lexington Catholic 21: The visiting Indians trailed 21-0 in the second quarter before steamrolling the Knights.

Woodford County 42, Dunbar 0: Due to the storms and this game being part of a bowl doubleheader, it did not kick off in Versailles until after 11 p.m.

Cooper 47, Henry Clay 0: The visiting Jaguars were Class 5A state runners-up last season and built a 41-0 lead by halftime.

Henry County 27, Lafayette 7: The host Wildcats rushed for 295 yards and scored 20 unanswered in the win.