Tough-minded Ludlow scores almost every way possible in knocking off district rival Brossart

By Dan Weber
NKyTribune reporter

It was time – halftime actually – when Ludlow Coach Woody McMillen and his assistants issued this challenge to his Panthers after they’d given up a 14-point lead in the final three minutes of the first half and entered intermission tied up at 28 with Bishop Brossart’s Mustangs.

Although at two-and-a-third points a minute pace, this Class A district-deciding game was fun to watch . . . unless you were coaching defense.

Which is the way two-loss Ludlow – ranked 13th in the state’s Class A to a one-loss Brossart’s No. 4 ranking – answered the bell the second half. On defense. Shutting out the Mustangs into the final seconds of the second half on the way to a decisive 46-35 in defending their district title from a year ago.

“Brossart punched us in the mouth that first half,” McMillen said as the home team pounded the Panthers with senior running back Cameron Mandel, who ran over, through, past and around the Ludlow defenders for an unofficial 132 yards on 12 carries with three touchdowns.

“That (No.) 2 is an exceptional player for Brossart,” McMillen said. So Ludlow “adjusted,” McMillen said of the Panther defense. They had to stop Mandel. But more than that, they changed their attitude.

“We wanted to be physical,” McMillen said. But giving up 28 points hardly looked like it. So the Ludlow coaches asked them and challenged them at the same time.

“Are you tough, are you resilient?” they asked. “Will you bounce back? Are you tough enough?”

They are, indeed. As in 18 points in the third quarter – an 18-0 third quarter – that put this one on ice at Brossart’s Mustang Athletic Complex. But first, Ludlow had to stop Brossart and then get the ball to their own threat at running back, senior speedster Dameyn Anness, who got things going with his second 60-yard-plus run in this game. The first he got into the end zone from 64 yards out on the game’s second play with just 47 seconds gone in the game.

That run, from sideline to sideline down to the Brossart 2, set the tone. The Panthers were going to show their toughness as a team with fullback Aiden Smith-Baxley still competing with a cast on his broken thumb.

But the play that probably sealed this one came on two-way defensive end Carson Evans’ leaping drop-back interception when the senior, who also had three sacks, slipped into the passing lane for a pickoff and touchdown return that had the Ludlow fans and sideline hooting and hollering with 40 seconds left in the third quarter and a 46-28 lead.

McMillen couldn’t answer – nor could Evans – as to which side of the ball is better for him. “It’s 50-50,” Evans said. But as to whether this win sent a message, Evans wouldn’t go there. “We’re just trying to win the district.”

But his wasn’t the only defensive score for the Panthers. Seniors Matt Brock and Gabe Payne combined for one in the first half on Max Runge a field goal attempt from the 40 that Brock broke through to block and Payne was right on the spot to pick it up and take it 55 yards to the end zone for his first high school score.

“It was right there,” Payne said, within his reach as he grabbed it and took off with the Mustangs unable to catch him in a 55-yard dash. “We came up here and showed up for real.

As did senior quarterback Jackson Mays, who went the entire way with freshman star Miller Reed unavailable. But it’s Anness who sets the table for these Panthers, even racing to his second-half 60-yard run just a couple of plays after throwing up on the field and taking a seat on the bench. For maybe a minute.

“He rolls with the punches,” McMillen said, “Anness is a once-in-a-lifetime guy,” on a night when he ran for 177 yards and two TDs with a quick kick that was measured at one yard.

“This game was a statement,” Anness said of the now 6-2 (2-0 in the district) Panthers, “we’re going after the state championship.” And a tattoo the length of his left arm honoring his grandmother, Brenda Anness, and his mother, Destiny Whitaker, who both passed away in recent years, reminds him who he’s playing for, Anness says.

Ludlow closes out district play Friday at Holy Cross while Brossart (6-2, 1-1) hosts Trimble County in games each will be big favorites.

SCORING SUMMARY

LUDLOW    21 7 18 0—46
BROSSART 7 21 0 7—35
LUDLOW: Anness 64 run (PAT) McMillan kick good
LUDLOW: Smith-Baxley 2 run (PAT) McMillan kick good
BROSSART: Mandel 66 run (PAT) Runge kick good
LUDLOW: Evans 25 pass from Hays (PAT) McMillan kick good
BROSSART: Mandel 1 run (PAT) Runge kick good
LUDLOW: Payne 55 blocked field goal run back (PAT) McMillan kick good
BROSSART: Cozzi 13 pass from Holtz (PAT) Runge kick good
BROSSART: Mandel 21 run (PAT) Runge kick good
LUDLOW: Smith-Baxley 2 run (PAT) kick blocked
LUDLOW: Anness 22 run (2-pt PAT) pass failed
LUDLOW: Evans 42 interception return (2-pt. PAT) run failed
BROSSART: Geyer 8 pass from Holtz (PAT) Runge kick good

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