Boyle starts strong in win over LCA, looks to get stronger

BOWLING GREEN – It wasn’t always good, but it was good enough for starters.

Boyle County opened a new season Saturday with a victory that showcased what the Rebels are capable of while also showing where they need work.

In the end, there was considerably more good than bad in the Rebels’ 35-13 win over Lexington Christian in the Rafferty’s Bowl at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium.

There were big plays by the offense and big stops by the defense in a game Boyle may not have dominated but certainly controlled.

“We definitely feel good about it,” Boyle quarterback Baylor Murphy said. “But there’s things we’ve got to clean up.”

The mistakes the Rebels made – most notably a handful of major penalties – will have to be addressed, and coach Justin Haddix made it clear that what was good enough in August won’t be good enough in November and certainly not in December when their pursuit of a fifth consecutive championship intensifies.

“I hope we’re playing in December,” Haddix said. “We’ve got a long ways to go, but I feel like we can get a lot better than we are right now.”

Haddix admitted, perhaps grudgingly, that what would not be sufficient in late fall was at least satisfactory on this night.

“You always want to be as perfect as you can,” he said. “We saw some good things out of some people, some unbelievable plays some guys made.”

There were plenty of those on both sides of the ball as Boyle (1-0) rolled up 467 yards and held LCA (0-1) to half that total as it extended the state’s longest active winning streak to 21 games.

Murphy, a junior making his first start, completed his first eight passes and finished 19 for 21 for 251 yards and three touchdowns.

Demauriah Brown settled into his new role as the primary running back, rushing 19 times for 120 yards, catching two passes for 11 yards and scoring three TDs.

Montavin Quisenberry caught five passes and ran seven times to total 91 yards, Geordon Brown caught four passes for 113 yards and Seneca Driver had three catches for 43 yards in his debut. Driver and Quisenberry each had impressive one-handed catches to extend Boyle drives.

Jaysia Richards and Brock Driver had five tackles each to lead a balanced Boyle defense that stopped LCA in the red zone three times and held the Eagles to 0 for 4 on fourth down.

Austin Bodner forced a fumble at the 1-yard line and recovered it in the end zone to stop a third-quarter drive that would have brought LCA to within one score.

Gage Feltner had the hit on a fourth-down stop near midfield a yard short of the line to gain that effectively snuffed out the Eagles’ last chance for a comeback in the fourth quarter.

The Rebels were in control from the start. Their offense cashed in on its first two possessions as Demauriah Brown scored to cap a 10-play opening series and Murphy threw a strike to a wide-open Geordon Brown less than three minutes later for an 80-yard score that made it 14-0.

Murphy said any pregame butterflies he might have had were long gone by then.

“Before kickoff I was a little bit in my head, but my guys talked me through it,” he said.

“I thought he played pretty well for his first start,” Haddix added. “We’re hard on him, and he’s pushed himself, but he’s got a lot of good players to throw the ball to and he did a good job getting it to them.”

Murphy said it’s “a blessing” to have so many playmakers lining up alongside him.

“It’s a really good bond we have … and we know what certain people can do and we just give them a chance to ball.”

LCA was shut out on five first-half series, two of which began inside the Boyle 40-yard line.

“We gave them some short fields, but we made a bunch of fourth-down stops. I was impressed with our defense,” Haddix said.

“I think communication and everybody getting to the ball was the main reason we got those stops,” Brock Driver said.

The linebacker said the Rebels had heard plenty about LCA’s large offensive line, and he said attacking those linemen was a priority.

“We needed to get a push in there to keep them from getting to our linebackers,” Brock Driver said.

LCA ran for 164 of its 233 yards, but 113 of those yards came on its two scoring plays, touchdown runs by quarterback Saxton Howard of 38 and 75 yards, the last coming on the Eagles’ final possession.

No one else ran for more than 18 yards for the Eagles, and they threw for 69 yards.

Boyle finished with 467 yards and had 216 of them on the ground. The Rebels also had no turnovers.

They were, however, flagged three times for personal fouls and once for unsportsmanlike conduct and were penalized eight times in all for 88 yards.

“We had too many penalties,” Haddix said.

Demauriah Brown scored his second rushing touchdown and Seneca Driver caught a pass for his first career score in the third quarter as Boyle extended its lead to 28-6, and Brown had a TD catch in the fourth quarter.

Home opener

Boyle will play its home opener this week, facing Bryan Station on Saturday in the Rebel Bowl.

The Defenders, who were the Class 6A runners-up last season, lost to defending 6A champion Trinity 28-10 last week.

They were led by senior running back Kalen Washington, who had 129 yards and one TD. Sophomore receivers Jordan Haskins and Demond Green also figure prominently in their offense, and Haskins is one of their top defenders as well.

This will be the second time in three years Boyle and Bryan Station have met in the Rebel Bowl. The Rebels won 36-12 in 2022 in the only previous meeting between the teams.

Scoring summary

Lexington Christian 0 0 6 7 – 13

Boyle County 14 0 14 7 – 35

First Quarter

Boyle – Demauriah Brown 8 run (Andrew Carr kick), 6:57.

Boyle – Geordon Brown 80 pass from Baylor Murphy (Carr kick), 4:07.

Third Quarter

LCA – Saxton Howard 38 run (kick failed), 11:24.

Boyle – D. Brown 19 run (Carr kick), 10:41.

Boyle – Seneca Driver 14 pass from Murphy (Carr kick), 2:16.

Third Quarter

Boyle – D. Brown 9 pass from Murphy (Carr kick), 5:33.

LCA – Howard 75 run (Isaac Collins kick), 3:46.

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