HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
One team is making their first playoff appearance since 2013, the other is looking for their third straight district championship.
Lewis County and Fleming County meet in Flemingsburg Friday night in the first round of the KHSAA Class 3A football playoffs.
The Panthers defeated the Lions 39-6 just 14 days ago as Fleming County earned the No. 1 seed in the district, Lewis County not finding out until Saturday morning that they were the last one in.
Fleming got the game to a running clock before halftime, building a 39-0 lead before letting the reserves close the game out the rest of the way.
“We ran the ball predominantly that game, only threw six or eight passes the whole game,” Panthers coach Bill Spencer said. “Offensive line did a great job opening up some things. It’s one of those things you go into a game and as the game flow gets going and you see what’s working, you don’t change it a whole lot.”
In the end it was 25 carries for 234 yards and four touchdowns, eight different players receiving a rushing attempt in the game. It’s a run game that’s been ignited the second half of the season and one that’s been efficient during the Panthers six-game winning streak.
“It ties in with the o-line, the first four games we had a different unit. Up until the Paris game when we finally had our original group and from that point on we’ve have had those five kids every game. It’s helped build some continuity and luckily we’ve stayed away from the injury bug,” Spencer said.
Another area that’s excelled is from one front to the other on the defensive side, the Panthers not allowing a team to rush for over 100 yards in six straight games now. The team was gashed for 100 points and 678 rushing yards in losses to Martin County and Rowan County and have been lockdown since in that area.
“They’ve really came on and we’re relying on those guys to carry us at times. If they didn’t play well, we’d be in trouble. I always stress defense and that starts up front for us,” Spencer said.
Lewis County’s journey hasn’t been as easy. A 28-14 win over Fairview most likely got them in the playoff picture, originally on the outside looking in, but an RPI update late Friday night/Saturday morning jumped them over Pendleton County to give them a taste of the postseason.
For a senior group that had to endure 22 straight losses from the last game of their freshman year all the way to Week 6 of this season, the game Friday will be an added bonus for them as they can use this game as a building block to shape towards the future of the program.
When they finished their game Friday against Fairview, it was almost like a goodbye.
Come Saturday morning, things changed.
“It was almost like just finding that extra Christmas present behind the tree that you didn’t think was there,” Lions coach Bryan Hoover said to The Daily Independent’s Zack Klemme earlier this week. “It was a really cool moment for all of us.”
In order for them to pull off what would be considered a mammoth upset, they’ll need to get their ground game going with Ethan Sizemore and Austin Howard. The two have a combined 1,090 yards rushing this season and 12 touchdowns, Sizemore with 10 of them.
Freshman quarterback Ayden Cooper suffered a season-ending injury on October 15 against Mason County, senior Dylan Hardy filling in. Hardy threw for 141 yards in the win over Fairview last week.
While it will be cold, rain is not expected Friday night, a pleasant surprise from the past few weeks.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
GAMETRACKER
WHO: Lewis County Lions (2-9) at Fleming County Panthers (7-4)
WHEN: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Fleming County High School, Flemingsburg
PREVIOUS MEETING: Fleming County won, 39-6 on October 22
ALL-TIME SERIES: Fleming County leads, 40-11
