Panthers aim for third district title in four years

Fleming County is close.

They’re two blown leads from being a 5-1 football team as they head into Friday’s Class 3A, 6th District championship against Pendleton County. Searching for their third district title in four seasons.

But that’s the norm in Flemingsburg for the football program these days, district titles are expected.

“This year especially, with wins and losses we haven’t really reflected on them. We wanted to be in this position for a district title. Whether 6-0 or 3-3 we’re where we want to be. We wish we could have won those two games and got some more games in, but the ultimate goal was to be playing for a district title. We’re here now and we have to take advantage of it,” Panthers coach Bill Spencer said.

As with pretty much every football program across the Commonwealth, the Panthers have had to fight off COVID-related issues during the 2020 season and are fortunate enough to still be playing, two others in the district (Mason County and Powell County) not as fortunate as their seasons were derailed last week because of it.

As is the theme of 2020, things have been different and odd. Fleming County will have played just one game in the last 42 days when they host the Wildcats Friday night.

But their original contest with Pendleton County is when things changed for the Panthers six weeks ago.

Needing a spark offensively, they decided to make the switch to Buddy Morgan at quarterback, replacing Zeke Conn under center. It wasn’t that Conn had played bad or did much to warrant the change, but the Panthers needed more versatility at the position.

“This has been something we’ve talked about back in the summer even is who was going to be the starter. We felt like we needed to try something a little different,” Spencer said. “Against Pendleton County we wanted to see how it went, and it went well. We were just hoping to get a few more games in.”

So far, so good. Their first four games they scored 68 points with Conn under center. Their last two they’ve tallied 68 with Morgan taking the snaps, starting with their game on October 16 against Pendleton County, a 41-0 victory.

Morgan threw for 211 yards and three touchdowns in that contest on just 16 attempts. He also ran for 43 yards and a score on eight attempts. Morgan followed that up with a 297 yard, three touchdown performance against Shelby Valley to go with 76 rushing yards. A learning curve came with that one though as the Panthers blew a 27-0 first half lead and Morgan threw three interceptions.

“The Shelby Valley game he had a big game for us. It was just something that came along and gives us the best chance to be successful,” Spencer said. “Buddy has a little more speed to him, more of a threat to get out on the corner. In our rollout game, teams were pressuring us a lot and maybe Zeke is not as mobile and Buddy gives us more elusiveness. We encourage him to tuck it and run and see what the defense gives you. He also does a good job throwing it, spreading it around.”

Spreading it around is something the Panthers offense has thrived on in past seasons and is vital to the offense. The main beneficiary so far has been the Class 3A, 6th District preseason Player of the Year in wide receiver Logan Pinkley. In the two games with Morgan under center, he has 11 receptions for 234 yards and two touchdowns. The prior four games he had 11 catches for 88 yards and a score.

While Pinkley got the preseason recognition, one player putting his name in the hat for the postseason award for District Player of the Year is Payton Roark. Roark has been huge at the tight end position in both the pass and run blocking. He leads the team with 349 receiving yards and five touchdown receptions. Every time he touches it, things go well as he’s averaging 31.7 yards per reception.

“He’s a big target for us. We haven’t had a true tight end in a while. He’s a load to bring down once he does catch it and is also a great blocker,” Spencer said.

Roark has also hung his hat on the defensive side of the ball with 47 tackles, six for loss to go with three sacks and two fumbles forced. The defense is what set the tone for the Panthers in their first matchup with Pendleton and while Conn may not be the quarterback on offense, he still leads the defense at linebacker and has been exceptional there as well. Conn also takes on the lead blocker role at fullback for the offense.

“Zeke is still the leader of our team, he’s just that type of kid. Zeke gives us a true fullback and does a great job defensively in the middle of everything,” Spencer said.

This time around Spencer doesn’t expect as lopsided of a game with the Wildcats. Pendleton County has improved throughout the season and the quarterback switch won’t have them caught off guard this time around.

”Coach Burgemeier and his team we have a ton of respect for. Our defense played really well that game and kept them off track. Hopefully our defense comes to play again, limit the big plays and keep them in third and longs. Offensively we have to protect the football. We know this time around won’t be able to surprise them with who is at quarterback. At the same time Buddy has more reps and hope that shows in his play,” Spencer said.

Traditionally, Fleming County isn’t used to playing this deep in the season past Thanksgiving. While the week leading into the game has been met with hard working practices from Monday-Wednesday, Spencer said he’ll give them off on Thanksgiving before a walkthru on Friday prior to the game.

“Especially with the way this year has gone, we didn’t want to take to time away from family,” Spencer said.

Fleming-Pendleton will kick it off at 7:30 p.m. Friday evening.