FLEMINGSBURG – The streak is over.
And with it comes Mason County’s first district championship since 2013 with a 8-0 victory over Fleming County, Friday night in Flemingsburg.
The Royals did it with their defense, shutting out a Panther team that came in averaging 30.3 points per game.
Royals senior Dravin Routt was in tears upon the final horn, enduring too many times being on the other side of this rivalry. His senior class had went 0-5 against Fleming until they finally found a way Friday.
“Took a lot of years. We always did it in middle school, just proud of my boys that came out and did their thing,” Routt said. “Defense was tough. Enjoyed all of it, something I’ll always remember. I thought my season could end today, but my boys did good. Got stops, they played great ball too, I respect them all very well. But it just ended on our tables this time and I enjoyed it.”
Mason County had to be wondering if they’d hang on in this one after busting out to an early 8-0 lead on their first drive of the night. They spread the field on the opening drive with four and five wide receiver sets, catching the Panthers off guard early on as Keshaun Thomas ripped off a 55-yard run to the Panther 1.
“Something that we hadn’t seen to be honest with you from them. They hurried it up, did a good job of finding a crease and getting the big long run and finishing it off,” Panthers coach Bill Spencer said.
A play later it was Trey Walker finding the end zone for the only score of the game.
Fleming County got no further than the Royals 23-yard line on the evening.
When they did, it was a sack from Hunter Thompson and Routt at the end of the first half stalling that drive.
“Just containment. Not letting them get too far upfield, didn’t let them run downfield. We just wanted to win this game more. Feels great to come out here and get a win. Long time waiting to get this win,” Thompson said.
It could have been worse before the Panthers got the ball to close the half with 23 second left on the Royals 45-yard line, but a heads up play by Ashton Adams on a high snap over his head as he chased down the ball, gathered and punted to the 45 put them in that spot.
“Picked up the ball, saw what was coming at me and made sure I had time. Just got the ball off and it was a pretty good one that time. The blocking held up front and that’s what gave me the time,” Adams said. “Not only did we win this one for the seniors now, but the seniors the past few years too, the guys last year didn’t even get a chance because of COVID.”
The Panthers first three drives of the second half resulted in 14 plays for 28 yards, the biggest gainer a fake punt that netted them 13 yards.
The Royals kept missing opportunities to add to the lead from there. A fumble into the end zone resulting in a touchback and a missed 28-yard field goal kept things at 8-0.
The Panthers most promising drive of the second half came with just 5:49 to play, six plays had them down to the Royals 35 with under three minutes to go, but the Royals defense answered the bell like they had done for the majority of this season by forcing four straight Zeke Conn incompletions.
The Royals would take over with 2:15 left, needing one first down to end the game.
Facing a fourth and two at their own 43 with under a minute to play, it was a Fleming County offsides that effectively ended the contest, their eighth penalty of the evening.
“Just some nerves on some of them. Huge atmosphere, lot of excitement and energy in the air. Mental mistakes that come back to haunt you in the end,” Spencer said.
The celebration was on. The Royals student section stormed the field with the “W” flag flying it what was an electric atmosphere that included fireworks but not many from the home team, experiencing something that none of them have before in high school, beating Fleming County for the first time since 2013, spanning nine straight games.
When Royals coach Joe Wynn took the job in May, the first thing he said is “We’re going to beat Fleming County,” on Friday, it came true.
“Came true huh? It’s just setting the standard and raising the bar a little bit. Our kids did it and executed well. We gave them every opportunity to come back and win, but champions find a way to win. Proud of our guys, heck of a win, offense, defense, special teams. Wasn’t always pretty, but we got it done,” Wynn said.
The Panthers season comes to a close at 8-5, snapping a seven-game winning streak and denied a third straight district title. Rewind back two months and they were 1-4 after giving up 100 points in two games and having to go in COVID protocol and forfeited a game, they turned things around from there to get to this point.
“From being at that point and kind of pulling things together and reshuffling some things and recommitting ourselves, huge testament to our kids. To make that kind of adjustment and finish out the season the way they did,” Spencer said.
Now comes a date with East Carter in Grayson for a region championship after the Raiders knocked off Ashland Blazer, 26-16.
The saying is defense travels, the Royals will be bringing it to Grayson now.
“Lights out. Lights out. Lights out. Our defense just plays lights out and runs around to the football. Just the kids, they win the games. We try to set a standard and if these guys don’t come out and play and believe in the coaching staff and what we’re doing, it won’t make a difference. The kids come out and execute and it’s all the credit to those guys. We eliminated the outside noise, kids played hard, worked hard and I’m proud of their effort and resiliency tonight,” Wynn said. “To do this on their homefield, just proud of our guys.”
The Royals totaled 212 yards on the night, Adams completing two passes on the evening for 61 yards, a dazzling 33-yard catch by Terrell Henry in the first half and a Mason Butler 28-yard catch in the second half that got the Royals to the Panther two.
The Royals were the first team in eight games to rush for 100 yards on the Panthers, collecting 125 yards on 31 carries.
Fleming County ended with 161 yards on the night in 50 plays.
ROYALS 8, PANTHERS 0
MASON COUNTY – 8-0-0-0 — 8
FLEMING COUNTY – 0-0-0-0 — 0
Scoring
1st Quarter
(MC) Walker 6-yard run (6:32) Adams run
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Mason 87 (Thomas 3/7, Adams 2/2), Fleming 76 (Conn 8/23)
Rushing Yards: Mason 125 (Clark-Roberts 5-40, Sanders 10-31, Thomas 5-31, Adams 4-15, Walker 3-15, Bozeman 1-0, Walton 3-(minus) 7), Fleming 85 (Denton 11-75, Trent 8-9, Conn 7-3, Johnson 1-(minus) 2)
Receiving: Mason (Henry 2-43, Butler 1-28, Walton 2-16), Fleming (Johnson 3-28, Denton 2-17, Morgan 1-14, Farrow 1-13, Pinkley 1-4)
Turnovers: Mason 1, Fleming 0
Penalties: Mason 7-55, Fleming 8-67
Records: Mason County 9-3, Fleming County 8-5