Mason County senior Khristian Walton is consoled by a coach after the Royals fell to Bardstown 38-28 in Friday’s Class 3A semifinal game at Garnis Martin Field. (Josh Claywell)
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Mason County’s Carson Pugh nearly intercepts a pass intended for Bardstown’s Shannon Tonge. (Josh Claywell)
Mason County’s Keshaun Thomas scores a touchdown Friday night. (Josh Claywell)
Mason County’s Chad Clark Roberts meets Bardstown’s Tyleeq Williams in the backfield. (Josh Claywell)
Caden Clark-Roberts takes a pitch from Keshaun Thomas Friday night. (Josh Claywell)
Mason County’s Brady Sanders tackles Bardstown’s Sevyn Hamilton for a loss Friday night. (Josh Claywell)
BARDSTOWN – Tyleeq Williams may not be the biggest player on the field, but he put the Bardstown Tigers on his back Friday night.
The 5-foot-5 Williams accounted for all five of his team’s touchdowns, leading the hosts to a 38-28 win over Mason County in the semifinals of the Class 3A state playoffs at Garnis Martin Field.
Williams caught a 2-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and then tacked on four rushing touchdowns as the Tigers (14-0) moved on to the state championship game.
“He’s a dude. He’s a good football player, probably the best we’ve seen all year. He’s a weapon,” Mason County coach Joe Wynn said. “We had to adjust a few things after we overran a couple of times, and we adjusted and played good defense in the second half.”
Bardstown raced to a 21-6 lead in the second quarter behind Williams, who scored on an 8-yard run at the 11:05 mark and on a 6-yard scamper with 6:46 left for a two-touchdown advantage.
After Keshaun Thomas tossed a 15-yard scoring pass to Isaac Marshall with 4:16 to go in the second, the Royals made the mistake of kicking to one of the Tigers’ best players in Shannon Tonge.
Tonge returned the kickoff to the Mason County 3-yard line, and Williams punched it in from a yard out a few plays later to make it 28-12. The Royals answered right back, driving 60 yards in just over a minute – a drive that was capped by Thomas throwing a jump pass to Landon Scilley for a touchdown with eight seconds left. Brady Sanders ran in the conversion to make it 28-20 going to halftime.
“Our guys just didn’t flinch,” Wynn said. “The defense got a stop and we kind of started playing good football there. But then we kicked it to the best player on the field, and we’re not supposed to do that. When you kick it to the best player on the field, that stuff happens. Their score was huge, but our guys responded.”
That’s where the score remained until the fourth quarter.
With 10:37 remaining, Sanders scored on a 15-yard run and Thomas ran in the conversion to forge a tie at 28-all.
Suddenly, it was a new game.
“The defense got stops, which allowed us to come back right quick. That’s what football is about,” Wynn said. “We came out of halftime and tied it up and got a stop.”
It just wasn’t enough in the end.
Williams’ fifth score of the night made it 35-28 with 9:47 to go, and then Tate Blincoe connected on a 20-yard field goal with 2:28 remaining to push the lead to 38-28.
Tonge came up with an interception on Mason County’s ensuing possession, and Bardstown ran out the clock from there.
The Royals’ most successful season in school history ends with a 13-1 record, but Wynn and his coaching staff couldn’t be prouder of all the team accomplished this year.
“I don’t think words can do a good job of describing how proud I am. They’ve changed this program and set a new standard. They’ve changed my life and my family’s life, and hopefully they learned some stuff being a part of this team and this brotherhood and playing for something above you and more than you,” Wynn said.
“Sometimes things don’t go your way and obviously we’d love to be celebrating right now and we were right there. They gave it everything they had.”
Mason County loses 17 seniors to graduation, but Wynn is optimistic the Royals will be back in 2023.
“We’ll learn from this and we’ll watch the film,” he said. “We return some really good pieces, so hopefully we can build on this and take the next step next year.”
