As the temperatures take a tumble, it’s win or go home time for high school football teams in the commonwealth.

Three area schools – Mason County, Fleming County and Bracken County – will be in action Friday night under the lights battling to extend their seasons another week.

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ROYALS SEEKING TO AVENGE LOSS TO BOYD — Mason County is coming off a tough, grind-it-out 20-14 defeat on the road at Lawrence County last week, and preparing for another challenge on their home turf in their opening round tussle with Boyd County. The Royals fell to the Lions 45-21 in Week 4 in a game that saw Boyd pull away late for the win, which snapped a six-game Mason County winning streak in the series.

Mason County, the runners-up in Class 4A, District 5, enters the playoffs with a 6-4 record, and Boyd County, which finished third in District 6, is 5-5 after dropping a 39-15 decision to Pikeville last week, but as the old cliché goes, records can be tossed out the window when the postseason gets underway.

One player the Royals will be keying on will be quarterback Rhett Holbrook. In the prior meeting, the junior signal caller connected on 16-of-24 through the air

for 159 yards and a pair of touchdowns, with Cole Hicks on the receiving end of both scoring strikes. Holbrook was also a threat running the ball, racking up 145 yards on 18 carries and three scores. The Lions gained 304 yards on the ground.

Royals quarterback Keshaun Thomas also played well, completing 9-of-18 attempts for 277 and three touchdowns, with Landon Scilley hauling in all three scores. Scilley, Mason County’s big play go-to receiver, accumulated 175 yards on his three catches.

Look for this one to be much closer than the Week 4 contest, and if the Royals make the necessary defensive adjustments, they have an excellent opportunity to survive and advance.

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PANTHERS FACE STERN TEST ON ROAD – Fleming County wrapped up its regular season in a shootout at Greenup County, and despite putting 44 points on the board, the Panthers fell by 15.

The Musketeers, who have the unenviable task of traveling to Covington Catholic in a Class 4A playoff encounter, improved to 6-4 with the win, and Fleming County dropped to 6-4.

The Panthers will also be taking on a strong northern Kentucky foe on Friday in a Class 3A matchup, when they venture to Erlanger to face Lloyd Memorial. The

Juggernauts are 9-1, with their lone loss coming to Lexington Catholic. Lloyd ended their regular season with a 47-20 win at Scott last week.

The Panthers will need to shore up their defense to pull off an upset win after giving up 521 total yards to Greenup, 318 on the ground. Musketeers QB Tyson Sammons did most of the damage, throwing for 203 yards and three touchdowns, and adding three rushing scores while gaining 160 yards on 17 carries.

Fleming County ran for 399 yards, with Landon Johnson and Austin Trent leading the way. Johnson ran the ball 12 times for 166 yards and three touchdowns, and Trent had 18 carries for 146 yards and a score.

The Panthers will be trying to slow a Lloyd offense that has averaged 38.7 points and 223.9 rushing yards per game, and the Juggernauts’ defense is giving up just 11.7 points per game. The opportunistic defensive unit has also intercepted 11 passes and recovered 13 fumbles.

The game will be the first between the two since Fleming County defeated Lloyd 35-28 in a Class 2A state tournament clash on Nov. 5, 2004. The Juggernauts have won three of the previous five meetings in the series.

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POLAR BEARS OPEN PLAYOFFS IN JACKSON – Bracken County ended their regular season with a 48-15 win at Lewis County, and they will enter their Class 2A playoff

clash at Breathitt County with a 6-4 mark. The Polar Bears ran for 259 yards in Vanceburg, led by Daulton Tarter, who piled up 184 yards on just seven carries to go with three touchdowns. Tarter, who missed one game earlier this season, has 1,223 rushing yards and 21 scores.

Breathitt County is 5-5 and the Bobcats, the District 6 runners-up, have won three in a row after dispatching Prestonsburg 42-7 last week.

Quarterback Dillon Stacy and running back Jayden Gibson lead the Breathitt offensive attack. Stacy has thrown for 1,322 yards and 11 touchdowns, while Gibson is averaging 69.3 rushing yards per game and scored 11 times as well.

The game will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

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WILDCATS IN MUST WIN SCENARIO? – After dropping their third game in a row on Saturday, a winnable 33-27 loss to Tennessee, the Kentucky football team is in desperate need of a win this week. On paper, the Cats have an excellent opportunity to get that done this Saturday in Starkville.

If UK can knock off Mississippi State they would become bowl eligible heading into the Nov. 11 showdown versus

Alabama, which will be the final home game of the season.

Kentucky should be able to handle the 4-4 Bulldogs, who have had their own struggles to deal with this season, including a 27-13 setback at Auburn last week. If recent history holds however, the Cats may be in danger of losing their fourth consecutive game, making this an extremely important test for Stoops’ Troops. Mississippi State has won six in a row in Starkville against Kentucky and the UK head coach is 0-5 against the ‘Dogs.

If UK hopes to earn a trip to a desirable bowl destination, they need to win this week, and also knock off South Carolina and Louisville on the road in their final two games. If the Cats fall (as expected) to the Crimson Tide, picking up wins against the Bulldogs, Gamecocks and Cardinals would give UK an 8-4 record.

Anything less than three wins in their final four games would not please the loyal fanbase, and if the Cats do the unthinkable and drop all four, they would finish 5-7.

That may send some folks leaping off the bandwagon and looking forward to basketball season.

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BENGALS RECAPTURE SWAGGER – The NFL team up the road appears to be headed in the right direction.

The Cincinnati Bengals played their best game of the season Sunday afternoon, returning home with an

impressive 31-17 win at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara over a team the Men in Stripes have struggled against for years, the San Francisco 49ers, who won 13 of the previous 17 meetings.

For the first time this year, Joe Burrow looked like the most dangerous quarterback in the league. He appeared fully recovered from his calf injury, and simply carved up a solid Niners defense, completing 28-of-32 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns. At one point, he completed 19 consecutive passes, just one shy of the team record set by Ken Anderson.

Ja’Marr Chase was his favorite target, catching 10 passes for 100 yards and a score, punctuated by a celebratory back flip that he performed with ease. Tee Higgins got into the act with five catches for 69 yards, and Tyler Boyd added 40 yards on three receptions, one a scoring strike.

The running game was also impressive, with Joe Mixon toting the rock for 87 yards and a TD on 16 carries. Burrow also showed he’s fully healthy by running for 43 yards on six attempts.

As efficient as the offense was, the defense may have played at even higher level. Linebacker Logan Wilson had 11 total tackles and an interception, fellow LB Germaine Pratt also came up with a key pick, and cornerback Mike Hilton was seemingly everywhere disrupting the Niners’ offensive efforts.

The Bengals improved to 4-3 with the win and face another challenge Sunday night, when the Buffalo Bills bring their 5-3 record to Paycor Stadium. The Bills haven’t played up to preseason expectations, averaging just over 20 points per game in their last four games, two of which were losses to Jacksonville and New England. The high mark of Buffalo’s season thus far was a 48-20 win over Miami on October 1.

Who Dey Nation is hoping the onward and upward trend continues for their beloved Orange and Black as they attempt to keep within shouting distance of AFC North-leading Baltimore. The Ravens, who host Seattle this week, are 6-2, followed by the three-way tie among Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. The Browns host Arizona Sunday afternoon, and the Steelers play the Tennessee Titans on Thursday night.

If you think you know what’s going to occur in the NFL from week-to-week, you must own a magical crystal ball, or you’re delusional. The league is more unpredictable than ever, and anything can (and will) happen.

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VOLLEYBALL ELITE EIGHT FIELD SET – The KHSAA State Volleyball Tournament continues in Winchester at George Rogers Clark High School on Friday. The opening round featured eight matches at various sites around the commonwealth on Monday night.

The first match is scheduled at 11 a.m., with 16th Region champion Boyd County (33-6) taking on 21-20 Mercy, the 6th Region titlist. That contest will be followed by 6th Region champion Assumption (33-5) facing Whitley County (35-2), the champs of the 13th Region.

The evening matches will feature defending state champion Notre Dame. The 31-5 Pandas won the always competitive 9th Region with a 3-0 win over St. Henry, and a 3-0 victory at Campbell County on Monday. Notre Dame will take on 27-11 McCracken County, the champions of Region 1.

The final match on Friday evening will pit 4th Region champion Logan County (25-12) against 31-9 West Jessamine, the champions of the 12th Region.

The way the bracket shapes up, the championship match on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. looks to be a match between Notre Dame and either Assumption or Boyd County.

Assumption has a storied volleyball history, led by coach Ron Kordes, who has led the Rockets to 22 state championships, six national titles, and more than 1,100 wins. They won two out of three times in head-to-head battles against Notre Dame this season after falling to the Pandas in the state semifinals last year. Notre Dame won its 10th state title when they defeated Paul Laurence Dunbar 3-0 (25-22, 25-11, 25-16) in last year’s championship match.

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“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn no other way.” — Mark Twain

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“Play every game like it’s your last, because one day it will be.” – Joe Burrow