By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Simon Kenton is one of 13 Kentucky high school football teams that have a perfect record going into the final five weeks of the regular season, but it took some big plays by senior quarterback Matt Shearer for the Pioneers to make it to 6-0.
Last week, Shearer threw a 16-yard touchdown pass and scored on an 8-yard run in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter to give Simon Kenton a 35-30 win over Highlands.
Four weeks ago, he scored both of the Pioneers’ touchdowns in a 13-6 win over Conner and accounted for 120 of his team’s 187 total yards during the game that was played in the rain on a muddy field.
The Pioneers won their other four games by big margins with Shearer leading their high-scoring offense. He has passed for 1,217 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 347 yards and seven TDs during the team’s 6-0 start.
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound senior will be looking to improve on those statistics Friday when Simon Kenton visits Beechwood (4-1), the defending Class 1A state champion, in a 7:30 p.m. game.
Beechwood’s four wins came against teams in Class 2A and 3A, but the Tigers were mauled by Class 5A front-runner Covington Catholic, 45-9, two weeks ago. Now they’ll be facing a Simon Kenton team that’s ranked among the state’s top 10 in Class 6A.
Beechwood has a veteran quarterback in senior Brayden Burch and good size on the offensive and defensive lines for a Class 1A team. But many of the players are two-way starters while Simon Kenton has a two-platoon system.
That’s one reason the Pioneers are averaging 431.5 yards per game with a well-balanced offense that has netted 1,329 yards rushing and 1,260 yards passing in six victories.
This is the first year that Shearer has been in charge of the SK offense. The coaches used his strong throwing arm in every game last season, but three-year veteran Cam Racke was the team’s consummate quarterback.
With four varsity veterans on the offensive line and two of the top three receivers on last year’s team back in the lineup, Shearer has been able to put up some impressive numbers in his first six games as Racke’s replacement.
He’s averaging 203 yards passing and 58 yards rushing per game with a 63.4 (80 of 126) completion percentage and only one interception. Simon Kenton’s leading receiver is senior Fisher Hayden with 22 catches for 443 yards and nine TDs.