By Don Owen
NKyTribune sports editor
LEXINGTON — While competing at the Class 1A level, Beechwood won 14 state championships and established itself as one of Kentucky’s most dominant football programs.
Many wondered if that type of success would continue after state reclassification moved Beechwood to the Class 2A level in 2019. Stiffer competition awaited the Tigers, and the challenges would be quite different than in Class 1A. Some even doubted Beechwood could win a state championship at the Class 2A level.
Beechwood extinguished those doubts on Friday afternoon, defeating top-ranked Lexington Christian in an overtime thriller, 24-23, to capture the Class 2A state championship. And the Tigers did it in unique fashion, claiming the title when Brady Moore blocked Andrew Dobbs’ extra-point attempt that would have sent the game into a second overtime.
“When we saw that ball get deflected, it was just madness,” said Beechwood senior defensive end Artie Steinmetz of Moore’s block that gave the Tigers their 15th state championship. “It still feels so surreal. I’m speechless right now.”
Beechwood quarterback Cameron Hergott, who was selected as the game’s most valuable player, said he wasn’t surprised by Moore’s overtime heroics to end the 2020 UK Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine State Football Finals in dramatic fashion.
“Brady is a phenomenal player on both sides of the ball,” Hergott said. “Especially on special teams with that blocked (extra point). He, honestly, made the biggest play of the year for us.”
Beechwood (10-2) had taken a 24-17 lead on the first play of overtime when Hergott found Torin O’Shea for a 10-yard touchdown pass.
“We did play-action, fullback slipped into the flat and I hit him wide open,” Hergott said of the touchdown pass to O’Shea. “Torin O’Shea got the ball, and he’s a bus.”
Lexington Christian (10-2) responded with Xavier Brown’s 3-yard touchdown run, cutting the Beechwood lead to 24-23.
That set the stage for Moore, who found an opening in the middle and blocked Dobbs’ kick. Beechwood players and coaches rushed the field, mobbing Moore and celebrating the state championship.
“They made some big plays,” Lexington Christian head coach Doug Charles said of Beechwood. “The guy (Moore) broke free on the kick. Football is a great game, but it takes 11 guys doing their job. Those things happen.”
Lexington Christian nearly won the state championship on the last play of regulation. With two seconds remaining and the game tied at 17-all, Dobbs’ attempted a 44-yard field goal that ricocheted off the left post, bounced off the crossbar and fell to the ground as time expired.
“It’s a game of inches,” Charles said.
Lexington Christian finished with 389 yards of total offense, compared to 284 for Beechwood. The Eagles, however, turned the ball over three times — including an interception late in the fourth quarter inside the red zone when it appeared they were about to build a 24-14 lead.
Beechwood’s Michael Hatfield, however, read the screen pass perfectly and picked off Drew Nieves’ throw. He returned the interception 59 yards to the Lexington Christian 27-yard line, setting up the tying field goal from Colin Graman with 2:09 left in regulation.
Beechwood head coach Noel Rash said many plays contributed to the final outcome, not just the blocked extra point.
“Obviously, that (blocked extra point) was significant and everybody sees that,” he said. “The amount of pass plays that we knocked down, and how Keaton (Durrett) and how he was playing safety was really special as well or we wouldn’t be standing here (as state champions).”
Hergott rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown, including a 25-yard scoring jaunt 40 seconds into the game. The senior quarterback also passed for 154 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Brown paced the Lexington Christian offense with 139 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 15 carries. He also caught four passes for 62 yards. Nieves passed for 138 yards and added 63 on the ground.
Hatfield and Moore each finished with eight solo tackles. Mitchell Berger and Cole Stammer also intercepted passes for Beechwood. Mattie Lebryk led the Lexington Christian with four solo tackles and three assisted tackles.
Beechwood and Lexington Christian also met in the Class 1A state championship game in 2007, and the Tigers pulled out a 38-35 victory.
Friday marked the 42nd consecutive year that at least one Northern Kentucky team played in the state football finals. The last time a squad from the Northern Kentucky area did not participate in a state championship game was 1978.
Don Owen is sports editor of the Northern Kentucky Tribune. Contact him at don@nkytrib.com and follow him on Twitter at @dontribunesport.
Good Memories. It seems we all had sometimes when We really Learned to Work; something that seems lacking in the younger generations. They seem to Never have worked on a Bicycle, let alone a Motorcycle or a Car, let alone getting a Load of Coal down a steep hill without incident. It is when they show up on a ship Clueless, with a Thirds License. Then experienced people then pack up.