By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The reputation of the Lloyd football program has been on the rise thanks to a 7-0 start this season following a 10-4 campaign in 2022. But winning a marque matchup is something the Juggernauts haven’t been able to accomplish.
They had a chance to do that Friday in a home game against Lexington Catholic. In the latest statewide media poll, the Knights were No. 3 and the Juggernauts were No. 4 in the Class 3A state rankings. That’s why a good crowd turned out for the game.
But the final score didn’t reflect the media rankings. LexCath rolled to a 41-0 victory that clinched first place in the Class 3A, District 5 standings and evened its record at 4-4.
“They dominated the line of scrimmage. That was the determining factor in the game,” said Lloyd coach Kyle Niederman. “I’ll give credit where credit is due. They came in, had a great game plan and they executed it.”
The Knights ended up with a 372-185 advantage in total yards. Lloyd turned the ball over three times on fumbles. In the final seconds of the first half, the Juggernauts lost the ball on the 1-yard line and trailed 21-0 at halftime.
Lloyd’s other two fumbles occurred deep in its own territory on back-to-back possessions in the third quarter. LexCath scored off both of those takeaways to open up a 37-0 lead that dashed any hope the Juggernauts had for making a comeback.
“We’ve overcome a lot of obstacles of the stereotypic image of our program,” coach Niederman said. “But if we’re going to win a game like this we’ve got to be able to play in front of a crowd like this. That’s all there is to it, and we didn’t do it tonight.”
Lloyd played most of the game without leading running back Yurli Collins Comer, who injured his left ankle on the team’s first offensive series. That made quarterback Isaiah Sebastian the team’s primary ball carrier. He picked up 110 yards on 15 carries to go along with 54 passing yards.
Late in the second quarter, Sebastian couldn’t find an open receiver on a pass play and ran 57 yards to the LexCath 22-yard line. He then completed a 15-yard pass to Tyler Copeland.
After a penalty moved the ball inside the 3-yard line, Sebastian was stopped 1 yard shy of the goal line and spiked the ball on the next play to stop the clock with nine seconds left. Sebastian then fumbled on a run up the middle and LexCath recovered the loose ball.
Niederman said he expects to have sophomore Kaleb Evans at quarterback for next week’s district seeding game against Bourbon County. Evans broke his collarbone in a preseason scrimmage and Sebastian, who usually plays wide receiver, had to assume the vacant position behind center.
“Caleb can throw it and that’ll help, for sure.” Niederman said. “The biggest thing we’ve got to do right now is stay together. We can’t start finger pointing. We’ve had a great season so far. We’ve just got to walk out of here and get better.”
The offensive leader for LexCath was quarterback Jackson Wasik. He had one rushing touchdown, passed for 238 yards and threw TD passes to three different receivers behind a solid performance by the Knights’ offensive line.
“We like the guys we’ve got on offense,” said LexCath coach Nick Baisch. “We’ve got a talented group and they got to show what they’re capable of tonight.”
LLOYD 0 0 0 0 — 0
LEXCATH 7 14 13 7 — 41
LC — Jackson Keuetzer 4 pass from Jackson Wasik (Wedding kick)
LC — Wasik 7 run (Wedding kick)
LC — Sam Clements 1 run (Wedding kick)
LC — Alex Rayyan 1 run (Wedding kick)
LC — Matthew Kern 28 pass from Wasik (pass failed)
LC — Kaylib Nelson 32 pass from Wasik (Wedding kick)
RECORDS: Lloyd 7-1, 1-1; LexCath 4-4, 2-0.
High school football scoreboard
THURSDAY
District seeding games
Newport Central Catholic 49, Dayton 8
Newport 68, Bellevue 24
FRIDAY
District seeding games
Lexington Catholic 41, Lloyd 0
Beechwood 55, Carroll County 0
Cooper 49, Boone County 7
Highlands 58, Conner 7
Covington Catholic 56, Harrison County 6
Dixie Heights 67, Scott 7
Ryle 35, Great Crossing 21
Simon Kenton 27, Campbell County 21
Holy Cross 48, Trimble County 6
Ludlow 20, Brossart 7
Walton-Verona 31, Gallatin County 20