By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
When his team won the pregame coin toss, Ludlow football coach Woody McMillan elected to kick the ball to Newport and put his defensive unit to the test in the opening series of a Class 1A playoff game on Friday at Ludlow.
Five plays later, the ball was snapped directly to Newport running back Rodzion Thompson and he broke free on a 49-yard touchdown run to give his team a 6-0 lead.
From that point on, however, Ludlow’s defense dictated the outcome of the game and the Panthers came away with a 28-6 victory that puts them in the Class 1A region finals for the first time since 1975.
“Defensively, we played balls to the wall,” coach McMillan said. “I can’t say enough about our guys. They buy into everything we say and give us great effort.”
Newport ended the game with a net total of 109 yards that included minus-2 yards rushing. Five quarterback sacks had a lot to do with that.
Penalties also plagued the Wildcats, who were flagged six times for 62 yards on offense and 11 times for 64 yards on defense.
Ludlow finished with 224 total yards (184 rushing, 40 passing). The team leader was sophomore Dameyn Anness, who rushed for 107 yards on 30 carries and caught four passes for 14 yards. He also scored three touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions for 22 points.
Anness tied the score, 6-6, on a 1-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. In the second quarter, he capped a 10-play, 55-yard drive with a 6-yard run into the end zone. Then he scored a two-point conversion that gave the Panthers a 14-8 lead.
Ludlow turned the ball over on downs at the Newport 19-yard line late in the third quarter. But on their next offensive possession the Panthers put together another 55-yard scoring drive that ended on a 9-yard touchdown run by junior Aiden Smith-Baxley with 8:07 left in the fourth quarter.
“That really showed a difference from how it was last year,” Ludlow senior linebacker Matt Engel said of those two possessions. “Last year, when we get down there (near the goal line) and didn’t punch it in we just like shutdown. It’s different this year. With the morale and the confidence we have, it’s big.”
A quarterback sack on a fourth-down play at the 25-yard line gave the ball back to Ludlow. Three players later, Anness scored his third TD on an 18-yard run down the sideline with 5:25 remaining.
Ludlow (8-4) will play Kentucky Country Day (10-2) in one of four Class 1A region finals next Friday in Louisville. The Panthers did not know their opponent until long after Friday’s victory, but that didn’t seem to matter.
“They’ll be ready,” coach McMillen said of his team. “They’re going to give us everything they’ve got no matter who we play against. They’re going to battle.”
If they win next Friday’s game, the Panthers will be in the state semifinals for the first time since 1975 when they won their first and only state championship.
“Coaches always tell us we’ve got to make our mark because it’s been a long time since we’ve been here,” Engel said.
LUDLOW 6 8 0 14 — 28
NEWPORT 6 0 0 0 — 6
N — Thompson 49 run (run failed)
L — Anness 1 run (kick failed)
L — Anness 6 run (Anness run)
L — Smith-Baxley 9 run (Anness run)
L — Anness 18 run (kick failed)
RECORDS: Ludlow 8-4, Newport 8-4.
High school football playoffs
FRIDAY SCORES
Newport Central Catholic 43, Dayton 19
Ludlow 28, Newport 6
Beechwood 42, Breathitt County 12
East Carter 20, Lloyd 7
Covington Catholic 35, Ashland Blazer 28
Cooper 49, Scott County 21
Highlands 40, Dixie Heights 7
Ryle 43, Bullitt East 20
NEXT WEEK’S REGION FINALS
Ryle (8-4) at Bryan Station (9-3)
Cooper (10-2) at Pulaski Southwestern (9-3)
North Laurel (8-4) at Highlands (11-1)
Johnson Central (9-3) at Covington Catholic (12-0)
Martin County (7-5) at Beechwood (11-1)
Newport Central Catholic (8-4) at Campbellsville (10-1)
Ludlow (8-4) at Kentucky Country Day (10-2)