By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
All Kyle Niederman wanted for his Lloyd Memorial program this season was to move up, to get up onto the top step with the perennial upper-tier teams in Northern Kentucky.
All they had to do was prove themselves in the postseason, the Lloyd head coach figured.
Mission accomplished, pretty much.
A back-and-forth 27-20 loss to another 13-0 team, Murray’s Tigers, in the Class 3A semi-state championship game will keep the Juggernauts from making it to UK’s Kroger Field next Saturday for the state championship game against Christian Academy Louisville. But the Juggs could see it from Cecil Dees Field where a capacity crowd — despite the temperature down at 25 degrees — had gathered for Lloyd’s coming out party.
Highlands, Covington Catholic, Cooper all were gone before this week. And as Beechwood and Ryle joined Lloyd as semi-state losers Friday in a shutout championship season for Northern Kentucky football, the only thing that kept the Juggs from being the last man standing was the Central Time Zone start for the other two.
And after rallying from a 17-6 deficit with two third quarter TD for a 20-17 lead, Lloyd couldn’t quite hold on. Give Murray credit. Not only did the Tigers overcome the 317-mile trek from far western Kentucky, they did so after losing their starting senior quarterback Wyatt Robbins right before halftime to an ankle injury. But they survived with freshman Kenyon Cunningham making just enough plays with all the talent – and size – surrounding him.
But that wasn’t the story in Erlanger. Lloyd’s Juggs were. As Niederman told them after the game: “I’m proud of you,” he told them. “The coaches are proud of you . . . the school’s proud of you.”
And while “they didn’t take care of business” on this night, and neither did he, “the test of a winner is how you handle it.” Like when the non-seniors start back at it in January with weights and conditioning.
Senior quarterback and team leader Kaleb Evans, after throwing a 98-yard TD pass to speedy sophomore Colten Barger, thanked Niederman for not just making him a better quarterback during his four varsity years here, but “for showing me how to be a better man” something that will stay with him years after he’s out of high school.
That’s the idea, Niederman told his team, how they handle this loss is what matters here. It’s about what comes next.
Like with Barger, a 6-foot, 165-pounder who plays all three sports with baseball and basketball and would be ideal for track with his 4.5/4.6 speed in the 40-yard dash.
“One of the best receivers in the state,” Evans called the young guy who got loose for that 98-yard TD catch that turned everything around at a time when the Juggs were in serious trouble.
So what was he thinking when he got out front on that length-of-the-field TD catch? No surprise here. “I was hoping they didn’t catch me.”
With his speed, that wasn’t going to happen. And on the ensuing two-point attempt, Barger’s speed on the double reverse was too much for the Murray defenders.
But in the end, Murray just had too many athletes, too much depth and too much size up front for Lloyd to hold on after going ahead, 20-17, on an Evans’ sneak with 3:43 left in the third quarter after two Evans’ completions for 30 yards on an eight-play, 67-yard drive following a lost Cunningham fumble the Juggs jumped on.
But Lloyd just couldn’t take advantage of all the opportunities that came the Juggs’ way, like getting inside the 10 twice while giving up the ball on an interception at the Murray 7 for three chances to score with no points by the first possession of the second half.
“We fought hard,” Niederman said, “we got 13 wins, we’re district champs, region champs . . . “ And they bring back lots of young skill players like Barger and a pair of juniors — wide receiver Isaiah Jones and running back Avery Conrad.
But it was his senior class Niederman saluted. “They led by example . . . we were a good TEAM,” he said with an emphasis on T-E-A-M.
“Say goodbye to the seniors,” Kyle finished his postgame remarks, “take Monday off and we’ll see you all Tuesday.”
Then one final moment, together: “On three,” the coach and his Juggs said, “Family.”
SCORING SUMMARY
MURRAY 7 10 0 10–27
LLOYD 6 0 14 0—20
Murray: Robbins 5 run (Forza PAT kick good)
Lloyd: Tomlinson 1 pass from Evans (PAT kick fails)
Murray: Forza 30 FG good
Murray: Rickman 1 run (Forza PAT kick good)
Lloyd: Barger 98 pass from Evans (Barger run for two points)
Lloyd: Evans 1 run (two-point PAT pass fails)
Murray: Rickman 1 run (Forza PAT kick good)
Murray: Forza 21 FG
