Unblemished Tigers Welcome Second Straight Undefeated Visitor To Bardstown With State Final Berth Up For Grabs

Records: Bardstown (13-0) | Mason County (13-0)

BGP Ranking: Bardstown (#2 in 3A) | Mason County (#6 in 3A)

Series History: First ever meeting 

Table Setter: Bardstown's namesake has nothing to do with the lyrical stylings of a "bard", but the Tigers are spinning an epic tale of Shakespeare-ian proportions this season. Despite mounting injuries, they've continued to win without fail. The most recent outing produced a score no one saw coming, as the Tigers hung 66 points on previously unbeaten Union County. Shannon Tonge housed the opening kickoff and the Tigers never looked back. In fact, the only looking back this year, has been done by the fleet footed duo of Tonge and Tyleeq Williams as they glance over their shoulders at the defensive pursuit behind them.

They'll be pursued by "royalty" this week, as in the Royals from Maysville. This will be the furthest west Mason County has ever traveled for a football game. They'll try to pack up the defensive effort of the last three weeks and take it with them. Safety Terrell Henry helps set the tone on that side of the ball from his center field position. He's a 6'3" ball hawk that's pilfered seven passes this year and, as Greenup County found out last week, doesn't shy away from contact. Additionally, he provides big play ability in the passing game, averaging 25 yards per catch with nine touchdowns among his 26 receptions. 

You need look no further than the combined 26-0 record to know these two expect to win every week. It's a testament to the coaching prowess of both David Clark and Joe Wynn. Clark has done an exceptional job working a puzzle as injuries have piled up, while Wynn is doing a masterful job in his ground up rebuild in Maysville. But only one will have the opportunity to finish the season with a shot at the ultimate prize.

Stellar prose, my man. Well done.

It will be our pleasure to welcome the Royals to the Bourbon City. I honestly don’t know much about Mason County. I would love to be enlightened. It looks like a huge roster, a senior-laden starting lineup of skill position players, and what appears to be a balanced attack. What else?

This one intrigues me. Both teams have had awesome seasons, especially Bardstown with all they have experienced with injuries throughout the season and continuing to win without trouble. Mason County has been nothing but excellent under Joe Wynn as their coach, which I pretty much expected. I could see either team winning, but with Bardstown’s resilience and the distance from Maysville to there, I think I’ll pick Bardstown to win. Good luck to both teams and I hope it’s a good game, which I believe will be.

It's hard to pick against an undefeated team in the semi-finals, but unfortunately, to their credit, both are undefeated so someone is going to have to lose this week.  My Rams have only played Bardstown twice, I think, 90 and 91.  I remember making the trip to Bardstown in 91 and taking on a Bardstown team that was winning a lot of games then.  

Mason County is not far from me and I still have good memories of the Buchannon years with the Royals and it looks like Wynn has aspirations of returning to those winning ways.  

I'm giving Bardstown the nod at home.  

Go for the tie on the road and the win at home:

Bardstown wins 22-21 with the conversion to end the game. 

44 minutes ago, Ram said:

It's hard to pick against an undefeated team in the semi-finals, but unfortunately, to their credit, both are undefeated so someone is going to have to lose this week.  My Rams have only played Bardstown twice, I think, 90 and 91.  I remember making the trip to Bardstown in 91 and taking on a Bardstown team that was winning a lot of games then.  

Mason County is not far from me and I still have good memories of the Buchannon years with the Royals and it looks like Wynn has aspirations of returning to those winning ways.  

I'm giving Bardstown the nod at home.  

Go for the tie on the road and the win at home:

Bardstown wins 22-21 with the conversion to end the game. 

90 was Joey Downs’ first season. It was rough sledding, the Tigers went 1-10. ‘91 they started winning at some point, ran into Craig Yeast and Harrodsburg and lost in 3 OT in the playoffs, and finished 7-5. Bardstown went to Class A state in ‘92 and ‘93, losing to Beechwood both years.

31 minutes ago, Hearsay said:

90 was Joey Downs’ first season. It was rough sledding, the Tigers went 1-10. ‘91 they started winning at some point, ran into Craig Yeast and Harrodsburg and lost in 3 OT in the playoffs, and finished 7-5. Bardstown went to Class A state in ‘92 and ‘93, losing to Beechwood both years.

That Class A region in the early 90s with Bardstown, Washington County, and Campbellsville on one side and Harrodsburg, Garrard County, and Lexington Catholic on the other made for some outstanding postseason football.

Going for the underdogs. People said Mason Co schedule was soft, but here they are. Bardstown is impressive,  but I'm calling an upset. 34- 28 Royals.

2 hours ago, Hearsay said:

90 was Joey Downs’ first season. It was rough sledding, the Tigers went 1-10. ‘91 they started winning at some point, ran into Craig Yeast and Harrodsburg and lost in 3 OT in the playoffs, and finished 7-5. Bardstown went to Class A state in ‘92 and ‘93, losing to Beechwood both years.

Gotcha.  I thought they were doing better in the years leading up to those two matchups.  Maybe it was more nostalgia at the time.  But, those were good games. 

Is Bardstown healing up or just playing with next man up?  Any likely returners this week?

I picked Bardstown, but don't know much about the Royals.

1 hour ago, Purple88 said:

Is Bardstown healing up or just playing with next man up?  Any likely returners this week?

I picked Bardstown, but don't know much about the Royals.

Next man up. Tigers lost Senior two-way starter Logan McMillan-Grundy in the second quarter with a knee injury. His status unknown for next week. Tigers plugged in sophomore Tykeem Taul-Williams to cover, and he proved to be a very good downfield blocker for freshmen insert Sevyn Hamilton, who ran for two TD’s filling in for Ty Ty Williams, who was pulled out in the 3rd quarter when Union began dragging him down by the horse collar. We hadn’t seen Hamilton since blowout wins over John Hardin and Marion County earlier this year. On defense, they flexed junior linebacker Kyan Lydian to McMillan’s strong safety spot, and inserted freshmen Devin Newsome, a special teams coverage artist, at linebacker. He promptly had a sack and a defended a pass.

Again, the staff has really done a stellar job of prepping the whole package instead of just the first string.

Podcast Game of the Week! Airs Thanksgiving, 7:30 pm!

 

17 minutes ago, ChiefSmoke said:

Podcast Game of the Week! Airs Thanksgiving, 7:30 pm!

 

Give me the link, Chief, and I will spread it around the Bourbon City.

9 minutes ago, Hearsay said:

Give me the link, Chief, and I will spread it around the Bourbon City.

Here you go. Thanks for the help!

 

https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-coaches-office

Just a heads up for Royals fans, the “Light Up” Bardstown event, where the city turns on the Christmas lights for the entire downtown from the courthouse Square and in the middle of town down the various roads, is scheduled for 6-8 PM on Friday. They shut down the roads downtown starting at about 5:00 or so. The school and field IS accessible from both exits off the BG, but it will crowded. Plan accordingly.