Favorite games

[Rocketfan13]

2007 Shelby County at Scott County. First round of play-offs

1st game Scott won 40-34. Shelby was down 29-7 after the 1st quarter. Shelby wins 60-56. Alex Matthews throws for 500+ yards and tied a state record with 9 TDs. WR Jordan Burk had 11 receptions for 266yds and tied a state record with 6TDs.

[Flotsam]

2006 Cov. Cath. playoff win over a very tough Johnson Central squad. Beautiful day to drive into the mountains. Great atmosphere in the stadium. Largest grill on earth. Very gracious hosts. Pre-game montage of music on an A+++ sound system incuded the theme from Deliverance (much to the enjoyment of the hosts and their guests... a good laugh had by all.) National anthem by an enormous Johnson Central lineman in uniform - he nailed it. Johnson Central girls choral club sings My Old Kentucky home - knocked it out of the park. Sellout crowd. Great weather. Great fans. Johnson Central scores - fireworks go off. Cov. Cath. scores -fireworks go off, courtesy of a group of Paintsville fans as we later found out (Paintsville/Johnson Central must be some kind of rivalry). Great game. Great sportsmanship post-game. Johnson Central did such a great job hosting the game, I will not bother with a 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th favorite.

[theguru]

1. 1984 Beechwood 35 Paris 26 (1A Final): Nothing can be better than playing in the finals and winning it all.

 

2. 2002 Trinity 59 Male 56 (4A Final): It was a defining moment for KY high school football.

 

3. 1996 Nelson County 35 Paul Dunbar 34 OT (4A Final): It was a beautiful day and two tremendous public schools battled it out. I can still hear John Tong saying, “At quarterback for Nelson County, Gabe Stone.”

 

4. 2002 Trinity 44 Elder 20 (at Ryle): With Elder going on to win the Ohio D1 title I think it is the biggest win (outside of championships) ever for a KY high school football team.

 

5. 1995 Mayfield 28 Beechwood 27 (1A Final): I still maintain Beechwood was the better team and to this day the game doesn’t sit right with me but this is a list about great games and this was one great game.

[jbwill2]

Highlands - Cincinnati Elder (2000) at Paul Brown Stadium... the crowd was HUGE, the weather was perfect, the stadium was very new and (most importantly) the two teams played well. Elder won the game 21-14 and the outcome was up in the air until the very end. Plus, the game even had a very controversial call in it that likely had a big, big impact on the outcome. What a game!

[jbwill2]

1. 1984 Beechwood 35 Paris 26 (1A Final): Nothing can be better than playing in the finals and winning it all.

 

2. 2002 Trinity 59 Male 56 (4A Final): It was a defining moment for KY high school football.

 

3. 1996 Nelson County 35 Paul Dunbar 34 OT (4A Final): It was a beautiful day and two tremendous public schools battled it out. I can still hear John Tong saying, “At quarterback for Nelson County, Gabe Stone.”

 

4. 2002 Trinity 44 Elder 20 (at Ryle): With Elder going on to win the Ohio D1 title I think it is the biggest win (outside of championships) ever for a KY high school football team.

 

5. 1995 Mayfield 28 Beechwood 27 (1A Final): I still maintain Beechwood was the better team and to this day the game doesn’t sit right with me but this is a list about great games and this was one great game.

 

Great post! Guru, I am very curious about what you meant when you wrote that the Trinity-Male 2002 4A title game was "a defining moment for KY high school football." If Male had won this back-and-forth game instead of Trinity, would the significance of this game have been different?

 

PS I fully agree with what you said about Trinity-Elder... even including championships it's likely the most significant modern HS football game involving a KY team. I suspect it's going to be a LONG, LONG time until another KY team defeats an Ohio team that goes on to win the D1 state title that year.

[RockPride]

^ I don't normally like to speak for other people, BUT, that game included a bunch of Div 1 players, two KY legends in Bush and Brohm, yards, TD's, and an int late to seal it. Add to that both teams were undefeated, AND ranked nationally in the USA Today. The post game got national publicity, and was even writting about in a book about great sporting events in American history, Not till the fat lady sings .

[theguru]

RP nailed it.

 

I may put the Highland/Elder game at PBS #6 on my list.

 

Also, RP, Coach Lampley sure had you guys eating out of his hand, no way in the world T was a huge underdog in that game.

[The Golfer]

1999 4A State Championship: Bryan Station vs. St. X

 

St. X wins on 4th and Goal in Overtime.

[theguru]

1999 4A State Championship: Bryan Station vs. St. X

 

St. X wins on 4th and Goal in Overtime.

 

I agree that was a great one too and one I considered for my list.

 

What are your other four?

[offside]

I've been lucky to have been between the lines for some real classics. Here's my top 5:

 

1. 2006 Regular Season, Covington Catholic at Highlands: Incredible last-second catch in the corner of the endzone. Cov Cath ran an amazing number of plays in the last 20 (or so) ticks of the clock to move the ball from their own territory.

 

2. 2007 6A State Final, T v. X: The runner was down before the alleged fumble. At least I'm pretty sure. (I'm kidding! But I couldn't resist.)

 

3. 2006 4A Regional Final, Trinity at Male: Male's heroic, last second drive fell short of the goal line by less than a yard. H players left it ALL on the field.

 

4. 2004 Regular Season, Boyle County at Highlands: Boyle wins on a last minute punt return for a TD. One of the hardest hits I've ever seen (from Mr. Mitchell, I believe). Despite only having 8,000 fans crammed in there, it was too loud to hear our whistles the entire game.

 

5. 2003 2A Semi-Final, E-town v. Owensboro Catholic: A blinding, sideways blowing snowstorm. Oh, and it was c-c-cold too. A guy on the chain crew offered me a nip of brandy to stay warm. Regretfully, had to politely decline the offer. Don't remember who won, but it was a tale of two halves.

 

I think the 2002 Trinity v. Male 4A Final was probably the greatest game ever. But I had to watch it on TV, so it doesn't make my list.

Edited July 19, 2008 by offside
should't tell secrets

[The Golfer]

I agree that was a great one too and one I considered for my list.

 

What are your other four?

 

OK, I will give my list

 

1. Bryan Station vs. St. X: State Championship Game 4A 1999: This game came down to the final play in overtime for a State Championship where St. X came out on top, my favorite game of all time.

 

2. Highlands vs. Bell County: Final Four 3A 2004: The favorite for the title vs. the underdog and for 3 and a half quarters the underdog won the battle but could not hang on at the end. Maybe the greatest atmosphere for a game I have ever been too.

 

3. Madison Central vs. Dunbar 1996: Last Game of Regular Season for District Championship: Madison Central enters the game 9-0 and Dunbar enters at 8-1. Madison Central wins 20-6 to go 10-0 with a serious shot to win the State Championship and was beaten by Boone County two weeks later and Dunbar came out of that region beating Boone County a week after Boone beat Central and made it to the finals to play Nelson County where they lost by one point in overtime.

 

4. Highlands vs. Boyle County State Championship Game 2004: With Mike Mitchell not playing in the finals there was a serious doubt if Highlands could hang on and beat Boyle as they did earlier in the season and knock of the 5 time in a row State Champions from Boyle County.

 

5. Madison Southern vs. Boyle County: Regional Championship 1996: This was a game that made an impression on me having my dad teach at Madison Southern and being a Principal in Berea and the week before Madison Southern upset the undeafeated Corbin Redhounds and was beating Boyle County 28-14 in the 4th Quarter but Boyle came back and went for a two point conversion with only seconds left and the game with the score at 27-28 and the two point try was good and Boyle came back to win 29-28, a crushing blow for the people of Berea. This game took place a week after Madison Central's undefeated season came to an end and the roar in Berea that week was nothing anyone has ever seen up that point and since then.

[jbwill2]

4. 2004 Regular Season, Boyle County at Highlands: Boyle wins on a last minute punt return for a TD. One of the hardest hits I've ever seen (from Mr. Mitchell, I believe). Despite only having 8,000 fans crammed in there, it was too loud to hear our whistles the entire game.

 

I think you are mixing up two different games. In 2003 Danville beat Highlands on a last-minute punt return for a TD. In 2004 HHS beat Boyle County 21-0 (on the field, at least, as the game was later forfeited), and yes it was Mitchell who laid a huge hit on BC's Givhan.

[RockPride]

RP nailed it.

 

I may put the Highland/Elder game at PBS #6 on my list.

 

Also, RP, Coach Lampley sure had you guys eating out of his hand, no way in the world T was a huge underdog in that game.

 

Something about being 17 years old, I guess, :lol: . . . .

 

They showed us the LIT ratings and we were a ton of points behind them....

[YepItsMe]

1991 Bowling Green Purples vs Paducah Tillman, BGHS won. Only to get beat by Meade Co. in Semi-state.

[Son of Bear]

Maybe not some of the state's classics, but some of my favorites include:

 

1. Bryan Station vs. St. X 1999 State Championship Game Both teams were loaded, and you can't ask for more in a game to decide a state title. It was fun watching a team with less than 50 players up against an army and holding their own.

 

2. Madison Central vs. Scott County 2004 Regional Championship Ted Sberna and Percy Hargrove gashed Central's defense, only to have Paul Warford and Ryan Barnes return the favor. Scott County took multiple leads of 21 points only to see MC get an onside kick and have a chance to win it at the end. Awesome game if you love offense.

 

3. Louisville Central vs. Pulaski Southwestern 2006 Regional Championship Again, not much defense being played by either side...Tim Huegley was a terror for Central scoring literally every other time he touched the rock. Southwestern went to the air and had their chances in the final seconds only to Central break up 4 straight passes in the endzone to seal the win.

4. Madison Central vs. Tates Creek 1999 Regular Season The Commodores were in the midst of 4 straight state semi appearances and Joe Ruddell made some comments leading up to the game that added fuel to the fire. MC comes out led by Ryan Jones, Tee Parks, and Joey Duff on offense and sticks it to TC 42-19 in Lexington.

 

5. Highlands vs. Rockcastle County 2000 State Semis Even though the game wasn't close, the atmosphere at the Rock was incredible leading up to kickoff, and that Highlands team was loaded with Grover, Hamblen, Rob Smith, Gino, Ben Scott, etc.