Mayfield 38, Beechwood 14

By Matt Mulcahey
Enquirer contributor

Football is often a game of inches, tiny increments that can determine victory and defeat. But sometimes it’s instead the enormous swings that define a game – seismic shifts in momentum that tilt a contest one way or the other.

On Friday, it was those enormous swings that doomed Beechwood as it fell at home in the Class A state semifinals, 38-14, to unbeaten Mayfield for the second consecutive year.

The Tigers (10-4) have advanced to the semifinal round seven of the last nine years, including state championship runs in 2004, 2007 and 2008. Those achievements did little to lessen the sting of Beechwood’s playoff exit for coach Noel Rash.

“Our expectations are state titles. That’s exactly what this senior class expected,” Rash said. “We just came up short. We’ve got to get back to the drawing board and find a way to beat (Mayfield) and that’s not going to be an easy task.”

The first of the game’s enormous swings came on the opening possession when Beechwood running back Cameron Vocke fumbled after the Tigers had driven all the way down to Mayfield’s 28-yard line. The Cardinals took full advantage, marching 78 yards in the opposite direction capped by a 57-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Luke Guhy to Javarius Richardson.

The next swing came late in the second quarter after a 28-yard Tiger touchdown pass from Michael Colosimo to Corey Cruse cut Beechwood’s deficit to14-7 with two minutes left to play in the half. That was more than enough for the Cardinals, who needed only 80 seconds to advance down the field and score to take a 21-7 halftime lead.

“(That touchdown) gave us some breathing room and got our guys pumped up in the locker room,” Mayfield coach Joe Morris said.

The Cardinals’ touchdown before the break forced the run-first Tigers to take to the air. Colosimo, who averages 14 pass attempts per game, threw 30 times on Friday. Mayfield’s lead also effectively took Vocke out of the game. The junior halfback entered the contest with 1,841 yards and 32 touchdowns. He managed only 47 yards on 10 carries versus the Cardinals – all of them in the first half.

The final swing in momentum arrived late in the third quarter. A 9-yard touchdown pass from Colosimo to Cruz pulled the Tigers to within 24-14. On the ensuing kickoff Mayfield senior Devin Jones muffed the return, but managed to scoop up his fumble at his own 1-yard line and bolt 99 yards for a touchdown.

“That kickoff return was the dagger. We got a little momentum swing and then they just stuck it too us,” Rash said. “It was a few things here and there, but that’s what (games) always come (down) to You’ve got to make breaks for yourselves and we didn’t.”

Kevin Weaks on Graves County’s playoff loss, more Mayfield dominance

Mayfield Messenger sports editor Kevin Weaks makes his weekly visit to the Froggyland Sports Network, and Kevin opens this week’s visit with a look at Graves County’s season-ending loss at Louisville Male in the second round of the 6A playoffs.  Kevin details the way the Eagles battled the Bulldogs all night long, hanging tough until a late burst by Male put the game away on the way to a 42-20 win.  He saysLarry Brown played as well as he has all year for Graves County, and he says Zach Crawford’s fine all-around play provided a fitting finale in his final game as an Eagle.  Kevin talks about the many graduation losses that Graves will have to deal with, and he gives us a look at the key pieces returning and the young players that will have to step up.  Kevin then takes us through Mayfield’s 56-7 win over Ballard Memorial, a thoroughly dominant performance that keeps the Cardinals rolling toward Bowling Green.  He chronicles the big plays authored by the balanced offense, and he discusses the great defense that bottled up the Bombers talented offense.  Kevin then gives us a preview of Mayfield’s regional title matchup at Holy Cross, a team that excels behind a power running attack.  He believes Mayfield’s defensive front should be equal to the task, and he says the Cougars will have a hard time slowing down Mayfield’s multi-dimensional offensive juggernaut.

Listen to this segment

Joey Fosko previews 2A and 1A regional title tilts

In part two of his visit to the Travis Turner Sports Show, the Paducah Sun’s Joey Fosko turns his attention to the 2A and 1A regional championship games. Joe says Murray’s 49-15 demolition of Fort Campbell was very impressive, and he believes that the Tigers trip to Owensboro Catholic could yield the state’s best third-round game. Joe talks about the extreme difference between the two clubs, with the Aces excelling with their wide-open spread offense and the Tigers rolling behind their sledgehammer run game. He believes the most interesting matchup of the night could be the Aces passing game against that stout Murray defense. In Class A, Mayfield heads to Louisville as the favorite, and Joe says Holy Cross must run the football well and keep the Cardinals offense off the field if they hope to make things interesting. Speed caused the Cougars a lot of problems in their loss to Paducah Tilghman, and Joe says the Mayfield playmakers should take advantage of that often enough to keep moving on toward Bowling Green. Joe also down-sizes to the Foz-tastic Four, as he ranks the four outstanding clubs left standing from far western Kentucky.

Listen to this segment

Joey Fosko’s Breakdown of A and AA playoffs.

The Paducah Sun’s Joey Fosko makes his weekly visit to the Travis Turner Sports Show, and Joe opens up discussing Mayfield’s clinical destruction of Caldwell County, a win that lifted the #1 Cardinals to a 10-0 mark in 2010.  The high-flying Redbirds enter the Class A playoffs as a state title contender, and Joe says Mayfield will roll through their playoff opener with Caverna.  He says Bethlehem could give Crittenden County a bit of a push, but likes the Rockets to move on to round two.  Joe highlights Ballard Memorial’s trip to Kentucky Country Day as one of the first round’s best matchups, and he thinks the Bombers have a great chance to win a playoff opener on the road for the third straight year.  Fulton County’s trip to Louisville will find them a heavy underdog to Holy Cross.  Joe also talks about Murray’s rise to #1 in 2A, and he pays tribute to the Tigers second straight perfect regular season.  He makes the Tigers a big favorite over Todd County Central, and he says Hancock County at Caldwell County could be a terrific battle.  Joe favors Fort Campbell over Trigg County at the post, and he says that Reidland’s exposure to postseason play will be a positive, but that the ‘Hounds season should end at Owensboro Catholic.

Here is the audio link of Joey Fosko’s breakdown of the A and AA playoffs:  http://www.froggylandsports.com/radioshows/jfosko11-2-10%20(1).mp3

Beechwood vs. Newport Central Catholic 10-30-2010

Here is the video to the Beechwood vs. Newport Central Catholic game that went into double overtime. Thought you fans would like see this: Beechwood vs. Newport Central Catholic