Jackets’ season comes to an end with 27-7 loss in state semi-finals

The Williamsburg Yellow Jackets football season came to a grinding halt in the Class A state semi-finals Friday with a 27-7 loss at Kentucky Country Day.

“I thought our youth and inexperience showed tonight,” said Coach Jerry Herron, Jr.

Herron saw his team miss several opportunities to match the Bearcats as the Yellow Jackets drove deep into KCD territory, only to be unable to score.

“This was a closer game than the final score showed,” Herron said.

After KCD had marched down the field in the first quarter to go up, 8-0, the Yellow Jackets quickly answered.

Sophomore quarterback Sydney Bowen found senior wide receiver Gavon Thomas on a 58-yard touchdown strike. With the extra point, Williamsburg cut the lead to 8-7.

With just over two minutes remaining in the half, KCD punched in another touchdown run to extend the lead to 14-7.

Williamsburg appeared to be driving for a potential tying score, but KCD was able to force a fumble and recover it to end the drive.

KCD took the second half kickoff. The Williamsburg defense appeared to stall the drive near midfield, but the Bearcats continued to pound the ball, reaching the Williamsburg 22-yard line.

A personal foul call against the Bearcats had them facing first-and-20 on the Williamsburg 35-yard line.

KCD, who had been feeding the Yellow Jackets a steady dose of power running all night, went to the air, hitting a touchdown pass to extend the lead to 20-7.

The Yellow Jackets again couldn’t answer, and KCD added a late score to seal the win.

“We lost to a good team but we just didn’t handle the pressure well,” he said.

“Our kids played hard,” he said.

Williamsburg finished the season at 6-3, taking home the district title and region championship.

Williamsburg will be losing 11 seniors.

However, in addition to Bowen at quarterback, Herron will see the return of a number of key players including running back Marty Gilley, receiver Jayden Rainwater, linemen Jordan Hurst Casey Kysar, and Connor Lay, linebackers Chris Howard and Bronson Bates, and defensive back Cade Hatcher.