Williamsburg falls in Class A Championship

Mere words cannot properly convey the mood after Saturday’s Class A state football championship game between the Williamsburg Yellow Jackets and the Mayfield Cardinals.

Early in the game it looked as if the Jackets would be able to win their first-ever state title in school history, but Mayfield came back and made the plays necessary to get the one-point victory in overtime, 28-27.

Fans knew coming in to this year’s championship that things would probably be different than they were a year ago, when Mayfield jumped out to a 35-0 lead in the first quarter en route to a 42-0 victory, and indeed they were very different.

This time around it was the Yellow Jackets who got off to the hot start, scoring on their second offensive possession of the game, a 16-play drive that ended with senior quarterback Skyler Griffith running into the end zone from 12-yards-out to give Williamsburg the 6-0 lead with 11:53 left in the first half. Senior Brently Patrick’s extra point kick was good, making it 7-0 in favor of the Jackets.

After forcing Mayfield to punt, Williamsburg put together another scoring drive, this time with Patrick kicking a 30-yard field goal to extend the Yellow Jacket lead to 10-0.

At this point the Cardinals were on their heels, and they looked shocked by the fact that they could neither get anything going on offense, nor make the stops they needed to on defense. They soon snapped out of it, however, and began to retaliate with their next possession.

Six plays brought the Cardinal offense down to the Williamsburg seven-yard-line where they had the ball at first-and-goal. An encroachment penalty moved the line of scrimmage up to the three, but two plays later Mayfield still had no points on the board. Then, on third-and-one, junior Johnny Hernandez was able to punch it across the goal line for six. Junior kicker Sidney Herndon booted the extra point to cut the Yellow Jacket lead to 10-7 with 3:29 remaining in the second quarter.

Williamsburg hoped to respond before the half, but senior Corey Shelton fumbled the kickoff, allowing Mayfield to recover on the Jacket 25-yard line. They were able to convert that turnover into more points, taking the 14-10 lead with less than a minute left in the half after a two-yard touchdown run from sophomore running back Trajon Bright and another successful PAT attempt from Herndon.

The Williamsburg defense forced another punt to open the third quarter of play, and on second down the offense moved the ball all the way down to the Cardinal one-yard-line thanks to a 58-yard Griffith to Shelton pass play. They were unable to score the TD, however, and had to settle for another Patrick field goal after a loss of one yard on first down, no gain on second down and a loss of five on third down set up fourth and goal from the seven-yard-line. The field goal brought them back to within one point, 14-13, with 7:53 to go in the third quarter.

Mayfield was able to block a punt a few minutes later and recover it on the opposing 41-yard-line. They were then able to extend their lead seven plays later when Hernandez was once again called on to punch it in from one-yard-out. Another Herndon extra point made it 21-13 with 2:22 remaining in the quarter.

The fourth quarter opened with the Williamsburg offense set up deep inside Mayfield territory. An incomplete pass on third down gave them fourth and goal from the four-yard-line. A big Cardinal defensive stand resulted in a turnover on downs, but they couldn’t do anything on the ensuing offensive drive.

In fact, the Jackets were able to block a punt of their own, which gave them the momentum, but another lost fumble two plays later put the momentum back on the side of the Cardinals.

That momentum was short lived though, and after the Cards went four-and-out Williamsburg took over again, scoring on a 31-yard pass play from Griffith to Shelton, who made an amazing one-handed grab in the end zone. Griffith then passed to senior running back Fred Massey for a successful two-point conversion that tied the game up at 21-21 with 4:10 left in regulation.

Junior Jacket Austin Huskey snagged an interception on the next first down, allowing Griffith and the offensive unit to go back to work in hopes of retaking the lead.

Four plays later Patrick was asked again to attempt a mid-range field goal, this time with a strong wind blowing against him. The kick missed the mark, and Mayfield did not have enough time on the clock to put together another scoring drive of their own. On this, the biggest stage in Kentucky high school football, we were headed to overtime.

The Cardinals won the coin toss and elected to go on defense first. Williamsburg lined up on the ten-yard-line and scored on their first play via a Griffith to Darrell White pass to the end zone. Head Coach Jerry Herron signaled for his team to go for the extra point, which is typically automatic, but this particular attempt sailed wide, leaving the Jackets with a 27-21 lead.

Mayfield answered right away, scoring on their first down when Bright caught a pass from sophomore QB Landon Arnett and took it to the house for six. Herndon came out for the extra point attempt, and he nailed it after a time out to give the Cardinals their third straight Class A championship.

“First of all, this is just a great group of seniors,” said Herron after the game. “We had 15 come out, and I was just really proud of the way they played today. They did everything we asked of them, but we just had some unfortunate breaks and turnovers that killed us. Mayfield is going to take advantage of that. That’s what they do, and that’s why they’ve won so many. We had a good game plan, but the mistakes just killed us.”

“Our kids played so hard, and I’m so proud of them. It was a great effort. We’re all sad and disappointed, but it is what it is. This is a great bunch, and we’re lucky to have them. They’ve done well for this program. I’ll miss them. We’ll just have to get these juniors and the rest of the team and get back to work next year.”

Mayfield 28, Williamsburg 27

MF – 0  14  7  0  7  –  28

WB – 0  10  3  8  6  –  27

WB – Skyler Griffith 12 run (Brently Patrick kick)

WB – Patrick field goal

MF – Johnny Hernandez 1 run (Sidney Herndon kick)

MF – Trajon Bright 2 run (Herndon kick)

WB – Patrick kick

MF – Hernandez 1 run (Herndon kick)

WB – Corey Shelton 31 pass from Griffith (Fred Massey pass from Griffith)

WB – Darrell White 10 pass from Griffith (kick failed)

MF – Bright 10 pass from Landon Arnett (Herndon kick)