CHAMPIONS: BCMS Football captures KY Middle School State Football Title

With two convincing wins over the weekend, the Butler County Middle School Bears 8th grade football team brought a Kentucky Middle School State Championship football trophy back to Morgantown on Sunday The championship is the culmination of a perfect, storybook season for the Bears, who finished with and unblemished 14-0 record. Leading the Bears on the sidelines this season were Head Coach Lloyd Havens and Assistant Coach Mark Allen.

The championship run began in earnest on Saturday after the Bears had previously defeated Union County and Mayfield in playoff rounds. Butler County, #1 seed from Region One, faced Lexington Christian Academy Middle (LCA), the Region 2 champion, in semi-finals of the Division 3- KYMSFA state playoffs on Saturday, November 3. The BCMS Bears rolled over LCA 40-16 and punched a ticket for a shot at the championship the following day.

The BCMS Bears set the tone early, when on its first possession quarterback Rex Henderson hit wide receiver Blake Graham for a 51-yard touchdown pass. Graham then ran for the two-point conversion. BCMS takes a 8-0 lead with 7:15 left in the first quarter of play.

LCA then responded with a textbook drive of their own and was threatening to score before the drive before an errant pass was interrupted by safety Rex Henderson in the end zone. Henderson returned it 102 yards for a touchdown. Graham ran the two-point conversion to give the Bears a 16-0 with 4:32 left in the first quarter.

On Henderson's 102 yard interception runback for a touchdown, the public address announced that a new KYMSFA playoff record was set in the five-year history of the middle school state playoffs.

At the halftime break, the Bears led 16-0. However, with rain and a wet football, the Bears went to the running game almost exclusively. The second half of play the BCMS offense gave LCA a heavy dose of trying to stop the run. LCA was no match. QB Henderson, with 4:26 left in the third quarter of play, rambled 75 yards on a keeper for another BCMS touchdown. Graham converted the two-point run conversion again, making the score 24-0.

The Bears' defense throughout the day was relentless, forced LCA to throw (3) three interceptions.

Butler County running back Blake Graham to the call on the next possession and broke free for the 55-yard touchdown run. Graham also ran for the two-point conversion, to give Butler County a 32-0 lead with 1:49 left in the third quarter.

Early in the fourth, the Bears continued to roll up the points behind great run blocking by an offensive line and power fullback Dillon Brosnan, who opened gaping holes all day for Henderson and Graham.

Later, Henderson, on another QB keeper, bolted 51 yards for the touchdown. Graham again got the call for two, converting his fourth two-point conversion run of the day. With 7: 14 left to play in the game, the Bears held a commanding 40-0 advantage.

By KYMSFA rules, once a game has a 35-point margin a running clock goes into effect and does not stop. Head Coach Lloyd Havens then saw that every BCMS player got playing time in the fourth quarter of play. LCA was able to put up 16 points but it was too little, too late. The final score was BCMS 40, LCA 16.

Here is a quick look at the numbers inside the game.

BCMS Defensive Stats:

D. Brosnan 5 tackles/ 2 assist

Kaleb Casey 5 tackles/1 assist

Ty Smith 2 tackles/ 2 assists

K. Hunt 2 tackles/ 2 assists

K. White 2 tackles/ 1 assist

I. Flener 1 tackle/ 2 assist

B. Grubb 1 tackle

S. Gaskey 1 tackle

L. Cameron 2 assists

B. Graham 3 tackles/ 2 interceptions

BCMS LCA

First Downs 7 12

Yds. Rushing 245 96

Yds. Passing 89 140

Total Offense 334 236

Total # Plays 21 47

Interceptions 0 3

Fumbles Lost 2 0

Penalties 1/5yd 1/5yd

Time of Possession 7:53 24:07

BCMS Rushing Stats:

R. Henderson- 6 carries/150yds (2TD)

B. Graham- 5 carries/83yds (1TD)

D. Brosnan- 3 carries/12yds

BCHS Receiving Stats:

B. Graham- 4 catches/85 yds (1TD)

K. Casey- 1 catch/ 5yds

BCMS Passing Stats:

R. Henderson 6 completions/ 7 attempts 89 yds. (1TD)

Score by Quarters: 1 2 3 4 Final

BCMS 16 0 16 8 40

LCA 0 0 0 16 16

* * *

BCMS 44 Raceland Middle 8

State Champions - Perfect 14-0 Season

The BCMS Bears, on Sunday, November 4, won the KYMSFA Division 3, 8th Grade State Championship title by crushing the undefeated Raceland Rams Middle School from Greenup County by the score of 44-8. The game was played in front of an overflow crowd of BCMS fans that made the drive to Lexington Catholic High School.

Raceland Middle took the opening drive of the game and took the early 8-0 lead with 3:45 in the first quarter of play. Raceland was averaging over 40 points per game coming into the championship. On Saturday in the semi-final round, they defeated Campbellsville Middle 50-26. Raceland as their huge offensive line and bigger-than- average running backs to this point had simply overwhelmed opponents by dominating the line of scrimmage.

But that would be the only touchdown of the day for the undefeated Raceland Rams. The BCMS Bears defense for the rest of the day was relentless. Playing fast with gang tackling and swarming to the football, the Bears' defensive unit completely frustrated the Rams running attack. Throughout the course of the game the Rams on fourth down situations would be stopped cold and the Bears would take over on downs. The Rams fumbled four times during the contest - two of those to be recovered by the Bears. Head Coach Lloyd Havens had high praise for the entire defensive unit that made key adjustments just hours before the game.

Offensively, the Bears left no doubt that the short lived 8-0 lead by the Rams would not hold up. On the first Bears possession just 40 seconds after Raceland took the lead, quarterback Rex Henderson hit a wide open Blake Graham on a 44-yard bomb stunning the Rams' secondary. The conversion pass for two failed; Bears trail 8-6.

On the following possession, the Rams fumbled and Bears recovered. The combo pass of Henderson to Graham, this time from 29 yards out. The touchdown made the score 12-8. Graham got the call and ran in the two-point conversion. BCMS led 14-8 with 2:44 left in the first quarter.

The Bears defense again took the field and slammed the door on the Rams run attack. With 7:13 early in the second quarter of play, BC quarterback Rex Henderson hits a wide open Kaleb Hunt for the 35-yard touchdown pass. Henderson, on the QB keeper, ran in the two point conversion to give BCMS a 22-8 advantage.

The Raceland Rams found themselves in an unusual spot, trailing and the secondary being scorched for three touchdown passes - and still in the first half of play. With 2:30 left to play in the half, Henderson, again on a QB keeper behind great run blocking by the offensive line and wide receiver core downfield, rambled 66 yards for the touchdown. The two-point conversion failed but at the break the Bears led 28-8.

The second half of play saw much of the same as the Rams stuck to the power ground attack, which simply never got going, much in part to the Bears' defense. Impressive defensive line play by Gaskey, Flener, Johnson, Smith, White, and Hunt in taking on a bigger Raceland offensive line and stalemating blocks allowed the linebackers of BC to fly to the Rams running backs. Late in the third quarter Henderson, again on a QB keeper, scored from five yards out. The two-point conversion pass to Kyle Casey was good, giving the Bears a 36-8 lead with 2:11 left in the third quarter of play.

With 5:48 left in the game, on a broken play Henderson on the QB keeper, he sprinted 91 yards for the score. The two-point conversion pass to Kyle Casey was good. The score was Bears 44-8 with 5:48 left to play. Accordingly, with a more than 35-point margin by KYMSFA rules, the running clock goes into effect even in the title game, sealing the Rams' fate and the Bears' 44-8 victory.

The conclusion of the game brought an on-field celebration as cheerleaders, parents, and fans stormed the field and joined the players in a victory celebration.

The state championship trophy was presented at a midfield ceremony by Greg Mitchell, president of the KYMSFA, to Head Coach Lloyd Havens and the BCMS Bears. Also recognized and awarded were quarterback Rex Henderson as MVP Offensive Player of Game and Bears' defensive end Kaleb Hunt as MVP Defensive Player of the Game.

The BCMS Bears closed out the season as Division 3 State Champions with a perfect (14-0) record. The Bears' road to the championship, as the #1 seed in Region One, included a quarterfinals defeat of Union County Middle 50-14. In the regional finals, BCMS defeated Mayfield Middle 8-0. In the semi-finals, Butler County defeated Lexington Christian Academy 40-16 and then defeated the undefeated Raceland Middle 44-8 in the State Championship game.

Here is a closer look inside the numbers:

(State Championship Game Stats)

BCMS Raceland

First Downs 8 8

Yds. Rushing 178 153

Yds. Passing 148 (-1)

Total Offense 326 152

Total # Plays 24 38

Interceptions 0 0

Fumbles Lost 0 2

Penalties 4/28 yds 5/35yds

Time of Possession 10:41 21:19