Crimsons defeat Fern Creek in their first playoff game
The Rams run onto the field, led by the Crimson Crazies. Photo by Ava Blair
November 5, 2022
Last night, the Crimsons defeated the Tigers to advance to the second round of the KHSAA tournament. The final score was 38-12.
First Half:
Fern Creek received the ball first but could not connect for a touchdown due to several penalties. The Crimsons were not able to connect either.
Neither team scored at all in the first quarter and for the first two drives of the second quarter.
“Any time we continue to get slow starts against better teams, you know we’re going to be in for a rude awakening,” Head Coach Donnie Stoner explained. “So we got to try to find ways to get going early like we did earlier in the season.”
However, the Rams were able to break this scoring drought after a touchdown by Zeek Washburn (#22,11) in the second quarter and a completed extra point by Parker Friedman (#34, 10).
The Tigers quickly responded with a touchdown but failed on a two-point conversion. The score was 7-6, the Crimsons leading.
After a long drive with many penalties, Friedman scored a field goal for the Crimsons just as the first half ended. The score was 10-6 going into the half.
Second Half:
Washburn got the second half started quickly for the Crimsons with back-to-back touchdowns. This gave the Rams a lead of 24-6.
“We was real hype. We had everybody ready to go and we just did our thing,” Washburn said.
Fern Creek did not score on their next drive; however, when Manual got the ball back, Darius Woodford (#34, 10) intercepted a pass and scored for Fern Creek. This put the game at a score of 24-13.
The Rams came back from the interception and Eli Creech (#10, 11) connected with Aiden Blakey (#8, 10) for a touchdown. Willis Nofsinger (#35, 10) scored on the Crimson’s next drive.
Fern Creek was not able to score for the rest of the third quarter. This scoring drought extended into the fourth quarter until Mykel Malone (#21, 11) scored for the Tigers.
The Crimsons defense recovered a fumble which brought the game to an end. The final score was 37-18 with the Rams pulling out the victory despite a slow start.
“We had a setback last week, so guys were really focused and hungry enough to come back out here and get the win tonight,” Stoner said.
The Crimsons will be traveling to play again next Friday against Bullitt East in the second round of the tournament.
