HEARTBREAKER
Lexington Catholic routs Purple Flash for 4A championship

David vs. Goliath. Men against boys.

Lone Oak football coach Jack Haskins preferred to describe his
outmanned squad's Class 4A state championship game tussle with
Lexington Catholic in terms he knows best.

"It's like the New England Patriots," Haskins said, "against the
Kentucky Wildcats. It's an entirely different level of football."

Lexington Catholic proved the point emphatically, demolishing the
previously-unbeaten Purple Flash 49-7 on Saturday night at Papa John's
Cardinal Stadium to capture the school's second state title.

Left in the Knights' wake was a Lone Oak team that will relish the
experience of simply getting to the finals.

"Really, we were just happy to be here," linebacker Mickey Tucker said.
"I just wish there was a way it could have ended better than it did."

The game was, in Haskins' words, "a total mismatch" from the start.
Lexington Catholic (13-2) scored with relative ease on its first two
series and its relentless defense made life miserable for Corey
Robinson, Lone Oak's record-setting quarterback.

Constantly harassed by the Knight's big, strong front line and the
ferocious pass rush of Kentucky-bound safety Winston Guy, Robinson
couldn't get the offense untracked - he was sacked four times in the
first half and was rarely able to set up in the pocket and find time to
locate an open receiver.

"They're just that good," said Robinson, who was 21-for-37 for 241
yards and one touchdown, a 49-yard connection with Jamarielle Brown
against the Knights' second-team defense in the fourth quarter.
"They're not unbeatable, but you can tell that they play with a totally
different mindset."

Offensively, Lexington Catholic punished the Flash with a rugged ground
game. Tailback Shane Israel rambled for 194 yards on 27 carries,
scoring four times, and Guy - lining up as the quarterback in the
shotgun set - went 21 yards for a score on a 3rd-and-long play to cap
the Knights' first series.

"Their line got a push that we just couldn't handle," said Tucker,
tears welling his eyes as defensive coordinator Steve Duncan struggled
to cut the tape off of his shoes. "They're so much bigger than us ...
you could see it whenever we lined up. I got whipped on every play."

Quarterback Nic Ward was effective as well, completing 14 of 18 passes
for 154 yards and a score, a 16-yard strike to Guy late in the first
half.

"Looking at the film of them last Sunday," Haskins said, "you had a
feeling that it could be like this. They're so good up front, so much
taller, bigger, faster and stronger than we are. And really, we've
probably only got two or three guys that could really play for them."

Lone Oak needed four series to notch its initial first down of the
game, and by that time the Flash (14-1) trailed by two scores. Lone Oak
nearly caught a break on its second series, when Guy mishandled
Robinson's punt and the ball fell loose on the turf.

But Lexington Catholic managed to recover the fumble, and Israel went
32 yards on the first play from scrimmage to set up a first down at the
20 and eventually a touchdown that made it 14-0 less than seven minutes
into the contest.

Slow starts had haunted Lone Oak throughout its last two postseason
games, but the Flash was always able to get into an offensive rhythm
and wear down its opponent. That line of attack never materialized
against Lexington Catholic, which seized the momentum from the outset.

"We were soft at the start, and that made them look that much better,"
said receiver-defensive back Daniel Edwards, one of a slew of seniors
that took Lone Oak's program to untold heights. "It doesn't take away
from what we did this year. We were here, playing for a state
championship."

And it didn't quash the memory of a season that wasn't foretold by
anyone, not even inside Lone Oak's camp.

"If we would've said we would do this at the first of the year,
everybody would have laughed at us," Haskins said. "About the third
game of the year, we started to think that we could go a long way.
These guys beat everybody that was put in front of them, until now."

As it turned out, Lone Oak ran into one of the state's premier teams.
Lexington Catholic's only two losses were to Class 5A state champion
Fort Thomas Highlands and the Louisville St. Xavier squad that met
archrival Trinity in Saturday night's 6A final.

"They did this to just about everybody else in 4A, too," Haskins said.
"They're one of the top four teams in the state, right behind St. X and
Trinity and Highlands. They would have done this to anyone else."