Elizabethtown hasn’t been to a State Final in football since 2003 when they lost to Belfry in overtime. Since that golden year, the program has went from glorious seasons to several totally forgettable years. Last Friday night, the team went a long way to changing that when they beat powerful Christian Academy-Louisville to advance to the a date this Saturday morning at 11:00 to face Ashland Blazer.
The 39-20 win may have looked simple, but it was far from easy especially in an exciting third quarter when a 26-7 halftime lead almost disappeared under a furious Centurion rush. Thanks to a great defensive effort, Elizabethtown was able to hold on and add the final touchdown to finish the scoring.
Although the Panther offense gets plenty of headlines, it was the defense which really came through and made the team’s first Championship appearance in seventeen years possible. Two fumble recoveries on CAL’s first two offensive possessions not only prevented the Centurions from taking an early lead, but also set up the first Elizabethtown score. Centurion quarterback Clayton Masters was driving CAL the first time they had the ball, but after completing a pass near the fifteen, Elizabethtown punched the ball loose and it was recovered in the end zone where Camran McNeil picked it up before he was stopped at the three yardline. Elizabethtown drove the length of the field on a drive set up by the short passing from Elizabethtown quarterback Clay Games and the outside running of Kia Sherrard who scored on a reverse 40-yards out with 4:46 left in the first quarter. A great kickoff return set up CAL at the 44-yardline and once again they drove downfield behind power running by Brandt Babin, but a fumbled handoff was recovered by defensive lineman Chad Doggs ended the threat. After a sack forced an Elizabethtown punt, the Centurions tied things up on a long drive which started on their own 35 and it took eight plays to cover 65-yards and a 21-yard run by Babin was the finisher with 11:13 gone from the second quarter.
After that, Elizabethtown took control scoring on three straight possessions to push their lead to 26-7 at the Half. Games took his team downfield quickly scoring with 8:46 left on Kia Sherrard’s 3-yard run to make it 14-7. After a poor Centurion punt set up Elizabethtown again in good field position, the Panthers drove downfield quickly, but only got a 21-yard field goal by Brandon Parsons to make it 17-7 with 4:47 left.
After forcing another three-and-out, Elizabethtown scored again with 2:05 remaining on five plays capped with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Games to Alandre Murphy. Things were falling apart quickly for CAL and the Panthers added injury to insult, Elizabethtown got two more points when a center snap sailed over the punters head out of the end zone with 00:53 left.
Despite being outscored 19-0 in the final 7:50 of the second quarter, CAL regrouped in an effort to make the game interesting by driving 60-yards on the first possession of the third quarter on 12-plays, one was a fourth down conversion ending on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Masters to Adam Baldin to make it 26-13. The two point conversion was no good.
Clay Games had not thrown an interception in ten games this season and he chose an inopportune time to break that string when he aimed a pass down the left sideline and Brandt Babin stole a wayward pass from Games on Elizabethtown’s next offensive possession and 17-yards later it was 26-20.
Just when it appeared the Centurions were totally out of it, they were just one possession away from taking the lead, but Elizabethtown responded by taking the kickoff and driving downfield thanks to a big second down penalty on CAL to keep the drive alive and two plays later a 51-yard scoring run ended a five play 85-yard drive that took some air out of the Centurions comeback and put the Panthers back up 33-20.
That didn’t stop CAL as they got another great kickoff return spotting the ball close to midfield for their next possesssion. Other than the bad center snap which led to a saftey just before the half, Centurion special teams had actually played quite well and kept putting CAL in great starting field possession through out the game. On a drive that began on their 48-yardline and reached the 28, the Centurions looked to answer quickly, but multiple penalties kept halting their progress until finally they faced a fourth and nine at the 28 forcing Masters to put up a dangerous pass that was intercepted by Kia Sherrard in the end zone and returned near the Panther 35 yardline as the third quarter came to a close.
Here is where the discipline of one team and the undiscipline actions of another kept one team from advancing and the other to play keep away. Elizabethtown began an offensive possession that began just as the third quarter came to a close, but ended with just 3:46 remaining in the game. Several times, the Centurion defense had put the Panthers in third down situations with a chance to get the ball back, but multiple times personal foul penalties kept bailing the Elizabethtown offense out and allowed them to eat up nearly nine minutes on one offensive push which produced zero points.
After that, CAL was forced to throw and a sack by Dylan Miller, a short pass completion, a run which gained little yardage and an incomplete pass on fourth down gave Elizabethtown the ball back with 2:32 left. The Panthers ran six plays as CAL tried to stop the clock, but after Games threw only his second interception of the season the Centurions had one last grasp and one final humilation as Masters final pass of their 2020 season became a pick six for Camden Williams that covered 30-yards finalizing a 39-20 win.
Since coming to Elizabethtown, former coach Mark Brown had the Panther football program back in the spotlight as they played in four straight Final Fours (three at home) from 2015-2018, but everytime came up empty. After Mark retired, son Ross’s first season as the head coach had the most unpredictable beginning with the pandemic scenrio which so far has been a dream first season with still one more chapter left in his first edition.
For CAL, the dream season comes to and end. The Centurions beat two really good teams in DeSales and Glasgow which were probably favored and actually had several opportunities to either stay in this game or seize control, but turnovers and silly penalties killed those hopes.
Elizabethtown did pretty much what they had done all season which is score first, control the game, force the other team into turnovers and let your offense play defense. The Panthers had a edge in total offense outgaining the Centurions (411-291) and the running game was a big difference with McNeil’s 89, Khia Sherrard 63-yards and Kia Sherrard 72. Games was 15-for-30 and 187-yards and a touchdown, while Williams led with six catches for 71-yards and Murphy pulled down 4-41 and a touchdown. In an era of spread offenses and rules to allow more scoring, you have to play good defense to win championships, but a great offense can play defense by putting pressure on the other teams offense to match up when your up 7-0, 14-7, 28-10 and 35-17. You can’t win with a great offense and a defense which gives up a lot of points, but you can win with a good defense and an offense which can average 30-points a game. In seven trips inside the other teams twenty, the Panthers effective offense got points on five possessions and used their big play potential as well.
Ross Brown has said many times that coaching under legendary dad Mark has taught him many things about orginaization, structure and most importantly gameday preperation. Next Saturday at Kroger Field in Lexington, Ross will prepare his team for a 11:00 am championship game against Ashland Blazer. This will be something new in that the Tomcats are also undefeated in 3-A and know how to control teams defensively.
In a season in which nothing has come easy or every week has had an aura of unpredictability, Saturday morning football should be a perfect ending to a coach who can only hope that he doesn’t wake up too soon and that the dream season just lasts one week longer.
