VERONA, Ky. – Defensively Glasgow played nearly perfect through the first three quarters in the Class 2A Second Region title game against Walton-Verona on Friday night as the Scotties held the Bearcats without an offensive touchdown to own a 14-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
But Walton-Verona greatly limited the typically-explosive Glasgow offense all night long, and the Bearcats finally rallied to score two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter—Garrett Jones’ 37-yard touchdown strike to Peyton Smith with 2:23 left ultimately dealing the Scotties a heart-breaking 18-14 defeat.
“We played well defensively and just gave up two big plays at the end,” Glasgow coach Jeff Garmon said. “Offensively we just struggled all night long. Give (Walton-Verona) credit. They had a lot to do with it.”
Jones led the Bearcats to victory offensively by completing 12-of-20 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns as Travis Brauer topped the receiving corps with six receptions for 86 yards.
Glasgow kept Walton-Verona’s rushing attack in check as the Bearcats failed to register more than 50 yards as a team on the night. Overall the Scotties outgained Walton-Verona 231-160, but Glasgow hurt itself greatly with three turnovers while the Bearcats never turned the ball over.
The Bearcats (11-2) will now host Mayfield in the state semifinals next Friday. The Cardinals claimed the Region One title with a commanding 57-13 victory over district rival Murray.
The two teams were engaged in a defensive war in the first half as Nick Mitchell’s 6-yard touchdown run gave the Scotties a 7-0 lead at the 2:15 mark of the first quarter.
Walton-Verona’s offense was stymied by the Scottie defense in the first half as Glasgow limited the Bearcats to 53 yards of offense while recording a pair of sacks in the first 24 minutes. The Bearcats’ lone first-half score came in the second quarter when Tyler Schrader intercepted a lateral pitch by Glasgow and returned the fumble 25 yards to the house—the missed extra point after the touchdown allowing the Scotties to hold a slim 7-6 lead at the intermission.
The Scotties (11-2) extended their lead late in the third quarter as a 21-yard touchdown pass from Tanner Abernathy to Kynarious Flint on a screen capped off an 11-play, 88-yard drive and pushed Glasgow’s advantage to 14-6 heading into the final frame.
Glasgow was in complete control of the game until Jones connected with Bauer on a 51-yard strike with 4:41 left in regulation. Glasgow senior Ryan Jones stopped Jones cold at the goal line on the two-point conversion to allow the Scotties to maintain a 14-12 lead.
But Glasgow would not hold that lead for long.
The Scotties went three-and-out, and the punt took a Walton-Verona bounce back to the Glasgow 37-yard line. The very next play, Jones found Smith wide open down the right sideline to propel Walton-Verona in front for the first time. Glasgow was able to drive down to the Bearcat 40-yard line, but the Scotties were then driven back before turning it over on downs with 31 seconds left.
Mitchell led Glasgow in the loss with 117 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries while Abernathy tallied 72 yards on 15 attempts to complement his 21-yard touchdown pass to Flint. While Mitchell and Abernathy will return next season for the Scotties, 11 seniors played for Glasgow for the last time on Friday night. Garmon says that this group of seniors has played a major part in the Scotties’ surge in success in recent years.
“They’ve played awesome all year long and did everything we’ve asked them to do and done a great job,” Garmon said. “I can’t say enough about them. They’ve put this program in a good position.”
Walton-Verona 18, Glasgow 14
Glasgow 7 0 7 0 -14
Walton-Verona 0 6 0 12 –18
GHS—6 yd run Mitchell (Alex Elizalde kick)
WVHS—25 yd fumble return Schrader (kick failed)
GHS—21 yd pass Abernathy to Flint (Elizalde kick)
WVHS—49 yd pass Jones to Brauer (run failed)
WVHS—37 yd pass Jones to Smith (pass failed)
