Buckner, KY – The high-scoring Bruins of Ballard High School rode into town Friday, torching scoreboards along the way and promising to keep the Bell Field scoreboard operator busy. In what promised to be an old-fashioned shootout at the "O.K. Corral", Ballard arrived averaging nearly 34 points a game; they had averaged 50 points per game in their last three contests.

The Bruins featured the state’s top-ranked quarterback and wide receiver: Andy Ahrens was a three-year starter at QB, and Maurice Marchman had verbally committed to the University of Kentucky. Ahrens had already thrown for over 1,900 yards and 20 touchdowns.

The game was a crucial district matchup for both teams. The winner would not only gain a victory, but would also have the inside track to finish second in the district, a distinct advantage since the first- and second-place district finishers had home field advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs. Third- and fourth-place finishers would hit the road.

In addition, the Bruins, with a 3-1 district mark, could at least guarantee themselves a playoff berth of some kind with a win. The Bruins also had the incentive of revenge; Oldham had whipped the Bruins, 48-9, in last year’s opener.

No Mike Jackson-coached Colonel squad had ever lost more than two district games, however.

Ballard entered the game a two-touchdown favorite…could the Colonel offense, which had self-destructed against Eastern two weeks before, keep up?

After Ballard was forced to punt on their first possession, Oldham got the ball on their own two yard line. Two plays later, Derek Miller hit Donta Smith on a short hitch route that the big senior turned into a 57 yard gain. But the Colonel drive sputtered to a halt inside the Ballard 30 after a fumble by Brent Gibbs.

The Colonel defense, which played a solid first quarter, forced Ballard to go "three-and-out" on their next possession, and then Oldham hit the scoreboard first. On their second possession of the night, the Colonels drove 63 yards for the touchdown. Miller threw the first of three touchdown passes, a nine-yarder to Brad Koenig, to give Oldham a 7-0 lead.

Four minutes later, Ballard drove to the Colonels’ five, but again the Colonels’ defense stiffened, forcing the Bruins to settle for a 22 yard Austin Becker field goal with 1:14 to go in the first.

A great kickoff return by Miles Brewer gave Oldham County good field position to start their next drive. Starting at the Ballard 43 yard line, Miller moved the Colonels on the ground for their second score of the night. Brewer capped the drive with a six yard touchdown dash with 9:35 to go in the first half to make it 14-3, Oldham County.

The second quarter then took a decided Ballard twist.

Oldham County, which struggled with kickoffs all night, gave up good field position on the kickoff return. Ballard returned the kick to the Oldham 47, and then got an additional fifteen yards after a penalty on the Colonels. With only 32 yards separating them from the end zone, the Bruins moved quickly through the air to the Colonel five yard line on a pass from Ahrens to Marchman.

The Colonel defense then put the Bruins in reverse. On first and goal, the Bruins were flagged for illegal procedure, moving the ball back to the ten. Repeating first down, the Colonels sent a full blitz that Ahrens couldn’t elude, and Oldham dropped the senior quarterback for an eleven yard loss to the Oldham 21 yard line. The Colonels brought a full rush again on second down, and Ahrens’ pass fell incomplete, setting up third-and-goal from the 21.

Unfortunately, the Bruins had too many bullets for this series, and on third and 21, Ahrens dropped a picture-perfect pass over the shoulder of Marchman in the end zone to pull the Bruins to within 14-10 midway through the second.

The two teams swapped punts before Oldham took over on their own 21 with 4:24 remaining in the half. About a minute later, the Colonels were looking at fourth-and-long and Mac Osborne lined up in punt formation at his own 11 yard line. The long snap went high and over Osborne’s head and he was forced to fall on it at the Colonel eight yard line. On the very next play, Steve Chaney went into the end zone, untouched, giving Ballard a 17-14 lead heading into halftime.

The first four drives of the second half didn’t give much hint of the offensive explosion to come. Both teams went three and out on their first possessions. Oldham apparently scored on their second possession when Brewer went 52 yards into the end zone, but he fumbled near the goal line. Although it appeared that Brewer had crossed the goal line before fumbling, the official ruled the ball came out beforehand, and Ballard recovered the loose ball in the end zone for a touchback. The two teams then traded punts before Ballard took over, leading 17-14, at their own 24 with 1:32 to go in the third period.

That’s when the defenses finally gave in to the offensive fireworks. After combining for just 31 points in the first 34:30, Oldham County and Ballard put 41 points on the board over the next ten minutes.

Just fourteen seconds after taking possession, Ahrens hit Sam Ford on a short route that the receiver turned into a 75 yard touchdown when Oldham defender Brad Koenig fell down. Becker’s point after gave Ballard a ten point lead at 24-14.

But the Colonels took barely a minute to retaliate. Miller – who atoned for a miserable 0-5-1 passing performance in the second period by connecting on 4 of 5 second half passes, with two touchdowns – drove the team 63 yards, hitting Donta Smith three times on the drive. Smith’s final catch was a 25 yarder on 2^nd and one. He leaped and caught the ball despite double coverage in the end zone with just :19 left in the period. Chris Thompson’s extra point pulled Oldham to within 24-21 as the quarter came to a close.

Again, Ballard got tremendous field position following an Oldham kickoff, and they started at their own 41 hyard line. Just ten seconds into the final quarter, Steve Chaney took his second handoff of the night, and rambled 44 yards around the left end, untouched, for his second touchdown in as many carries. Becker’s kick pushed the Bruin lead again to ten at 31-21.

With 11:50 to go in the game, the Bruins had scored on their past two possessions, and were just three points below their average output per game. As it would turn out, those were Ballard’s final points, as the Colonel defense shut out the visitors on their final three possessions. The question was whether the Colonel offense could step up.

Miles Brewer personally got the Oldham team and fans back into the game on the ensuing kickoff. The senior fielded the kick cleanly at the four yard line and burst straight up the middle for a 96 yard kickoff return. It was Oldham’s first return for a touchdown this season, and it couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. The Colonels pulled to within 31-28 with the score, and Oldham County seized the momentum for good.

Ballard again started in short field position, this time at their own 40, but the drive stalled quickly after moving into Colonel territory. On fourth down, Ahrens lined up to punt, but the ball was snapped to the blocking back, who then attempted to pass for the first down. The Bruins momentarily had a receiver uncovered, but linebacker Jeremy Edgar recognized the lack of coverage and dashed over just in time to make a diving deflection of the pass. Oldham took over on downs at their own 46 with 8:18 remaining.

Keeping the offense exclusively on the ground, Oldham County moved quickly to the Ballard 32 yard line. With the Bruins stacking the line of scrimmage, Miller took a short drop and lofted the ball over the line to a wide-open Brad Koenig, who dashed 32 yards for the score. Thompson’s kick was blocked, but the Colonels had regained the lead, 34-31, with 6:43 to go.

The stage was set for the Colonels’ defense to seal the victory, and they came through. Ahrens drove the Bruins from their own 39 to a second down and one situation on the Oldham 40. Two running plays later, the Bruins had lost two yards and gained back just one. Facing fourth and two, Ahrens tried to run for the first down on a quarterback keeper, but the Colonels held him for just a one yard gain, and took over at their own 40 with 4:23 remaining.

With more than enough time remaining for Ballard to score, Oldham County desperately needed first downs. On second and long, Brad Koenig got his first call of the night, and raced 16 yards around left end for an Oldham County first down on the Ballard side of the field. That not only allowed the Colonels to kill more of the clock, it led to the final score of the night, a 31 yard dash straight up the middle by Mac Osborne, with 3:16 to go. Thompson made it 41-31 with the PAT, but the Oldham defense still had to make the lead stand up.

With over three minutes left, there was plenty of time for a Ballard comeback. After all, the teams had scored on 6 of the last 8 possessions, and the longest drive had only taken 1:35. Four of the last six touchdown drives had taken 51 seconds or less.

Starting from their own 45, the Bruins needed a quick score and the ball back. But Ahrens’ first-down pass was deflected into the waiting hands of Brad Koenig to kill the drive and Ballard’s last hopes. Oldham County then ran off the remaining 3:03, keeping the ball on the ground and ultimately driving to the Ballard 11 before Derek Miller took a knee on the final two plays of the contest.

Oldham County improved to 5-3 and 3-2 in the district. Ballard fell to 4-4 and 3-2.

Key Plays and Players:

• The Colonel defense. Sure, they gave up 31 points…but Ballard was averaging 34. And the Oldham defense came up big at crucial times. Ballard’s second possession ended in a field goal when the Colonels kept them out of the end zone after Ballard had the ball at the five. Ballard’s inability to get a first down at the Oldham 40 yard line, trailing 34-31, after facing a second and one situation, helped seal the win. Koenig’s interception – Ballard’s only turnover of the night – put the final nail in the coffin.
• Brad Koenig – The senior put on a marvelous all-purpose show. Amazingly, it was a game-time decision as to whether he would even play, due to a gimpy knee that’s bothered him all season and which he aggravated against Eastern two weeks ago. Koenig caught two passes – both for touchdowns – ran once for 16 yards, and intercepted a pass.
• Miles Brewer – After sitting on the bench throughout the first half of the Eastern game, Miles returned to the starting lineup with a vengeance. The elusive senior ran for a career-high 285 yards on just 25 carries. He ran for one touchdown from scrimmage, and returned a kickoff 96 yards for another.
• Donta Smith – Double-teamed all night by Maurice Marchman and a second Ballard player, Donta still managed to catch four passes for 111 yards and a touchdown.
• Derek Miller – The junior quarterback gave a gutsy performance. After struggling through a first half in which he connected on just 2 of 7 passes, with one TD and one interception, Miller hit 4 of 5 passes in the second half with two touchdowns.
• Mac Osborne and Josh Riordan – Mac and Josh tend to be overshadowed on offense, and their roles are to be the "change of pace" backs and to pick up positive yardage. They did more than that, as Osborne picked up 64 yards and scored once, and Riordan gained 27 yards on just four carries.
• The "O" line: The unsung heroes of any offense, the offensive line kept Derek Miller upright all night (no sacks), and carved holes big enough for Brewer, Osborne, Riordan, Koenig, and Gibbs to gain 400 yards total on the ground through.

Other DISTRICT Scores:

Fern Creek 19, Eastern 0

South Oldham 28, Jeffersontown 6

Trinity 45, Shelby County 16
 
 

District Standings:

Trinity 5-0

Oldham County 3-2

Ballard 3-2

Fern Creek 3-2

Shelby County 2-3

South Oldham 2-3

Eastern 2-3

Jeffersontown 0-5

Upcoming Games, next Friday, 10/19/01:

Ballard (4-4 overall) at South Oldham (3-5) BROADCAST LIVE ON WYKY

PREGAME SHOW BEGINS AT 7 PM, KICKOFF AT 7:30 PM

Oldham County at Jeffersontown – Oldham will be a heavy favorite.

Shelby County at Eastern – Crucial matchup. Shelby can earn a playoff berth by beating

Eastern, then topping Fern Creek in their final game.

Fern Creek vs. Trinity – Rocks have already clinched the district championship. Fern Creek

Probably has to plan on beating Shelby in their final game to claim a playoff spot.
 
 

UNOFFICIAL WYKY 105.7 FM STATS:
 

	Oldham County	Ballard
First Downs	16	11
Rushing attempts – yards	44-400	22-176
Passing Yardage	151	232
Total Yardage	551	408
Passing	Miller 6-12-1 3 TDs Smith 1-1-0	Ahrens 15-33-1 2 TDs
Penalties	9 – 92 yards	35 yards

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