Louisville – The 11^th-ranked Ballard Bruins and the South Oldham Dragons squared off at Ballard, with the winner claiming third place in the district. Ballard, an 18 point favorite, had already clinched a playoff berth, and could finish no worse than fourth. A win would guarantee the Bruins a third place finish. South could also claim third with a win, but a loss meant that the Dragons would have to beat archrival Oldham County in their season finale to claim the fourth place playoff berth.

Against the athletic Bruins, who had won four straight to post a 6-2 record, the Dragons weren’t given much of a chance. And early on, it appeared that this would be the case.

After the Dragons went "three and out" on their first series, the Bruins took over at their own 46. On the first play, Daniel Brooks was stuffed at the line of scrimmage on an inside run. But the Dragons – who were only whistled for three penalties all night – were called for a personal foul, and the penalty gave Ballard the ball at the South 39. On the very next play, Brooks went up the middle for 37 yards, breaking tackles along the way, before finally being caught at the South two.

The Dragon defense nearly pulled off a dramatic goal line stand. After the Bruins lost five yards on a penalty, South dropped running back Steve Chaney for a two yard loss. Following an incomplete pass, Ballard faced a third-and-goal from the South nine. But the Bruins ran the same passing play again, and this time quarterback Whit Bradley found Dana Calhoun in the end zone for the score with 8:40 remaining in the period. Chris Harden’s kick was blocked by Brian Kennedy, but Ballard led, 6-0.

From that point on, the South defense clamped down. Ballard would not manage another first down in the first half, finishing with just two first half first downs. And the defense’s success meant that the Dragons consistently had good field position. The offense, however, simply couldn’t capitalize.

The Dragon possession after the Ballard score started on the Ballard 48 after a terrific kickoff return by Brian Kennedy. But the drive never got started, and South punted without a first down.

After punter Derek Bowman pinned Ballard on their own 7 to start a drive, and the defense forced the Bruins to go three-and-out, South started their first drive in the second period from the Bruin 32 yard line. But four plays netted just five yards and South turned the ball over on downs at the Ballard 27.

With 7:00 to go in the half, still trailing 6-0, South got the ball for the final time in the first half at the South Oldham 41 yard line. Keeping the ball mostly on the ground, the Dragons moved the ball in eleven plays to the Bruin one yard line. John Burba, Cory Kincaid, and Lance Smither all carried the ball three times, and Josh Moll completed passes to Drew Deptola and Ryan Donohue in the drive. The big play in the drive was a first-down pass from Moll to Donohue covering 26 yards to the Ballard nine yard line, where Donohue stepped out of bounds.

But facing fourth and goal from the one, with the clock ticking under a minute to play in the first half, Moll handed off to Lance Smither, who was stopped just short of the goal line. Ballard then ran out the first half clock.

Despite trailing at the break, Dragon fans had to be encouraged. The mighty Ballard offense had managed just two first downs, and as a result, had run just 17 offensive plays. The Bruins – averaging nearly 180 yards per game rushing – had just 47 yards rushing. And one week after passing Oldham County silly with 335 yards through the air, Bradley had completed just two of four passes for 12 yards in the first half.

On their second possession of the second half, Ballard finally got rolling again. Starting from their own 37, the Bruins went to the air, with Bradley connecting with Bryan Bruce twice for 32 yards. On second and 16 from the South 36, Steve Chaney took a handoff and ran through the middle of the South Oldham defense, stepping out of tackles and outsprinting Matt Kusnir to the end zone. Harden’s extra point with 5:56 to go in the third made it 13-0.

The Dragons then put together another long drive. Starting from their own 20, South put together an 11 play drive that came up just short on a fourth and five play. Facing fourth and five from the Ballard 41, Moll hit Donohue on a screen play that Donohue was able to turn into only a three yard gain, and Ballard took over on downs at their own 38 early in the fourth period.

After forcing Ballard to punt without a first down, the Dragons took over again on their own 20. But after getting a quick first down, the Dragons were forced to punt after Moll threw two incompletions and Cory Kincaid was stopped for no gain on third down on a screen pass play.

Ballard moved quickly to put the game out of reach. A five yard run by Brooks and a 16 yard completion to Calhoun moved the ball to the South 40. On first down, Bradley lobbed a deep pass for Chaney, streaking along the sideline. Chaney made a spectacular one-handed catch, but appeared to step out of bounds as he caught the ball. The officials, however, ruled a catch at the South Oldham 15. The Bruins were assessed a ten yard penalty, then Chaney lost three yards on a run. But on second down from the 33, Bradley found Sherman Gully in the end zone – in double coverage – for the touchdown with just 5:52 to play. Harden’s kick put the game practically out of reach at 20-0.

South put together one final threat, mounting a twelve play drive – their third of 11 or more plays – that ended deep in Ballard territory when Moll was sacked on fourth down. The Bruins then ran out the clock to preserve the win.

Ballard improves to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the district. They clinch third place regardless of the results of their final game against Jeffersontown.

South Oldham falls to 4-5 and 3-3 in the district. They can claim the fourth and final playoff berth with a win over Oldham County this Friday (to be aired on Sportszone 105.7 FM at 7:30 pm)

Notes: South held Ballard to just 253 yards of offense. Not a bad total, but it was the third-lowest total of the year for the potent Bruin offense. Only #1 ranked Trinity (110 yards of offense) and top-ten Manual (216 yards) allowed less. The Dragons were also whistled for just three penalties for only 25 yards.

Rushing: Lance Smither 16 – 35 yds, Cory Kincaid 9 – 30 yards

Passing: Josh Moll 10-22-0 0 TDs 89 yards

Receiving: Ryan Donahue 6 – 59 yards

Eastern 34, Shelby County 14 – Eliminates Shelby County from the playoffs.

Trinity 47, Fern Creek 0 – sets up battle of district unbeatens next week between Trinity & Eastern.

Oldham County 49, Jeffersontown 0 – The Colonels, who have been ravaged by injuries this season, kept themselves in the playoff picture with the win.

Trinity and Eastern will decide the district championship when the two district unbeatens wrap up the season on 11/1/02 at Eastern.

Ballard has clinched third.

Shelby County, Fern Creek, and Jeffersontown are out of the playoff picture. Although Shelby Co. could tie Oldham and South Oldham at 3-4, the Rockets lose on the tiebreaker.

Oldham County and South Oldham will decide the fourth and final playoff berth on 11/1/02 in Crestwood.