Ft. Thomas Highlands (9-3) vs. Lexington Catholic (11-1) November 22, 2002

The Highlands Bluebirds have captured 15 state championships and have won four of those titles since 1995.  Coach Dale Mueller has his team on a roll in the playoffs this year, outscoring their first two opponents by a combined score of 108-0.  QB Kyle James has rolled up 2180 yards through the air and his favorite receiver has been Sean Turner.  Turner has caught 34 passes for 780 yards and seven touchdowns.  The ground attack has been led by RB Jon Klingenberg.  The defense has only given up one touchdown in the last four games and appears to be peaking at the right time. 

Coach Bob Sphire's Lexington Catholic Knights have been led by Sr. QB Jacob Doss who has completed 137 of 219 passes for 2710 yards and 38 touchdowns passes.  Matt Beavin has caught 46 passes for 1031 yards and 18 TDs.  John Logan has 38 receptions for 1023 yards and 13 scores.  Hopefully for Knight fans Logan has recovered from a nagging injury and will be at full strength tonight.  Nobody raves about the Lexington Catholic ground attack, but they have three running backs-- Joe Heink (42 carries, 327 yards,7.8 average), Sean Schomp (40 carries, 298 yards,7.4 average), and Phillip Martin (36 carries, 284 yards,7.9 average)--averaging over seven yards per carry and Brandon Logan has carried the ball 26 times for 178 yards and a 6.8 average. 

Highlands scored on a 30 yard TD run by Jon Klingenberg with 2:48 remaining in the game to give Highlands a 31-24 victory over Lexington Catholic.  The key play on the winning drive came on a third-and-15 from the Highlands 21.  Highlands receiver Jon Klingenberg managed to outfight a Catholic defender for the ball for a 25 yard gain to the Highlands 46 yard line.  Catholic had two more possessions, with the last chance being when Jacob Doss led them on a drive to the Highlands 21 with 6.9 seconds remaining on the clock.  The drive ended with an interception as Ryan Gross intercepted a deflected Doss pass to end the threat. 

This was truly a story of two different games.  The first half was all Highlands as they rolled to a 24-3 lead behind a 343-80 yard edge in total offense.  However, Lexington Catholic came out in the second half and tied the score at 24 with 5:04 remaining in the game on a 15 yard pass from Jacob Doss to Phillip Martin and a conversion by Tripp Eckerline.  Highlands came back and made the big plays down the stretch to advance to the Class 3A semifinal.  This was Catholic's fifth straight loss in a regional final, but they came very close to completing the miracle comeback. 

Highlands held a 506-289 edge in total offense but was penalized 13 times for 107 yards.  Lexington Catholic was flagged twice for 10 yards.  Highlands managed to overcome several penalties by converting on nine of 16 third down plays.  Highlands was led tonight by Jon Klingenberg who carried the ball 21 times for 171 yards and two touchdowns.  Kyle James completed 18 of 31 passes for 213 yards and gained 70 additional yards on 16 rushing attempts.  Lexington Catholic's QB Jacob Doss completed 20 of 33 passes for 233 yards and two TD passes.  Matt Beavin caught eight passes for 123 yards.  Kevin Lattner led the Lexington Catholic defense with 19 solo tackles and one assisted tackle. 

Scoring Summary

Ft. Thomas Highlands

31

Lexington Catholic

24

School	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Ft. Thomas Highlands	14	10	0	7	31
Lexington Catholic	0	3	7	14	24

H	- Kyle James 1 yard run (Adam Rosenhagen kick)
H	- Jerry Scarlato 1 yard run (Rosenhagen kick)
H	- Rosenhagen 36 yard field goal
LC	- Tripp Eckerline 29 yard field goal
H	- Jon Klingenberg 18 yard run (Rosenhagen kick)
LC	- Cameron Nicols 10 yard pass from Jacob Doss (Eckerline kick)
LC	- Doss 1 yard run (Eckerline kick)
LC	- Phillip Martin 15 yard pass from Doss (Eckerline kick)
H	- Klingenberg 30 yard run (Rosenhagen kick)

 

Selected Statistics
 

Ft. Thomas Highlands						Lexington Catholic
Rushing	No.	Yds.	Avg.	Long		Rushing	No.	Yds.	Avg.	Long
Jon Klingenberg	21	171	8.1	30		John Logan	1	29	29.0	29
Kyle James	16	70	4.4	21		Joe Heink	6	17	2.8	9
Sean Turner	3	22	7.3	16		Jacob Doss	9	13	1.4	10
T. J. Kramer	1	22	22.0	22		Phillip Martin	3	4	1.3	3
Jerry Scarlato	4	7	1.8	3		Aleks Smith	1	2	2.0	2
James Hubbard	1	1	1.0	1		Sean Schomp	2	-9	-4.5	0
Rob Peterman	1	0	0.0	0
Passing	A-C-I	Yds.	TD	Long		Passing	A-C-I	Yds.	TD	Long
Kyle James	31-18-0	213	0	42		Jacob Doss	33-20-1	233	2	31
Sean Turner	1-0-0	0	0	0
Receiving	No.	Yds.	TD	Long		Receiving	No.	Yds.	TD	Long
Jeff Guidugli	5	38	0	21		Matt Beavin	8	123	0	31
Jon Klingenberg	5	36	0	25		Cameron Nichols	5	57	1	14
Ryan Gross	4	70	0	28		Phillip Martin	3	19	1	15
Mitch McMahon	2	12	0	13		John Logan	2	10	0	9
Sean Turner	1	42	0	42		Tyler Hinkel	1	16	0	16
Rob Digiacomo	1	15	0	15		Joe Heink	1	8	0	8

Acknowledgements

A special thanks to WL Stats for the comprehensive stats provided for the tonight's game. 

Other Games of Interest

Class A Playoffs

Class 2A Playoffs

Class 3A Playoffs

Class 4A Playoffs

Eight Man State Championship