Red Devils postseason run comes to bitter end

ERLANGER, Ky. — For three quarters, the Russell Red Devils and Lloyd Memorial Juggernauts were each making some plays.

The fourth quarter proved to be a different story.

The Red Devils found themselves within just one point after three quarters. But Lloyd Memorial scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 28-13 win on Friday in the Class 3A regional championship game.

As the region champions, the Juggernauts (13-0) will now play Christian Academy of Louisville (CAL) in the state semifinals.

Russell head coach T.J. Maynard said the game came down to which team was able to make the most key plays.

“We got that score there before the half to get it to one score, and then we came out in the second half and went down and had a chance to tie it, got the extra point blocked,” said Russell coach T.J. Maynard.

“Our kids battled and battled. We just didn’t make enough plays at the end of the day and I didn’t put them in a very good position in some situations to make plays.”

Russell (10-3) put together a 68-yard, 16-play time-consuming drive that culminated on a one-yard run by quarterback Jayden Frasure with one minute left on the clock.

Gavin Skaggs’ conversion kick made it 14-7.

A key play in the drive was a bad snap on a punt and Russell punter Shawn Deskins ran 5 yards for a first down.

Coming out of the locker room to start the second half, Russell marched 70 yards in 10 plays with Kaiden Benge getting back-to-back 12-yard runs with the second putting him in the end zone.

However, the conversion kick was blocked leaving the score. 14-13.

Lloyd Memorial began an 11-play, 69-yard drive that spilled over into the fourth quarter that ended when Avery Conrad scored on an 8-yard run with 8:54 to play.

Kaleb Evans passed to Colten Barger for the conversion and it was 22-13.

Russell went 3-and-out and were faced with a fourth down at their own 13, but Deskins got off a 50-yard punt to put the Juggernauts at their own 37.

The Juggernauts went on an 8-play scoring drive with Evans throwing an out pass to Izzy Turner who raced down the sidelines for 35 yards and the clinching touchdown with 2:14 to play.

Lloyd Memorial went up 6-0 in the first quarter on the first play after a punt as Evans hit Barger with an out pass and he dashed down the sidelines for the score.

The lead went to 14-0 with 8:44 left in the second quarter on a quick 3-play drive as Conrad got loose on a 29-yard scoring run. Lincoln Tomlinson ran for the conversion.

The Red Devils had 241 total yards with 90 rushing, led by Benge with 13 carries for 65 yards.

Frasure was 18 of 32 passing for 151 yards and only his second interception of the season. He became the program’s all-time leader in passing yards after entering the game needing just 5 yards to eclipse the old record.

Russell 0 7 6 0 = 13

Lloyd Memorial 6 8 0 14 = 28

First Quarter

LM — Colten Barger 52 pass from Kaleb Evans (kick failed) 7:24

Second Quarter

LM — Avery Conrad 29 run (Lincoln Tomlinson run) 8:44

Ru — Jayden Frasure 1 run (Gavin Skaggs kick) 1:00

Third Quarter

Ru — Kaiden Benge 12 run (kick blocked) 7:30

Fourth Quarter

LM — Avery Conrad 8 run (Colten Barger pass from Kaleb Evans) 8:54

LM — Izzy Turner 35 pass from Kaleb Evans (pass failed) 2:14

———————

Rus      LM

First downs 13        16

Rushes-yards 22-90   23-139

Passing yards 151      178

Total yards 241      317

Att-Cmp-Int 18-32-1 15-20-0

Fumbles-lost 0-0       1-0

Penalties-yards 3-20     6-45

Punts-average  5-35.4  3-40.3

———————

Individual Statistics

RUSHING—Russell: Kaiden Benge 13-65 TD, Jayden Frasure 4-8, Shawn Deskins 1-5, Lane Osborne 2-6, Jordan Rowe 2-6; Lloyd Memorial: Avery Conrad 12-81 2-TD, Lincoln Tomlinson 6-30, Kaleb Evans 2-1, Isaiah Jones 1-6, Colten Barger 2-15.

PASSING—Russell: Jayden Frasure 18-32-1 151; Lloyd Memorial: Kaleb Evans 15-20-0 178 2-TD.

RECEIVING—Russell: Cayden Pennington 6-47, Jayden Pennington 2-12, Caden Mitchell 2-31, Kanenan Jacobs 4-17, Kaiden Benge 3-39, Lane Osborne 1-5; Lloyd Memorial: Izzy Turner 6-64 TD, Colten Evans 2-60 TD, Alijah Griffin 2-21, Lincoln Tomlinson 2-2, Billy Lewis 1-6, Isaiah Jones 1-12.