[Stardust]

MAYFIELD – When Beechwood took possession of the football on its own 30 with 2:45 left in Friday's Class A state semifinal game against Mayfield all it was up against was a five-point deficit, without its starting quarterback, facing the state's toughest defense to score on and having not recorded a single second-half first down at that point.

It came within 19 yards though of pulling out the victory before a fourth-down pass into the end zone went incomplete, albeit controversially, as Mayfield hung on for a 19-14 victory at War Memorial Stadium. It's the third straight season Mayfield defeated Beechwood in the semifinal round.

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"It talks about their grit and their gusto and what they're willing to do when things aren't going their way to make that last drive," said Beechwood coach Noel Rash. "It speaks a lot about their work ethic and who they are as people. Our kids played incredible, it just wasn't enough."

Mayfield (14-0), which won its 29th straight game, advances to Friday's state championship game against Hazard, which beat Pikeville in Friday night's other semifinal, 57-35.

Beechwood (12-2) lost senior starting quarterback Taylor Davis with five minutes left in the third quarter when he took a hit while attempting to pass. At the time, the Tigers held a 14-13 lead, thanks in part to a 69-yard touchdown pass from Davis to senior Dane Everett early in the second quarter that put them ahead at the time 14-7.

Mayfield, which had allowed just 77 points in its first 13 games and hadn't trailed in a single game all season until that TD pass, took a 19-14 lead 43 seconds into the fourth quarter when junior running back Jonathan Jackson raced around left from three yards out to score. Jackson finished with 191 yards rushing on 27 carries and all three Mayfield touchdowns.

Beechwood's final chance came after it took over on its own 30 following a punt. With junior Max Nussbaum operating at quarterback, the Tigers needed seven plays to reach the Mayfield 19. Nussbaum had played some quarterback during the season, but mostly operated out of the "Wildcat" formation, something he did at times in Friday's game prior to Davis' injury. He made two big plays on the drive with his feet, the first a 24-yard scramble on 3rd-and-4 from the Beechwood 36 and the second a 20-yard run on a draw on 3rd-and-9 from the Mayfield 39 with a little over a minute left.

That's when the Beechwood drive stalled as Nussbaum, who finished with 110 yards rushing on 31 carries, threw an incompletion, was tackled on a running play for no gain, threw another incompletion and then on fourth down threw incomplete into the end zone on an attempt to senior Cameron Vocke, who was bumped by two defenders as the pass came his way.

"It clearly was interference, but what are you going to do?," said Rash. "There were other calls in the game that could have happened. You can't pin your hopes on that one call."

Beechwood finished with 188 yards total offense, just 67 in the second half, 54 of which came on the final drive. The speedy Vocke, who entered the game having rushed for 2,038 yards on 168 carries, had just two yards rushing on five carries as the Tigers' speed was neutralized by Mayfield's speed.

"They are extremely difficult to run the ball against, because they run extremely well and they're tenacious," said Rash.

Mayfield finished with 281 yards offense. Sophomore quarterback Jake Guhy, who entered the game having thrown for 2,129 yards, was just 11 of 22 for 94 yards and was intercepted three times, all in the first half.

Vocke had two of those interceptions, both in the first quarter, and the second one and ensuing 22-yard return gave Beechwood the ball at the Mayfield 41 to set up its first touchdown. It took the Tigers eight plays to march for the tying score with Nussbaum racing in from five yards out a little over a minute into the second quarter. Nussbaum carried seven times for 29 yards on the drive.

Then two plays after Beechwood forced a three-and-out and from the Tigers 31, Davis threw a perfect strike to Everett off a play-action fake and when the defender covering Everett fell down, Everett raced into the end zone untouched to give Beechwood a 14-7 lead with 9:11 left in the first half.

Mayfield responded on its next drive by going 80 yards in six plays with Jackson rushing into the end zone from seven yards out to make it 14-13 with 7:23 left in the half. The ensuing extra point try was blocked.

"Their defense is awful good," said Mayfield coach Joe Morris. "We couldn't make any plays on the edge. They did a great job of beating us up with not many people in the box, but in the second half we just gave it to No. 9 (Jackson) and let him roll."