[Allsports#1]

The Northeastern Kentucky East-West Senior Bowl was, for some, a shot at redemption after tough senior campaigns last fall.

George Rogers Clark back C.D. Spight is among those. He suffered through a 1-10 campaign with the Cardinals last fall, but he gets to cap his high school career with a win after running for a 10-yard touchdown on West's first offensive play of overtime to lock up a 20-14 win and his team's offensive most valuable player honors.

“It felt great to get the last one I always wanted to win,” Spight said. “I was kind of upset at first, thought I wasn't gonna ever score, but it definitely feels great to get the MVP. Our record was 1-10, but for me, it's like 2-10. It was great to have a win.”

Spight ran for 75 yards on 15 carries. He also racked up the game-tying two-point conversion in the closing minutes of regulation at Morehead State's Jayne Stadium.

“This feels good, to keep running over them,” the Hanover College-bound back said of the East tacklers. “And I feel great being behind my blocking … we wouldn't win without my blocks, so I give it all to my O-line and my fullback.”

West coach Reed Fields of Bath County said winning the battle up front was key to the game-winning score.

“The kids have been saying, 'we want to pound it, we think we're wearing them out up front,'” Fields said. “We had a jumbo package in, so we just went to a stack I and let (Spight) do his thing. He had some good lead blocking.”

West used three quarterbacks. Bath County's Clark Kissick, set to walk on at Kentucky, and Fleming County's Desmond McAdams shared most of the snaps. Paris' Nate Stevens ran one possession as well.

Kissick threw for two touchdowns, completing 6-for-11 for 37 yards. McAdams hit 4-of-10 for 58 yards.

The Wildcats and Panthers aren't exactly the best of friends – Fleming County ended Bath County's season in the playoffs last year – but they hooked up on some big plays when it mattered, including Kissick's TD to Fleming County wideout Chaise Gulley late in regulation that set up Spight's game-tying two-point conversion run.

“It's a little bit crazy, isn't it?” Fields said. “That's what this all-star game is all about. These kids see there's different things going on. There's kids in these other counties that you play against, Nicholas and Bath and Fleming, and playing with these kids from Clark County. It's a different world.”

Gulley was the game's leading receiver with six catches for 71 yards.

“Everybody wants to win their last game,” the Panthers wideout said. “Barely anybody gets to go out and win their last high school game, so it's nice.”

Russell's Lance Evans took all the snaps under center for East and completed 15 of his 23 passes – far more than he would have likely thrown in any Red Devils game – for 110 yards.

East only ran for 20 yards, though.

“We knew we had some depth up front that we felt like they maybe didn't have,” Fields said. “We had a few more linemen, and it felt like we had some good skill players, and just persistence.

“We stayed with the game plan, and the defense played really well. My hat's off to (Bourbon County) coach (John) Hodge, (Bath County assistant) coach (Andy) Crouch and those defensive players for making plays.”

Boyd County's Dylan Harris caught seven passes for 68 yards to lead the East receiving corps and earn his team's offensive MVP award.

Conner Staton of East Carter was the East defensive MVP, while Jason Little of Bath County, who collected a crucial interception that Fields called “the game-changer for us,” won those honors for West.

Evans and Davon Marshall of Clark received the scholarships awarded annually.

Before West could win the game, it first had to come up with one more huge defensive stand, and did so when East got the ball at the West 10-yard line to begin overtime.

Evans hooked up with Lawrence County's Blake Prince to the West 4 on the first play, but Nicholas County's Austin Allison sacked Evans for a loss of 10 yards on second down.

Evans hit Harris to the West 10 on third down before Allison struck again. He deflected Evans' fourth-down pass to set West up in great position, needing only to score to win.

And that West did. Spight ran right to paydirt on the first play of the next possession to end the ballgame.

After the unmitigated beatdowns of the past two years – a 47-0 victory for East last summer and a 42-7 win for West the year prior – Friday's eighth renewal of the contest was competitive all the way.

West got on the board first on its second possession of the evening, after a defensive stand when George Rogers Clark's Malik Harris stuffed East's John Kennedy of Russell half a yard shy of first-down yardage on fourth-and-1 at the West 41.

West embarked on an eight-play, 59-yard drive, taking 2:12 off the clock. McAdams hooked up with diving teammate Gulley for 29 yards to jump-start that drive, which was extended when Stevens ran left off a double handoff for 18 yards on fourth-and-6 to the East 7-yard line.

Two plays later, Kissick hooked up with Marshall on a fade for a 7-yard touchdown.

Kissick's pass on the two-point conversion was incomplete, leaving West up 6-0.

East never got inside the West 29-yard line on offense in the first half, but it still took the lead into halftime with a big play on special teams and a two-point conversion.

Staton returned Bourbon County's Jose DeLuna's punt 66 yards up the left sideline, juking DeLuna and diving inside the pylon, with 2:46 to go in the first half.

Evans hit Prince for the two extra points and an 8-6 East lead.

The third quarter was scoreless, but East tallied another return touchdown early in the fourth period.

East's Kennedy was stuffed at the West 7 on fourth-and-2, but the shift in field position proved productive for East.

Three plays into the West drive, on third-and-9, Ashland's Evan Yongue of the East side picked Stevens and took it back 20 yards to the house.

Evans threw incomplete on the two-point try, leaving the margin at one possession, and West closed that gap on its ensuing possession.

Kissick threw deep for Bath County teammate Little on fourth-and-11 from the East 47 and drew defensive pass interference and a first down.

Three plays later, Kissick found his former combatant Gulley over the middle for a 7-yard scoring toss.

“It was a little weird (catching passes from Kissick),” Gulley said, “but it's nice to win, so that's what counts.”

After a timeout, Spight ran through a huge hole over the left side with 5:27 to play to tie the game.

The all-time series is tied at 4-4. The designated home team has won each game.

East coach Chris Mullins of Greenup County rued his team's late breakdowns, but was classy in defeat.

“The two things we wanted to do to win the game were to eliminate big plays and turnovers, and we have a big turnover in the fourth on the interception, and they have a big run there at the end of the game,” he said. “In the fourth quarter I think we got a little gassed, and we let the two things we didn't want to happen, happen. But you gotta give (West) credit for executing on those two plays.”

East 0 8 0 6 0 –14

West 6 0 0 8 6 –20

First Quarter

W – Marshall 7 pass from Kissick (pass failed), 4:17

Second Quarter

E – Staton 66 punt return (Prince pass from Evans), 2:46

Third Quarter

No Scoring

Fourth Quarter

E – Yongue 20 interception return (pass failed), 8:53

W – Gulley 7 pass from Kissick (Spight run), 5:27

Overtime

W – Spight 10 run