[GOREDDEVILS]

DANVILLE — Boone Goldsmith has a bond with two of Kentucky’s undefeated Class 4A high school football teams.

He’s the quarterback of one, Boyle County.

And many of his friends have been part of another at Lawrence County, where he went to school from seventh grade through his sophomore year.

“I call one of them after about every game,” he said. “Those guys are some of my best friends. Ben Preston is a real good friend. I talked to him the other day.

“I think they’ll go undefeated (in the regular season). They really kicked it up. I’m happy for them.”

Four years ago, Boone Goldsmith was the starting quarterback for the Bulldogs when his father Billy Goldsmith was the head coach.

He’s waited his turn at Boyle County, taking over the reins his senior season.

“We’ve got a good team up here, real good defense,” he said.

And not a bad offense either.

Goldsmith has completed 49 of 83 passes for 926 yards and nine touchdowns. He’s also run for eight TDs in a spread offense that features Mr. Football candidate Rees McShara, who has 1,386 yards rushing and 18 TDs.

McShara averages 16 yards per carry for the Rebels, who face undefeated West Jessamine on Friday night.

Boone does his part, too. He threw for 302 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two more TDs in a win over Lafayette two weeks ago. Boone was named Lexington Channel 18’s Player of the Week.

The offensive line averages only 195 pounds but they’re plenty tough.

“They play with a lot of heart and play hard,” said Billy Goldsmith, who is an assistant on the Boyle County staff. “They remind me of the kids at Lawrence County with how hard they work.”

Billy Goldsmith is proud of how his son has matured and developed. Boone is now enjoying the fruits of that patience with solid play on one of the state’s best teams regardless of class.

The goal at Boyle County is always to win a state championship. Anything less is not good enough.

“They don’t hang banners for winning regional here,” Boone said.

The Rebels were undefeated going into last year’s state semifinals against Bell County but were stunned 17-15.

“We had six turnovers,” Billy Goldsmith said. “We’d played mistake-free all year. Like Boone said, we don’t hang up banners for regional championships. We lost receivers and defensive backs but everybody is getting better every week.”

That stinging loss to Bell County left the Rebels with a 13-1 record and an empty feeling.

“It kind of left us hungry, wanting to do better,” Boone said.

Boyle County’s 49-7 victory over Johnson Central in the season opener was especially gratifying for the Goldsmiths, simply because of the previous rivalry with them from their days at Lawrence County.

“Me and Dad were pretty excited about that one,” Boone said. “I looked forward to it. Everybody wants to beat them.”

Of course, Boyle County does a good job of beating everybody. The Rebels are ranked No.1 in the AP’s Class 4A poll. Lawrence County is ranked No. 6.

It’s possible the Rebels and Bulldogs could meet in the playoffs in the state semifinals. There are obstacles for both teams along the way, including No. 2 Bell County for Lawrence County.

Boyle and Lawrence have similar numbers so far. The Bulldogs have outscored foes 340-83 and Boyle 328-64.

“It’d be good for both teams because we’d both be in the semifinals,” Boone said.

“It’d be awesome, it would,” added his father. “I’m so proud of the season they’re having. We call every week. Joey Cecil still coaches there and we talk four or five times a week.

“We never really leave that place.”

The Goldsmiths will be scoreboard-watching on Friday night when Lawrence County plays Rowan County, essentially for the district championship.

Billy and Boone also have ties to Rowan County, where Billy taught for several years. He remembers coaching Darrell Cross and T.J. Chin in their middle school years.

Also, the position Goldsmith has at Boyle County was the one that became vacant when ShaDon Brown became the head coach at Rowan County.

A small world indeed.