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Beechwood beats down Martin County

Beechwood RB Chase Flaherty (photo by: Chris Granger/X: @regnargc)

MITCHELL, KY – On their march towards another trip to the KHSAA state finals, the Beechwood Tigers used a relentless offensive attack to easily roll past the visiting Martin County Cardinals in a 44-7 blowout victory.

From the very beginning of the game, the Tigers found easy success, as Senior quarterback Clay Hayden found his star sophomore receiver Tyler Fryman for a 60-yard passing touchdown. The Cardinals struggled to contain Beechwood’s skill players, as Fryman was able to weave his way through the Martin County defense for the score.

The Cardinals offense found it tough against the Tigers defense as well, as Parker Watts fumbled the ball on third down, giving Beechwood the ball back in Martin County territory. Quickly, the Tigers took advantage, as Fryman took it 40 yards to the house for his second score of the night.

Beechwood’s offensive onslaught did not stop there, as Flaherty found another crease in the Cardinals defense and rolled 50 yards to the house, making it a three-score game within the first five minutes of the contest.

All evening, Martin County deployed the I-formation on offense, hoping to wear the Beechwood defense down with solid rushing gains, but the Tigers defense answered the call. The Cardinals were held to under 150 rushing yards on the night, with their largest gain of the evening being a 30+ yard run late in the contest.

Before the first quarter had even been completed, Hayden and the Tigers offense found success again, driving down the field easily, capped off by a 5-yard touchdown throw from Hayden to senior wideout Luke Erdman. Hayden showed off the skills that has made him one of Kentucky’s all-time passers, evading pressure and throwing on the run to the wide-open Erdman, putting Beechwood up a whopping 4 scores.

Martin County’s woes continued the ensuing drive. Junior quarterback Devon Maynard was forced to ditch the run-heavy offense and try to throw the ball but was consistently met with pressure from the Tigers defensive line.

After Beechwood forced a sack and fourth down, the Cardinals had a bad snap on the punt, which resulted in a safety, putting Beechwood up 31-0 in just the first quarter. The running clock started before the first 12 minutes of the game had even been completed.

Chase Flaherty was the hot hand for Beechwood, and the Tigers continued to lean on him, easily knifing through the Martin County defense, with a five-yard run from the senior tailback capping off the drive.

In the second half, Beechwood and Flaherty continued their success, punching in another touchdown pushing the score to an insurmountable 44-0 lead. To their credit, Martin County never stopped fighting, employing the same physical rushing attack to limited success.

After multiple turnovers by the Cardinals offense, Beechwood put in their backups for the rest of the game, as the running clock continued to tick down on Martin County’s season. While Beechwood marched onto the next round of the playoffs, Martin County was able to end their season on a high note. Maynard commanded his team’s offense down the field to find the endzone with a 4-yard rushing touchdown on the final live play of the game.

With the two touchdown passes, Clay Hayden now sits at 114 passing touchdowns throughout his career, putting him 11th all-time in Kentucky’s record books. He needs just one next week to crack the top 10 all time, making him one of the most prolific passers in Kentucky High School football history.

Beechwood will move on to face Somerset (9-4) in the semifinals. Despite the loss, Martin County went home with some hardware as the KHSAA Class 2A, Region 6 runner-up.

SCORING BY QUARTERS:
B: 31-7-6-0-44
MC: 0-0-0-7-7

SCORING PLAYS
B: Tyler Fryman 60 pass from Clay Hayden (2PT conv. GOOD)
B: Tyler Fryman 40 rush (Colson Lair kick)
B: Chase Flaherty 50 rush (Lair kick)
B: Luke Erdman 5 pass from Hayden (Lair kick)
B: Safety
B: Flaherty 5 rush (Lair kick)
B: Flaherty 20 rush (Lair kick FAILED)
MC: Devon Maynard 20 rush (Caleb Horn kick)

RECORDS: Martin County (9-4); Beechwood (12-1)
UP NEXT: Beechwood hosts Somerset (9-4)

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