LaFayette’s playoff hopes dashed by North Murray
LaFayette went into Friday night’s regular season finale with North Murray with a very clear objective — beat the Mountaineers by at least five points and earn a second consecutive state playoff berth.
The five-point margin was necessary to ensure the Ramblers also won a potential point differential tiebreaker with the Mountaineers, and LaFayette did just about everything it could reach its goal.
However, so did North Murray.
With the Mountaineers needing to only win the game outright to lock up the No. 4 seed from Region 6-AAA, the visitors from Chatsworth
got an impressive night from the passing combo of Seth Griffin to Jadyn Rice and
held off the Ramblers, 3021, at Jack King Stadium.
Twice in the fourth quarter,
LaFayette pulled to within two points of the lead, needing seven unanswered points to go ahead by exactly five points, only to see North Murray score timely touchdowns to ultimately foil the Ramblers’ plans.
“Our kids played with a lot of heart and we have all year. We just have to do a little better job coaching,” said first-year head coacn Andy Scott. “We had opportunities all year to win, but I couldn’t be more proud of our kids. There were so many opportunities for them to give up and they didn’t. That’s a testament to them and their character.”
A low-scoring first half saw North Murray (7-3, 5-3) take a 6-0 lead after an 11-yard TD run by Ethan Dempsey with 5:48 left before halftime, but the Mountaineers would extend their lead on the first possession of the third quarter.
Griffin, the region leader in passing yards and TD passes, hit Skyler Williams for 20 yards and Rice for 40 before finding Dempsey for a 21-yard score. Owen Hannah’s PAT increased the lead to 13-0 with 9:34 left in the period.
But LaFayette (4-6, 3-5) made North Murray pay for a failed onside kick attempt as a 22-yard run by Ross Martin set up a nifty 26-yard TD run by the elusive Jaylon Ramsey, while Jacob Brown’s kick pulled LaFayette back to within six points of the lead.
North Murray’s next possession ended with a 32yard Hannah field goal, but the Ramblers immediately