STEADY GROUND GAME TO STOP THE DRAGONS 39-12.
MAROONS USE SIZE, DEPTH TO ELIMINATE DRAGONS 39-12 IN 4A PLAYOFFS
MADISONVILLE, Kentucky — Warren Central coach Mark Nelson worked the sideline hard on Friday night. He kept his players engaged, even when Madisonville-North Hopkins was pulling away for a decisive victory.
And then it came to an end, under the lights of Maroon Stadium, the breakthrough season finally over after a challenging journey of nearly four months.
Madisonville-North Hopkins could match the Dragons’ speed and athleticism, but the Maroons had significant advantages in size, and depth, and that was too much for Warren Central to overcome on a cool, windy night in Hopkins County.
Madisonville-North Hopkins 39, Warren Central 12.
A season that began with the Dragons’ first victory since the 2015 season — Warren Central zapped Bullitt Central, 13-0, on Opening Night on August 20 in Shepherdsville — ended with an emotional team meeting in the end zone, first with Nelson’s entire team, and then with the 12 WCHS seniors who will be remembered for their mental and physical toughness.
They’ll be remembered at Warren Central for a long, long time. The 61-game losing streak that haunted the program becomes a footnote for the future.
“The last one’s not fun,” Nelson said.
It was a rewarding experience for his players, and coaching staff, and the Dragons’ second-year head coach made a point to salute all of them.
“It’s something I’m always going to remember,” senior Warren Central running back/defensive back Deanglo Patterson said. “I just hate that it ended this way.”
Madisonville-North Hopkins improved to 7-4 overall and will travel next week to face Warren East, the KHSAA Class 4A, 2nd District champion. The Raiders are 11-0 on the season, and they’ve actually had just one competitive game this season, a 36-21 victory over longtime nemesis Franklin-Simpson.
Warren Central finishes Nelson’s second season at the helm with a 5-6 record, not what the Dragons had hoped for but an impressive mark just the same.
“I’m devastated, and happy, at the same time,” Warren Central lineman Guillermo Gonzalez said. “I’m proud of this team, proud of the coaches. Proud of what we could accomplish.”
The Dragons may have had more than their share of bad breaks in this one.
RULING THE PREVIOUS PLAY WAS A TOUCHDOWN.
An apparent fumble just short of the Warren Central goal line was ruled a M-NH touchdown, midway through the second quarter, when the Dragons trailed by just a touchdown.
The Dragons’ K.J. Jean Aime delivered a big hit on the Maroons’ Markezz Hightower, before coming up with the ball.
The Warren Central defense began to return to its sideline. After a long delay in which the officials consulted on the play, Hightower was ruled to have scored a 7-yard touchdown run with 7:23 left in the first half.
FINISHED WITH 385 YARDS RUSHING.
The Maroons’ two-point conversion try failed — both teams had some issues with the kicking game — and Madisonville-North Hopkins had a 19-6 lead.
The Dragons, however, wasted little time getting right back in it. Junior linebacker Blake Harrison snatched a fumble by M-NH quarterback Anias Mitchell in mid-air, broke into the open field and beat the pursuit across the field before scoring on a 65-yard return at the 2:24 mark of the second quarter.
A couple breakdowns in the WCHS secondary, however, helped Madisonville-North Hopkins get into position for a score before halftime, and workhorse tailback Lajuan McAdoo scored on a 2-yard run to give the Maroons a 25-12 edge at the break.
“We just had a couple mistakes, at critical times,” senior WCHS football/basketball star Omari Glover said. “I’m glad to have been a part of it. I think we’ve started turning things around for the younger guys. I’ll be going on to basketball now.
“Straight to it.”
RUN INTO ONE ANOTHER ON THIS PLAY.
Warren Central returns the bulk of its team from last year’s KHSAA Sweet Sixteen runner-up squad, and the Dragons will open the 2022-23 season on the road against Barren County on November 29.
“We’ve got a lot of two-sport athletes. They’re winners,” WCHS coach Mark Nelson said. “I told them, ‘It hurts right now,’ but this makes goals happen. This gives us something to build on.
“The seniors, this class, put us in this position.”
A.J. Jean Aime, the Dragons’ senior quarterback, struggled in the face of the M-NH pass rush. Nelson tried his backup quarteback, WCHS sophomore Zarionte Howard, to open the second half, putting Jean Aime with his twin brother and Glover on the flanks.
You could say the Dragons pulled out all the stops, but they had trouble coming up with the big defensive stop when they needed it. M-NH tailback Lajuan McAdoo carried the ball 23 times for 153 yards and three touchdowns, and teammate Markezz Hightower added 15 carries for 91 yards and a score.
Anias Mitchell, the Maroons’ junior quarterback, had 72 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
RUSHED FOR 153 YARDS AND THREE TDs.
Mark Nelson had the Warren Central underclassmen retrieve various pieces of equipment to carry across the field for the waiting school buses on the top of a hill outside the stadium. He met with his seniors as a group, he met with them individually, he gave his assistant coaches a chance to address his players, too.
“Y’all have changed the whole trajectory of this program,” WCHS assistant coach Tyreon Clark said.
There were tears, there were hugs. There were smiles, there were laughs.
There were 12 Warren Central seniors who changed the narrative on Morgantown Road.
They included A.J. Jean Aime, K.J. Jean Aime, Guillermo Gonzalez, Zakary McGrew, Omari Glover, Deanglo Patterson, Demetrius Barnett, Cameron Burnett, Mykel Scott, TyDrevian Jackson and Kye Lewis.
“It was a great ride,” A.J. Jean Aime said before leaving the field. “We just hate that it ended this early.”
AND HIS STAR RECEIVER, OMARI GLOVER.