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2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

Pirates fall to Pulaski

By Randy White Regional SpoRtS editoR

Belfry’s season opener didn’t go the way the Pirates would have liked as they fell to Pulaski County 55-13 last Friday night. The Pirates opened with the game’s first score. After that, it was all Pulaski County.

The Pirate defense gave up 588 total yards of offense to the Maroons. Pulaski County quarterback Drew Polston had a big game. He finished the night 21 for 28 for 327 yards and five TDs. He also added 38 yards on the ground. Running back Donovan Abbott led the way for the

Maroons on the ground with 84 yards and a TD on 16 carries. Antonio Palmer led the Maroon receivers with four catches for 128 yards and two TDs. Barek Williams followed with seven catches for 112 yards and two TDs. Chandler Godby added seven catches for 68 yards and a TD.

Christian Slavey led Pulaski County’s defense with 15 total tackles. Layton Abbott followed with 13 total tackles and Ryun Dye added 11 total tackles. Belfry fumbled three times and Pulaski County recovered the ball each time. Those turnovers hurt the Pirates.

Pirates drop Pike County Bowl to Covington Cath

By Randy White Regional SpoRtS editoR

BELFRY — Belfry had to play a nearly perfect game to knock off Class 5A powerhouse Covington Catholic last Friday night in the 36th WYMT/Community Trust Bank Pike County Bowl. That didn’t happen as the Pirates turned the ball over four times en route to a 42-13 loss to Covington Catholic. The loss puts the Pirates at 0-2 on the season. It is the first time the Pirates have started 0-2 since 1998. The Pirates first mistake happened early in the game. Belfry forced the Colonels to go three and out and punt on the opening drive. 4

On the punt, Belfry fumbled the ball and Covington Catholic took over at the Belfry 21-yard line. Quarterback Adam Holtz scored the game’s first TD with 7:33 left on a twoyard plunge. After the extra-point, the Colonels led 7-0. Belfry answered on its first drive as Isaac Dixon capped off the drive with an eight-yard TD run with 1:43 left in the first quarter. The extra-point tied things up at 7-7. On Covington Catholic’s next possession, Belfry’s Blake Hurley came up with an interception, but Belfry couldn’t take advantage of the turnover. The Pirates fumbled and Covington Catholic recovered once again leading to another Colonel TD with 9:33 left to

2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

push Covington Catholic in front 14-7. Belfry fumbled again with 4:25 left in the first half. The Colonels took over at the Belfry 28-yard line. Brayden Collins scored on a two-yard score with 16 seconds left in the first half to push the lead to 21-7. Belfry got back into the game in the third quarter. Dixon came out of the halftime break and scored on a 37-yard TD run with 10:40 left in the third to cut the lead to 21-13. Covington Catholic answered Belfry’s score with a quick score of its own. Hummel scored his second TD of the game from 23 yards out with 9:06 left in the third to push the lead to 28-13. The Colonels came up with an interception on a

pass from Dixon to set up another score. This time Holtz found Preston Agee for a TD in the end zone with 3:08 left in the third as the lead grew to 35-13. Belfry turned the ball over on downs to open the fourth quarter of play. That turned into the final score for the Colonels as the lead grew to 42-13. Holtz led the way for Covington Catholic as he was nine for 15 passing for 84 yards and a TD with an interception. Holtz added 44 yards and a TD on 10 carries. Hummel rushed for 72 yards and a TD on nine carries. Collins also rushed for 72 yards and two TDs on seven carries. Nicholas Darpel also added a rushing TD.

2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

Pirates travel to Louisville Central

By Randy White Regional SpoRtS editoR

Belfry is sitting in unfamiliar waters as the Pirates dropped to 0-4 this season after Friday night’s 37-6 loss to Class 4A L ouisville Central. The Pirates have had a brutal sc hedule to open the season and also

dropped a forfeit loss to L exington Christian bec ause of COV I D -19. The Y ellow J ac kets gained 271 total yards of offense Friday night. Central quarterbac k avier Brown was five for 10 passing for 73 yards. He added 16 yards on the ground on one c arry. Cortez Stone led the

rushing attac k with 115 yards and four TD s on 18 c arries. J ustin Bush followed with 64 yards rushing and a TD on 11 c arries. Amontez W oolfolk led the Central rec eivers with three c atc hes for 55 yards. D J ure J ohnson followed with two c atc hes for 18 yards.

Isaac Dixon 6

2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

Cylen Brown led the Central defense with 10 total tac kles. Christian W ashington followed with eight total tac kles. Malac hi W illiams added a sac k. G eorge Blac k rec overed a Belfry fumble for the Y ellow J ac kets.

2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

Panthers upend Pirates

By Randy White Regional SpoRtS editoR

BE L FR Y — Pikeville’s got weapons. Belfry had to pic k its poison Friday night and that poison turned out to be W ade Hensley. W ith Pikeville’s Z ac L oc khart getting a lot of attention from the Pirate sec ondary, Hensley had oneon-one matc h ups all night and he won them. Hensley had three c atc hes for 72 yards and two TD s on the night as the Panthers pic ked up their third straight win over Belfry 29-0 in the AR H Bowl at Haywood Stadium. Pikeville quarterbac k I saac Mc N amee also had a memorable game as well. Mc N amee was exc ellent on the night as he was 14 for 17 passing for 173 yards and three TD s. Mc N amee’s other passing TD went to his favorite weapon Z ac L oc khart. Lockhart finished the

night with eight c atc hes for 92 yards and a TD . This was Pikeville’s first shutout win over Belfry sinc e 1956. The Panthers got the ball first and went to work. On the opening drive, Mc N amee c apped it off with a 27-yard TD pass to Hensley with 7:23 left in the first quarter. That was a spec ial TD in Mc N amee’s c areer. The TD throw marked his 67th c areer throwing TD . That set a new sc hool rec ord as he broke former Pikeville great and middle sc hool head c oac h Matt Branham’s sc hool rec ord of 66 c areer TD throws. Belfry didn’t have standout I saac D ixon and the effec t it had on the Pirate offense was evident early in the game. The Pirates j ust c ouldn’t get anything owing and Pikeville’s defense swarmed to the ball. On Pikeville’s sec ond drive, the Panthers fac ed a

fourth and two on the Belfry 40. Mc N amee found L oc khart for the first down, but instead of going down, L oc khart turned on the j ets and sc ooted 40-yards for the sc ore with 3:43 left in the first quarter. After the two-point c onversion, Pikeville held a 15-0 lead. Belfry’s defense settled down for most of the sec ond quarter, but the Panthers got the ball bac k late in the half. Mc N amee found Hensley for a 45-yard TD c atc h with j ust 30 sec onds left in the first half. The score pushed Pikeville’s lead to 22-0 going into the halftime break. Again, the game tightened in the third. Belfry got the ball to open the half. The Pirates marc hed the ball deep in Pikeville territory, but the Panther defense stepped up and c aused a turnover on downs, thwarting Belfry’s best c hanc e at sc oring

Isaiah Stanley 8

2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

in the game. Both defenses played well to late in the game. That’s when Blake Birchfield scored on an 11yard TD run with 3:43 left in the game. That sc ore sealed Pikeville’s third straight win and pushed the lead to 290. Birchfield finished the game with 142 yards rushing and a TD on 19 c arries. Pikeville finished the game with 325 yards of total offense. How good was Pikeville’s defense? The Panthers only gave up 139 rushing yards to the Pirates. L uke R ay led the Pikeville defense with 19 tac kles. L andon Hammoc k followed with 18 tac kles. D evin DeRossett finished with 15 tac kles and a fumble rec overy. Aaron Slone followed with 13 tac kles and J ac oby Thorsnbury added 12 tac kles on the night.

Pirates pick up first win on the season By J F

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BE L FR Y — Fans on Pond Creek have watc hed as Belfry opened the season with an unfamiliar start. A brutal opening sc hedule, a young team and inj uries eac h added to Belfry’s early-season lumps as the Pirates started 0-5. But Friday night, Belfry did not look like a winless team. The Pirates kic ked off distric t play in style as they routed Magoffin County 430. Belfry dominated all aspec ts of the game. The Pirates sc ored with ease and were equally dominant on

defense. Belfry’s defense sc ored twic e off of four interc eptions, rec orded a safety and held Magoffin County to negative six yards of offense in the first half. The Pirates sc ored early and often, putting up 30-first quarter points. On Belfry’s first offensive play of the game, I saac Dixon scored on a 38-yard run giving Belfry an early 7-0 lead. Belfry’s Caden W oolum c ame up with a Pirate interc eption and threw a 27-yard TD pass on the next play, giving Belfry a 14-0 lead, j ust three minutes into the game.

Belfry went up 16-0 as a snap sailed over the head of the Magoffin County quarterbac k. The shortfield on the kick, set up a four-yard TD run by Dixon, extending the Belfry lead to 23-0 with 3:28 to play in the first quarter. Dixon continued to dominate the first quarter this time on the defensive end. Dixon picked off a pass and ran 50-yards for a score, giving Belfry a 30-0 lead with 2:21 to play in the first quarter. Dixon found the end zone one more time this time on a 73-yard run with 10:00 to play in the first half giving Belfry a 37-0 lead

and the running c loc k. Dixon was dominant in limited action. The 73-yard sc ore was his last play of the night. Dixon finished with four TD s, one on the defensive side of the ball and three rushing sc ores. Dixon only carried the ball three times in the game tallying 115-yards on three c arries. The Pirates added another sc ore late as Z ayne Hatfield picked off a pass from the bac k of the end z one and ran it all the way bac k for the TD , making the final score 43-0.

2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

Belfry claims second straight win By SteV e leM aSteR SpoRtS WRiteR

E ASTE R N — Belfry c laimed its sec ond straight win in the 2021 high sc hool football season on Thursday, Sept. 30, beating host Floyd Central 49-6 in a Class 3A D istric t 8 game. After notc hing the win, Belfry improved to 2-5 overall and 2-0 in Class 3A D istric t 8. Following the loss, Floyd Central dropped to 0-7 overall and 0-2 in the distric t. The Pirates rushed for seven TD s in the win. Belfry struck first with 33 sec onds remaining in the

first quarter when senior running bac k I saac D ixon broke free and sc ored on a 78-yard run. Following an extra-point kic k from G ideon I reson, Belfry led 7-0. E xtending the Pirates’ lead early, quarterback Caden W oolum sc ored Belfry’s sec ond TD , reac hing the end z one from 33 yards out with 9:25 remaining in the first half. After another I reson extra-point kic k, Belfry led 14-0. D re Y oung stretc hed Belfry’s lead later in the second quarter, scoring from three yards out with 3:17 remaining in the first

half. I reson’s third extra-point kic k pushed the Pirates ahead 21-0. Prior to halftime, D ixon sc ored his sec ond TD and I reson c onnec ted on a fourth extra-point to put Belfry ahead 28-0. Following the intermission period, ayne Hatfield sc ored on a 25-yard run to push Belfry out in front 340. Capping Hatfield’s scoring run, W oolum added a two-point c onversion run to put Belfry ahead 36-0 and forc e a running c loc k at the 10:04 mark of the third quarter. Y oung delivered his sec ond sc oring run from 47

yards out with 3:33 remaining in the third quarter. After Aidan Mc Coy c onnec ted on an extra-point kic k, Belfry led 43-0. Floyd Central sc ored but Belfry added another TD late. Austin Harlow sc ored on a 13-yard run for the Pirates in the fourth quarter to set the final score. Floyd Central was limited to 140 yards of total offense. The J aguars rushed 34 times for 124 yards and one TD . J ohn J ohnson rushed for Floyd Central’s lone TD , reac hing the end z one in the fourth quarter.

Zayne Hatfield 2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

Belfry tops Lawrence

By C aM eRon M aynaRd SpoRtS WRiteR

Some people were thinking that this was the season that L awrenc e County dethroned Belfry in Class 3A D istric t 8 play, but you c an throw out the rec ords when it c omes to Belfry football. The Pirates sent a message to the distric t and the rest of Class 3A with its 42-13 win over L awrenc e County last Friday night. L awrenc e County looked good early on in the c ontest, but the game lasts all four quarters and the Bulldogs j ust c ouldn’t sustain that against the Pirates. The Bulldogs got the sc oring going with 9:09 left in the first quarter, as Dylan Ferguson took the ball in for a one yard TD run. The point after try ( PAT) was good, and L awrenc e County led 7-0. The Pirates responded, however. Caden W oolum c arried a one-yard TD of his own to paydirt with 6:48 left in the period. G ideon I reson’s PAT was good and Belfry tied the game at 7-7. N eal Copley added another Belfry sc ore to the board with 3:32 left in the quarter. He took in a two yard c arry to inc rease the Belfry lead to 14-7 after an12

other I reson extra-point. The Bulldogs had a sc oring answer of their own, though. Ferguson kept the trend of short distanc e sc ores going with a 1 yard TD run. The PAT was no good and they c ut their deficit to one point at 14-13. I ssac D ixon helped the Pirates go further in front on the next drive. He took a c arry and sc ampered 10 yards to the end z one with 1:51 left in the first half. I reson’s PAT was true and the lead stood at 21-13. The Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs on their ensuing drive and Belfry took advantage. D ixon ripped off a long run to set Belfry up at the seven-yard line, and then he took the next rushing attempt into the end z one with 25 sec onds left in the half. Another suc c essful PAT from I reson made the sc ore 28-13 Pirates when the two teams went into the loc ker room at halftime. W ith 7:22 left in the third quarter, I saiah Stanley rec overed a fumble for Belfry. The Pirate offense c ashed in on it as D re Y oung sc ored on a six yard TD run with 6:58 left in the frame. I reson split the uprights on the PAT, making the sc ore 35-13. Belfry added one more TD on the night with 7:25

2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

Dre Young left in the game, as Y oung sc ored again on a two yard run. The PAT was good, and Belfry upped their lead to 42-13. That ended up being the final score. D ixon was unstoppable on the ground for the Pirates, c arrying the ball 20

times for 186 yards and two TD s. Y oung had 57 yards rushing on 10 attempts. ayne Hatfield added 57 yards on seven c arries. Belfry rushed for 348 yards as a team on the night.

Belfry keeps rolling with win over Pike Central By Randy White Regional SpoRtS editoR

Pike Central j umped out to an early 8-0 lead against Belfry last Friday night. That was the Hawks’

only lead and sc ore of the game as the Pirates reeled off 58 straight points to c ruise to a 58-8 win in Class 3A D istric t 8 play. The two teams will meet again in the opening round of the Class 3A play-

offs in a c ouple of weeks. Pike Central only gained 136 total yards of offense against the Pirates. Tayvian Boykins led the Hawks with 80 yards rushing and a TD . Boykins

was one for two passing for three yards. Matt Andersone was held in c hec k by Belfry. Anderson finished the night with 21 yards on 10 c arries. E ric Perez followed with 20 yards rushing.

Isaac Dixon and Zach Savage 2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

By J

Pirates fall to Golden Eagles holBRooK neWS- eX pReSS

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BE L FR Y – J ohnson Central has plenty of horses to hand the ball off to and one of the state’s top offensive lines to run behind. This c ombo was on display Friday night as the G olden E agles visited Belfry and knoc ked off its mountain-c ounterpart 48-22. J ohnson Central spread the wealth Friday night as three different players c ombined for seven rushing TD s as the G olden E agles ran for 362 yards on 46 c arries. J ohnson Central and Belfry play smash-mouth football as well as anyone as the two squads often mirror each other. The first drive of the game was typic al J ohnson Central and Belfry football. The G olden E agles rec eived the open14

ing kic k and kept the ball for the opening 9:13 of the game. J ohnson Central drove down the field in small-c hunks, c apping off the drive with a Matt Crum TD run of three-yards, giving J ohnson Central a 7-0 lead, with 2:47 to play in the first quarter. Belfry stayed on defense for much of the first half, the Pirates only ran three offensive plays in the opening quarter. The third play was a fumble rec overed by J ohnson Central. The Pirates turned the ball over three times during the game. J ohnson Central sc ored on the opening play of the sec ond period, via a oneyard run by G rant R ic e, extending the lead to 14-0. The G olden E agles pushed the lead to 21-0 with 6:21 to play in the first

2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

half as Crum sc ored his sec ond TD , this time from 24-yards out. Belfry wouldn’t go away quietly. The Pirates got on the board with 4:41 to play in the sec ond quarter and it was the air game that gave Belfry points. Pirate quarterbac k Caden W oolun found I saac D ixon for an 84-yard TD pass, trimming the J ohnson Central lead to 21-7. But momentum didn’t stay on Belfry’s side. On J ohnson Central’s ensuing play, G olden E agle bac k ack McCoart took ight and went 64-yards to give J ohnson Central a 28-7 lead. J ohnson Central tac ked on a late first half score as Crum sc ored from 25-yards out giving the G olden E agles a 35-7 halftime lead. W hen it looked like Bel-

fry was going to lie down, the Pirates kept fighting. Belfry opened the sec ond half with a 79-yard TD run by D ixon. The Pirate bac k looked trapped, but broke free and rac ed to the end zone, cutting the deficit to 35-14. The Pirates got the ball bac k and drove inside the 20, before c oughing the ball up. J ohnson Central made Belfry pay as Mc Coart sc ored on a 43-yard run, pushing the J ohnson Central lead to 42-14 with 11:52 to play in the fourth quarter. Mc Coart also added a TD run of 38-yards in the final quarter. Belfry c apped off the sc oring with a 21-yard run by Cameron V arney, making the final score 48-22.

2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

Pirates get rolling in the playoffs

By Randy White Regional SpoRtS editoR

Belfry c ame out ready to go in the opening round of the Class 3A playoffs. Pike Central c ame into the game with inj uries and the Hawks were j ust hoping to make things interesting. That didn’t happen as Belfry rolled to a 57-0 win over Pike Central. Belfry advanc es to take on L awrenc e County in the Class 3A D istric t 8 c hampionship Friday night. The Hawks finished the season with a 3-9 rec ord. Pike Central was without quarterbac k Tayvian Boykins who was inj ured last week against Paintsville. The Pirates got going quic k. On the sec ond play from sc rimmage, Belfry’s Braxton Hatfield broke a long TD run with 9:13 left in the first quarter to give the Pirates a 7-0 lead. After forc ing a Pike Central punt, Belfry quarterbac k Caden W oolum found I saac D ixon for a 41yard TD pass with 6:48 left in the first quarter to push the lead to 14-0. L ast week in the regular season finale, Dixon broke the sc hool’s all-time rushing rec ord for a c areer. On Belfry’s next possession, D ixon sc ored on a 79-yard TD run with 3:48 left in the first quarter to push the lead to 21-0. The Pirates sc ored onc e 16

Isaac Dixon more with 1:23 left in the first quarter as ayne Hatfield scored on a three-yard run. That pushed the lead to 28-0. Belfry sc ored again to open the sec ond quarter as W oolum found D ixon for a 59-yard TD pass with 11:01 left. The two-point c on-

2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

version pushed the lead to 36-0 and the running c loc k started. W oolum sc ored a late TD in the first half for the Pirates as the lead grew to 43-0. Alex L ong sc ored on two long TD runs in the sec ond half to help set the

game’s final scoreboard at 57-0. The Pirates are set to host L awrenc e County at 7:30 p.m. Friday night in the Class 3A D istric t 8 c hampionship. Belfry knoc ked off L awrenc e County 42-13 in regular season play.

2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

Belfry holds on to win over Lawrence

By C aM eRon M aynaRd SpoRtS WRiteR

After losing to Belfry 42-13 at Haywood Field on Oc tober 15, the L awrenc e County Bulldogs c ame bac k to the same venue determined to have a better outc ome last Friday night in the Class 3A D istric t 8 c hampionship. The Bulldogs wanted to not only prove they were the best team in Class 3A D istric t 8, but also end the Pirates season in a playoff game and move on to the region c hampionship game this Friday. The Bulldogs were more c ompetitive on this night against Belfry, but in the end it was c oac h Philip Haywood’s squad who made one more big play than the visitors, as the Pirates knoc ked off L awrenc e County 21-14. ayne Hatfield got the Pirates on the board in the early going via a three-yard TD run. A suc c essful G ideon I reson extra-point made the sc ore 7-0 Belfry with 10:10 left in the first quarter. Belfry doubled their lead with 2:46 left in the first frame. Caden Woolum unc orked a pass to Cameron V arney that he took for a 26-yard TD . I reson’s point after try ( PAT) was good, 18

and the Pirates led 14-0. There was no more scoring in the first half. The game remained 14-0 at the intermission. I f anyone thought Belfry was going to roll to vic tory in the sec ond half, the Bulldogs had other plans. A long L awrenc e County run midway through the third quarter set the Bulldogs up at the Pirates one yard line, but they were bac ked up to the 10 on a holding penalty. Another penalty and a fumble then bac ked them up to the 21, but on fourth and goal from the 10, Alex Stric kland threw a j ump ball into the end z one that N ic k Collinsworth out-dueled Pirate defenders for and c ame down with for a TD . L ogan Southers nailed the extra-point and the Belfry lead was c ut in half at 14-7 with 6:18 left in the third quarter. The next Pirate drive stalled and the Bulldogs evened the sc ore on their next possession. A five-yard TD run by D ylan Ferguson and a suc c essful extra-point tied the sc ore at 14 all with 11:42 left in the game. The Belfry offense c ame up clutch shortly after. With 5:54 left in the c ontest, I ssac D ixon c ashed in with a three-yard TD run. A suc -

2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

c essful I reson extra-point put the Pirates ahead at 2114. The Bulldogs attempted to win the game on their next drive, getting all the way down to the Belfry 19yard line and aided by a diving c atc h out of bounds on fourth and three and a pass interferenc e penalty on the Pirates. However, it was Belfry that made the play of the night. With about a minute remaining in the game, Braxton Hatfield intercepted a Stric kland pass to put the game on ic e and send Belfry to the next round of the playoffs. D ixon had a huge night on the ground, running for 142 yards and a TD on 16 carries. Braxton Hatfield c ontributed in the offensive backfield as well, rushing six times for 40 yards. Woolum’s one pass c ompletion on the night was also V arney’s one c atc h on the night that went for a 26 yard sc ore. Haywood offered praise for Braxton Hatfield and his performanc e against the Bulldogs. We had some guys banged up and people not playing tonight, and Braxton played fullbac k and linebac ker all night,” said Haywood. We alternate him at fullbac k, but he

played all night at linebac ker and finally made that big play for us. I ’m really proud for him. He’s kind of hung in there this year and kept working until he got on the field more, and that was a huge play. We told the defense that we need to make a play. They’re running out of time. And they rose to the oc c asion.” Haywood also praised his team for stepping up and making plays despite the fac t that the momentum shifted to L awrenc e County in the sec ond half. “ They c ertainly had the momentum,” said Haywood. “ They tied the sc ore, they had everything going their way and we had to make some plays. We showed our offensive line a c ouple of things at halftime. The first series didn’t help any, but c oming into the next drive, we kind of gave what we had to do. I think we had to pic k up a fourth down and do a c ouple of plays but from there, that gave our defense a little more life with the way we stopped them on that last drive.” Belfry improved their overall rec ord to 6-6 on the 2021 season with the win, while L awrenc e County’s season c ame to an end. The Bulldogs finished the season with an 8-4 rec ord.

Isaiah Stanley and Dre Young 2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

Pirates cruise past Bell County

By J F

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N ot many teams roll into L og Mountain and log a win against D udley Hilton’s Bell County Bobc ats, espec ially in N ovember. But not many teams have I saac Dixon in the backfield. D ixon

turned

strong performanc e, rushing for 177 yards, three sc ores and an interc eption as Belfry c laimed another Class 3A region title, defeating the Bobc ats 41-20. Pirates’

c oac h

Philip

Haywood noted that having D ixon running the ball c ertainly makes life easier. “ He’s been a great player,”

Haywood

said.

“ W eek-in and week-out, no matter who we play, he gets his yards. He is a great leader on the team, runs the ball really well, defends well and also is a great bloc ker; a lot of peo-

35-14 lead.

performanc e of the sea-

be bobbled and c alled in-

son, whic h the Pirates

c omplete, followed by a

Bell County added an-

knew it would need to de-

D ixon interc eption to end

other sc ore on a short run

feat Bell County.

the half.

by D aniel Thomas but a to

10-yard answer by Belfry’s

be a defensive struggle

end the half and a spec ial

Braxton Hatfield sealed

early as the teams went

team blunder to start the

the fate.

scoreless in the first quar-

third quarter, helped seal

For Belfry, the Pirates

ter. But a large part of the

the Bobc ats’ fate. To start

are going to the state

quarter was ate up by a

the sec ond half, Bell Coun-

semifinals, when a lot of

methodic al Belfry drive,

ty rec eived the opening

people gave up on the

whic h extended into the

kic k, the Bobc ats c alled

young Pirate s’team after

sec ond stanz a. The Pirates

for a fair c atc h but nobody

an 0-5 start. Haywood be-

marc hed 82 yards down

fielded the ball and Belfry

lieves a win at Bell County

the field on an 18- play

hopped on the ball, taking

shows j ust how far Belfry

drive, c hewing up over

over 19-yards away from a

has progressed this year.

10 minutes of c loc k. The

sc ore.

The game looked to

drive was c apped off by a

The

interc eption

“ They

Belfry ( 7-6) c apitaliz ed

( Bell

County)

are traditionally good and

plunge by

as D ixon sc ored on a short

tough to beat down here,”

D re Y oung, giving Belfry a

run to put the Pirates

Haywood said. “ W e had

7-0 lead, with 7:51 to play

ahead 21-6.

to play on the road and

three-yard TD

Belfry pushed the lead

kind of prove ourselves,

to 28-6, with 3:40 to play

a lot of people gave up

in the game as Pirates’

on this team early in the

sc ored on an E than R aby

back

ayne Hatfield got

year. They thought we

18-yard run, but the two-

free for a 15-yard TD run.

may c ome along some but

failed,

Bell County attempt-

not this year. But we felt

giving Belfry a 7-6 lead,

ed to stay in the game as

like within our loc ker room

with 5:04 to play in the

D awson W oolum sc ored

that hey, we are going to

first half.

on a one-yard run, making

be alright. I c ould see us

it 28-14, with 9:40 to play

getting better, even in our

in the game.

loses. Coming and winning

in the first half. Bell County answered though,

point

the

Bobc aats

c onversion

ple don’t realiz e how well

The Pirates pushed the

he bloc ks. He j ust does a

lead to 14-6 on a 30-yard

lot of things well for our

TD run by D ixon, with 3:13

The Bobc ats attempt-

at Bell tonight is j ust an-

team.”

to play in the half. That

ed an onside kic k, whic h

other positive note on our

But D ixon wasn’t alone,

sc ore would stand at the

did not go a full 10-yards

team. I t was a huge win

Belfry turned in a team ef-

half, Bell County got in-

and D ixon sc ore on the

for us, G od has been good

fort, whic h left Haywood

side the red z one but, had

next play, on a 44-yard

to me and to our program

saying it was Belfry’s best

one potential TD

run, giving the Pirates a

through the years.”

2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

pass to

Pirates advance to State Championship F

By J U Stin holBRooK the neWS- eX pReSS

G R AY SON – A lot of people had the ship sinking on Pond Creek. Talk around the state and even the Belfry c ommunity was this might be the end of Belfry’s dominanc e in football. After all, Belfry started the season 0-5, being outsc ored by an average sc ore of 41-9 in those games. But don’t look now, Belfry c oac h Philip Haywood has the ship, not only sailing, but firing on all c ylinders as the Pirates

are going bac k to the Class 3A state c hampionship. Belfry went to G rayson Friday night and ran past E ast Carter 48-26 in the Class 3A state semifinals. “ W e started 0-5 and we knew at the beginning of the year that we were going to struggle a little bit,” Haywood said. “ But I told our kids, ‘ W e may take some shots along the way, but whatever you do don’t stop believing in yourselves and we c an have a good football team by the end of the year. At one point, I think we were the only one who believed that, bec ause we didn’t

look good for a while. But every week we kept getting better and I ’m so proud of these guys, they keep rising to the oc c asion.” The game was typic al Belfry football, the Pirates didn’t attempt any passes, but had little need to. Belfry ran for 560 yards on 54 c arries. Pirates’ tailbac k I saac D ixon led the c harge with 245 yards and four touc hdowns on 19 carries. ayne Hatfield also ec lipsed the 100-yard mark, with 155 yards and a sc ore on 10 c arries. “ Overall, we kept getting better at the things

we do,” Haywood said. “ W e don’t try to be too fanc y and stay within ourselves.” Belfry ac tually trailed in the game, 18-14 as E ast Carter’s Charlie Terry broke free for a 75-yard TD run early in the sec ond quarter. But that is where the fund stopped for the R aiders. Belfry rattled off 27-unanswered points to blow the game open. Belfry took the lead for good, with a four-yard sc oring run by D re Y oung with 6:58 to play in the first half, giving Belfry a 20-18 lead.

2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

Pirates win Class 3A Championship over Paducah Tilghman

By J U Stin holBRooK F oR the neWS- eX pReSS

L E X I N G TON — Belfry legendary c oac h Philip Haywood is a man of devout faith and believes in mirac les. After Saturday’s 33-28 win over Paduc ah Tilgham in the U K Orthopaedic s K HSAA Class 3A State Championship, Haywood’s belief in mirac les is even stronger. The Pirates finished the regular season with a 4-6 rec ord and started the year 0-5, defined all odds to give Belfry its eighth state c hampionship in sc hool history. “ I ’m going to c all this my mirac le team,” Haywood said after Saturday’s game. Haywood believes in mirac les and I saac D ixon. The Pirate tailbac k was Mr. E verything, Saturday putting together one of the greatest performanc es in c hampionship history. D ixon broke the c hampionship rushing rec ord, whic h was held by former Pirate D oug Howard, rec ording 376 yards and five TDs on 41 c arries. D ixon also had seven solo tac kles and one pass breakup. I n two games at K roger Field D ixon has put on two great performanc es. I n 2019, D ixon rushed for 224 yards and three TD s against Bell County as the Pirates pic ked up a 30-20 win. I n those two games, D ixon has c ombined to rush for 600 yards and eight TD s on 56 c arries and he has 22

two state titles and two state title game MV Ps. “ I wanted the ball all game,” D ixon said. “ I c ame bac k to win state and get rec ruited. But the rec ruiting starts now, during the season, I was foc used on us winning state and that is exac tly what we did.” Adversity was the story of the season for Belfry and often the story of the game. The Pirates had their bac ks against the wall several times throughout the game, but had an answer eac h time. L eading 13-7, late in the first half, it appeared Belfry was in c ontrol of the game. The Pirates were getting the ball to start the sec ond half and was firing on all c ylinders on offense. But the half ended in the worst way possible. Paduc ah Tilghman sc ored with 11 sec onds left, as J ac k J ames found Camdon Marshall for a nineyard pass to tie the game 13-13 with 11 sec onds to play until half. This is when things got real interesting, Belfry fumbled the ensuing kic koff, after a vic ious hit by a Blue Tornado defender, knoc ked the ball to the turf. On the next and final play of the half, J ames found Marshall again, this time on an inc redible c atc h from 35-yards out, to give the Blue Tornadoes 14c points in 11 sec onds and a 21-13 ha time lead. But the adversity Belfry fac ed all year had prepared them for this moment.

2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition

“ I t was a normal halftime for us,” Haywood responded. “ W e basic ally talked and said, ‘ This is no different than how we started our season, that’s the first half, but it’s the second half that c ounts.’ Two touc hdowns sc ored that quic k is hard to overc ome, espec ially high sc hool kids, but they handled it like pros.” Belfry responded well. The Pirates took the ball to start the third quarter and responded with a long drive. Belfry fac ed a fourth and four from the 22 and D ixon delivered with a 22yard TD run and the twopoint c onversion to tie the game 21-21, with 5:21 to play in the third quarter. After Paduc ah Tilghman drove the ball into the red z one, Belfry turned them over on downs to take over late in the third quarter. The Pirates c apitaliz ed as D ixon scored on the first play of the fourth quarter, with an impressive run on the sidelines, that went 37 yards. The Pirates missed the extra-point and led 27-21. Paduc ah Tilghman answered on a long drive, speared by running bac k Malac hi R ider. I t was R ider that c apped off the drive with a nine-yard TD run and the extra point gave the Blue Tornado a 28-27 lead with 7:25 to play in the game. Bac ked against the wall, Belfry found itself in a big hole. The Pirates were fac ed with a fourth and

seven and were 62-yards away from taking the lead. A failed c onversion would all, but end Belfry’s c omebac k hopes. But Belfry had D ixon. The Pirates tossed it to D ixon and several exc ellent bloc ks freed spac e and D ixon went 62-yards for a sc ore giving the Pirates a 33-28 lead, with 4:58 to play in the game. Belfry got the break it needed on the ensuing kic k. The Blue Tornado kic k returner broke free for a good run but a massive hit by freshman I saiah Stanley knoc ked the ball to the ground and gave the Pirates the ball. Belfry ran the remainder of the c loc k out, as the Pirates used its ground game to drive down the field before ending the game inside the red z one. This is Belfry’s eighth State Title in 15 appearanc es. The Pirates ran for 466 yards on 62 c arries. D re Y oung c arried the ball 14 times for 67 yards and ayne Hatfield carried the ball six times for 26 yards. Belfry didn’t attempt a pass. I n their eight state title wins, Belfry has rushed for over 3,000 total yards and only passed for 14. Braxton Hatfield led Belfry with eight tac kles and Stanley j oined D ixon with seven tac kles. Dixon finished the year strong. In the five game postseason, D ixon c arried the ball 101 times for 955 yards and 14 TD .

2021 Belfry Pirates Class 3A State Championship Edition