Belfry Wins 3A State Championship
By Trey Huntsman | December 6, 2015 | 9:00pm
(KHSAA Events Twitter)
The Belfry Pirates won their third straight state championship with a 43-0 win over Lexington Catholic. The Pirates jumped out to a 36-0 lead in the first half to get a running clock for the final two quarters.
Belfry's run game was too strong in the first half for LexCath. Andrew Fletcher put the Pirates on the board first with a five yard TD to cap off a 12 play, 71 yard drive. The long, methodical drive was a recurring theme for Belfry all game. The Pirates would score another first quarter touchdown when Derek Wellman bounced in from five yards out. The second quarter was somehow worse than the first for the LexCath defense. Xondre Willis ran in from 56 yards to give the Pirates a 21-0 lead early in the second. Back-to-back ten play drives led to two more scores by the end of the half for Belfry. With a two-point conversion, the Pirates took a 36-0 lead and gave Belfry a running clock to end the first half. Belfry ran for 341 yards on 40 carries in the first half compared to LexCath's 34 yards on the ground. The running clock made the second half go by in a flash. Belfry ran 15 second half plays and extended their lead to 43-0.
Belfry threw only one pass all game, but ran for 396 yards on 55 carries. The Pirates kept possession for nearly 30 minutes and could not be contained on the ground. Andrew Fletcher led Belfry with 125 yards and two touchdowns. Derek Wellman added two touchdowns and 77 yards. Xondre Willis ran for 89 yards and a score. Quarterback Noah Corbett added 63 yards and a touchdown.
Lexington Catholic was never in this game. The Pirates defense was too much for the Knights from start to finish. LexCath totaled only 117 yards of offense against a stout Belfry defense. Legend Brumbaugh took over for Andy Thompson in the second half and was 4/7 passing for 18 yards. Thompson was 8/16 for 53 yards. LexCath's playmakers could never get going in this one. J.J. Ogbogu caught two passes for 30 yards and Jaylen Jones ran for just 16 yards on seven carries.
Belfry has won three consecutive state titles and five in school history. They are the second team from Pike County to win a title this weekend.
Article written by Trey Huntsman
The KSR Baseball guy. Follow me on Twitter @TreyHuntsmanSEC.