LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Beechwood Tigers are state champions for the third year in a row!
Beechwood defeated Mayfield 14-13 in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Class 2A state football championship at Kroger Field Friday night. This is the Tiger's 17th championship in program history.
The Tigers took a 7-0 lead after a touchdown catch by Liam McCormick in the second quarter. Beechwood thought it might extend its lead following an interception in the third quarter, but it was erased by a roughing the passer call. Mayfield tied the game up 7-7.
Chase Flaherty put Beechwood back on top in the fourth quarter, scoring a touchdown to give the Tigers a 14-7 lead. Mayfield scored what would have been the game-tying touchdown with less than two minutes to go, but their kicker missed the PAT. Beechwood walked away with the win.
Mayfield scores the would-be game-tying touchdown, but misses the PAT.
— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) December 2, 2022
It hit off the upright.
It’s 14-13 Beechwood, with 1:13 left. pic.twitter.com/4z1ZJs5GQZ
The game comes less than one year after Beechwood helped their on-field rivals off the field when tornadoes devastated Mayfield's community. The school sent five semi-trucks full of supplies to the western Kentucky town last December, just 15 days after the Tigers defeated them in the state semifinals.
"One of the victims could be someone we played against," Beechwood graduate Brad Ratliff, who played football for the Tigers in his high school days, said at the time. "It could be one of their families."
The team was presented a plaque before the state championship for their contributions.
