Last weekend in Owensboro, travel football teams from around Kentucky, as well as surrounding states, battled it out to see who would be crowned the Kentucky State Cup Champions. Sunday evening, after four grueling games in the bitter cold, Logan County Impact 10U was named the KY STATE CUP CHAMPS! It’s been 23 years since this community has had a football state title, the 1990 Russellville Panthers. So, this is something that that our community can celebrate.
Impact, with their power running game and their hurry up-spread offense, out-cored their opponents 137-12. Over the course of the weekend, Impact’s team went undefeated, defeating state powerhouse ODC Predators, Ben Davis out of Indiana, and the Lexington Chiefs in the championship. Impact started out in the championship game down 6-0 giving up a 63-yard pass play, but rose to the occasion after making adjustments.
Impact started on the 20-yard line and with great blocking behind veterans Ben Allen, Kaleb Ferguson, Thomas Kash, Zach Yates, and newcomers C.J. Gray and Lennon Ries, scored with hard running by Jaquis Todd to go up 7-6. Impact’s stingy defense that only gave up 12 points in the entire state tournament came back on the field, forcing a turnover with strong defensive performances by Zach Yates and Zack Dowlen. The Impact offense marched back on the field to go up by a score with a 23-yard run by Chevis Elliott, backed by an additional score with the hard charging Jaquis Todd and company.
With Impact Leading 20-6 in the half, the Lexington Chiefs started airing it out again. With a great blitz and hit by middle linebacker Lennon Ries, an errant throw was intercepted by Nekeitha “little man” Jackson.
“With 1:33 left in the half and 65 yards to drive, the coaches knew if we could put one more in, the other team would fold,” Coach Toby Baptiste said. Veteran QB Braxton Baptiste got the hurry-up spread offense going and drove the offense down the field, completing two screens to Jackson Hampton for 20 yards, connecting on a 30-yard completion to Chevis Elliot and then capping it off with a 15-yard screen to Anthony “Rooster” Woodard to go up 28-6 with time running out for the half.
With a running clock Impact scored two more times in its wishbone power set and walked off Kentucky State Cup Champions.
MVPs for the weekend were Zack Yates, Thomas Kash, and two-time MVP Anthony Woodard.
Players identifiable by number in the team picture are Anthony Dunn (64), Chevis Elliott (24), Braxton Baptiste (7), Kaleb Ferguson (83), C.J. Gray (86), Naketha Jackson (4), Josh McMurry (2), Lennon Ries (12), Jackson Hampton (22), Josh Todd (73) and Anthony Woodard (25). Also on the team are Chaun Cheaney, Jaquis Todd, Zach Dowlen, Ben Allen, Zach Yates and Thomas Kash. Head Coach Toby Baptiste is in the center of the top row.
Comments by Coach Baptiste
To see 9 & 10 year old boys execute a hurry up offense and know how to drive 65 yards with a 1:33 left is unheard of at these young ages.
This young football team, comprised of both city and county school students, has been a part of the Impact Ministries’ Sports program for several years. I’ve been coaching this group of boys for the last three years and couldn’t be prouder of the dedication and sense of teamwork that have developed throughout the season.
Through all of our sports programs, our coaching staff is committed to helping our athletes advance in their sport, and at the same time develop themselves as young boys and girls who are driven by good character and being individuals who our community can be proud of. Last weekend’s victory is evidence of several years of hard work, growing as a team and becoming champions on and off the field. These boys began to care about one another and wanting to be there for each other, as much as simply winning for themselves. All of these boys were already champions to me, now the rest of our community gets to see it too.
Could this be the one of the most dynamic teams that this community will never see? Our coaching staff certainly thinks so. Unfortunately this is a probability due to the city/county school separation. But for a moment, let’s play what if? Many people in our community have often asked the question of what if we had all the best athletes from both schools playing football on one team. Some say it would never work because the school would be 6A. However, have you thought that the journey to get to a state title game playing 6A could be an easier conquest then Logan’s 5A road or even Russellville’s 1A road? Yes, St. Xavier is there but take for example the Logan County baseball team. Yes, they lost to St. X on the scoreboard, but didn’t local boys from a small community outplay a private school in that game and have it won going into the bottom of the ninth inning? I differ with those opinions, and the proof is in the results.
A character-focused program, a strategic plan to get where you want to get, great community support and tactical coaching to bring kids to another level- gives me a chance to compete with my 11 kids playing your 11 kids any day of the week! Now the number one rule of insanity is doing the same old things the same old ways, expecting a different result. There has to be a mental shift in how we lay the foundation for success. You don’t make kids fit into a program, you create a program that is tailored for your kids.
When we can be victorious against Bowling Green’s feeder team, be victorious against a two-time state title Tennessee team, and play kids that our up to two years older than our boys and compete and be successful, go toe to toe with a multi-national tournament champion, and win the Kentucky State Cup Title, the measure is in the results. Our priority here is not to win games, as that’s short-term thinking, our goal is much more long-term than that. You build character, you build energy, you build a foundation, and the wins will follow.
I want to thank the assistant coaches that have been helping me since we first started with this group. There would be many days when we first started and with my time schedule coaching at Russellville, that these fine gentlemen would have practice field set up, got kids to practice and made this dream a reality.” They include Coach Forrest Todd, Chris Elliott, Tony Hampton, Scott Yates, Donovan Kash, Lemark McMurry, and the added help this year of Coach Pete Ries.