By MARTY WARREN
Contributing Writer

SOMERSET – Let’s see if I can get this straight.
Danville gave up 336 yards offense during the first half but trailed only 15-7 with time running out when the unthinkable happened again.

Senior quarterback Kaiya Sheron, who has committed to play football next season at the University of Kentucky, floated a high, arching pass in the end zone to Kade Grundy, who has committed to the University of Louisville to play baseball, and the senior wide receiver used his 6’2 frame to go over three Danville defenders again for a back-breaking 49-yard touchdown catch and the Admirals could never recover in a 48-14 defeat here Friday night.

The loss ended this topsy-turvy season for the Admirals, who finished 4-3 while Somerset (6-2), the defending Class 2A State Champions, will travel to Lexington Christian next Friday in a game that very well could determine the eventual State Champion again.

“What can you say?,” Danville coach Clay Clevenger said. “It was about like that in the first game, too. You have to make plays against really good football teams. We didn’t
make those in either game and that’s what it would have taken to keep us in the game.”

Sheron, who rushed for 90 yards and connected on 17 of 27 passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns, rambled 30 yards on the fifth play of the game as the Briar Jumpers went 65 yards in just five plays to take an early 6-0 lead.

The Jumpers were poised to score again late in the period when they went from their own 12 to the Danville 11, but Sheron fumbled and Andre Bryant recovered the fumble and the Ads took over at their own 13.
Somerset, who had 19 of its 53 plays go for over ten yards, scored again on its next possession when Sheron connected with Gavin Stevens for a 44-yard score to lead 12-0.

“I thought our defense played well in the first half despite giving up a lot of yards,” Clevenger said. “They are a big play team.”

Danville used an 11 play, 70-yard drive that used five minutes, 10 seconds off the clock to cut into Somerset’s lead.

A 36-yard pass to Corydon Crawford, who had five catches for 53 yards, and an 18 yard run by Caleb Burns, who led the Ads in rushing with 88 yards on 15 attempts, set the stage for Burns’ two-yard touchdown run. Zachary Morgan tacked on the conversion to trim the lead to 12-7.

“We had other opportunities to score but had a bad snap again that really killed us,” the Danville coach said.

The play that broke the Admirals back, though, was the Hail Mary pass to end the half when Grundy went above three defenders to make an improbable catch and gave Somerset a 22-7 advantage at the half.

“A 6’5 player is going to make the play over a 5’7 player nearly every time,” Clevenger added. “Our kids were in position. They couldn’t make the play. It happened in the first game, too. Our 5’7 guy has the biggest heart I’ve ever coached but just couldn’t make the play.”

Somerset scored despite being penalized twice for unsportsmanlike conduct and once for delay of game.

Things just snowballed on the Admirals in the third quarter. Daniel Richardson nailed a 41-yard field goal and Sheron added a one-yard run, then Chase Doan scored from 22 yards and the Somerset defense recorded a safety for a 41-7 advantage after three quarters.

Following the safety, the Jumpers went 41 yards in five plays to lead 48-7 and set the running clock into motion.

After each of the final two scores, Madison Ruble, a senior placekicker, became the first female in Somerset football history to score points.

Danville scored its final touchdown of the season when Crawford scored on a one-yard pass from Sage Dawson.
Clevenger was proud of this group of seniors.

“This group, for all they had to go through with the Covid and not knowing if we would play each week or not, just came out and gave me everything they had each week,” He said. “We didn’t have any attitude problems, worked hard, and didn’t make any excuses. I appreciate our seniors for the leadership they gave.”

Class 2A Playoffs
At Somerset
Danville 0 7 0 7 – 14
Somerset 6 16 19 7 – 48

First Quarter
Somerset – Keiya Sheron 30 run (kick failed), 8:40.

Second Quarter
Somerset – Gavin Stevens 44 pass from Sheron (kick failed), 9:55.
Somerset – FG, Daniel Richardson 25, 8:12.
Danville – Caleb Burns 2 run (Zachary Morgan kick), 4:45.

Somerset – Kade Grundy 49 pass from Sheron (Richardson kick), :00.

Third Quarter
Somerset – FG, Richardson 41, 8:17.
Somerset – Sheron 1 run (Richardson kick), 4:27.
Somerset – Chase Doan 22 run (Madison Ruble kick), 2:03.
Somerset – Safety, 1:12.

Fourth Quarter
Somerset – Stevens 6 pass from Sheron (Ruble kick), 10:32.
Danville – Corydon Crawford 1 pass from Sage Dawson (Morgan kick), 3:10.

STATISTICS
D               S
First downs    14              23
Rush-Yards  26-60      26-215
Passing Yds    119           326
Total Yds        179           541
Comp-Att-Int 13-24-1     17-27-0
Fumbles-Lost  1-1            1-1
Penalties-Yds 8-56        9-79

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Danville, Caleb Burns 15-88, Keelan Story 1-5, Brady Johnson 3-32, Corydon Crawford 1-2, Sage Dawson 4-(minus 25), Team, 2-(minus 42). Somerset, Kaiya Sheron 9-90, Chase Doan 11-80, Mikey Garland 2-29, Jerrod Smith 2-3, Guy Bailey 2-13.
PASSING – Danville, Dawson 13-24-1-126. Somerset, Sheron 17-27-0-321.
RECEIVING – Danville, Crawford 5-53, Story 2-40, Bryce Johnson 1-12, Blake Jones 1-6, Burns 1-11, Somerset, Kade Grundy 3-72, Gavin Stevens 4-132, Ricky Gilmore 3-34, Doan 5-63, Jacob Smith 1-20, Garland 1-0.