By Daejah Bartleson

Contributing Writer

Danville had some things go its way, but Bardstown already had everything it needed.

The Admirals dug themselves a hole in the first half that they could not escape in the second half Friday as they suffered a 43-21 loss at Admiral Stadiumin the final game of the regular season.

Bardstown took charge in the first half as it took a 36-0 lead that doomed Danville to its first winless regular season.

The Admirals scored on both offense and defense after halftime, but coach Frank Parks Jr. said they lacked consistency.

“We’ll have sparks of wonderful plays and then somebody won’t do their job and that costs us,” Parks said.

Danville (10-0) will travel to Fort Mitchell on Friday for a first-round playoff game against defending Class 2A champion Beechwood.

Bardstown outgained Danville 301 yards to 188, and the Admirals got most of their yards through the air.

Demontrae Trumbo caught two touchdown passes in the second half, giving him 10 on the season and making him the first Danville player to reach double digits in TD receptions since D’Mauriae VanCleave and Jaleel Warren in 2017.

Trumbo had four catches for 168 yards, the most receiving yards for any Admiral in two years.

He caught a screen pass from Braylon Guest and raced 76 yards for a score on the first play of the second half, and he caught a deep throw from Guest – who had 194 passing yards – for a 77-yard TD on the first play following a Bardstown turnover in the fourth quarter.

Danville also got its first defensive touchdown of the season on the Tigers’ next series when Braidin Baughman stripped the ball from a Bardstown player and ran 37 yards to the end zone.

Amonti Marshall ran for two touchdowns and Tylan Spalding returned a punt for a TD for Bardstown in the first quarter, and the Tigers scored twice more and added a safety in the second period to trigger the running clock.

Danville’s playoff game against Beechwood (9-1), the No. 2-ranked team in Class 2A in the statewide media poll, pairs two teams with a combined 28 state championships – Beechwood has 17; Danville has 11. The Tigers have won the last three Class 2A titles.

The Admirals and Tigers have played twice in state title games: in 2003, when Danville won 42-7, and in 2004, when Beechwood won 23-7.

Scoring summary

DHS 0 0 7 14 – 21

BHS 21 15 7 0 – 43

First Quarter

BHS – Amonti Marshall 4 run (run failed), 5:01.

BHS – Amonti Marshall 2 run (Tyleeq Williams run), 3:18.

BHS – Tylan Spalding 68 punt return (Alex Wood kick), 1:37.

Second Quarter

BHS – Riley Hatfield 54 pass from Marshall (kick failed), 5:37.

BHS – Safety, 5:25.

BHS – Williams run (Wood kick), :45.

Third Quarter

DHS – Demontrae Trumbo 76 run (Kaleb Wilcher kick), 6:24.

BHS – Devin Newsome 1 run (Wood kick), 1:15.

Fourth Quarter

DHS – Demontrae Trumbo 77 run (Wilcher kick), 4:42.

DHS – Braidin Baughman 37 fumble recovery (Wilcher kick), 3:34.