No. 4 Frederick Douglass keeps it close but can’t overcome its miscues vs. No. 1 Male

Frederick Douglass coach Nathan McPeek has a singular message to his players every time they face a tough situation: “Make a play.”

On Friday at The Farm, No. 1 Male (5-1) made a few more plays than McPeek’s team in a 31-28 Bulldogs win that Douglass trailed throughout.

Male’s passing connection of Jordan Williams to Antonio Harris struck for three first-half touchdowns, including a 73-yard bomb to start the second quarter, but Douglass kept the game close despite a costly special teams miscue and a fumble.

As McPeek gathered his team at the 30-yard line for his postgame talk, he told them to shut out the outside noise, take a hard look at themselves and be ready to get to work on winning out the rest of the season. District rival Madison Central (4-1) hosts Douglass next Friday.

“We’ve got to get in the film room and learn from it,” McPeek said. “It is what it is. We made (negative) plays, and we’ve got to get them fixed, but (Male) is a good team. They beat us, but I think we’re right there with everybody.”

The No. 4 Broncos (3-3) suffered the same kind of miscues against Male as they did in a 23-13 home loss to No. 2 Trinity on Aug. 30.

A fumbled snap set up Male on Douglass’ own 18-yard line late in the first quarter. Male scored on Harris’ first TD catch moments later for a 7-0 lead.

Douglass answered immediately with a 71-yard drive in four plays. Aveion Chenault’s sliding catch of Jaxon Strautman’s 21-yard touchdown pass tied the game at 7-7 on the last play of the first quarter.

The first snap of the second quarter yielded Harris’ 73-yard touchdown catch, which he reeled in at the 35 and then fended off would-be tacklers the rest of the way.

“We were just taking what they gave us and we finished it off tonight,” said Harris, a 6-foot senior Louisville commit who lines up all over the field for Male. “We grew up tonight. That’s all that was.”

Douglass largely contained Male’s top rusher, Chayce Burton, holding him to 59 yards on 21 carries. The junior standout had 750 yards and 13 TDs rushing coming into the game.

“Everybody’s focusing on Chayce and rightfully so,” Male coach Chris Wolfe said. “So, we needed Jordan and Antonio to have a big game.”

Misfortune struck Douglass again on its next series as a shanked punt gave the Bulldogs the ball inside the red zone once more.

It took three plays for Williams to find Harris for their third TD to take a 21-7 lead with 7:50 left in the second quarter. Douglass’ special teams had the same problem twice against Trinity.

Douglass showed it could move the ball on Male. Pharo Watts’ 8-yard touchdown run with 4:09 left in the first half capped a seven play, 69-yard drive that cut Male’s lead to 21-14.

But Male moved the ball on Douglass, too, and opened the third quarter with a 12-play touchdown drive that put the Bulldogs up 28-14 and drained a whopping 7:17 off the clock. Williams finished it with trick-play option reverse TD pass for 19 yards to Camden Angelini.

Just like in the first half, Douglass responded. Jeremiah Turner broke a 44-yard run that set up Peyton Smith’s 1-yard plunge to cut the Broncos’ deficit to 28-21 with 1:53 left in the third quarter.

The Broncos forced Male to punt on its ensuing possession, but Douglass’ offense could not get a first down on its next series.

That gave Male an opportunity for another clock-draining drive, this time 13 plays for 55 yards and just over seven minutes. Seth Hanson kicked a 20-yard field goal for a 31-21 lead with 3:39 to play in the game.

Though Aveion Chenault broke a spectacular 35-yard catch and run TD two minutes later, the Broncos could not recover an onside kick to keep their hopes alive.

“We’ve got to have some guys step their game up,” McPeek said. “Football is a simple game. You make the plays or you don’t. It’s basic fundamentals. At the end of the day, that’s what we’ve got to get done.”

The reality of Kentucky high school football means these two teams are very likely to see each other again in the postseason. Male will enter the playoffs as perhaps the most battle-tested of a slew of Class 6A contenders with wins over No. 3 St. Xavier and Douglass, a loss to Trinity and its regular season-ending Old Rivalry against No. 5 Manual scheduled for Nov. 1.

Male will likely retain its No. 1 media ranking in Class 6A, but Wolfe said the chase for a state championship is wide-open.

“It’s a coin flip for about five or six teams. I really think so,” Wolfe said. “It’s going to be the teams that continue to get better and … the teams that stay healthy. The team that stays healthy probably has the best shot at it.”