Published: November 18, 2009 11:49 pm      

Raceland faces uphill fight against LCA

Bulldogs hope to erase memory of last year’s big loss to Bobcats

LEXINGTON — Both coaches agree on this much: Raceland will have to be at its best on Friday to even have a chance against Lexington Christian Academy.

The Eagles go into the Class A regional championship game as an overwhelming favorite, already owning a 40-0 victory over Raceland in the regular season, a game where the score had been determined by halftime.

“We have to play our best football game of the season, no question,” said Raceland coach Randy Vanderhoof. “But you should have to at this time of the season.”

LCA coach Paul Rains summed it up.

“We have an awfully good footballl team,” he said. “For Raceland to beat us they’ll have to play their best game and we’ll have to be off a little bit. That can happen. It happens every week.”

The Rams (8-4) and Eagles (11-1) are familiar foes, both in the regular season and playoffs. This is their eighth meeting in the last four years.

Last season’s regional final was a classic with LCA rallying for a 27-20 victory after falling behind 20-3.

“Playing them is like a pre-Thanksgiving ritual for us,” Rains said.

Both programs carry a large amount of respect for the other as well.

Vanderhoof said he’s more than happy though to say so long to LCA’s senior class, which includes four-year starters Brandon Burdette, Lucas Witt and Dominique Hayden.

“I told them I wanted an invitation to their graduation to make sure they go across that stage,” Vanderhoof said.

Witt has been haunting the Rams for four years and Hayden, the D-Train as Vanderhoof calls him, has been the centerpoint of game plans for the same length of time. Burdette, Vanderhoof said, probably has the best upside of the trio.

“Any success we’ve had against them, we were fortunate to be able to slow down the D-Train,” Vanderhoof said. “If you can’t slow him down, if you can’t knock him off the tracks, you’re in for a long, long evening.

“Then, if you’re fortunate enough to slow him down, what a quarterback Lucas Witt is. Fortunately and unfortunately, we’ve seen Lucas since his first varsity start.”

Hayden has scored 44 touchdowns this season and has piled up a state record 115 in his career. He scored five in a 41-16 victory over Fairview last week.

“He’s one of the best players the state has seen regardless of class,” Vanderhoof said.

Rains agrees, saying Hayden’s totals — both senior and career — should warrant Mr. Football consideration.

“We feel like Hayden’s got a real shot at it,” Rains said.

Hayden has rushed for 2,224 yards and Witt has thrown for 1,688 yards and 26 TDs. Burdette has 30 receptions for 686 yards and 11 TDs.

Raceland had more of a struggle in advancing to the regionaol finals. The Rams rallied from a 20-10 deficit to defeat Campbellsville 23-20 on the road.

“One area we’re not doing well is turnovers,” Vanderhoof said. “We committed way too many turnovers in the last two games. We also have to eliminate stupid penalties and alignment problems.”

Junior quarterback Tyler Farley has spearheaded the Rams, throwing for 2,039 yards and 15 touchdowns. Loren Huffman and Bobby McKee have 40 catches apiece for a combined 1,032 yards. Three other Rams — Johnny Shearer, Ralph Burchett and Michael Litteral — have more than 20 receptions apiece.

Raceland’s earlier loss to LCA may be an advantage now for the Rams, both coaches said.

“Playing them like we did in the regular season is definitely going to help us,” Vanderhoof said. “But they haven’t changed a lot in four years. The remind me of those northern Kentucky teams that do everything so well.”

Rains said that preparation should be in Raceland’s favor.

“The advantage initially goes to that team as far as preparation and psychologically,” he said. “We know they’re going to come in here and throw the kitchen sink at us.”

Raceland wasn’t expected to make it back to the regional finals after graduating the nucleus of last year’s 12-1 team. But the Rams did it, even after losing big to LCA in the regular season.

“Once we played them the first time around, we knew we had a lot of football left in us,” Vanderhoof said. “We accepted the challenge to get back to this game.”

MARK MAYNARD can be reached at mmaynard@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2648.