Lexington Christian tops Christian Academy in clash of 2 of Kentucky's top quarterbacks

The main attractions were two of Kentucky’s top high school quarterbacks, but a defensive back playing a new position stole the show Friday night.

Lexington Christian’s Jackson Dillow intercepted a Cole Hodge pass with 1:54 remaining to seal the Eagles’ 14-12 victory at Christian Academy.

Dillow, normally a cornerback, was playing free safety for the first time because of an injury.

“I saw the quarterback look over, so I just flipped my hips and ran over,” Dillow said. “The ball just ended up in my hands. I was expecting a deep shot because I knew they had to score quick.”Points were at a premium for two offenses that had put up big numbers entering the game, with LCA averaging 41.7 points per game and CAL averaging 42 per outing.

“I’m not going to tell you the score that I told our media people I thought it was going to be because it will make me look pretty awful,” Eagles coach Doug Charles said.

“Was it in the 40s?” a reporter asked.

“It was,” Charles responded.

Hodge, a senior who has committed to East Carolina, completed 21 of 34 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns.

LCA quarterback Cutter Boley, a University of Kentucky commit, completed just 10 of 23 passes for 64 yards but did have a 1-yard touchdown run that gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Eagles (3-1) – ranked No. 2 in Class 2A in the most recent media poll – outgained the Centurions 146-27 on the ground as Eastern Kentucky University commit Brady Hensley carried 28 times for 131 yards and a touchdown.

Hensley has been a key addition to LCA’s offense after transferring from Madison Central, where he earned first-team All-State honors from The Courier Journal last season.

Hensley’s 7-yard touchdown run gave the Eagles a 14-6 lead with 3:02 left in the third quarter.

“He’s unique in that he runs a sub-4.5 40 … and is 205 pounds,” Charles said. “He can run over you. He can run by you. He’s a really good athlete, and as the game gets on he gets stronger.”

CAL (3-1) – ranked No. 1 in Class 3A – struggled to move the ball much of the night but put together some fourth-quarter magic and nearly stole it.

Facing a fourth-and-5 from his own 40-yard line, Hodge found Justin Ruffin for a completion near the right ideline. Ruffin broke a tackle and raced down the right side for a touchdown to pull the Centurions within 14-12 with 2:05 left. Ruffin finished with eight catches for 201 yards and two scores.

On the 2-point conversion, Hodge’s pass to running back Jeffrey Vazzana was incomplete.

But CAL executed a perfect onside kick to get the ball right back as Connor Hodge recovered Jason Coleman’s high-hopping boot.

On first down, Cole Hodge threw deep for Ruffin, but Dillow was waiting for his game-sealing interception.

CAL coach Hunter Cantwell said his offense was somewhat stunted by what he called LCA’s “radar defense.” The Eagles rarely had a player line up in a down stance.

“Just kind of milling around in the box and trying to disguise everybody on the line of scrimmage,” Cantwell said. “They’d drop a guy one play, bring this guy another play. … That’s just something we haven’t had a lot of looks at. The things we wanted to do offensively that are good against that, we weren’t able to execute.”

CAL’s 18-game winning streak came to and, but Cantwell found some bright spots.

“I thought our defense played extremely well,” he said. “At the end of the day, they made more plays. They were able to run the ball effectively, and we weren’t. … It’s a growth opportunity for us.”

UPDATES: Kentucky high school football Week 4: Final scores and updates from games in Louisville area

LEXINGTON CHRISTIAN  7            0            7            0 – 14

CHRISTIAN ACADEMY    0            0            6            6 – 12

First quarter

LCA – Cutter Boley 1 run (Will Howell kick)

Third quarter

CAL – Justin Ruffin 66 pass from Cole Hodge (kick failed)

LCA – Brady Hensley 7 run (Howell kick)

Fourth quarter

CAL – Ruffin 60 pass from Hodge (pass failed)

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @kyhighs.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA football: Lexington Christian, Cutter Boley beat CAL, Cole Hodge