Mason County hosts Sheldon Clark

The Mason County Royals host the Sheldon Clark Cardinals tonight in the second round of the Class 3A football playoffs. Kickoff is at 7:30. Here are some game notes:

• Mason County is ranked 4th and Sheldon Clark is 10th in the Bluegrasspreps.com Class 3A Football Rankings;
• Both teams are 9-2. Mason County's two losses were to Class 6A teams- Boone County and Campbell County. Sheldon Clark lost to two undefeated teams- Class 4A Bell County and Class 3A Belfry;
• The Royals and Cardinals have played two common opponents- Magoffin County and East Carter. Mason County beat Magoffin County 68-12 and East Carter 42-12. Sheldon Clark defeated Magoffin County 42-0 and East Carter 28-3;
• Mason County has won five straight games and has an eight-game home field winning streak;
• Mason County senior tailback Jeremy Thompson has rushed for 1,508 yards and 30 touchdowns this season (both are school records);
• Sheldon Clark senior running back Ryan Kelly has rushed for 1,569 yards and 20 touchdowns this season
• Mason County sophomore quarterback Neal Pawsat has completed 106-of-184 passes for 1,578 yards and 14 touchdowns;
• Sheldon Clark sophomore quarterback Austin Stepp has completed 59-of-117 passes for 1,075 yards and 11 touchdowns;
• Coach David Buchanan has a record of 99-51 in 13 seasons at Mason County;
• Sheldon Clark Coach Shawn Hager was the starting quarterback at Belfry his senior season (1991). He played basketball at Alice Lloyd College. He started serving as an assistant coach at Sheldon Clark while still in college. He was promoted to Head Coach when Jim Matney left to become the coach at Johnson Central in 2004. Hager has a record of 38-19.
• This is the first meeting between the two schools;
• The winner of tonight's game will advance to the third round to play the winner of the Russell at Belfry game;
• Tonight's tailgate party will feature DeSha's chili. The tents will be up with the flaps down and the heaters on.

(Photo of Royals receiving their district championship trophy courtesy of Laura Houchens)