Applegate leads Lewis County past Mason County 36-18

Lewis County senior running back Garrett Applegate rushed for 343 yards and five touchdowns on 52 carries to lead the Lions to a 36-18 victory over the Mason County Royals in the rain tonight at Mason County.

"I knew he could play, you know, we talked about it all week long, we just didn't tackle well again," Mason County coach Jonathan Thomas said.

Applegate rushed for three touchdowns in the first half and the Lions led 22-6 at halftime.

Lewis County ran 21 plays to just four for Mason County in a scoreless third quarter.

Applegate scored a touchdown on a three-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter and caught a two-point conversion pass to give the Lions a 30-6 lead.

Mason County closed the gap to 12 points on a four-yard touchdown run by Seth Chambers and a 13-yard touchdown pass from Carson Brammer to Austin Kitchen, but Applegate answered with a 45-yard touchdown run to make the score 36-18 with 3:15 left in the game.

Chambers ran 47 yards for a touchdown and Brammer scored on the conversion run with 2:30 left.

Lewis County fielded the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock.

The Lions had 401 yards of total offense.

Mason County had 296 yards of total offense. The Royals rushed for 167 yards, and Brammer completed 10-of-15 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for a touchdown and threw an interception.

Chambers rushed for 151 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. He finished the season with 1,141 rushing yards.

Mason County ended the season with six straight losses and a 2-8 record.

The Royals drop down to Class 3A next season.

"With some of the kids we got coming in, and hopefully, some of the kids we're going to try to get to come out within our schools, hopefully, we'll be better in the future," Thomas said. 

Lewis County snapped a three-game losing streak and ended the season with a 3-7 record.

LC 1st Q 6:38 Garrett Applegate 33 yard run (Zach Lehn run) LC 8, MC 0

LC 2nd Q 8:36 Garrett Applegate 6 yard run (Zach Lehn run) LC 16, MC 0

MC 2nd Q 3:45 Carson Brammer 1 yard run (kick failed) LC 16, MC 6

LC 2nd Q 00:17 Garrett Applegate 5 yard run (pass failed) LC 22, MC 6

LC 4th Q 11:55 Garrett Applegate 3 yard run (Garrett Applegate pass from Zach Lehn) LC 30, MC 6

MC 4th Q 10:21 Seth Chambers 4 yard run (pass failed) LC 30. MC 12

MC 4th Q 6:21 Austin Kitchen 13 yard pass from Carson Brammer (pass failed) LC 30, MC 18

LC 4th Q 3:15 Garrett Applegate 45 yard run (run failed) LC 36, MC 18

MC 4th Q 2:30 Seth Chambers 47 yard run (Carson Brammer run) LC 36, MC 26

Mason County hosts Lewis County on Senior Night

The Mason County Royals closeout the season tonight at home against the Lewis County Lions on Senior Night.

Both teams are 2-7 and failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Mason County has lost five straight games while Lewis County has lost three games in a row.

Mason County coach Jonathan Thomas said the Royals will have to tackle better than they did in their 35-27 loss to Grant County last week.

Lewis County running back Garrett Applegate has rushed for 1,019 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Mason County leads the series 25-7 and has won the last four meetings and 19 of the last 20.

The Royals won 36-6 last season in Vanceburg.

Lewis County's last win over Mason County was in 2011.

The last time the Lions beat the Royals at Mason County was in 1988 on what is now the practice field.

Kickoff is at 7:30.

Royals close out regular season with a 36-6 win over Lewis County

The Mason County Royals scored on six of their first seven possessions and closed out the regular season with a 36-6 victory over the Lewis County Lions tonight in Vanceburg.

Malkolm Devine, who rushed for 188 yards on 17 carries, ran 30 yards for a touchdown on the third play of the game.

Mason County led 29-0 at halftime and scored on their first possession of the second half  to invoke the running clock with 4:47 left in the third quarter.

Camdyn Washington had a receiving touchdown and rushing touchdown.

Tykeise Henry rushed for a touchdown and had an interception.

Chandler Dunaway completed 4-of-8 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. He also scored a touchdown on a one-yard quarterback sneak.

Mason County had 314 yards of total offense while holding Lewis County to 202 yards.

Lewis County tailback Garrett Applegate rushed for 142 yards on 24 carries.

Mason County (7-3) plays Johnson Central in Paintsville next week in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.

Lewis County ends the season with a 2-8 record.

MC 1st Q 11:11 Malkolm Devine 30 yard run (Brock Gilligan kick) MC 7, LC 0

MC 1st Q 6:29 Camdyn Washington 18 yard pass from Chandler Dunaway (Carson Brammer run) MC 15, LC 0

MC 2nd Q 7:42 Tykeise Henry 4 yard run (Brock Gilligan kick) MC 22, LC 0

MC 2nd Q 4:02 Camdyn Washington 28 yard run (Brock Gilligan kick) MC 29, LC 0

MC 3rd Q 4:47 Chandler Dunaway 1 yard run (Brock Gilligan kick) MC 36, LC 0

LC 4th Q 5:00 Justin Howard 10 yard pass from Zach Lehn (run failed) MC 36, LC 6

Mason County and Lewis County renew rivalry tonight

The Mason County Royals and the Lewis County Lions renew their rivalry tonight in Vanceburg in the final game of the regular season.

Mason County and Lewis County have not played since the Royals moved up to Class 4A in 2015.

The Royals are riding a three-game winning streak and will be going for their seventh win of the season.

The Lions have lost three games in a row. Last week's 49-16 loss to the West Carter Comets cost the Lions a spot in the Class 3A playoffs. Lewis County finished 1-4 in district play. The Lions are 2-7 overall with wins over Nicholas County (56-34) and Pendleton County (38-30.

Lewis County junior quarterback Zach Lehn has passed for 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns. He has thrown 12 interceptions.

Lehn's favorite targets are Tay Offutt and Zach Robersion. Offutt has 47 receptions for 620 yards and five touchdowns. Robersion has 40 receptions for 449 yards and two touchdowns.

Tailback Garrett Applegate is the Lions' leading rusher with 681 yards and 12 touchdowns on 114 carries.

Lewis County has been outscored 412-188.

Mason County coach Jonathan Thomas said after the Royals were unable to win a district championship, the next goal was to win as many games as possible.

"7 and 3 is definitely a goal for us, at this point and time it's very, very attainable," Thomas said.

He added that the Royals need to take of business tonight and not worry about next week's playoff game against Johnson Central.

"Next week will be here fast enough," Thomas said.

Game notes:

Mason County leads the series with Lewis County 24-7. The Royals have won the last three meetings. Lewis County's last win over Mason County was in 2011.

In the Class 4A statistics from the KHSAA, Mason County is second in scoring (38.8 ppg), seventh in scoring margin (18,7 ppg), seventh in rushing defense (95 ypg), 12th in scoring defense (20.1 ppg) and 18th in passing (109 ypg)

Mason County tailback Malkolm Devine is tied for 13th in rushing in Class 4A (103 ypg)