Royals beat Harrison County 35-7 in district opener

Kyson Fox passed for 173 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another score as the Mason County Royals defeated the Harrison County Thorobreds 35-7 in their district opener on Friday night in Cynthiana.

Mason County led 14-0 at halftime on a one-yard touchdown run by Lennie Avery and a 25-yard touchdown pass from Fox to Carter Roark.

Harrison County cut the Royals' lead in half by scoring a touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter, but Mason County responded by scoring 21 unanswered points.

Fox rushed four yards for a touchdown and threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Micah Payne. Kenyon Walton capped off the scoring with a two-yard touchdown run.

Taten Carrington had two interceptions for Mason County.

The Royals, 3-4 overall and 1-0 in the district, will host the Highland Bluebirds next week.

MC 2nd Q 7:13 Lennie Avery 1 yard run (Micah Payne kick) MC 7, HC 0

MC 2nd Q 00:02 Carter Roark 25 yard pass from Kyson Fox (Micah Payne kick) MC 14, HC 0

HC 3rd Q 7:58 Karsyn Sumpter 11 yard run (Logan Harris kick) MC 14, HC 7

MC 3rd Q 2:06 Kyson Fox 4 yard run (Micah Payne kick) MC 21, HC 7

MC 4th Q 5:18 Micah Payne 19 yard pass  (Micah Payne kick) MC 28, HC 7

MC 4th Q 3:27 Kenyon Walton 2 yard run (Micah Payne kick) MC 35, HC 7

(Game statistics courtesy of Travis Scaggs and Drew Spangler of WFTM radio.)

Royals fall to Lawrence County 41-13

A short-handed Mason County Royals football team stayed with the Lawrence County Bulldogs for a half before being outscored 27-0 in the second half in a 41-13 loss on Friday night in Louisa.

With first-string quarterback Camden Gregory lost for the season with an injury and running back Lennie Avery sidelined with an injury, sophomore quarterback Kyson Fox, in his first varsity start, threw two touchdown passes to Micah Payne and the Royals only trailed 14-13 at halftime.

The second half was all Lawrence County.

The Bulldogs scored on the opening drive of the third quarter, added another score in the third quarter and two more in the fourth quarter.

Fox left the game with an injury in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Payne took over at quarterback, but he also left the game with an injury. Freshman Brylee Gardner was the next man up.

Mason County (2-4) will open district play next week vs. the Harrison County Thorobreds in Cynthiana.

LC 1st Q 3:01 Cavin Williams 9 yard run (Brayden Queen kick) LC 7, MC 0

MC 2nd Q 9:53 Micah Payne 24 yard pass from Kyson Fox (Micah Payne kick) LC 7, MC 7

LC 2nd Q 9:01 Cavin Williams 6 yard run (Brayden Queen kick) LC 14, MC 13

MC 2nd Q 00:13 Micah Payne 9 yard pass from Kyson Fox (kicked failed) LC 21, MC 13

LC 3rd Q 8:08 Cavin Williams 11 yard run (run failed) LC 20, MC 13

LC 3rd Q 2:02 Chandler Preece 1 yard run (Brayden Queen kick) LC 27, MC 13

LC 4th Q 11:08 Kaden Johnson 49 yard pass from Luke Fetherolf (Brayden Queen kick) LC 34, MC 13

LC 4th Q 1:01 Brennan Blankenship 7 yard run (Brayden Queen kick) LC 41, MC 13

(Game statistics courtesy of Travis Scaggs and Drew Spangler of WFTM radio)