Louisa, Ky. — Lawrence Co. opened the football season with a 37-7 victory over Martin Co. on Friday at Luke Varney Jr. Memorial Stadium.
#5 Kaden Johnson begins the 2026 season with three touchdowns against neighboring Martin County.
It only took Lawrence County three plays to score on their first drive when Mitchell Frazier connected with Kaden Johnson for a 24 yard touchdown. The PAT was missed and it was 6-0 Dawgs with 8:39 left in the first quarter.
Johnson hit pay dirt again with 17 yard touchdown and added the two point conversion for a 14-0 Bulldog lead with 10:49 left in the second quarter.
Gray Derifield blocked a Cardinal punt to set the Dawgs up inside the Cardinal five yard line.
#22 Gray Derifield with a great open field tackle versus Martin Co. on Friday.
Cavin Williams punched it in from 2 yards out and then added the two point conversion for a 22-0 Bulldog lead halfway through the second quarter.
Johnson capped off his night with a 9 yard touchdown run and Chandler Preece two point conversion to make it 30-0 with just over 3 minutes left in the first half.
Chandler Preece plows his way in for a 3 yard touchdown and Issac Febish nails the PAT for a 37-0 Bulldog lead with 7:03 left in the third quarter.
After the running clock was turned on for the rest of the game the Cardinals got on the scoreboard with a 3 yard touchdown by Jeremy Begley and a PAT by Noah Bowens set the final score of 37-7 Lawrence County.
Kaden Johnson finished with 112 yards on 8 carries, 2 touchdowns he also caught a 24 yard touchdown pass.
LC QB #8 Mitchell Frazier stands in the pocket against the Cards on Friday.
The Bulldogs ( 1-0 ) will play in the Garrard County Golden Lion Bowl versus Lincoln County ( 1-0 at 6:00 next Friday evening.
Martin County ( 0-1 ) will play at Pike Co. Central ( 0-1 ) next Friday evening at 6:00.
Bulldog Head Coach Alan Short
COACH’S COMMENTS
“…Very pleased with the way our team played in game one against a border rival. We felt our defense was particularly strong tonight.”
“… We felt like our team handled some major adversity early in the game. I am proud of how they responded.”
“… Like always, we will enjoy this one for 24 hours and turn our attention to a strong Lincoln County team on Sunday.”
