(LEX 18) — When you show up for the state high school football championships, it's fairly normal to see these Beechwood High School and Mayfield High School. Beechwood has won 16 titles, Mayfield 12. What the Mayfield team has experienced, though, in the last year is anything but normal.
"You can knock our town down, but by golly, we're going to stand right back up," said Mayfield Mayor Kathy O'Nan.
On December 10, 2021, an EF-4 tornado ravaged Mayfield. Two weeks before the storm, it was like any other normal playoff game between Mayfield and Beechwood. Beechwood claimed the victory that day, but two weeks later, delivered something far more important.
"Here came Beechwood students, Beechwood team, the town of Fort Mitchell to Mayfield, Kentucky with supplies, donations, hearts, and hands 7:28:06 So, today, we are proclaiming them forever, our good friends, always," Mayor O'Nan said as she stood on Kroger Field ahead of Friday's Kentucky High School Football 2A championship game.
"It's more than a rivalry, right?" said Mayor Jude Hehman of Fort Mitchell, where Beechwood is located. "The game has something about it, but it's about relationships. We're all within the state of Kentucky. Now we are together as brothers and sisters of the state of Kentucky,"
Before the game, the two mayors met on the field to mark the occasion and reflect on the normalcy that was lost that day last December before getting back to tradition.
After four quarters, the Mayfield side again felt the sting of a loss on the field, just like last year. Beechwood High School won the state title 14 to 13, but the familiar concept of being a team will carry Mayfield through the loss.
"It's going to hurt. That's ok. Stay together on this deal, you understand?" one of the Mayfield coaches said to his players as they lingered on the field after the final whistle.
In this new normal, the one after the storm, that same idea of teamwork will keep moving the whole town forward.
