WEST LIBERTY —
Lawrence County ran 30 fewer plays than Morgan County in Friday's Class 3A first round football playoff game.
The Bulldogs gained 46 fewer total yards and had seven fewer first downs.
Didn't matter: Lawrence County 22, Morgan County 14, the Bulldogs' second straight postseason win in West Liberty was the result.
After Lawrence County coach Joey Cecil kissed his wife, he said his team was lucky enough to hold on.
“One of the things when you play (Morgan County), you understand they're going to grind it out, possession you, possession you, possession you,” Cecil said. “We played most of the game on our end of the field, and we were lucky enough to keep them out (of the end zone) a couple times.”
Choosing a Most Valuable Bulldog was tough.
You could go with senior Blake Prince because he ran 70 yards for one touchdown and caught a 24-yard A.J. Cyrus pass for another. Prince mishandled the handoff.
“It slipped out of my hands, I caught it in midair and just took off with it,” Prince said.
There was Cyrus, who finished with 79 rushing yards.
Finally, there were nose tackle Charlie Bradshaw and linebacker Devon Perry, who stuffed Morgan County's Walker Crase on fourth-and-goal late in the fourth quarter.
Bradshaw made the initial hit by beating Lawrence County's guard, and Perry came in behind.
“Charlie grabbed (Crase's) leg, and I just cleaned it up,” Perry said.
The frustrating thing for Morgan County was, Cougars head coach Brian Turner tried to call a timeout before Crase's run, but officials didn't see him.
“We would have run our off-tackle play, we've got a little different blocking variation on it,” Turner said. “It's really three or four different plays all in one. That's what we wanted to do; it's who we are, it's our whole identity.”
To say Friday's first half — a 14-14 deadlock — was heated was akin to calling Peyton Manning a decent quarterback. It was an understatement.
And it was nearly all on the ground.
Morgan County ran for 28 times for 137 of its 141 total yards (Kody Thornsberry ran 18 times for 98), with Thornsberry scoring from five and 26.
Lawrence County, meanwhile, gained 101 rushing yards on just seven carries.
Morgan County (8-3) opened the game with a double-wing offense with backs just behind the front line on both sides. Most of the time, Thornsberry ran around right end, while Walker Crase did much the same around the left side.
Both worked well. Thornsberry ran six times for 27 yards (he finished the night with 32 carries for 158 yards) — including the five-yarder with 6:13 to go in the first — and Crase added 22 yards on his only carry of the drive.
Lawrence County (5-6) ran just 14 plays in the first half. They didn't need many — Prince took the Bulldogs' second snap through the middle of the Cougar line with a spin over left guard for 70.
Cyrus completed just two of seven passes for 37 yards for the game, but one was a 24-yarder to Prince with 6:49 left in the second quarter.
A scuffle near halftime between Morgan County's Deven Banks and Lawrence County's Chase Coverdale — both were ejected, and Coverdale will miss next week's game against Belfry — hurt the Cougars the most because Banks was a starting linebacker.
Here's why: the Bulldogs opened the third quarter with several “36 Outside Veer” plays out of its option package around right end, in which Cyrus faked to fullback Ricky Goble and ran three times for 41 yards — exactly where Banks would have been. It worked one final time, on Cyrus' 5-yard touchdown run, which gave the Bulldogs the winning margin.
“They were biting on (Goble) all night; that just opened the outside,” Cyrus said.
Morgan County set up its last chance the way it had done all night. Thornsberry carried five times for 27 yards, which put the ball at the Lawrence County 7. Thornsberry carried twice for two yards, and Crase carried once for four.
Local Sports
Dawgs dig in, dig out 22-14 win at Morgan
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Locals struggle to make impact
Some days you are the windshield and some days you are the bug.
It is a saying that proved to be all too true for Rowan County on Friday night at the KHSAA Class 2A State Track and Field Championships at the University of Louisville’s Owsley Frazier Cardinal Park. -
Rough Ending
Fairview senior Kennedy Womack wasn’t her consistent self in Saturday morning’s state tennis semifinals at the University of Kentucky’s Hilary Boone Tennis Complex.
As a result, the top seed fell to Lexington Sayre sophomore Madeline Rolph 6-1, 6-0.
Womack was obviously disappointed with her finish, especially after losing in last year’s state finals, but she was happy for her good friend Rolph. -
FLYING HIGH
If Fairview could have fielded a combined track and field team at Saturday’s Class A State Track and Field Championships, the Eagles and Lady Eagles would have had a record day. Instead, the Fairview girls had to “settle” for fifth, while the boys’ claimed 10th.
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Womack eliminated in semifinals
Top-seeded Kennedy Womack was eliminated in the semifinals of the State Tournament on Saturday at the University of Kentucky tennis courts.
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Big-inning Dawgs
It looked for a while that a questionable call may have determined the outcome of the game, but in the end, it was just an afterthought.
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Boyd County finds senior spark
Losers of four straight, Boyd County was searching for something positive Friday night before beginning postseason play Monday night.
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Doubles teams head to semis at state tourney
With rain staying away, the KHSAA State Tennis Tournament got into full swing on Friday afternoon.
Semifinals and finals will be held today at the University of Kentucky Boone/Downing Tennis Complex for boys and girls singles competitions. -
McKnight hurdling to Georgetown
Fairview’s Paige McKnight is known for jumping hurdles. She cleared a pretty big one on Thursday.
In front of friends and family at Fairview Elementary School, McKnight signed a letter of intent to run track for Georgetown College. -
Several area schools will be represented at State Track and Field championships
Local track and field athletes are ready to try to carry region competition success onto the state stage.
Several area schools will be represented at this weekend’s State Track and Field championships at the University of Louisville. The Class 2A meet is set for today at 3:15 p.m. and Class A competition is scheduled to begin on Saturday at 8:15 a.m. -
EAST KENTUCKY BASKETBALL HISTORY: Reflections on 'The Shot'
Paintsville High School legend J.R. VanHoose is also an eastern Kentucky basketball sports historian. This is one in an ongoing series of stories.
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