By AARON SNYDER — The Independent
LOUISA — Lawrence County is now just one win away from clinching its first district championship in eight years.
The Bulldogs (8-0) kept its undefeated season alive with a 29-14 victory over Rowan County on Friday night at Lawrence County High School.
A win over Boyd County next week would clinch the title.
Lawrence County trailed Rowan County, 14-13, at halftime, but set out to satisfy the Homecoming night crowd in the second half.
The Vikings went three-and-out, but booted a beautiful punt that went 54 yards and came to a halt at the 1-yard line.
Lawrence County used its blue-collar attitude and went to work, pounding away run after run to wear down Rowan County’s defense.
The Bulldogs put together a 17-play, 99-yard drive that ate up exactly eight minutes off the clock topped by a 12-yard touchdown run by Shane Pack, the second of his three total scores.
“That long drive really hurt us,” said Rowan County coach ShaDon Brown. “We couldn’t get them stopped there. I dialed every blitz, dialed every movement up that I possibly could, just couldn’t get them stopped. They were running outside zone on us and were just pounding us.
“That was kind of the knockout punch that wore our football team down,” Brown added.
Bulldogs coach Luke Salmons said that his team tries to do just that every week—wear opponents down.
“Our goal is to play four quarters,” Salmons said. “My players weren’t panicking (when they trailed), but they weren’t understanding a little bit. I told them to keep doing what they’re doing and (Rowan County)is going to get tired.”
After the Bulldogs converted on their two-point attempt, Rowan County still only trailed 21-14 with more than a quarter to play, but the Vikings could not get their offense moving in the second half.
On 4th-and-6 from midfield, Lawrence County senior Ben Preston put great pressure on Vikings quarterback Adam Wing, who threw short of an open receiver.
Lawrence County took advantage again with another long drive—one that lasted more than six minutes on 11 plays. Pack scored a touchdown and Hayden Kiser completed a pass to Hunter James for the two-point conversion to essentially put the game away.
The Bulldogs could not take advantage of two Rowan County fumbles on back-to-back possessions in the first half. Rowan County did, however, make good of Lawrence County’s mistakes.
Pack’s lone mistake of the game came when he fumbled in the second quarter, which allowed the Vikings to set up a scoring drive that ended with a T.J. Chin touchdown.
Pack scored the game’s first touchdown, but the two teams traded scores after Chin’s score. Rowan County had the lead because of a missed extra point.
The running game for Lawrence County strung up success behind its big offensive line. Bulldogs’ rushers ran for 390 yards on 56 carries.
“They have the best offensive line I’ve seen in two years,” said Brown.
Pack carried 21 times for 166 yards, packing away yards like a semi-truck treads away miles. James finished with 97 yards, Caleb Bentley had 61 and Jacob Marcum rushed for 55.
Pack touched the ball just seven times in the second half after a hit that left him slightly dazed in the first half.
“I knew he was fine, but I just didn’t want to risk anything,” said Salmons of his move to replace Pack with Marcum.
Lawrence County’s defense was able to steal the spotlight from a normally explosive Rowan County offense, holding them to just 207 total yards. The first play from scrimmage for the Vikings went to star junior running back Darrell Cross for a 31-yard rush down the right sideline. The rest of the game Cross was shut down, carrying seven times for two yards.
“It was great scheming by (Lawrence County) to shut him down,” Brown said. “Any time you keep him from keeping him getting loose, you’ve done a good job.”
