FLEMINGSBURG, KY. | The Harrison County football team looked to be in complete control of Friday’s road football game at Fleming County. Behind a sustained rushing attack, the Thorobreds built a 21-6 lead through the first 15 minutes and 35 seconds.
And then the wheels fell off. Fleming County (2-0) scored 44 unanswered points and ran away with a 50-27 victory.
What happened?
“It was a kickoff return,” said HCHS coach Van Isaac of the game’s turning point. “We dropped two back-to-back, and they got the ball back on their side of the 50 and were able to score.”
Even before the kickoff blunders, Fleming County coach Bill Spencer knew something had to change with his club.
“We kind of had a come-to-Jesus moment with them on the sideline about how, if we’re gonna play a wing-T team, we gotta stay true to our defense and read our keys,” he said. “We got a little bit better at that and came back and made it 22 to 21 at the half. And I think that really was a big momentum swing. And then the third quarter just exploded with us getting a stop, getting a touchdown, and then getting two fumbled kickoff returns in a row and scoring on those.
“It was 21 to 6 at one point and the next minute we look up, and it’s 50 to 21,” he added.
Harrison County (0-2) churned out 99 yards on the ground in the first quarter and opened its first drive after stopping the hosts with a 9-yard sack by Hunter Jones on third down. The ‘Breds also benefitted from JaCory Hinton’s 50-yard kickoff return.
On the first play of the second quarter, Hinton picked off a Jett Martin pass, which set up a 6-play, 71-yard touchdown drive.
“Harrison County, I gotta give them credit. They came out in the first quarter and really executed on offense,” Spencer said. “And it didn’t seem like anything we did kind of threw them off track.”
The ‘Breds opened the scoring with a 7-play, 56-yard drive, highlighted by a pair of 19-yard runs and capped off by a 1-yard plunge by Tripp Nichols. Logan Harris added the kick and the visitors were on their way.
Harrison County forced a Fleming County punt to end an 8-play drive, but the ‘Breds could fare no better.
The Panthers got the ball back at their 40 and with 1:20 to play in the opening quarter needed just three plays to get into the end zone.
Blake Everidge ran up the middle for the 4-yard score. However, Caleb Miles blocked the point-after attempt and HCHS held onto the lead.
Hinton’s 50-yard kick return got the ball to the Fleming 35 and the visitors scored on the next play, a reverse by Jones. Harris again added the PAT.
“They got us on the reverse for a touchdown when the kid went untouched, because we were not reading our keys,” Spencer said.
Fleming County ran a screen play that went from Martin to Evan Conley that gained 24 yards, despite pressure from Nathaniel Carson and Jackson Herrington.
It was a play that caused coach Isaac fits all night.
“Essentially, they were hitting us with the alley screen and we tried multiple ways to try to stop it,” he said. “Number 11 (Conley) and their coaching staff did a good job of going back to that over and over, and we had a hard time stopping it.”
But two plays later, Hinton came away with the interception and the ‘Breds started their next drive at their 29.
Harrison County went back to the ground game and chipped away yardage, largely on the legs of Karsyn Sumpter, who had a 12-yard run and then finished the drive with a 50-yard scamper, when he went through the middle of the line untouched. Harris added his final extra point of the night and the visitors led 21-6 with 8:25 to play in the half.
The Panthers varied their offense on the next possession, moving the ball on the ground and through the air, with Martin and Conley connecting on a 39-yard scoring play. Martin found Everidge for the 2-point conversion to cut the margin to seven.
Then Fleming County’s defense, led by Branson Hawkins and Kaleb McIntyre, forced Harrison County to go 3-and-out. Conley returned Harris’ punt 42 yards and the hosts were back in business.
The Panthers opened their final drive of the half at the visitor’s 46 and needed just five plays to take their first lead of the night. The go-ahead score came from Martin’s 1-yard run with 1:20 to play before intermission. Martin then rolled to his right and found Hayden Williams with a jump pass to add the 2-point conversion.
Harrison County was able to get a pair of first downs on the next possession, including converting a 4th-and-4, but Johnathan Hickerson’s 20-yard sack on the next to last play of the half essentially ended the drive.
The Panthers kept the pressure on as the first play of the second half was a sack by Logan Crawford. More pressure forced the ‘Breds backwards and eventually into a need to punt.
Fleming County again split its offense between the run and pass and Everidge gained 30 yards on a first-down scamper. Braxton Colemire dropped Martin for a 1-yard loss on the next play but a personal foul pushed the Panthers forward again. Two more 10-yard gains got the hosts over the goal line, with Martin doing the final damage with 7:52 to play in the quarter. Hinton broke up a pass attempt on the 2-point conversion keeping the score at 28-21.
A miscue on the ensuing kickoff led to Branson Hawkins recovering a short kickoff that was mishandled by the ‘Breds. Fleming then moved 39 yards on six plays to gain its next score. The Panthers were pushed into a 4th-and-9 play at the 20 after Daniel Switzer made a 2-yard tackle for loss on third down. But Martin found Paxton Jones on the left sideline wide open behind the defense for the 20-yard touchdown. Martin and Conley hooked up again on the 2-point conversion.
The same same result as the previous kickoff returned the ball to Fleming County at the Harrison 33-yard line to start its next drive. Again it was Hawkins who scooped up the mishandled return.
Another six plays put the Panthers back in the end zone. This time it was a 3-yard run from Martin. Despite pressure from Sumpter, Martin found Hickerson for a successful pass reception on the 2-point conversion as Fleming pushed its lead to 44-21.
Harrison got itself out of a 4th-and-2 play from the host’s 44-yard line after Jones ran left for a 9-yard gain. The drive continued into the fourth quarter as the visitors again found themselves needing to convert another 4th-and-2. However, that attempt fell one yard short. FC’s Isaac Pecina played a big role in slowing the ‘Breds offense.
Fleming County was able to pad its lead one final time with a 74-yard drive, mostly courtesy of Martin’s passing. He had three plays on the drive that went for double-digit yardage, in addition to a 9-yard run. The drive ended with a 33-yard strike in which Conley took a Martin pass and ran untouched down the left sideline for the score with 7:20 to play.
Nathaniel Carson stopped the 2-point pass play with a tackle just before the goal line.
The touchdown was the sixth of the night, which included Martin.
“Evan on the outside has some speed, can make big plays. Blake Everidge made some big plays for us running the football. And then our fullback, Caleb McIntyre, made some big plays,” Spencer said. “But Jett Martin, our quarterback, like (the Fleming County radio broadcasters) said, threw for almost 300 yards and rushed for four touchdowns also. So he’s a very versatile weapon.”
Harrison County finally was able to get back on the scoreboard on its next possession. It wore the Panthers down with its ground attack, including Jones getting behind the FCHS defense with a 35 yard run that gained extra yardage due to a Fleming County personal foul.
It took four plays to move from the 3-yard line into the end zone, but Carter Curry’s 1-yard TD dive did the trick. However, his jump pass on the 2-point conversion fell incomplete.
The next kickoff took a significant backwards bounce, which Owen Northcutt was able to recover, giving the visitors one final chance.
Jones then picked up 17 yards on a first-down rushing play. The visitors had four more plays, but Mikey Dermon and Takota Burke slowed the drive, which finally ended with a fourth down incomplete pass at the Fleming 33.
“Credit to our kids for not blinking when they were down, and keep doing things right, and plugging away, and winning a tough ball game,” Spencer said.
He also attributed the victory to the defense rising to the occasion.
“For us (it was) just tackling. They have a big offensive line. The running back does a good job of hiding behind the line and kind of popping out. And if you don’t read your keys with those pulling guards and things, you end up chasing your tail,” Spencer added. “And we did that some there in the first quarter.”
When the defense and offense both came together, the Panthers became a different club.
“When we’re clicking on all cylinders. We’re gonna be a tough offensive team,” Spencer continued. “Really, when the momentum starts swinging for us, and we’re able to run the ball and throw the ball, we’re gonna be a pretty tough football team this year, I’m gonna tell you.”
Conversely, there was Harrison County’s coach Isaac.
“Super disappointed in how we played, you know, late second quarter and the second half. We gave up a ton of points just unanswered,” he said. “It’s just, hey, we got to get better on offense, but we got to clean things up on defense and also special teams. That hurt us. We had two kickoff returns that we dropped and we muffed, and then they had good field positions. So, all in all, you’re never going to win a game when you’re turning the ball over like that.”
Still, there were moments of positive play that coach Isaac can use as points of growth.
“We came out strong. We ran the ball well. Offensively, we looked a lot better this week,” he added. “So that’s the positive that I’m trying to preach to my guys.”
Both teams face rivals next Friday. Harrison County will host Bourbon County and Fleming County will travel to Mason County.
Harrison County 14 7 0 6 | 27
Fleming County 6 16 22 6 | 50
First Quarter
HC – Tripp Nichols 1-yard run (Logan Harris kick), 7:51 0-7
FC – Blake Everidge 4-yard run (kick blocked), 0:51 6-7
HC – Hunter Jones 35-yard run (Harris kick), 0:33 6-14
Second Quarter
HC – Karsyn Sumpter 50-yard run (Harris kick), 8:25 6-21
FC – Evan Conley 39-yard pass from Jett Martin (Everidge pass from Martin), 5:21 14-21
FC – Martin 1-yard run (Hayden Williams pass from Martin), 1:20 22-21
Third Quarter
FC – Martin 10-yard run (pass failed), 7:52 28-21
FC – Paxton Jones 2-yard pass from Martin (Conley pass from Martin), 5:00 36-21
FC – Martin 3-yard run (Johnathon Hickerson pass from Martin), 3:10 44-21
Fourth Quarter
FC – Conley 33-yard pass from Martin (pass failed), 7:20 50-21
HC – Carter Curry 1-yard run (pass failed), 2:09 50-27
Rushing: HC (48-295), Karsyn Sumpter (15-142), Hunter Jones (15-130), Tripp Nichols (12-40), Ashton Gaunce (1-14), Carter Curry (5- -31). FC (31-183) Blake Everidge (5-69), Kaleb McIntyre (12-53), Jett Martin (12-48), Paxton Jones (2-13).
Passing: HC JaCory Hinton (0-1-0 0), Carter Curry (1-4-0 -5). FC Jett Martin (19-28-1 271)
Receiving: HC (1- -5), JaCory Hinton (1- -5). FC (19-271), Evan Conley (7-142), Blake Everidge (6-66), Branson Hawkins (3-38), Paxton Jones (1-19), Johnathon Hickerson (1-3), Hayden Williams (1-3).
