The Bracken County and Harrison County football programs met for the first time in Cynthiana on Friday night to kick off the 2024 football season. The Polar Bears outran the Thorobreds to win 42-0 over 4A Harrison County.

You can view the photo gallery here.

This game was initially supposed to be between Bracken and Pendleton. However, Pendleton opted out of playing the second game of the two-year cycle. Neighboring Harrison County was also looking for a game, so the two teams agreed to play once.

Bracken scored on their opening drive when quarterback Jackson Whitten found Andrew Kirk 33 yards away in the endzone. 

Daulton Tarter scored the next touchdown with an 8-yard run with just under a minute left in the first half.

Coming out of the locker room, the Polar Bears forced a three and out.  Jordan Bravard would take the reverse from Tarter and break loose for a 73-yard touchdown run. 

Dalton Tarter would get an interception on a batted ball at midfield and take it back to the Harrison County 20-yard line. 

With 1:46 left in the third, Daulton Tarter had his helmet ripped off, and a Thorobred defender’s face mask cut Tarter’s head open on the tackle.  Tarter came out for the remainder of the game, bleeding from the top of his head.  He was treated by Dr. Daryl Emery (father of lineman Caleb Emery) on the sideline, who stitched him up after the game.

Last season as a sophomore, Tarter ran for 1,436 yards with 25 touchdowns in 10 games.  He averaged 14.8 carries and 143.6 yards per game.  He starts his junior year with 20 carries for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns. 

After a long delay, Jackson Whitten would find Andrew Kirk in the endzone on the very next play for a 38-yard touchdown. Kirk led with 56 receiving yards on two receptions, both for touchdowns.

Junior quarterback Jackson Whitten was 11 of 14 on passes for 127 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. 

Codee Lippert would score on a 7-yard touchdown run with 7:53 left in the game, putting the Polar Bears up 42-0 after a two-point conversion.

Kicker Ashton Buchanan was 2 for 3 on PAT attempts. On the defensive side, Greg Benedict led with 13 total tackles (4 solo) and 4 tackles for a loss.

Harrison County finished the game with just 37 rushing yards on 24 attempts.  Quarterback JaCory Hinton had -18 rushing yards; however, he completed 10 of 13 passes in his first varsity start for 72 yards.  Jashon Lewis had 74 yards on 8 receptions and also had an interception.

Bracken County is now 1-0 on the season and will host Sayre on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Sayre Spartans defeated Bracken County 40-21 last season in Lexington. According to the latest Herald-Leader coaches’ poll, Sayre is ranked #4 in the state in 1A.