BROOKSVILLE, KY. | Without two key football players on Friday night at The Glacier, host Bracken County simply had no answers for Sayre as the Polar Bears fell 35-0.

“Sayre is a well-coached team. We thought we were ready when we came out last week hot, and I guess we thought we had that same momentum going in this game, and Sayre plays great football and here we are with a bad score 35-0,” said BCHS head coach Steven Tarter.

The defending Class A state champion Spartans scored at least one touchdown in every quarter behind a balanced offensive attack, while also benefiting from three BCHS turnovers.

“Our number one goal tonight was to play with physicality. We knew how physical Bracken was with their size and how they like to play. We also understand they’ve got some injuries that they’re dealing with, which is really unfortunate,” said Sayre coach Chad Pennington. “But we knew we had to be physical in order to have a chance. And I thought our guys answered the call being physical on both sides of the ball.”

Bracken County (2-2) had a promising start, putting Sayre (3-1) in a hole early on its first drive. A procedure penalty and a sack by senior Jackson Whitten sack set the visitors back 15 yards, but senior Caden Jones recaptured that ground with a 15-yard run. However, the Spartans could go no farther and punted the ball over to the hosts.

Senior Lucas McKinney kept up the production with a 14-yard first-down run. Two more runs earned the Polar Bears a second first down. The hosts nearly reached midfield before Jones’ 3-yard tackle-for-loss halted the drive.

Jones opened the next Sayre possession with an 8-yard run. However, Whitten and senior Zaccary Tall slowed the Spartan ground game. Junior Gage Pennington went to the air and found senior Stuart Jackson for a 21-yard gain on the right sideline. The visitors crossed midfield after converting a third-and-one run and then went back to the air.

Junior Harrison Phillips caught a 12-yard pass and the Polar Bears were called for defensive holding, further compounding the hosts’ problems.

An 8-yard run by Phillips added 12 yards, while a Pennington to senior Hampton Monday pass added another 11. On the next play, Pennington pushed his way over the goal line with 46.7 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. Gannon Rice added the first of his five extra points.

Senior Jordan Bravard had a 19-yard kickoff return, junior Andrew Kirk found junior Ezra Halloran for an 8-yard gain and Kirk had a 2-yard sneak to give the Polar Bears a first down as the game moved into the second quarter.

However, Jones and senior Will Moore successfully defended a third-down pass that forced the hosts to punt.

Bracken County nearly got the ball back after senior Noah Bachman forced a fumble, but the ball went out of bounds. Jones went back to work with an 8-yard run, followed by a 62-yarder that included him shaking off tackles as he scampered for a touchdown with 7:48 remaining in the half.

Bravard had another nice kick run, but on third down, senior John Luke Minner forced and recovered a fumble at the Bracken County 33. The Spartans went back to their ground game as a trio of backs shared the duties, with Phillips eventually running untouched over the goal line for a 3-yard touchdown with 1:41 to play in the half.

Bravard’s 26-yard return started the next drive, but Phillips got into the backfield on a reverse play that turned into a 2-yard loss. A holding penalty further hampered the Polar Bears’ efforts and the hosts eventually had to punt.

Whitten continued to wreak havoc on defense has he batted down a pass. A Sayre penalty followed on the next play and Pennington took a knee to end the half.

Bracken County’s offensive difficulties persisted in the third quarter as senior Logan Bickley registered a 2-yard tackle-for-loss, Stuart broke up a pass, junior Hudson Ward and Minner’s quarterback hurry forced an incompletion and a false start penalty brought the opening drive to a halt.

“I loved how we started the second half. We were up 21-0 at halftime and I knew with Bracken County getting the ball on the first drive and then with us having the drive after that, we needed to get the stop and then try to answer that with the score,” said coach Pennington. “And we were able to do that, which that kind of took the wind out of their sails.”

The hosts’ woes continued as a high snap on the punt forced sophomore Witten Daughtery to have to run, gaining just two yards, giving the visitors the ball on the BCHS 16.

Despite an impressive tackle by senior Landynn Combs on first down, Pennington and Phillips connected for a 15-yard touchdown pass on the next play to push the visitors’ lead to 28-0 with 9:54 to play in the third period.

“Gage is learning. He had a chance to watch his brother for the last two years. And so now he’s having to make mistakes in front of us and not be able to make them behind closed doors. But he’s learning. He’s getting better every week, doing a really good job of scrambling, making some plays with his legs. And he keeps getting more and more consistent in the passing game,” coach Pennington said about his quarterback son. “So, we know that to be a really good offense, we’ve got to be able to run the ball effectively and pass the ball effectively. And that’s what our goal is. And I think he did a nice job reading the defense and making the adjustments he needed to make.”

Another 29-yard kick return by Bravard opened the hosts’ next drive. Despite being hit by Phillips, junior Ryland Tucker completed a big pass to McKinney on the right sideline, but an illegal block reduced the gain to just six yards.

Tucker followed with a pair of successful passes, but Phillips again continued to put on the pressure. The Polar Bears turned back to Kirk and his pass to Bravard gained nine yards. However, the drive ended there and the hosts kicked the ball back to the Spartans.

McKinney registered a 5-yard tackle-for-loss on first down and a delay of game penalty followed. Yet, Sayre successfully went back to its running attack and Jones and Pennington combined for three rushes of 34 yards.

A pair of penalties slowed the drive and Whitten again chased Pennington out of the pocket with a holding penalty compounding the problems. A third-and-26 pass play ended with a forced fumble by Bravard, which was recovered by junior Ethan Phillips.

Despite starting its drive at the Sayre 46, Bracken County could not take advantage as Ward’s pressure and a Jones interception ended the series at the visitors’ 33.

The Spartans ran the ball on their next four plays, a drive that spanned the third and fourth quarters. Whitten had a 4-yard tackle-for-loss to slow the progress, but then Harrison Phillips broke free down the left sideline for a 43-yard gain.

Whitten had an 8-yard tackle-for-loss three plays later and Bravard stepped in front of the Sayre receiver and hauled in an interception that he ruled for 13 yards.

The momentum was short-lived as Bickley jumped in front of a second-down pass and returned the ball to the visitors.

Whitten’s fifth tackle-for-loss on the next drive put the Spartans into a third-and-11, but the visitors got out of it with a 7-yard run from Jones and then saw Pennington run across the field to the right before finding junior Paul Miller for a 6-yard first-down play.

“Yeah (Whitten is) a dog on the D-line. That man, he manhandles everybody. He’s a great player,” said coach Tarter. “He is getting in the backfield and, like I said, I hate that for him. Because when he gets back there, we just gotta have our secondary to help him out and that didn’t happen tonight.”

Three consecutive runs by Jones, with the final one going for seven yards got Sayre into the end zone for the final time. Rice’s extra point forced a running clock.

Bracken County’s final drive started on its 26-yard line. A 30-yard run by Kirk was essentially wiped off the books by.a holding penalty and three more running plays brought the game to a close, with sophomore William Huntress ending the action by hitting the quarterback on the final handoff.

“I think, first of all, we had to understand we had to play with great leverage. When you’re facing a team with that type of size and physicality, you got to be able to play with great leverage. And I thought our guys did that for the most part,” coach Pennington said. “I thought we gang tackled really, really well. We weren’t leaving just one guy to make the tackle. We were really rallying to the ball, especially with those type of backs that they have. And so those two things, I think, really played a major part in us being able to stop the run effectively.”

Despite a powerful running attack this season, Bracken County could not find any answers on Friday, especially with two of its top three rushers out.

“They chopped our line right at the line, so it made it hard,” coach Tarter said. “We couldn’t get outside them and, like I said, they were a well-coached team and they knew what they were doing coming in here.”

The Polar Bears finished with by far their lowest rushing total of the season, gaining just 63 yards, while giving up 256.

“I can’t really say I had many highlights not scoring (any) points, but with a lot of my starters being out, like I said, a whole new linebacker crew, backfield crew, we just gotta find it (and) we ain’t found it yet,” Tarter concluded. “So, hopefully this week at practice and moving forward we find it.”

Next Friday, Bracken County opens district play as it entertains Walton-Verona, while Sayre hosts Newport.

Sayre 7 14 7 7 | 35

Bracken County 0 0 0 0 | 0

First Quarter
S – Gage Pennington 3-yard run (Gannon Rice kick), :46.7 0-7

Second Quarter
S – Caden Jones 62-yard run (Rice kick), 7:48 0-14
S – Harrison Phillips 3-yard run (Rice kick), 1:41 0-21

Third Quarter
S – Phillips 15-yard pass from Pennington (Rice kick), 9:54 0-28

Fourth Quarter
S – Jones 7-yard run (Rice kick), 3:25 0-35

Rushing: S (40-256), Caden Jones (21-150), Harrison Phillips (9-68), Gage Pennington (7-27), Amanuel Arms (2-10), Hudson Ward (1-1). BC (18-63) Lucas McKinney (10-38), Andrew Kirk (5-14), Jordan Bravard (2-9), Witten Daughtery (1-2).

Passing: S Gage Pennington (7-14-1-80). BC Ryland Tucker (2-5-0-16), Andrew Kirk (2-7-2-11).

Receiving: S (7-80), Jackson Stuart (2-35), Paul Miller (3-33), Hampton Monday (1-10), John Luke Minner (1-2). BC (4-29) Jordan Bravard (3-21), Ezra Halloran (1-8).