By DOUG EADS, CJ Correspondent
Commonwealth Journal
Somerset —
The Pulaski County Maroons had a devil of a time in their attempt to run their consecutive home field winning streak to 19 games.
Yet, Johnny Hines and crew had their chances on Friday night in the second annual Don Marshall Bowl from PC Field.
However, when the dust had finally settled in the early hours of Saturday morning, it was Henry Clay surviving by making one more play than PC in the end, sending the Maroons down to a 35-28 defeat in an absolute double overtime thriller.
Yes, the PC home field winning streak is over — snapped at 18 games — yet it took a 6 A perennial powerhouse two overtimes to finally send the Maroons down to a defeat on their home turf — PC’s first loss since a 32-6 defeat to Marion County all the way back on October 20, 2006.
“This team has got a lot of fight in them and they don’t like to lose,” stated coach Hines immediately after the disappointing loss, in referring to the gallant effort put forth by his club on Friday night.
“They played hard and I’m very proud of their effort tonight and what they gave us,” continued the PC head coach. “I’m also proud of how they played for each other. Boy, it’s frustrating to lose a game like that when you lay it all on the line like our kids did tonight against a very good football team.”
Ultimately, this game came down to turnovers and missed opportunities in the red zone by Pulaski County.
The Maroons got inside the Henry Clay 20-yard line on two separate occasions in the first half, yet thanks to a pair of interceptions, PC got zero points out of those golden scoring chances.
Henry Clay meanwhile drew first blood in this one, when quarterback Jerry Williams hooked up on a 54-yard pass play with wide receiver Blake Green on a busted coverage with 8:32 left in the opening half of play.
That score gave the Blue Devils a 7-0 lead, but PC would respond before the half would end.
After recovering a Henry Clay fumble at about midfield late in the second frame, quarterback Zach Eastham marched his club downfield, and thanks to his 3-yard plunge up the gut with :32 left in the opening half, these two heavyweights went into the intermission all knotted up at 7-7, after Drew Patton’s PAT.
After a PC fumble at its own 20-yard line late in the third period set Henry Clay up in business, Williams put his club back out in front with 2:58 left in the stanza on a 17-yard scoring run.
With a 14-7 lead, Henry Clay all but iced this one with 10:48 left in the contest, thanks to a Williams 12-yard pass to Carwell Gardner.
Blue Devils 21—PC 7.
Game over, right?
Wrong! Not at PC Field.
Down by that 14-point bulge, Hines and company would come roaring back displaying the heart of a defending regional champion.
Eastham hooked up with Alex Abner for several completions on the night, and that duo methodically helped the Maroons move the ball downfield.
With 5:13 left in regulation, a 1-yard run by Eastham cut the deficit in half to 21-14.
On the ensuing kickoff, PC’s onside kick was recovered by the Maroons, and just over a minute later, PC scored on another 1-yard run by Eastham, this time on a fourth and goal play from the six-inch line.
That drive was set up by a terrific 40-yard hookup between Eastham and wideout Steven McQueen, and thanks to two TD’s in a span of 1:33, the Maroons and Henry Clay were all knotted up at 21-21 with 3:39 left to go.
“I’m very proud of our special teams and Drew Patton is a tremendous young kicker, and his extra points were just fabulous tonight,” pointed out coach Hines.
“All of our special team units performed superbly tonight, and I thought our coaches had a great game plan,” continued the Maroon head coach. “I don’t have anything to complain about and I can’t stand here and say, ‘We didn’t do this or we didn’t do that.’ The biggest mistake tonight was made by me, and that’s because I should have gone for two when we scored the touchdown in the first overtime. So, I guess you can blame me for this loss.”
After PC knotted this one up at 21-21, neither team could muster much offense over the last 3:39 of the contest, sending this one into the first overtime session.
In that first overtime, PC got the ball first and sophomore wide receiver Aaron Hall made a spectacular catch on a 5-yard scoring toss from Eastham, giving PC its first lead of the night at 28-21, thanks to another Patton PAT.
Henry Clay however would have the answer.
The Blue Devils came right back, scoring on a 1-yard run by Williams on third and goal, despite the fact that he fumbled the center exchange and recovered the ball across the goal line for the score.
With A.J. Yewell’s PAT, the two teams were all knotted up at 28-28, as they headed into a second overtime period.
In that second overtime, Williams, arguably Henry Clay’s best player, went out with an apparent injury when he was tackled for a loss on a first and goal play from the 10-yard line.
Backup quarterback Christian Todd came on in relief of Williams, and PC had the Henry Clay offense on the ropes with Williams out of the lineup, and a new quarterback in the game that hadn’t taken a snap all night long.
Facing a fourth and goal from the PC 15-yard line, Todd threw a prayer into the corner of the end zone, and that prayer got answered when PC was guilty of a pass interference call.
That play gave the Blue Devils new life with a first and goal from the PC 7-yard line, and Sam Simpson’s club made the Maroons pay for that defensive miscue.
Tailback Bo Brooks scampered in for a 7-yard score, breaking the 28-28 deadlock and giving Henry Clay a 35-28 lead.
That score meant PC had four plays to try to tie this nail biter up yet again.
After Eastham was held for no gain on first and goal from the 10-yard line on a quarterback keeper, the PC senior threw three straight incomplete passes, and Henry Clay went into a big-time celebration, and the PC 18-game home field winning streak went by the boards, as the Blue Devils survived PC by that 35-28 margin.
“I’m very proud of our effort and I’m very proud of how we played tonight all game long,” pointed out Hines.
“We were down 21-7, but we’re never out of a game and we know that,” remarked Hines. “I think that’s a tribute to our team. They have the character to always come back, and they did it tonight against a very, very good Henry Clay football team. I know they have very high hopes of going deep in the 6 A playoffs, so that tells me they think they’re pretty good.”
So coach Hines, by playing Henry Clay so tough and extending the 6 A powerhouse to two overtimes, do you think your team sent a message across the state of Kentucky that Pulaski County is a football team in Class 5 A to be reckoned with?
Hines said absolutely not.
“I don’t think we sent a message across the state tonight, because nobody respects us anyway,” stated the PC coach very matter of factly.
“Nobody expects us to do anything special, but that really doesn’t matter anyway,” he added. “All that stuff doesn’t matter — the only thing that matters is what happens on the field.”
Steven McQueen was named as the Most Valuable Player from the PC side, as he hauled in four catches from Eastham for 92 yards, while making several key pass break ups on defense.
Abner meanwhile led PC in receiving with 11 catches for 74 yards, before leaving late in the fourth quarter due to re-aggravating a shoulder injury suffered three weeks ago in a scrimmage.
Eastham meanwhile, despite four interceptions on the night, had a pretty impressive stat line for the Maroons, completing 22 of 33 passes for 228 yards and one touchdown.
With the loss, the Maroons fell to 1-1 on the young season and will look to bounce back next week on the road at Russell County.
HC 0 7 7 7 7 7 — 35
PC 0 7 0 14 7 0 — 28
Second Quarter
HC—Green 54 pass from Williams (Yewell kick)
PC—Eastham 3 run (Patton kick)
Third Quarter
HC—Williams 17 run (Yewell kick)
Fourth Quarter
HC—Gardner 12 pass from Williams (Yewell kick)
PC—Eastham 1 run (Patton kick)
PC—Eastham 1 run (Patton kick)
First Overtime
PC—Hall 5 pass from Eastham (Patton kick)
HC—Williams 1 run (Yewell kick)
Second Overtime
HC—Brooks 7 run (Yewell kick)
RUSHING—HC, Brooks 10-59 TD, Williams 19-55 2 TD. PC, Abner 14-72, Eastham 21-29 3 TD, Haste 3-16.
PASSING—HC, Williams 11-26 139 2 TD, Todd 0-2. PC, Eastham 22-33 228 TD 4 INT.
RECEIVING—HC, Green 4-85 TD, Brooks 3-23, Gardner 2-21 TD. PC, Abner 11-74, McQueen 4-72, Haste 5-47, Hall 1-5 TD, Warren 1-8.
