By DOUG EADS, CJ Correspondent
Somerset — After taking care of Perry County Central last week by a 35-21 margin in the first round of the playoffs, Pulaski County head coach Johnny Hines openly questioned why his club wasn’t getting the respect he thought his team deserved.
Well coach, you can kick back and chill out, because R-E-S-P-E-C-T is exactly what your club garnered last night at PC Field.
In short, you can stick a fork into Whitley County, because the Colonels are done for ‘09.
Pulaski County’s Zach Eastham set a school record by completing 23 of 31 passes for 425 yards and 4 touchdowns on Friday night, while running for two more scores, helping Hines and crew to a thrilling, 40-34 victory over Whitley County in the Class 5 A playoffs.
This one was an instant classic between two great football teams, but as has been the case most of the time this season, the Maroons were able to make the plays inside the game’s final minute with the contest on the line, all tied up at 34-34.
With :41 left on the scoreboard, Eastham hit a wide open Mikey Shepherd across the middle for a 15-yard scoring toss breaking a 34-34 tie, giving Pulaski County a thrilling, 40-34 victory.
With that score, Pulaski County avenged last year’s 44-35 round two playoff loss to the Colonels, and extended its home winning streak to 17 games along the way.
A very emotional coach Hines was almost at a loss for words when trying to collect his thoughts after watching his team improve to 9-3 on the year with an absolutely thrilling victory.
So coach, was this 40-34 win over Whitley County the biggest win in PC school history?
“There’s no doubt this was a huge win for our program, but I don’t know that it’s fair to say this is the biggest win in the history of our program,” Hines said.
“This one’s way up there, but there are so many that come immediately to my mind,” Hines continued. “The 82-68 win at Waggener in ‘03 is up there, and for that matter, the first win over Mercer County way back in 1995, when this place hadn’t won a game in something like two years was huge as well. This one’s going to be way up there though — it’s definitely in the top five.”
What was in the top five last night was a big-time performance by a host of Maroons.
R.C. White, Steven McQueen, Alex Abner, the afore mentioned Eastham, Mikey Shepherd, Jordan Walden, Tyler Stone, the PC defensive line, the PC secondary — you name it, this one was a complete team victory.
Whitley County, who came into this game with a dominant line of scrimmage up front, and over 3,700 yards rushing on the season, lined up last night and attempted to drive the ball straight down Pulaski’s throat.
However, to Pulaski County’s credit, Hines and company had the answers all night long. In short, each time Whitley County punched the Maroons in the mouth, Pulaski County punched right back.
The Colonels scored three touchdowns on their first four drives of the game, yet, Jim Black’s club trailed the Maroons at the half by a 27-20 margin.
Whitley County’s Cody Bramlet had a huge first half, scoring three touchdowns on runs of 30, 53, and 4 yards respectively, but Eastham was up to the challenge for the Maroons keeping his club within striking distance.
The PC quarterback hooked up with Jordan Walden on a 42-yard scoring toss in the first quarter to get the Maroons off and running, and then called his own number, scoring on a 6-yard TD run, trimming Whitley County’s lead down to two, at 14-12 at the end of the first quarter.
Trailing the Colonels 20-12 early in the second frame, Eastham threw his second TD pass of the night to R.C. White from 18 yards out, and with Alex Abner’s two-point conversion run, these two clubs were locked up in a 20-20 tie with 6:51 left to go in the opening half of play.
With just 1:31 left in the first half, the Maroons took their first lead of the night, and took the lead for good for that matter, when Eastham connected with wide out Steven McQueen on a 60-yard scoring toss, giving the Maroons a 27-20 lead at the intermission.
Hines had stressed to his club all week long that Pulaski had to hang tough with Whitley County from the outset, and not get too far behind the heavily-favored Colonels.
So, with a touchdown cushion at the intermission to work with, it was mission accomplished for the home team.
“We knew we had our work cut out for us tonight, but we knew if we could stay with them and keep the score close, and make it be a game in the fourth quarter, we thought that would be to our advantage,” pointed out Hines.
“They hadn’t really had a game in the fourth quarter this year,” continued the Maroon coach. “They had either been ahead enough that the game was over, or behind in the fourth quarter where it hadn’t really mattered that much. We knew that if we could get them into the fourth quarter of a close game, that would be to our advantage. I’ll say this. Anytime the game’s tight, and we’ve got the ball and Zach Eastham’s throwing it, I’ll bet on us each and every time.”
At halftime, these two teams had combined for 47 points and 647 yards of total offense, yet in the third stanza, neither club could get anything going offensively when the game was there for the taking for either squad.
Pulaski County, with zero turnovers at halftime, shot itself in the foot with two miscues in the third frame, but Whitley County couldn’t take advantage of either one of those mistakes.
Eastham threw his only pick of the night with the Maroons driving for what would have been a two-touchdown lead, but his pass was intercepted in the end zone for a touchback.
After holding Whitley County without a first down after that turnover, the Colonels punted the ball away to the Maroons, but White muffed the punt, and the Colonels recovered the football in PC territory.
However, Whitley County fumbled the ball right back to Maroons on the very next play, helping Pulaski County dodge a big-time bullet.
In the fourth quarter, the Colonels struck first, thanks to a 27-yard touchdown run by fullback Jordan Chute, but the two-point conversion pass was no good on a bobbled snap on the PAT try.
After that score, Eastham and company came right back with an emphatic answer.
After the Whitley County kickoff, PC went 47 yards on two plays for a 34-26 Maroon lead.
Eastham hit Abner for a 32-yard pass play, and on the next play, the Maroon QB called his own number, and raced into the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown run with 8:52 remaining in the game.
Whitley County would then tie things up at 34-34 with 3:08 left on the clock.
Bramlet scored his fourth touchdown of the night on a one-yard plunge, while Cody Bowlin added the two-point conversion run.
PC then went three and out after the kickoff, forcing Hines to punt the ball away to Whitley County with 2:09 left in the game.
The Colonels were set up in great shape, with the ball at midfield and just over two minutes left on the clock to work with.
However, quarterback Jamie Lebanion’s pass during the drive was picked off by McQueen at the PC 10-yard line, with 1:34 left in the contest, giving PC one last shot.
With the score knotted up at 34-34 with 1:34 remaining, the Maroons had the ball first and 90, but with Eastham under center, even that wasn’t a problem for Pulaski County.
On the first play after McQueen’s big pick, Eastham hit Abner in the left flat on a screen pass, and the junior tailback raced downfield 73 yards, getting a big-time block from Walden who helped spring him into the clear on that play.
That pivotal play set PC up in business, with a first and 10 at the Whitley County 17 yard line.
After a two-yard run by Eastham to the 15, the PC quarterback then hit Shepherd with the game-winning pass with only :41 left.
Pulaski County 40—Whitley County 34. Let the bedlam begin.
PC not only had advanced to their firtst Class 5A regional championship game for the first time in school history, but the Maroons had avenged last year’s defeat to the Colonels, extended a home winning streak to 17 games, and picked up a little respect to boot.
Not a bad night indeed for the maroon and white.
“We talked last year on the bus ride home from this game at Whitley County, a game that we were ahead in the fourth quarter and couldn’t seal the deal, as coaches we talked on the way home that night and agreed that we had to get this game on our field,” said Hines.
“That’s the way it worked out this year, and we knew the only way to do that was to win the district, and be assured to be playing at home, and that’s the way it worked out,” said the PCHS head coach. “I can’t explain it, but we’ve got a lot of mojo going on here at our place. How about those Maroons?”
With the win, the 9-3 Maroons will host the Region 4 championship game next Friday night at PC Field, hosting the 10-2 Letcher County Central Cougars.
Letcher County Central advanced to play PC next Friday, coming from behind last night to knock off Harlan County 14-13.
WC 14 6 0 14 — 34
PC 12 15 0 13 — 40
FIRST QUARTER
WC—Bramlet 30 run (Lebanion kick)
PC—Walden 42 pass from Eastham (Kick failed)
WC—Bramlet 53 run (Lebanion kick)
PC—Eastham 6 run (Conv. run failed)
SECOND QUARTER
WC—Bramlet 4 run (Conv. run failed)
PC—White 18 pass from Eastham (Abner conv. run)
PC—McQueen 60 pass from Eastham (Patton kick)
FOURTH QUARTER
WC—Chute 27 run (Conv. run failed)
PC—Eastham 15 run (Patton kick)
WC—Bramlet 1 run (Bowlin conv. run)
PC—Shepherd 15 pass from Eastham (Kick failed)
RUSHING—PC, Eastham 14-69 2 TD, Abner 4-28. WC, Bramlet 18-171 4 TD, Chute 9-77 TD, Bowlin 5-95.
PASSING—PC, Eastham 23-31 425 4 TD INT. WC, Lebanion 7-16 124 INT, Inman 0-1.
RECEIVING—PC, White 8-89 TD, 6-121, McQueen 4-73 TD, Walden 3-101 TD. WC—Goins 3-41, Bramlet 2-47.
