Christian County head coach Steve Lovelace collected his 100th win and the Colonels snapped a fifteen-game losing streak, coming from behind to top Madisonville-North Hopkins 28-20 on Friday night. The Colonels rode L’Ray Coleman’s big rushing night for their first victory since early October 2018, while also avenging a 10-point loss to the Maroons last season.
The Colonels scored on their opening possession when Coleman found the endzone from 4 yards out, but the Maroons answered less than five minutes later on a 1-yard scoring run by sophomore quarterback Wyatt Coleman. While the Colonels missed their extra point attempt, the Maroons connected for a 7-6 advantage.
Madisonville doubled its lead at the start of the second quarter when Lajuan MacAdoo scored from 4 yards out. Donta Abren kept the Colonels within striking distance with a 34-yard scamper to the endzone with 7:45 left in the half, but the 2-point attempt to tie the game was no good.
However, a Christian County fumble on their own 44 put the Maroons in business, and Wyatt Coleman scored his second touchdown from short range with less than a minute to go before the halftime break. The Colonels blocked the extra-point attempt and went to the locker room trailing 20-12.
L’Ray Coleman was at it again with a 38-yard rumble to the endzone on 4th and 2 with 8:06 left in the third, followed by a 2-point conversion to tie the game at 20-20. Just a minute later, Cyrus Greenwade turned the game in the Colonels’ favor when he stepped in front of a Maroon pass and took it back 45 yards for a score. Christian County added the 2-point conversion to move in front 28-20 with 7:05 to play.
Greenwade added another pick in the final minutes of the third quarter, and the Colonel defense completed the second-half shutout to seal the win.
Coleman finished with 212 yards on the ground and 2 touchdowns, with Abren rushing for 73 yards and a score. Abren was also 6/11 passing for 47 yards. The Colonels had 333 yards of offense, while the Maroons were held to 170 yards, 74 rushing.
Christian County has a week to prepare for the annual battle with Hopkinsville, while the Maroons will go on the road to Ballard Memorial.
