The South Warren Spartans rolled into the Stadium of Champions on Thursday with a 6-1 record on the heels of a 41-0 drubbing of 6A McCracken County last time out. Conversely, hosts Christian County found themselves reeling from a six-game losing streak and still smarting from a 32-point loss to Greenwood two weeks ago.
However, the Colonels stood toe to toe with South Warren early on and put up the most points by an in-state opponent against the Spartans in an eventual 51-20 defeat.
The Spartans sprung a surprise with an onside kick to start the game, but the Colonels had the ball back quickly after KJ Vaughn recovered a fumble.
South Warren blocked a Christian County punt after a three and out and made the good field position count when Luke Burton ran it in from 26 yards. The Spartans added a 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead with 6:36 left in the 1st quarter.
The Colonels responded with a 29-yard scoring strike from Jordan Miles to Vaughn on 4th and 5, although the extra point failed and they still trailed 8-6 with 1:31 left in the opening frame.
Christian County’s momentum was short-lived, with Elder Diversevic taking the ensuing kickoff 92 yards to the endzone to restore the Spartan’s two-score advantage.
Once again Christian County had the answer, as Miles capped a nice drive with a 1-yard plunge early in the 2nd quarter. That made the Colonels the first Kentucky team to score more than one touchdown on the Spartans this season.
From there South Warren showed why they are one of the state’s top 5A teams, reeling off 35 unanswered points to put the Colonels away. Diversevic got things started with another kick-off return TD before Spartan quarterback Caden Veltkamp hit Tyler Snell for a 15-yard touchdown with 6:24 left in the half.
Veltkamp connected with Keegan Milby for 21 yards for his second TD throw, giving South Warren a 37-13 halftime lead.
The break didn’t slow down the Spartans, and they were back in the endzone with 9:22 left in the 3rd on a 33-yard run by Kobe Martin. Veltkamp added this third and final TD pass on a 48-yard strike to Milby for a 51-13 score.
Christian County added points in the final minutes of the game after recovering a Spartan fumble near midfield. They drove down to the 1-yard line and finished things off with a pass by Miles to Quarles with three minutes left to play.
Both teams finished with 14 1st downs, with the Colonels gaining 125 yards through the air and 59 yards on the ground. Christian County ran 49 plays for 184 total yards.
Veltkamp was 8/10 for 125 yards and three scores and the Spartans ran the ball 21 times for 210 yards.
For the Colonels, Quarles had six catches for 31 yards, Vaughn hauled in four balls for 60 yards, and Jerry Foster made two catches for 22 yards. Miles ran 11 times for 22 yards and AJ Harvey finished with 12 carries for 31 yards.
Christian County will hit the road next week for another district matchup with Bowling Green. The Purples were 36-7 losers at South Warren last week.
