By Scott Brown

Trigg Unable To Overcome Depletion, Barren Run Game in 40-22 Loss

Posted: August 27, 2023
Article, Featured

Chris Ezell is all for facing adversity early in the football season but the Trigg County football coach would like to have all of his players on the field to go through the experience.

Midway through the fourth quarter with his team trailing Barren County 26-22, Ezell looked out to the field and saw seven freshmen and sophomores running his offense. The Wildcats were down to a third-string quarterback and third and fourth-string receivers due to injuries.

Trigg County was unable to move the football and Barren County tacked on a pair of late scores for a 40-22 win over the Wildcats Saturday night in Glasgow.

The game was moved from Friday night due to the combination of a late start and a high heat index.

Trigg County used the big play in the first half to counter Barren County’s ball-control offense.

After Trigg’s opening drive ended with an interception, the Trojans marched 76 yards over 13 plays to score the game’s first touchdown – the drive capped by a two-yard run by quarterback Tate Spillman.

Down 6-0 after Barren County failed on the PAT, Trigg County needed just two plays to score. Jerimyah Shearer hit Peyton Williams on a short pass with Williams breaking several tackles and cutting against the grain for a 61-yard score. Williams, however, aggravated a leg injury and didn’t catch another pass.

Shearer converted the PAT run for an 8-6 Trigg lead.

Barren County retook the lead on a 15-yard scoring run by Austin Sewell with 3:27 left in the first half.

Trigg quickly countered, with its next score set up by a 58-yard pass from Shearer to Davaree Gude. Three plays later, Shearer found the end zone from one yard out. It gave Trigg a 14-13 advantage at halftime.

However, Shearer did not return to the game after halftime due to heat illness.

Barren County opened the second half with an eight-play scoring drive capped by a 20-yard pass from Spillman to Brey Bewley.

Trigg inserted Gude at quarterback and answered with a nine-play scoring drive. Gude gained 57 yards on seven carries and scored from two yards out to give Trigg a 22-19 lead one play into the fourth quarter.

Gude, however, left the game with an injury on the next drive. Down to its third-string quarterback, Trigg gained just 30 yards in the fourth quarter.

Barren County took the lead for good with 9:02 left on a seven-yard run by Sewell, who finished with 91 yards on 17 carries.

Spillman would add a 58-yard scoring run after a Trigg interception that put the game out of reach. The junior quarterback had 123 rushing yards on 13 carries although 89 of those yards came on his final two carries.

Spillman was effective in the passing game, throwing for 167 yards on 12-of-14 passing.

For the game, Barren County rolled up 421 yards, with 254 yards coming in the second half on just 22 plays.

Barren County, a Class 6A school that has revamped its facilities in several sports, is 2-0 for the first time since 2015.

The Wildcats had 156 yards at halftime and finished with 256.

Shearer was 3-of-11 passing in the first half for all of Trigg’s 130 yards. Gude finished with 72 yards rushing on 13 attempts.

Trigg County played without leading receiver Jhaden Vaughn, who suffered an ankle injury in the week one loss to Murray. Other players were limited to just one side of the football for the Wildcats, who must heal and prepare in a short week for Fort Campbell Friday.

The Falcons lost to Hopkins County Central 60-28 on Friday.

Barren County, a Class 6A school that has revamped its facilities in several sports, is 2-0 for the first time since 2015.