PADUCAH — Another first-quarter lead didn’t last, as Christian County finished its regular season 1-9 on Friday night at Marquette Stadium following a tough 54-24 loss to Class 6A McCracken County.
Up 12-10 with 2:59 left in the first frame following the first of two 51-yard touchdown runs from electric sophomore quarterback Jordan Miles, the Mustangs ripped off 22 unanswered points and outscored the Colonels 44-12 into the final horn.
And the second quarter proved the costliest.
“I thought we played some really decent and solid ball through the first two quarters,” noted first-year Christian County coach Ricky Gehres, following the defeat. “But I feel like that second quarter lasted the length of two quarters. And it kind of got away from us.
“And I think special teams is something we’ve really been trying to work on the last couple of weeks, and I think it really just kind of bit us in the butt again.”
Three plays after a critical fourth-down conversion by Jeremiah Hughes, McCracken County’s Zander Mayes would score on a 17-yard strike over the middle from quarterback Pryor Lamb — in what was the first of his four passing scores.
Not satisfied with a 17-12 lead and 11:53 left until halftime, Mustangs coach Marc Clark elected for an onside kick, and it worked. Lamb would hit tight end Zack Masek for a 10-yard touchdown on third-and-5 four plays later, and Nate Helmich would run unscathed for a two-point conversion and a 25-12 advantage — in what was a wide-open scamper along the right side of the line of scrimmage.
After Mustangs defensive end LeAndre Bolen Jr. stuffed Cyrus Greenwade II on what could’ve been a critical third-down conversion, the Colonels had a short punt, and two plays later Lamb would find Hughes for a 23-yard touchdown near the back right pylon and in single coverage.
Miles gashed again for a score from midfield with 8:17 left in the frame to cut the contest within 32-18 — part of his 139-yard rushing effort, and second time this year crossing the century mark — but would gain only 32 yards on seven other carries.
He also wasn’t available for a critical drive for the Colonels late in the second quarter, dealing with serious rib discomfort going into the locker room. Following a strip and fumble recovery by freshman linebacker Joshuan Davis, Miles rumbled for a 17-yard gain on second down, but didn’t come back to the field until after halftime.
A lateral from quarterback Haydon Merrick to Prince Northington along the left side kept the McCracken County defense honest, and Northington laced a 38-yard pass to Jerry Foster to get into the red zone.
Bolen Jr. would splatter a fourth-down conversion attempt, however, and Lamb would find Sims for a 13-yard touchdown just before the break — greatly aided by a pass interference call that defined a nine-penalty night for the Colonels.
With Christian County trailing 39-18 at the half, McCracken County would remove doubts early in the third quarter. Hughes’ third touchdown of the night, this one for 13 yards, capped an opening second-half drive that was nearly all comprised of the senior running back’s typical bruising effort.
Two plays later, Greenwade II would fumble a short toss from Miles, and Helmich would rumble for a 19-yard touchdown up the gut to punch the running clock. It wasn’t until the final Colonels drive of the game before Miles could find his top target, JaSean Riley, for points. And it wasn’t until the final quarter before he snagged his first catch: an 11-yarder over the middle, then later a 24-yard strike to the goal line for the final tally.
“I just told these guys that you’ve got to keep chopping that tree,” Gehres added. “The tree doesn’t come down in one chop. And we’re building. We’ve taken over this program. We’re still learning each other. Still learning the coaches. We’re still learning our personnel. And the kids have come a long way. Their character is great. Their attitude and mentality is phenomenal. And they fight.
“They lost sight of some things in this game, and there were some struggles early on, but they’re young kids, and sometimes they don’t know how to deal with adversity.”
Its regular season complete, Christian County faces South Warren next Friday in the opening week of the KHSAA Class 5A state playoff bracket.
Senior linebacker and running back AJ Harvey scored Christian County’s other touchdown, when he followed a 26-yard gain with a two-yard push early in the first quarter. Miles finished his regular season with 428 rushing yards.
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 54, CHRISTIAN COUNTY 24
Colonels (1-9) 12 6 0 6 — 24
Mustangs (2-8) 10 29 15 0 — 54
SCORING
MC: Barrett Buchanan 28-yard FG, 3-0, 8:25 1Q
CC: AJ Harvery 2 rush (2 pt. Fails), 6-3, 6:46 1Q
MC: Jeremiah Hughes 8 rush (Barrett Buchanan PAT), 10-6, 4:35 1Q
CC: Jordan Miles 51 rush (2 pt. Fails), 12-10, 2:59 1Q
MC: Zander Mayes 17 pass from Pryor Lamb (Buchanan PAT), 17-12, 11:53 2Q
MC: Zack Masek 10 pass from Pryor Lamb (Nate Helmich 2 pt. Rush), 25-12, 10:35 2Q
MC: Jeremiah Hughes 23 pass from Pryor Lamb (Buchanan PAT), 32-12, 8:44 2Q
CC: Jordan Miles 51 rush (2 pt. Fails), 32-18, 8:17 2Q
MC: Zach Sims 13 pass from Pryor Lamb (Buchanan PAT), 39-18, 0:14.3 2Q
MC: Jeremiah Hughes 13 rush (Nick Masek 2 pt. Reception), 47-18, 9:26 3Q
MC: Nate Helmich 18 rush (Buchanan PAT), 54-18, 8:33 3Q
CC: JaSean Riley 24 pass from Jordan Miles (2 pt. Fails), 54-24, 3:24 4Q
STATISTICS
PASSING LEADERS
CC: Jordan Miles 6-12-51-1-0, Prince Northington 1-1-38-0-0, Haydon Merrick 2-8-3-0-0; MC: Pryor Lamb 13-22-163-4-0
RUSHING LEADERS
CC: Jordan Miles 9-139-2, AJ Harvey 7-39, Cyrus Greenwade II 7-11, JaSean Riley 1-9, Xzavier Quarles 4-5, Christopher Ragans 1-3; MC: Jeremiah Hughes 20-151-2, Nate Helmich 3-42-1, Bryce McTaggart 7-41, Pryor Lamb 3-21, Daivon Dunbar 2-5
RECEIVING LEADERS
CC: Jerry Foster 1-38, JaSean Riley 2-35-1, Kavarius Vaughn 1-14, Prince Northington 1-8, Cyrus Greenwade II 1-4, Xzavier Quarles 3-(-7); MC: Zack Masek 5-85-1, Zander Mayes 4-33-1, Jeremiah Hughes 1-23-1, Zach Sims 2-16-1, Nick Masek 1-6.
TEAM STATISTICS
CC MC
First Downs 14 21
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-1
Penalties-Yards 9-74 5-50
3DC 5-13 6-12
4DC 2-4 1-2
Time of Possession 15:36 21:31
