Todd County Central scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to pull away from Trigg County for the 56-28 season-opening win Friday in Elkton.
It was the third quarter Rebel head coach Josh Robins has been wanting to see out of his team for two seasons – turning a small lead into a larger decisive one in the second half.
Omarion Riddick rushed for 167 yards and three touchdowns, but it was his 55-yard run to open the second half that served as the catalyst for the Rebels. He had scored on runs of 35 and 53 yards to end the first half and give Todd Central a 27-20 halftime advantage.
The teams went back and forth in the first half Jacob Wease threw for 180 yards, and Kendric Adams ran for two scores for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats scored first when Wease hit Dakota Lockard for a 40-yard scoring strike down the left side.
Todd answered with a passing touchdown of its own when Gavyn Nolan hit Nate Reding for a 42-yard scoring play with 6:14 left in the first quarter. Nolan’s second touchdown of the quarter was an eight-yarder to Preston Moore.
Trigg’s Adams and Todd’s Riddick exchanged scores the rest of the half, before Todd was able to use the big play to pull away in the second half.
Nolan hit Reding on a 63-yard scoring play, and Jamarion Smith scored the final two TDs on the ground to seal the Rebel win.
Wease was 13-of-32 passing for 203 yards before he was knocked out of the game in the third quarter.
Adams ran the football 19 times for 110 yards as Trigg totaled 323 offensive yards.
In addition to Riddick’s 167 yards on just 14 carries, Nolan was 8-of-15 passing for 194 yards. Reding hauled in four passes for 135 yards as the Rebels rolled up 426 yards.
Todd County Central snapped a six-game losing streak to Trigg County dating back to the 2000 season. It’s the most points Trigg has surrendered to Todd County in 35 career meetings. Trigg holds a 20-15 all-time advantage with Friday’s game the first between the schools in six years.
The Rebels currently sit at 2-0 on the season with next week’s game with Fort Campbell considered a forfeit due to the Falcons in COVID-19 protocol. Robins said he was unsure if Todd would try and pick up a game this week to replace the Falcons or just take the forfeit win and prepare for Webster County in two weeks.
The loss spoiled the Trigg coaching debut of Chris Ezell, who moved up to head coach in the offseason when Mark Peach left for the Danville coaching job.
Trigg County will travel to Warren Central next week. The Dragons were in COVID protocol and unable to play Bullitt Central. Ezell said he had been told Warren Central would be out of quarantine in time to play the Wildcats, who were missing four starters of their own due to contact tracing.
