Things seemed to be going to plan Friday night for the Christian County Colonels with a 6-0 lead over Logan County in the first half of the Jerry Claiborne Bowl at the Stadium of Champions. However, after Colonel quarterback Jordan Miles went down late in the opening frame, the game turned and Christian County never found the endzone again in a 49-6 loss to the Cougars.
The Colonels got on the board with 5:35 to play in the first quarter when Miles hit KJ Vaughn for a 17-yard touchdown. With kicker Josh Settle unavailable, the Colonels two-point attempt was no good.
After the Colonels’ JaSean Riley recovered a Logan County fumble, Miles was injured on the ensuing drive and could not continue. Riley was forced into action under center for the rest of the way.
Logan County jumped in front for good early in the second quarter when Ryan Rayno capped a seven-play, 4-yard drive with a 6-yard scoring run. The extra point made the score 7-6.
The Cougars only needed a couple of minutes to get back in the endzone, with Wyatt Blake hauling in a 22-yard TD pass from sophomore quarterback Davin Yates for a 14-6 advantage. With 7:58 left in the half, Logan only needed two plays to go 23 yards with Rayno running it in from 13 yards out.
The Cougars recovered an onside kick, but Yates was intercepted on 1st down by the Colonels’ Josiah Jenkins and he returned it to the Christian County 26-yard line. The Colonels couldn’t move the ball, and after giving it back to the Cougars they stretched the lead to 28-6 on a 3-yard scoring run by JunVontre Dillard.
The Colonels were forced to punt with just under a minute to play in the half, and Blake made them pay with a 51-yard touchdown return for a 35-6 halftime score.
After stopping the Cougars on 4th down on their first possession of the second half, the Colonels drove to the Logan 13-yard line, but a fumble ended the scoring threat and Logan County took over on their own ten.
Christian County had the ball in Cougar territory again after recovering a fumble with 7:05 left in the third, but couldn’t take advantage. Instead, Logan County triggered the running clock just three minutes later when Dillard took a shovel pass from Yates for a 42-6 lead.
On the last play of the quarter, Logan’s Harper Butler picked off a pass by Riley on the Colonel’s 23. Cade Johnson finished off the scoring on the first play of the fourth with a 23-yard scamper to the endzone.
Both teams finished with 11 1st downs, with the Colonels throwing for 69 yards on 10 completions with a TD and three interceptions. Christian County ran 33 times for 174 yards with a fumble, totaling 186 yards of offense on 52 plays.
Yates was 10/16 for 102 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of picks. The Cougars ran 31 times for 174 yards with two fumbles, including 58 yards on eight tries for Rayno. They amassed 276 yards of offense on 47 total plays.
The Colonels will try to regroup ahead of a trip to face Henderson County next week. Logan County will make the short trip to Russellville in search of its fourth 3-0 start in the last five seasons.
