Jackets Out!

The Williamsburg Yellow Jackets saw their season come to an end Friday night in Harlan to the host Green Dragons in the first-round of the KHSAA playoffs. After falling behind, 42-28, the Jackets rallied in the fourth quarter before losing 42-35.
“The kids played hard,” said first-year coach Jerry Herron. “Tonight was just one of those nights. The first play of the game Chase (Hamblin) might have broken his leg. He catches that big long pass and that kind of tied our hands to what we could do offensively.”
Herron was referring to the first play of the game when senior quarterback Thomas Frazier hit Hamblin on a 33 yard pass. Hamblin had to make a leap in the air to catch the ball and came down on the side of his ankle. He never went back into the game and the last report was a broken ankle.
“We had to run the ball more than we like to,” said Herron. “Harlan is a good football team and they line up and do what they said they would do, they played some good defense. They didn’t anticipate us scoring so many points, it was a good ballgame all the way down to the end.”
Indeed, it was a game that went down to the wire. The game had all the excitement needed in a good old mountain showdown between two of its better high school teams.
Noted for its defense, the Dragons had to get into a shootout with the Yellow Jackets to win its first-round game.
Williamsburg (7-4) came out firing and drove the ball down the field on its first possession for a score. Hamblin did make a spectacular catch on the first play of the game. His catch helped get the Jackets quickly down the field where Frazier eventually scored on a 10 yard run that put Williamsburg ahead, 6-0.
However, Harlan came back with two straight scores and led at the end of the first quarter 14-6.
Williamsburg stole the second quarter, making the Dragons’ defense stay on the field for a long period of time. The Jackets outscored Harlan 22-7 as senior Aaron Root was the star of the quarter.
Root scored on a 15 yard run to pull the Jackets within 14-12, Then it was Root picking up a fumble and running 32 yards into the end zone. Frazier ran in the extra point as the Jackets took a 20-14 lead.
Senior Casey Belcher answered with the Dragons with a 10 yard run and the PAT pushed Harlan back on top, 21-20 with 3:15 left in the half.
It didn’t take the Jackets long to answer as Frazier, who had 165 yards passing, hit freshman Alex Patrick on a 35 yard pass play for the go-ahead touchdown. Frazier bulled his way into the end zone on the PAT and the Jackets led 28-20.
They were able to take the eight-point lead and momentum to the dressing room at the half.
But the hopes of the upset quickly dimmed at the start of the third quarter when Harlan scored two quick touchdowns. On the first play of the quarter, Belcher got loose on a 61 yard run. Two plays later, leading scorer, Jon Lundy went in from nine yards out. The PAT was good and the Dragons had tied the score, 28-28.
A turning point in the game came when Frazier fumbled the ball on the ensuing drive after Williamsburg had been backed up on the kickoff. Harlan’s Kenny Pennington recovered the ball at the Jackets 11 yard line.
Two plays later, Harlan grabbed the lead for good with a Lundy touchdown and a 34-28 lead. The kick pushed the lead out to seven.
It was three and out for the Jackets before turning the ball back over to the Dragons. Harlan made the most of great field position and scored on a 29-yard pass from Jones to Will Pope with 5:14 left in the third quarter.
After stopping the Dragons on a fourth-and-one at the Williamsburg 48 with 6:41 left in the game, the Jackets rallied. They were able to move the ball down the field in less than a minute and a half for a touchdown. Frazier hit Steven Jeffries on a 13-yard play with 5:20 remaining on the clock. Frazier accounted for the PAT, pulling the Jackets within a touchdown.
Harlan picked up a couple of first downs rushing and was able to run out the clock and take the win on their home turf.
“The two touchdowns early in the second half really hurt us,” said Herron. “We just came out and lined up incorrectly and gave them that big long run. We just broke our back right off the bat.”
“That’s just high school football,” said Herron. “You’ve got those freshmen out their when your seniors get hurt.”
“It does effect the kids when you got your leading receiver, the second leading receiver in single A out of the offense.” Herron said. “He was a 1,000 yard receiver. It really hurts you.”
“The kids battled hard, they come through that and played through all that,” said Herron. “I am really proud of them. We had a chance to win the game.”
“It was a good football game, we were just on the losing end tonight.” Said Herron. “I am really proud of the kids.”

Williamsburg 6 22 0 7- 35
Harlan 14 7 21 0- 42
First Quarter
W – Thomas Frazier, 10 run (kick failed)
H – Lundy, 2 run (Bianchi kick)
H – Pope, 20 pass from Jones (Bianchi kick)
Second Quarter
W – Root, 15 run (run failed)
W – Root, 32 fumble return (Frazier run)
H – Belcher, 10 run (Bianchi kick)
W – Patrick, 35 pass from Frazier, (Frazier run)
Third Quarter
H – Lundy, 9 run (Bianchi kick)
H – Lundy, 5 run (Bianchi kick)
H – Pope, 29 pass from Jones, (Bianchi kick)
Fourth Quarter
W – Steven Jeffries, 13 pass from Frazier (Frazier kick)