COLONELS’ COMEBACK

For the second time in as many weeks, the Whitley County Colonels have charged from behind to capture a victory. This time the Colonels erased a 21-17 deficit to start the fourth quarter and outscore the third-ranked (Class AA) Somerset Briar Jumpers 10-0 in the final period to win, 27-21.

“Give the kids all the credit,” said Whitley County Coach Jim Black. “They will themselves to win that game. They never got down or never got out of it. It would have been easy to fold, but we made the plays and it was a great, great effort by our kids.”

“They played with a lot of heart,” Black said. “They have done that all year. They practice hard and play hard and they are going to play for four quarters.”

The Colonels (3-3) dominated play in the first quarter, but couldn’t get on the scoreboard. Senior Seth McCoy tried a 35-yard field goal after a 12-play drive stalled. But, the Whitley County defense stopped the Jumpers on its first series, the only time Somerset would get the ball in the first quarter.

Somerset punter Bryson Jones punted to the Whitley County 48-yard line and the Colonels were back on offense. Junior Boston Bryant helped get the Colonels in possession of the football with short gains that eventually gave Whitley County a first down at the Somerset 39. Bryant broke loose on the drive for a 28-yard run, but the Colonels had to settle for a McCoy field goal of 24 yards early in the second quarter that put Whitley County ahead, 3-0.

Whitley County ran 21 plays in the first quarter to Somerset’s three-and-out.

After scoring on the field goal, it didn’t take long for the Colonels to get the ball back. Braiden McWilliams returned the kickoff to the 42-yard line of Somerset, but on the first down play, the Jumpers fumbled the ball with Whitley County recovering.

Freshman quarterback Austin Ysidro took the first down play 42 yards to the end zone, putting the Colonels ahead 10-0 after McCoy’s PAT.

However, Somerset gained the momentum for the next two quarters out-scoring the Colonels, 21-7 and taking the four-point margin into the final frame.

A determined Colonels’ football team never quit. After Cody Lewis returned the ball to the Whitley County 40-yard-line late in the third quarter, Bryant, Lewis, Sears and Ysidro followed their line down the field on nine straight carries to the Somerset 11-yard line before Black elected to go for a field goal at the 10:12 mark of the game. McCoy was on target and cut the Somerset lead to one, 21-20.

Lewis and Bryant each had 10-yard carries during the drive with Bryant accounting for 27 of 49 yards.

Somerset (5-2) threatened on its drive following the Colonels’ field goal when the Jumpers came up short and turned the ball over to Whitley County for its winning drive.

The big play came on a reverse from Ysidro to Grant Evans for 25 yards, giving the Colonels a first down at the Somerset 16-yard line with seconds remaining.

Bryant took the first down play to the two-yard line then after being hit at the line of scrimmage he went in for the game-winning touchdown with six seconds left on the clock.

Somerset tried some trickery on the kickoff return to no avail.

Bryant rushed the football for 179 yards on 30 carries in the victory while Sears added 60 yards on 12 carries and Ysidro 49 yards. Josh Nichols added 26 yards on five carries with Lewis added eight yards.

“I felt for the most part we shut down their running game and they had to rely on the passing,” Black said. “We are still work in progress, but we are at the point where we can do a lot of things.”

The Colonels take their three-game win streak to Perry Central Friday night. “The kids have bought into what we are doing and hopefully they will continue to do that,” Black said. “We just have to take them one game at a time. I have not gotten to look at them (Perry) on film yet.”

“We want to win our district, that’s what the kids want,” Black said. “It starts this week.”

Whitley Co. 27, Somerset 21

Somerset            0    6   15    0- 21

Whitley Co.            0  10     7  10- 27

Second Quarter

WC- Seth McCoy 24 FG

WC- Austin Ysidro 42 run (McCoy kick)

S- Wilson 20 pass from Alex Lange (kick failed)

Third Quarter

S- Slaughter 64 run (Will Lange from Alex Lange)

WC- Cody Lewis 10 run (McCoy kick)

S- Wilson 3 pass from Lange (Bryson Jones kick)

Fourth Quarter

WC- McCoy 29 FG

WC- Boston Bryant 2 run (McCoy kick)