Whitley Advances

It might have been a night when sophomore quarterback Jordan McCumbers hit on 9 of 21 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown. But, it was the traditional smash-mouth football that it came down to as Whitley County edged the North Laurel Jaguars, 22-21 and claimed the number four spot in the district standings. And, the right to take on Lexington power, Henry Clay in the first-round of the playoffs Friday night.
Trailing, 21-14 with 6:58 left in the game, Whitley County was forced to punt the ball to the Jaguars and Mark Teague’s kick left the visitors backed up at their own two yard line. It was do or die for the Colonels defense. After an eight yard carry to the 10 yard line by junior Shawn Asher and a six yard gain by Kyle Sizemore, North Laurel was out of trouble at the 16 yard line, or so it seemed.
The Colonels hit Sizemore for a two-yard loss then a holding penalty pushed the ball back to the seven yard line. Asher, a 6-5, 240-pound running back who scored four touchdowns against Madison Central the week before, got seven yards back to the 14.
Brandon Pratt may have come up with the play of the night as he caught Trae Stuber in the backfield for a two yard loss, but better yet, left the Jaguars with a fourth and 14 from the 12 yard line.
The Colonels would certainly get good field position and they did just that. The North Laurel punt took a Jaguars bounce, but was downed at the visitors 44 with 3:17 left in the game.
That’s where the Colonels began their winning drive. Senior Ladale Rider, one of the state’s top runners, busted through the offensive line for a 12 yard run, a first down at the 32.
Rider followed with a nine yard. On second down, McCumbers missed on a pass but Rider got the third-down call and the Jaguars were ready holding the leading 4A rusher inches short after the measurement.
Colonels coach Mike Campbell had no choice but to go for the first down as the clock stood with just under two minutes left. Senior Cody Jeffries got just enough of the football over the first-down marker and the Colonels held on to the ball. Rider carried three straight times, leaving the Colonels inches short once again with just :49 seconds left in the contest.
Jeffries again took the fourth down hand out, but this time followed a big hole down the middle and into the end zone for the TD.
Campbell didn’t hesitate to for the the win and two point conversion. However, prior to the snap North Laurel jump offsides and the ball was moved closer to the goalline. Rider didn’t have any trouble following his line across the line for the two points and lead (22-21) with seconds remaining.
“I told them, I’m going with Ladale and the two best blockers (Brandon Pratt and Josh Reeves) I’ve got,” said Campbell during his post game comments. “There was no question hat we were going to do. The kids were pumped up, the coaches were pumped, we all wanted to go for two.”
North Laurel did have enough time to pick up a first down at the 46 yard line on a ten yard run by Asher. The final play saw senior Shawn Rowe pick off the Stuber pass to seal the win.
It was the Jaguars (3-7) getting on the scoreboard first in the opening period after putting together a 12-play drive capped off by a six yard run by Sizemore with :31 in the period. Chris Maggard hit the extra point for the 7-0 lead.
Whitley County answered with a Cody Jones 85 yard kickoff return but Teague’s PAT was wide and the Colonels trailed 7-6 with :17 in the opening quarter.
Both teams scored on the second period. North Laurel answered Whitley’s strike with another well put together drive of 66 yards in eight plays. The drive ended with a Stuber pass to Shilow Robinson for 12 yards. Maggard’s kick put the Jaguars ahead 14-6.
The scoring continued as Whitley County returned the favor and marched the ball down the field. With the Colonels facing a third and 12 at their own 44 yard line, McCumbers hit Rider on a 22 yard competition and first down at the NL 34. Jeffries followed with a 13 yard run to the 21.
A holding call pushed the ball back to the 30 yard line but McCumbers spotted Rowe open in the end zone on the ensuing play. It was a perfect connection that led to a 30 yard TD strike with 5:29 left in the half. The Colonels went for the two point conversion and the tying score. McCumbers hit Eric Partin with the pass and the game was tied at 14-14.
The second half battle saw North Laurel score in the third quarter on a 10 yard Sizemore run with 2:44 on the clock. Maggard PAT pushed North Laurel ahead 21-14.
An outstanding defensive battle set the stage for a fantastic finish for the Colonels.
Whitley County will move on to Lexington where they will meet the Blue Devils of Henry Clay. “The things that we can’t do against Henry Clay,” said Campbell. “We go up there and make mistakes. We’ve got to limit our mistakes.”
“We’ve got to shorten the game,” added Campbell. “You don’t want to give them too many opportunities. You start giving them opportunities and they are going to eventually capitalize on them, especially a good football team.”
The Blue Devils finished the season with a 9-1 record and won two of those games in overtime. Henry Clay has over 3,000 yards on the year and mix it up well. Running back Rod Johnson has 1460 yards on 203 carries and 22 touchdowns this year. Quarterback Salin Simpson has thrown for 1780 yards and 19 TD’s. His top receivers are Clark Jetter (16) with 682 yards, Aaron Boyd (7) with 338 yards and Chase Minnifield (31) with 238 yards.
The Blue Devils averaged 42.6 points per game but gave up 24.5 on the season that allowed a few teams to hang around. The Colonels average close to that figure with 23.8 points a game. The Red Storm defense has allowed 23.1 per game this season.
“We have to let them make the mistakes,” said Campbell.

Whitley Co. 22, North Laurel 21
North Laurel 7 7 7 0- 21
Whitley Co. 6 8 0 8- 22
NL- Kyle Sizemore, 6 run (Maggard kick)
WC- Jones, 80 kickoff return (kick failed)
NL- Robinson 13 pass from Stuber (Maggard kick)
WC- Rowe, 30 pass from McCumbers (McCumbers to Partin)
NL- Sizemore, 10 run (Maggard kick)
WC- Jeffries 12 run (Rider run)