Wild Weekend

If you follow Mid-South Conference football, you noticed some shocking scores from last weekends games.
The first of course was the Bethel College win over #4 Georgetown, 49-21. Not only was the loss a surprise but the score as well. The loss was a cross-over game so it will not affect the East Division standings.
Second, Union College suffered a loss to Belhaven, it was the Blazers first win of the season and it too was a cross-over game in the Mid-South Conference. Union fell behind early and tried to make a comeback but fell three points short.
The shocker of the day may have been Pikeville’s 27-24 triple overtime win over #25 Shorter College, a team that rolled over the University of the Cumberlands, 27-7 earlier this season.
Pikeville was about to be written off as a Mid-South East contender after opening the season with four straight losses. The Bears lost to Henderson State 31-9, St. Francis 63-0, Campbellsville University 24-13 and Union College 39-17.
The Bears came out strong in the first half against Shorter and took a 14-0 lead. The Hawks were able to comeback and force a 14-14 tie by the end of regulation. In the first overtime, Shorter scored and were about to celebrate the win. But, Pikeville got the ball across the end zone and tied the game 21-12.
The teams settled for a field goal each in the second overtime and were deadlocked at 24-24. Shorter’s Lukas Gonzales tried to put his team ahead by three but missed his second overtime attempt.
After Pikeville couldn’t get the ball into the end zone on three downs, the Bears secured the win with a field goal by Kyle Chilton and celebrated their first win of the season.
Closer to home, the Patriots picked up a conference win over the Campbellsville University Tigers, 27-12.
Trailing 12-6, the Patriots tied the game on a touchdown by Marlon Jones then went ahead when Andrew Carr tacked on the extra point for a 13-12 lead. UC added a touchdown by senior Wayne Dabbs and went to the locker room with a 20-12 score at the half. It was Dabbs first touchdown at Cumberlands.
The Patriots have two more tune-up games before getting back into divisional play. They will take on Bethel next week before heading to Clarksville, Tennessee, to play the Eagles of Austin Peay State University.

High School football
The Whitley County Colonels lost a heartbreaker to South Laurel last week and with the loss, the hopes of making the 2006 playoffs. Black’s team can play the spoiler role in the final two games with Clark County and North Laurel.
This has been an interesting year for the Colonels to say the least. Black was hired after Roger Gentry stepped down without coaching his first game. Black and his staff didn’t have as much time to put in a new offense as he would have liked. Then he loses Cody Jones in a car accident and a couple of games into the season the Colonels lose receiver Jamie Lebanion.
In most of their games, the Colonels fell behind early and had to battle back. One thing you can say about this Whitley County team, they never quit. They made a great comeback against Bell County in a 24-20 loss, they ruled the second half against Shelby County. The took charge in the second half against Lynn Camp as well as Lincoln County.
They should have beaten Madison Central and South Laurel. Those were two games that slipped out of their hands.
No one said you could build a ship in one day. It takes time and that’s true with any football, basketball or sports program for that matter. The Colonels will be in a new district next season with the likes of Clay County, Letcher Central, Perry Central and North Laurel. That alone would fire up me if I was a returning player. Clay County feels this will be their district to win. North Laurel is smiling on someone from the KHSAA, but with a healthy team, I think Whitley County will be the team to beat.
Sure, this season isn’t over. The Colonels need to build some momentum for next season and now is the time to do that.
•Lynn Camp and Williamsburg are on the hot seat this week. Both teams need wins to claim a spot. Lynn Camp will be in with a win over one of the final three teams while Williamsburg has their back against the wall. They have to win two of their final three to get a spot.
The Wildcats, led by Joe Roskopf and Jonah Mitchell, and the big ole line that consists of Brian Slusher, Brett Barrett and Jonathan Foreman should reach their goal of the playoffs Friday night with a win over the Redskins.
The Jackets will host Evarts. Evarts is talking about a spot in the playoffs with a win over Williamsburg. I said Aaron Root was going to make a difference in this year’s team when Coach Jerry Herron moved him to the backfield. He made a huge difference last week and will continue to do so.
The Jackets have a little tougher road to go than Lynn Camp, but at this point I can see the final game of the season being a game for third and fourth in the playoffs when they meet Friday, October 27.

On the Web
The district soccer tournament and volleyball tournament are being held this week. They will be played after our deadlines Tuesday. But, the News Journal will be there.
There will be stories and photos each day about the local teams. The Corbin Redhounds should make it to the regional barring an upset by North Laurel.
Two area teams will be in the regional volleyball tournament at Clay County next week. Lynn Camp and Whitley County were scheduled to battle it out for one spot Tuesday night while Corbin was already in Thursday night’s final.
You can check out the photos in the photo gallery and results at Corbinnewsjournal.com Wednesday morning and again Friday morning.