A bad start to the 2023 season for the Harlan County Black Bears turned ugly Friday in a 34-0 loss to visiting Whitley County as the Colonels dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage in sending HCHS to an 0-3 record.
Sophomore tailback Shane Parker led the Colonels’ ground attack, slicing through the HCHS defense for 191 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries. Senior quarterback Tye Hamblin added 114 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.
While the Colonels were moving the ball up and down the field, the Bears’ ground attack was stacked up much of the night at the line of scrimmage as HCHS was limited to 56 yards on 35 carries.
“Everybody knows we are having a hard time throwing it, and they walked everyone down,” Harlan County coach Amos McCreary said. “When they do that, you have to be able to hit a few plays and we had several dropped passes that could have been big plays and kept us in the game. When you drop a pass or two it just kind of deflates you. Our big playmaker (the injured Jonah Swanner), if he’s out there, they are backing up a little bit because they know he can make a play. Some of these others kids are going to have to start making plays.”
Whitley drove 61 yards in nine plays on its opening possession as Parker went in from the 1. Trace Miller hit the first of his four extra points on the night for a 7-0 lead with 3:07 left in the opening quarter.
Hamblin turned a broken play into a touchdown in the closing seconds of the first period as he recovered a fumble, then broke a Dallas Sergent tackle in the backfield on the way to a 58-yard TD run down the Whitley sideline. Miller’s extra point pushed the lead to 14-0.
John Croley, a Whitley receiver, went 38 yards on the first play of the Colonels’ third drive, Miller’s extra point made the score 21-0 with 10:02 left in the first half.
The Harlan County offense finally showed some signs of life by going to the air as quarterback Ethan Rhymer completed an 18-yard pass to Luke Kelly on a fake punt and a 15-yard pass to Carter Howard before the drive stalled at the Whitley 21. The Bears then lost 24 yards when the ball got away on a punt attempt.
The Bears’ defense had a stop, but a Chris Cureton interception gave the ball back to Whitley. Parker went in from the 16 for the fourth Whitley TD of the half with 1:12 left. Miller’s extra point pushed the lead to 28-0 at the break.
The second half turned into a defensive struggle with the Bears briefly finding success again through the air as Rhymer completed passes to Jared Rhymer, Hunter Napier and Thomas Jordan before the drive stalled inside the Whitley 30.
The Bears’ inability to finish tackles cost them once more when Parker broke free for a 58-yard touchdown run with 2:47 to play to close the scoring,.
Harlan County returns to action Friday at Clay County. The 2-1 Colonels play host to South Laurel on Friday.