MIDDLESBORO — With just 25 carries a year ago, Harlan County fullback James Ryan Howard was not the first, or even the second, option in an offense limited to two touchdowns or less nine times during a 1-10 season.
Howard stepped into the role of primary ball carrier this summer in the Bears’ new Wing T attack and has thrived. His 180-yard, three touchdown performance carried Harlan County to a 25-7 win Friday at Middlesboro in one of the most impressive individual opening-game performances in school history.
“(Howard) just ran the ball down our throats, and our guys didn’t want to hit him,” Middlesboro coach Larry French said of the difference in the game. “Our guys have to decide if they are going to be football players or crybabies.”
“What about James Ryan?” said Harlan County’s Jacob Saylor, who won his first game as the HCHS coach. “We just continued to feed him the ball, and he was a man tonight.”
HCHS controlled the game with a ground attack that rolled up 414 yards on 53 carries and seemed to wear down the Middlesboro defense as the game progressed.
“I thought coach (Brett) Johnson did a great job with the offense. We wore them down tonight, and that’s what this offense is designed to do. We came up empty after a long drive early in the game, and we can’t afford to do that. Middlesboro took away our option game, and that’s why James Ryan and our trap game was so important tonight.”
The Harlan County defense was also effective, limiting the Jackets to 96 yards on the ground and sophomore quarterback Deakon Partin to 84 yards through the air on four completions in 13 attempts.
“Coach (Justin) Curry did a great job preparing them this week,” Saylor said. “I thought our guys made a couple of big stands.”
Harlan County marched 56 yards in a 17-play drive to open the game but was stopped on fourth down at the Middlesboro 15.
The Bears reached the end zone on their third possession as Howard went in from the 2 with 3:10 left in the first half to cap a nine-play, 76-yard march that included a couple of nice runs by freshman quarterback Brayden Morris, who was making his first start. Jayce Brown’s extra point pushed the lead to 7-0.
Middlesboro had a chance to answer after 45-yard kickoff return by Colby Lawson. The Jackets got to the HCHS 1 with the help of a couple of penalties by the Bears before time expired.
“We had two or three chances to score,” French said. “If we could have punched it in to close the first half it might have been a different game. Harlan County played with a lot of heart.”
Penalties proved to be the Bears’ biggest problem on the night with 16 for 133 yards.
“We shot ourselves in the foot too many times tonight,” Saylor said. “We have to clean that up moving forward.”
While Howard supplied the ground-and-pound in the HCHS offense, Morris provided the highlight reel play when he showed off the speed and elusiveness that Saylor raved about in the preseason. Morris rolled to his right on the Bears’ first offensive play of the half, then took off to the left, splitting a pair of defenders in the backfield and then breaking away from a couple of others and dodging a few more on the way to an 82-yard touchdown run that pushed the lead to 13-0 with 9:41 left in the third quarter.
“Brayden showed what he can do on that play. He turned a busted play into an 82-yard touchdown,” Saylor said. “He did a great job running our offense and will just continue to get better.”
After stopping a Harlan County drive, the Jackets’ offense finally came alive as Partin found Mekhi Young for 20 yards and then Xavion Shehan for 39 yards and a touchdown with 3:12 left in the period. Noah Wakin hit the extra point.
Harlan County responded by driving 52 yards in nine plays, capped by Howard’s 5-yard run with 10:27 left. Morris was stopped inches short on the two-point attempt as the Bears led 19-7.
Middlesboro threatened again with a 15-play drive that ended with three incomplete passes.
Luke Kelly, Howard and Hunter Napier each had big gains as the Bears drove 85 yards, capped by Howard’s 7-yard TD run as time expired.
For a team that struggled to one win a year ago and was hit hard by graduation, the season-opening win provided a confidence boost.
“I couldn’t be more happy for this bunch of kids,” Saylor said. “They’ve been through a lot of adversity. We’ve got such a young team, and they grew up a lot tonight.”
Harlan County returns to action Friday in its home opener against Hazard. Middlesboro travels to Garrard County on Friday.