In a first quarter that included 24 offensive plays for Harlan County and only two for South Laurel, which included an interception and a safety, the visiting Cardinals found a way to stay alive, then began to thrive once their offense starting clicking under the direction of quarterback Mason Griffin.
The junior signal caller passed for three touchdowns as the Cardinals improved to 4-2 on the season and clinched a playoff berth with a 29-15 victory.
Harlan County lost an onside kick to start the game, but the Bears got the ball back on the next play when Luke Kelly intercepted a Griffin pass. HCHS ran 12 plays before Elijah Roark intercepted a Brayden Morris pass.
The Bears got the ball back when a snap on South’s second offensive play sailed to the end zone before Griffith recovered it and threw the ball out of bounds for a safety and a 2-0 HCHS lead with 6:23 left in the opening period.
James Ryan Howard, Kelly and Gage Bailey each picked up first downs in a 12-play, 52-yard drive that ended with Howard’s 1-yard TD run with 1:02 left in the first period.
Harlan County had a chance to build on the lead after a four-and-out by the Cardinals, but Noah Smith’s interception two plays later turned the momentum in South’s favor.
“We had them 8-0 and were driving down the field and then threw the interception, and that kind of broke our backs, but it wasn’t a bad pass. It just went through the fingertips of our kid and bounced into theirs,” Harlan County coach Jacob Saylor said. “That was a big play in the game early and kind of changed the complexion of the game.”
South scored on the next two drives as Griffin found a rhythm, completing a 5-yard pass to Zach Thomas with 9:24 left in the half followed by Thomas’ two-point conversion to tie the game.
Facing a fourth-and-10 play, Griffin teamed with Garrison Brown in the back of the end zone for a 25-yard scoring pass. Cullen Dairymple hit the first of three extra points for a 15-8 lead with 3:38 left in the first half.
Griffin found Liam Newton for a 18-yard scoring pass on a third-and-10 play in the third quarter. The extra point pushed the lead to 22-8 with 10:12 left in the third quarter.
“We couldn’t get off the field a couple of times, They have a good scheme, and he throws it well and they found our holes,” Saylor said. “They have some good players.”
Harlan County came up with a big play of its own when Kelly took a handoff, then found an open Kayden Adams behind the South defense for a 44-yard scoring play with 8:01 left in the third quarter. Jayce Brown’s extra point cut the deficit to seven.
A Brown interception in the end zone gave the ball back to the Bears with a chance to pull even, but they were able to pick up only one first down before punting.
Two penalties on the Bears, one a late hit and the other pass interference, helped the Cardinals push the lead back to 14 when Noah Smith went in from the 2 with 7:38 to play.
The Bears drove inside the South 20 in an attempt to cut the deficit back to seven, but Garrison Brown jumped a Morris pass near the goal line to end the threat.,
“We’ve been in every game except Lawrence County. We talked at halftime about finishing games. We’re just not finishing,” Saylor said. “We did some good things and made some adjustments. We tried to play catch up the second half.”
Harlan County (1-5) will travel to Pulaski County on Friday. South Laurel (4-2) will play at Southwestern on Friday.