A once promising season for the Harlan County Black Bears that began with three straight wins appeared ready to slip away Friday night. After two straight blowout losses and facing a 22-0 deficit midway through the second quarter against visiting Perry Central, the Bears were staring at disaster.
Harlan County responded just in time to save its season, reeling off 23 unanswered points, capped by a 17-play, 95-yard march to edge the Commodores 23-22. Instead of a possible first-round trip to state power Boyle County, the Bears are in the driver’s seat for a second-place finish and a home playoff game that they can clinch outright with a win next Friday at Whitley County.
“We made an adjustment defensively at the half, and it really made the difference,” Harlan County coach Jacob Saylor said. “They hurt us some on the last drive, but it was a great stop. They wanted this win. This is huge for us, and I’m proud of this bunch. They’ve worked so hard, and I tell them every day I love them and I’d go to war with them.”
Saylor alternated quarterbacks with senior Gunner Burkhart filling in for sophomore Brayden Morris last week when he suffered a shoulder injury. Burkhart took the majority of the snaps Friday but Morris had several big runs at both quarterback and running back, Burkhart handled all the passing duties.
“It was a team effort. We had two quarterbacks going, and both shined in different ways,” Saylor said. “Gunner has been asked to step in during our difficult situation, and I can’t say enough about him. He’s become a leader for us. Brayden is just a player. I thought Hunter Napier decided they weren’t going to bring him down. We told him several times that we had to have this, and he was a man tonight.”
After falling to South Laurel and Corbin the last two weeks, the Bears had suffered through several key injuries but found a way to work around them this week.
“They’ve taken it on the chin the last two weeks, and they were tired of it. I asked them at halftime if they wanted to finish, which is our motto this year,” Saylor said. “They hurt us on the line the first half, and we knew they were good. The second half our guys answered the challenge. We were able to get in the bone and bully them down the field. It was all or nothing tonight.”
After scoring one touchdown in the second quarter and another in the third, the Bears found themselves within striking distance after they stopped the Commodores one yard short on a tackle by junior tackle Cooper Blevins at the 5. They had 95 yards to cover with 8:22 to play.
The Bears came up with a first down three times in the drive on fourth down, first by Morris, then by Jonah Sharp and then by Napier with a four-yard run to the Perry 30. Two plays later, Sharp found a cutback lane, broke a tackle and raced 34 yards for the tying score with 2:09 to play. Austin Tye hit a 25-yard extra point after a Bears’ penalty to put the Bears ahead.
Perry responded with a fourth-down play of its own when Parker Maggard found Tyler Robinson for a 12-yard gain. Maggard then teamed with Josh Miller for 14 yards and another first down, then 10 yards to Miller for a first down on the HC 5. Napier broke through to sack Maggard on first down, then the HC defense forced three straight incompletions to preserve the win.
A Logan Caudill interception on the game’s third play set up the Commodores on the HC 10, Bryson Johnson went in from the 2 on fourth down, then added the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead with 8:16 left in the first quarter.
A 40-yard pass from Burkhart to Sharp was the only positive offensive play in the first quarter for the Bears, who found themselves down 16-0 when Keagan Cecile capped a 12-play, 72-yard drive with a 9-yard run with 9:37 left in the first half. Johnson’s two-point conversion followed.
Caleb Miller set up an eight-play, 57-yard march when he recovered a fumble. Cecile went 8 yards with 2:25 left in the half. Cecil was stopped on the two-point attempt.
A pass interference penalty against the Commodores, one of eight penalties against Perry in the second quarter, helped put HCHS in position to score. The Commodores were penalized 13 times in the game for 155 yards. Sharp went 22 yards to the 1 on the next play, then Morris went in for the touchdown and then the two-point conversion to make the score 22-8 at halftime.
The Bears drove 73 yards in 12 plays on their first possession of the third quarter, capped by a fourth down pass from Burkhart to Jayce Brown for a 16-yard touchdown. Burkhart was under pressure as he flipped the ball to Brown, who caught the ball slightly behind him and sliced between two defenders at the end zone for the score. Napier bulled his way in for the two-point conversion with 2:25 left in the third period.
Harlan County (5-3) will play at Whitley County on Friday. Perry Central (3-5) will travel to Corbin.