Middlesboro needed precious little time to seize control against visiting Harlan in its Class A football playoff opener Friday night at Bradner Stadium.
Less than 10 seconds, to be exact.
Sophomore Colby Lawson dashed 49 yards into the end zone on the game’s first play from scrimmage and the Yellow Jackets coasted to a 56-6 win over the Green Dragons.
Middlesboro (10-0) scored 32 points in the first quarter and amassed 191 yards of total offense on its first seven offensive plays of the game. The Yellow Jackets also returned a pair of interceptions for touchdowns prior to halftime, including a 100-yard return by junior Amari Houston.
The Yellow Jackets forced a Harlan punt on the Green Dragons’ first offensive possession, and then needed just two plays for junior quarterback Deakon Partin to find a wide-open Houston for a 33-yard touchdown, The two-point conversion run by sophomore Jacob Tinnell made it 16-0 with 9:15 remaining in the opening quarter.
Houston intercepted a pass on the third play of the ensuing drive by the Green Dragons, and a penalty whistled against Middlesboro nullified a 46-yard TD pass from Partin to senior Mekhi Young.
Following the penalty, freshman Caden Lawson scored on a 56-yard sprint around the right side on the next play and the conversion run by senior Malachi Coots extended the lead to 24-0 with 5:47 remaining in the first quarter.
Middlesboro sophomore Cayden Burchett stepped in front of a Harlan player on the Green Dragons’ first play of the ensuing drive and returned it 28 yards to pay dirt. Tinnell followed with his second conversion run of the contest.
A 38-yard kick return by Harlan sophomore Elijah Caudill set up the Green Dragons near midfield, and three penalties whistled against Middlesboro helped set up the visitors with a first-and-goal situation at the Yellow Jackets’ 2-yard line.
But Harlan not only failed to score on the drive, the Green Dragons were pushed back to the 12-yard line and then watched Houston take it the distance on the 100-yard interception return on the second play of the second quarter.
Coots’ second successful conversion run made it 40-0 and started the running scoreboard clock.
Tinnell recovered a fumble following a botched punt by Harlan on the Green Dragons’ ensuing possession, before Burchett rumbled into the end zone for a 19-yard TD just before halftime.
Middlesboro coach Larry French made several substitutions on defense to start the third quarter, but the Green Dragons were forced to punt on their first possession of the second half. On the punt, Caden Lawson corralled the football near midfield and then raced 50 yards into the end zone to cap the scoring for the Yellow Jackets.
“Harlan is young and inexperienced, and we were able to execute some things,” French said. “We played well defensively. We broke well on the football and controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. We were more physical.”
Middlesboro amassed 251 yards of total offense. Caden Lawson rushed for a team-high 62 yards on two carries and Partin completed three of his five pass attempts for 84 yards. Neither Lawson, Partin nor a majority of the Yellow Jackets’ starting offensive players saw action in the second half.
“It was nice to be able to get people in and out and not worry about injuries,” French added. “We got some kids some experience, and that’s a good thing.“
Bryson rushed for a game-high 66 yards on 22 tough carries, but the Green Dragons collected just 49 rushing yards, as a team.
Next up for Middlesboro is a second round playoff game Friday at home against Hazard, which defeated Pineville Thursday night, 48-6.
“That will be a true test,” French said about the upcoming game against Hazard.
“Hazard is a very good football team and at the beginning of the year I thought they were the best team in our region. We will have to play very well to beat them.”
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Middlesboro 56, Harlan 6
Harlan 0 0 0 6 – 6
Middlesboro 32 16 8 0 – 56
M – Co. Lawson 49 run (Co. Lawson run)
M – Houston 33 pass from D. Partin (Tinnell run)
M – Ca. Lawson 56 run (Coots run)
M – Burchett 28 interception return (Tinnell run)
M – Houston 100 interception return (Coots run)
M – Burchett 23 run (Coots run)
M – Ca. Lawson 50 punt return (Tinnell run)
H – Bryson 28 run (pass failed)
