Jackson avenges loss to Dragons; Bears split at South Laurel

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Chris Jones

Harlan’s Brayden Doan picked up yardage on Thursday against Jackson County.

Jackson County avenged a 30-point loss from earlier in the season by winning 40-21 on Thursday at Harlan in middle school football action.
Sedrick Washington scored the Dragons’ first touchdown with a run. Sayed Damaa hit the extra point.
Jake Brewer teamed with Jaxson Perry for a 25-yard touchdown pass.
Brewer ran 11 yards for Harlan’s final touchdown, then Baylor Varner added the two-point conversion.
Nathan Cochran had a 50-yard run late in the game for the Dragons.
Harlan fell to 1-6 and will play host to Jackson County again on Saturday at 5 p.m. in playoff action.
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Harlan County split a doubleheader Thursday at South Laurel, winning 24-18 in the seventh-grade game and falling 26-16 in eighth-grade action.
Braydon Middleton ran for 88 yards nine carries and scored a touchdown to lead the 4-3 Bears. Brayden Morris added 76 yards on nine carries with two touchdowns. Kaydon Adams completed his only pass for five yards to Morris.
Morris led in tackles with eight. Middleton and Jacob Sage had five each. Hunter Moore and Bo Eldridge added three each.
Morris had two touchdowns as the Bears were tied at 12 before Middleton scored on a 50-yard punt return, then added a 48-yard TD run late in the third quarter.
Jayce Brown led the 2-7 Bears with 65 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. Shemarr Carr ran for 57 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. Gage Bailey had 60 yards on 14 carries with a pair of two-point conversions. Connor Daniels and Bailey each completed passes with Hunter adding 19 receiving yards.
Bailey and Braiden Smith led in tackles with four each. Brown had three tackles, and Brayden Clay added two tackles.
“I’m proud of our kids,” Harlan County coach Scott Caldwell said. “It’s taken us eight games and two quarters to start playing hard-nosed defense. The third quarter showed we can. We completely shut down a very, very potent offense that second half. If we can keep our heads up and build off that, we could surprise some people in the playoffs.”