After the Mason County football team gave up a combined 100 points in their first two Class 4A, District 7 games, they were determined to put forth a better defensive effort Friday with playoffs on the line.
After nearly two hours of lightning delays, the Royals held Harrison County scoreless in the first half before eventually running out of gas and falling to the Thorobreds, 19-0, to be eliminated from playoff contention.
“Our kids are working hard and buying into what we do. We have a little saying there – drop anchor – and we did that. We started working, we started tackling, we started doing things we needed to do and our kids have been tremendous in practice,” said Mason County coach Jonathan Thomas. “We had a really, really good week, and like I’ve told them, those good practices lead to good games. I know we didn’t get the outcome that we wanted, but we’ll get there. We’re on our way. We’re getting there.”
Mason County fell to Scott to open district play, 50-0, and lost a shootout in Bourbon County the following week, 50-43. Harrison County now has wins over the Eagles and Royals, but fell to Holmes, who moved to 2-0 in district play with a 28-21 win over Bourbon County on Friday, after beating Harrison County in their district opener, 6-0.
Despite their early district results, the Royals held their own against Harrison County early on Friday. Mason County didn’t allow the Thorobreds to score in the first two quarters as the two entered the break at 0-0.
Seth Chambers, who earned @LedgerSports Athlete of the Week honors this week, has been a beast on defense so far. Here’s a huge third down stop. pic.twitter.com/R25SDErM5s
— Jared MacDonald (@JMacDonaldSport) October 6, 2018
Royals come out strong defensively. This third down sack from Mason Baxter helps Mason County get the ball back. Still no score. pic.twitter.com/1uGICmGZXc
— Jared MacDonald (@JMacDonaldSport) October 6, 2018
Harrison County broke through on the first possession of the second half on a 6-yard run from Devin Lewis that capped off an eight-play drive.
Devin Lewis 6-yard TD run gives Harrison County a 6-0 lead over Mason County. 7:36 3Q. pic.twitter.com/cFKQVUUII5
— Jared MacDonald (@JMacDonaldSport) October 6, 2018
The Thorobreds added two more scores in the fourth quarter – on a 2-yard run from Chase Blanton with four minutes to play and on Lewis’ second 6-yard touchdown run with two minutes remaining. The final touchdown came after Mason County muffed the kickoff following the Blanton touchdown.
Chase Blanton 2-yard TD run gives Harrison County a 12-0 lead over Mason County. 4:00 4Q. pic.twitter.com/BiTj4W5bsR
— Jared MacDonald (@JMacDonaldSport) October 6, 2018
“I think they made a couple adjustments. We had some kids go down on our already-thin team. I think he kind of picked his spots and things that he saw that we were maybe a little weak in. He attacked us in certain areas in the second half,” said Thomas. “I think we ran out of steam and we needed a couple breaks offensively to help our defense out a little bit too. Our defense was on the field way too much tonight.”
Harrison County picked up 178 yards in the second half and were led in the game by Lewis, their 6-foot-3, 239 pound fullback, who had 129 yards on 18 carries.
Harrison County recovers the kickoff after their second touchdown, then scores two minutes later on a 6-yard run from Devin Lewis to take an 19-0 lead over Mason County. 2:00 remaining. pic.twitter.com/OzIlWkIpip
— Jared MacDonald (@JMacDonaldSport) October 6, 2018
“I really felt like we were going to be successful. We just have to hunt and peck a little bit to figure out exactly what to do. We’ve got a pretty good line and if they get on the blocks and stay with you, we’re going to wear on you eventually with a big fullback like that,” said Harrison County coach Marshall Graham. “How many people have a fullback that big? That’s a real blessing to have a guy like that.
“Our other kids ran good too,” added Graham. “Chase and Tay [Custard] went and they all did a great job. Both our quarterbacks run well, so that’s hard to stop all that.”
The Royals struggled to get the offense going and finished with -1 yards in the second half as the Thorobreds were able to command the line of scrimmage.
“We got whipped up front, there’s no doubt about it. We got whipped up front,” said Thomas. “We started two freshmen tonight and those kids fought their hearts out.”
Harrison County limited the Royals to just 25 yards through the air and held running back Seth Chambers – who had 225 yards on 30 carries last week – to under 30 yards this week.
“We have a really good defense and that’s the third shutout of the year. We’re fortunate to have some athletic kids that now have got a good understanding,” said Graham. “We’ve got two good inside backers and a nice front, a nice secondary, so we’ve got all the parts. We’ve got a safety that runs the alley like maybe the best I’ve ever seen.”
Mason County falls to 2-5 overall and 0-3 in district play. Next Friday’s game against Holmes is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. in Maysville.
Harrison County moves to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in district play. They’ll have a week off before hosting Bourbon County in a 7:30 p.m. game on Oct. 19.
THOROBREDS 19, ROYALS 0
HARRISON COUNTY—0-0-6-13—19
MASON COUNTY—0-0-0-0—0
Scoring:
1st Quarter:
No Scoring
2nd Quarter:
No Scoring
3rd Quarter:
(HC) Lewis 6-yard run (Two-point conversion failed) 7:36
4th Quarter:
(HC) Blanton 2-yard run (Two-point conversion failed) 4:00
(HC) Lewis 6-yard run (Wiley kick) 2:00
RECORDS: Harrison County (5-3, 2-1), Mason County (2-5, 0-3)
