Raiders drop district game to Casey County
By Steve LeMaster
stevelemastersports@yahoo.com
Host McCreary Central couldn’t deal Casey County its first loss in the 2017 season. Instead, visiting Casey County remained unbeaten, pulling away to defeat McCreary Central 70-30 in a Class 3A, District 8 football game on Friday night.
With the loss, McCreary Central slipped to 2-5 overall and in Class 3A, District 8.
Casey County moved to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the district with the win.
The Raiders dropped to their home finale to one of the state’s top Class 3A football teams.
Dominant Casey County amassed 588 yards of total offense in the winning performance.
Quarterback Austin Campbell led Casey County to the win. Campbell completed 19-of-30 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns for the Rebels.
Spreading the football around, Campbell completed a pass to seven different receivers.
Britt Pendleton paced Casey County in receiving, reeling in seven receptions for 134 yards and two touchdowns.
Preston Tucker led the Rebels on the ground, rushing 17 times for 143 yards and three touchdowns. Contributing to Casey County’s rushing attack, Dalton Summers rushed four times for 88 yards and two touchdowns.
Campbell and AJ Glenn rushed for one touchdown apiece as Casey County pulled away to win convincingly.
Defensively for Casey CCounty, Pendleton recorded two interceptions and Reece Brown picked off one McCreary Central pass while Glenn recorded a game-high 15 tackles.
Aiding the Casey County defensive effort, Ethan Ammons added 10 tackles for the Rebels.
Casey County has now tied the longest winning streak in school history at seven games (2016). The Rebels have also tied the best start in school history at 7-0 (2016)
The victory guarantees the Rebels will be at home in the first round of the playoffs for only the third time in school history (2010, 2016).
Casey County has now scored more than 49 points in five games this season, which is the most in school history.
The Rebels have also scored over 50 points in three games this season which stands as the most in school history.
Casey County’s 588 yards of total offense ranks as the third most in a single game in school history and surpasses the previous week’s 584-yard performance against Bell County for the third spot.
The 70 points is the most points a Casey County football team has put up in 12 years (77 vs. Evangel Christian, 2005).
Casey County scored first and never trailed. The Rebels lead 21-12 at the conclusion of the first quarter and carried a 35-18 lead into halftime.
Finishing strong, Casey County blanked the Raiders 21-0 in the fourth quarter.
McCreary Central was limited to 68 rushing yards and 11 first downs in the loss. The Raiders passed for 192 yards.
Raider quarterback Ryan Jones passed for three touchdowns, connecting with Hunter Jones on two scoring strikes and John Cash on another. Ryan Jones also rushed for a touchdown in the Raiders’ loss.
McCreary Central’s other touchdown was on a Jordan Williams fumble recovery in the endzone.
McCreary Central has regular-season games remaining versus Jackson County and Lynn Camp. The Raiders are scheduled to visit Jackson County for another district game on Friday, Oct. 13.
