Hart County storms back to defeat Spencer County 37-22

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David Burnworth | August 20, 2023

Last night I was at Nelson County High School, taking in the Don Franklin Auto Bowl for the first time. The first matchup pitted Hart County against Spencer County. This was the first time I saw either team and the first time taking in this bowl.

Hart County would get a 31-yard run from Hunter Monroe, followed by a 12-yard run by Joshua Dan Crump that helped set up his own 3-yard touchdown run, and with the point after from Johnathan Gardner, we had a 7-0 score. The drive was one the late great Woody Hayes would have been proud of, with 11 plays totaling 80 yards.

Spencer County would get a 20-yard catch from Kellen Marksbury on a tight pass from Jarett Stewart. The quarter came to a close on an 18-yard run by Marksbury on third and long.

Spencer County would close out an 8-play, 73-yard drive with a 15-yard run from Andrew Barron. Kyle Brentzel locked this game up at seven with his point-after-kick.

Ian Blanford got a big tackle for loss when he threw Raider Madden Morgan down for an 11-yard loss. Uncle Mo stayed on the side of the Bears when Marksbury took a punt back 50 yards to give his team a 13-7 lead as the extra point kick failed.

Spencer County kept things going when Jordan Bradley coughed the ball up; pouncing on it was Morgan with 5:39 left in the half. Stewart connected with Marksbury on a nicely thrown ball that resulted in a 19-yard touchdown to make this a 19-7 game, as the two-point conversion pass failed.

Hart County responded with a 4-play, 47-yard drive capped off on a Bradley 26-yard touchdown run; the point after was wide left due to a high snap, keeping this a 19-13 game with 4:25 left in the half.

The Hart County defense would get a pretty play from Crump when he got to Stewart for a loss of a yard. Hart County’s offense seemed to get a recharge after their defense got the stoppage because it needed just 4 plays to make this a 21-19 game with Jacob Shoulders racing in from three yards out when his team was in a fourth-and-2 situation. He also converted the two-point play with another run to make this a 21-19 game.

With 16.2 seconds left in the half, Stewart found Drew Barron for 39 yards, and then with 00.2 seconds showing on the clock, Brentzel gave his team the 22-21 lead with his 24-yard field goal.

Hart County seemed to be riding the wave of success when Kohnner Trent got to Marksbury for a 10-yard loss at the 10:05 mark of the third quarter. Stewart, who was under heavy pressure, was forced to slightly underthrow Barron, who made a fantastic adjustment not only to catch the pass but to hang onto it after he was facemask. The drive would not produce any points as the Raiders defense recovered nicely. The defense stayed at the forefront when Paxton Truitt threw Bradley down for a 4-yard loss. Hart County would retake the lead after a 66-yard pick six by Kohnner Trent, followed by a two-point conversion run from Monroe, with 3:44 showing on the third quarter clock to make this a 29-22 game.

Anthony R. Lawlis made the hit of the game when he crushed Marksbury early in the final frame. Shoulders would connect with Jaxon Shoulders for a gain of 39 yards. That was followed a short time later by a 36-yard run by Lawlis to give the Raiders a first and goal from the Spencer County 7-yard line. Crump would go seven yards for the score and then convert the two-point run, making this a 37-22 game with 6:47 left.

Any hopes of a late comeback from Spencer County ended when Stewart was sacked by Crump, forcing a turnover on downs.

My stats

Nelson County

52 plays

244 yards

Passing, 3-4

Spencer County

52 plays

249 yards (77 in the 2nd half)

Passing, 7-19, 2 TDs, 1INT

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