Raiders Run Comes To An End, Lawrence Co. Eliminates McCreary From Football Playoffs

By CHRIS HOLLIS<br>Record Sports Writer

The old adage that says “All good things must come to an end” held true for the McCreary Central football team Friday night as Lawrence County brought the best football season in school history to an end with a 41-19 thumping of the Raiders in the opening round of the playoffs.

Central was making their third consecutive appearance in the playoffs after a 20 year period of futility since the programs inception into varsity play in 1987. Just as in the past two years though the Raiders qualified for postseason play as the fourth and final team from the five team District 7 which places them in a first round match up on the road against a regular season district champion.

Lawrence County compiled a perfect 10-0 regular season record making them the second 10-0 team the Raiders have had to face in the playoffs in the past three seasons. In their inaugural playoff appearance in 2007 McCreary had to face a 10-0 Bell County team.

Last season a change in postseason format placed the District 7 & 8 teams against each other in an seeded 8-team regional tournament that put the fourth seeded Raiders on the road traveling to Boyd County where they lost 34-6 on a miserably cold night.

With this years format the same the drive was very similar, the weather , in contrast to last year was nearly perfect for a November night in the valley of the Big Sandy River but unfortunately the outcome was also familiar as the Bulldog defense shut down the Raider attack for the majority of the game while Central’s defense seemed nearly powerless to slow down the high powered offense of Lawrence County who scored on six of nine possessions on the night excluding a final one where they took a knee to kill the final fifth-three seconds.

McCreary held the Bulldogs to 22 yards on their first possession which ended with a punt but a shanked punt out of bounds from deep in Raider territory gave the ball back to the bulldogs at the McCreary 30 following a quick three and out from the Raider offense.

The home team made quick work of the short field, using only three plays to score on a 15 yard run with 4:05 to go in the opening quarter to take a 6-0 lead.

Lawrence also wasted little time on it’s next two possessions before adding to the lead. A McCreary roughing the passer penalty on first down moved the Bulldogs to the Raider 32 which allowed them to scored only two plays later on a 13 yard run to make the score 13-0. They then used only four plays to cover 85 yards, scoring on a run of 65 yards to take a 20-0 lead with 9:34 left in the half.

McCreary’s offense in the meantime was struggling to say the least. The Raiders took the opening kickoff and proceeded to go three and out on the first two possessions before turning the ball over on downs on the third. The ten plays netted the Raiders a total of four yards of offense.

It wasn’t until Central’s fourth possession that they picked up their initial first down of the game which come on a six yard run by Aaron Watts on a fourth and five early in the second quarter. That success was quickly snuffed out though as the Bulldog defense pushed the Raiders back nine yards on first down and another seven on third after an incomplete pass.

McCreary briefly showed some signs of life from the offense after falling behind 20-0.

With 9:33 left in the half Zack Roark picked up ten yards on a first down run and Watts followed with a gain of 14 on the next play but McCreary was not able to sustain the drive and punted the ball away after reaching the Bulldog 45 yard line.

After holding the Bulldogs on a fourth and five to get the ball back the Raiders made their most serious scoring threat of the half with the assistance of a 15 yard penalty against Lawrence but the Bulldogs Lucas Frasher made a diving interception to end the Raider threat at the Bulldog 23 yard line.

Lawrence County took over with 3:11 left in the half. A first down run gained seven yards out to the 30 and then three consecutive pass completions later the Bulldogs were at the door on the two yard line. Two one yard runs had them back into the endzone for the fourth time and gave them a 27-0 lead with :53 seconds on the clock.

McCreary finished out the half with a 36 yard run by Roark as time expired down to the Lawrence County 33. Prior to the gain by the Raider senior Central had ran 31 offensive for a total of 15 yards while the Bulldogs had rolled up 323 yards on 26 plays.

Lawrence continued to rack up yardage and points in the second half scoring on the opening drive on five plays and covering 52 yards to extend the lead to 35-0.

The Raider offense was able to move the ball to some extent gaining yardage on six consecutive plays, all running, their first possession before facing a fourth and six from the Bulldog 44. Lining up in punt formation Watts took the snap and began to run before passing over the middle to Storm Stevens for a 23 yard gain to the Bulldog 21. McCreary’s scoring threat was again stopped though as pass attempts fell incomplete on first and third downs while Roark was stopped for no gain on second and Watts likewise on fourth.

Lawrence County scored their final touchdown of the night on the ensuing possession driving 79 yards (15 of them via Raider penalty) on seven plays in 2:23 to make the score 42-0.

McCreary was finally able to put points on the scoreboard as they put up a 10 play drive that covered 71 yards and ended with Watts diving across the line on a four yard run only one play after converting a fourth and one from the seven. Dustin Stephens hauled in a 13 yard reception during the drive that also featured five carries by Roark for 32 yards and four by Watts for the final 11 in addition to a 15 yard Bulldog penalty. Lawrence stopped Roark on a two point conversion attempt to keep the score 42-6.

After taking over on downs at their own 46 McCreary put together another drive in very similar fashion. Stephens was able to hold on to a seven yard pass over middle after receiving an extremely hard hit while in the air. Watts had a six yard run and Dustin Goins picked up 11 on another run but it was Roark that accounted for the remainder of the 74 yards picking up the final 26 on a brilliant run through several missed tackles. The Raiders again failed on the two point attempt and Central trailed 42-12 with 1:06 to go.

McCreary was able to add another score after recovering a misplayed kickoff at the Bulldog 13 yard line. Senior Preston Shoopman scored on his only carry of the night on a sweep to the left with :53 remaining. Senior Ricky Triplett finished off his high school career with a successful extra point attempt, McCreary’s only point of the season from a kick to make the final score 42-19.

Roark led McCreary offensively with 133 yards rushing and one touch down on 24 carries. Watts carried 21 times for 17 yards and a touch down. Shoopman had one carry for 13 yards and a touch down and Goins carried once for 11 yards. Through the air Watts was 5-17 for 50 yards with an interception. Receiving Storm Stevens had a catch for 23 yards. Dustin Stephens had two for 20 yards and Roark had two for seven yards.

Lawrence gained 467 yards on the night while McCreary finished with 224.

McCreary ends the season with a school best 7-4 record while Lawrence improved to 11-0 and will host McCreary’s district rival Knox Central this Friday after the Panthers knocked off Rowan County 44-21. Other games involving District 7 teams from Friday night were Bell County defeating Greenup Co. 44-0 and Rockcastle County advancing 44-21 over Rowan County. Over the past two seasons District 7 teams are 7-2 against their District 8 counterparts in postseason play.

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