HAZARD – October 31, 2019 – JJ Baker – Bluegrass Sports Nation
It’s hard to believe that we are in the final week of the
regular season! After months of conditioning, practicing, and playing in the
heat, Mother Nature has finally cooled down temperatures and playoff football
is in the air. As the season began, it was unsure what this Hazard Bulldog team
could accomplish. They were young, inexperienced, and most of all untested.
They were up against a tough schedule and unforgiving opponents who would have
loved to see the Bulldogs have their first losing season since 2005. These
young Dogs stepped up and have strung together a very respectable season and are
sitting at 6-3 with what were upsets of Danville and a very strong Paintsville
team. Friday night the Bulldogs will have the chance to close out the regular
season with a possible 7-3 record. Their opponent, the Whitley County Colonels,
are also enjoying some success this season and is also sitting at 6-3 and would
love to knock off the Dogs to have some momentum going into the playoffs.
The Colonels and Bulldogs have met in each of the last two
seasons, with each contest being down to the wire. In 2017 the Bulldogs were
able to get by the Colonels 24-20 in Whitley County and in 2018 it was one
point closer with the Dogs winning 24-21 in that match. Flash forward to this
year and Whitley has a new coach in Jep Irwin and have had some good wins this
season. The Colonels have taken down Southwestern 14-0 and had a come from
behind win against the Jaguars of North Laurel 28-22. Whitley County’s starting
QB Seth Mills has racked up 1339 yards passing so far this season and is
completing 60% of his pass attempts. Mills has handed the ball off to Woody
Lawson at the running back position this year 127 times and Lawson has gained
793 yards on the ground. Mills spreads out his 148 yards per game passing well,
with 3 different receivers being very close in average per game. Caleb Irwin
has been the favorite target this season, averaging 49 yards per game and
Cameron Gibbs and Colt Asher are coming in a close 2nd and 3rd
in receiving yards per game. The Colonels keep the ball on the ground 60% of
the time but seem to be very diverse in their passing attack. Whitley’s defense
has been very good as of late. The Colonels are only giving up 14 points per
game and are riding a 4 game win streak. They are led in tackles by Zack Saylor
who has collected 87 so far this year. The Colonels have 12 take aways this
year, recovering 7 fumbles and 5 INTs. This Whitley County team will be a very
good test for the Bulldogs the week before playoffs start and are hungry to
post a win after the previous two years losses.
Hazard will come into Friday night’s game averaging 136
yards per game passing. Garrett Miller is sitting at the top of the QBs in
passing yards right now and has passed the thousand yard mark with 1,071 for
the season. Hazard has shown some options in the QB spot as well. Last week
Nick Miller came in and gave the Dogs a boost with a 7/13 night for 93 yards
and Keaton Napier also took snaps and went 2/2 with 30 yards himself. Each QB
can give the Dogs a little different look and teams will be forced to game plan
for all of them. Trajon Campbell is still leading the Bulldogs in rushing with
592 yards, but right behind him is Reece Fletcher who is closing in on 400
yards himself. Freshman Elijah Gayheart had a good outing last week also and
rushed for 63 yards and 2 touchdowns. Another Bulldog running back emerged last
week, too. Defensive end Brayden “Hootie” Thomas averaged 7 yards per carry and
gives Hazard yet another option in their rushing attack. Andrew Ford has been
the steady in the receiving corp this season and has brought down some big
catches in big situations so far. Ford is averaging 40 yards per game right now
with Mason Collins right behind him with 24 yards per contest. Defensively,
middle linebacker Reece Fletcher is still on top of a pile of tackles, leading
the Bulldogs with 74 on the season. Hazard has been all around turnovers on the
defensive side of the ball, too. The Bulldogs have collected a total of 17
turnovers including 10 fumbles and 7 interceptions.
Whitley County will be no easy task for the Bulldogs. They are as solid as anyone Hazard has face this season and it should be a four quarter battle. These Bulldogs need to come together right now in order to make a deep playoff run. Having a good regular season record looks good in the stats, but teams will be remembered mostly for what they can accomplish in the post season. Friday will have the football season feel, as the temperatures will be in the 30’s and 40’s at the start of the game. Kickoff will be scheduled for 7:30 on the Campus of Whitley County High School.
Check back in with bluegrasssportsnation.com on Saturday for a recap of the Dogs and Colonels. BSN would like to thank our sponsors Dr. Jim Caudill Dentistry, Hazard Village Flea Market, and People’s Bank and Trust of Hazard.
