Powell gets 1st win of season vs Magoffin – Photo by Brendon Miller
Nate Skidmore has complete game scoring four touchdowns.
By David Leveridge – Bluegrass Sports Nation game of the week: KHSAA Football week 6 Maggoffin County vs Powell County in district seven action Class 3A.
This week’s Bluegrass Sports Nation game of the week featured our first game of the season with district competition on the line. The Powell County Pirates hosted the Magoffin County Hornets in a battle of district seven competing in Class 3A KHSAA Football. Powell County entering tonight’s matchup was currently winless in season play.
Although, the Pirates were yet to get in the win column they have been competitive in two close defeats. In back to back weeks of the season, Powell lost two games by a combined seven points. Week two the Pirates lost on the road to West Carter 41- Powell County 39. The Next week Powell County was again competitive, losing by only five points at home hosting Bath County. Bath County 32- Powell County 27. Powell County suffered two large defeats the other two weeks of the season. Garrard County would shut out the pirates 38-0 in week one and Lawrence County defeated the Pirates by 23 points last week, Lawrence County 57- Powell County 34.
Magoffin County entered tonight’s matchup with a two win and three loss campaign. Magoffin County and head coach Justin Combs suffered two large defeats in weeks one and two of the season. Week one Magoffin County lost by 30 points at home, hosting East Carter. In week two a common competitor amongst both teams Lawrence County, defeated the Hornets by 41 points. Magoffin County has improved during the season as it has unfolded with back to back wins in weeks three and four, defeating East Ridge 36- 24 and Betsy lane 18-16. Last week the Hornets were defeated at home, hosting Harlan Green Dragons 44- 12. With District play beginning and the teams being seated in the KHSAA playoffs, getting off to a good start is critical to your team’s success. The seventh district is wide open this year with no team picked as the essential favorite. A win tonight for either team, could mean the difference in District Champion or last place in the district.
To open the game Magoffin County received the ball. The Hornets had a strong opening drive as they crossed Mid- field into the thirty- seven yard line of Powell County. On this series I got to witness Powell County Pirates #15 Nathan Skidmore completely change the tone for the rest of the game. Skidmore would strip the Magoffin County Hornets Quarterback clean forcing a fumble. Sixty – three yards later, Skidmore crossed into the end zone and scored the games first Touchdown. Powell County led 7-0 over Magoffin County with 9:38 remaining in the first quarter. Magoffin now took over the ball and had the Hornets best possession of the half. Nathan Caldwell # 40 rushed for twenty- seven yards all the way to the Powell County three- yard line. On the next play Quarterback #27 Grayson Lanning used the quarterback keeper to get the Hornets on the score board. The Hornets attempted the PAT but missed the conversion, the score was now Magoffin County 7- Powell County 6, with 5:55 remaining in the opening quarter. Nathan Skidmore who earlier in the quarter returned a fumble of sixty- three yards for a defensive touchdown, began showing his versatility by running the ball on the offensive end of the ball. Powell County handed the ball off to Skidmore on several occasions, the dynamic Back picked up several first downs in the opening quarter. Skidmore scored his second touchdown of the night with a four- yard touchdown run 2:32 remained in the opening quarter. Powell led 14-6, and the play was the last scoring play of the first quarter.
Nathan Skidmore made his presence known again in the second quarter. Skidmore found the end zone again for a third time with a seven- yard Touchdown run 5:26 remained in the first half. Powell County was now establishing a comfortable lead being up by more than two touchdowns. Powell County 21- Magoffin County 6. Magoffin County is a young, inexperienced team and really couldn’t get any offensive flow to get the Hornets back in the game. The inexperience really started to show in the second quarter throughout the remaining two quarters of Football. Although the Hornets are well coached by Justin Combs, The Hornets have many obstacles to overcome in building their program. The Hornets are also a team devastated with injuries to star players, forcing first year players to step up. Magoffin County would not score again in the half, and looked out of sync with multiple turnovers and costly mistakes. Magoffin was struggling late in the first half faced a fourth and fifteen @ the fifty- yard line, and goes for the conversion. The Quarterback dropped back to pass and throws an interception, picked off by Powell County #2 Dionte Strange. Strange took the ball back on a forty- four yard return to the Magoffin County sixteen yard line. Skidmore finished the drive with a seven- yard touchdown run, Skidmore’s fourth Touchdown of the night. The Play was the last scoring play of the half, and Powell County led 27-6 over Magoffin County. Skidmore of Powell County had accounted for every single scoring possession the Pirates had and was the star of the night, showcasing his talents, and versatility.
Powell County received the ball to start the third quarter and scored on an eighty- two yard return by #10 Drew Ginter. Ginter rushed up the sideline made several Magoffin County defenders miss, and had a clear path to the end zone, with no Hornet defenders able to catch the speedy return specialist. Powell County increased the lead to 28 with the score Powell County 34- Magoffin County 6. The victory now seemed inevitable for the Powell County Pirates. The Pirates were not finished with scoring as #4 John Brooks found the end zone on ten- yard run. Powell County went for the two- point conversion and were successful with #15 Skidmore put the game on ice, and forced a running game clock. Powell County lead had increased to a thirty- six point advantage. Powell county 42- Magoffin County 6.
Powell County would score one more time in the game as #13 Devon Dito scored on a five- yard Touchdown run. The Pirates would go for the two point conversion and were successful in doing so. By this point in the game the starters for both teams were now on the sideline, giving the second teams an opportunity to showcase their talents on the Friday Night Lights Stage. Magoffin County Would score late in the fourth quarter on the last scoring play of the game. Powell County goes on get their first win of the season, defeating Magoffin County 50-12.
Stats / Key Plays
Stats have been provided By Powell County -assistant Coach Rick Riggs, and the official stats come from KHSAA.org At the time this article was written, no stats were available for the Magoffin County Hornets. My apologies to Magoffin County, but without an official stat line I can’t update the stats.
Powell County 50
- Record 1 and 4.
- Rushing Yards in game 252
- Rushing Yards allowed 102
- Passing Yards 14
- Passing Yards Allowed 140
- Rushing- #4 John Brooks 2 rushing attempts, rushing for 26 yards, scoring one touchdown. #13 Devon Dito 2 rushing attempts, rushing for 38 yards, scoring 1 touchdown. #15 Nate Skidmore 14 rushing attempts, 140 yards rushing, scoring three rushing touchdowns and one fumble recovery touchdown. #26 Trent Austin 5 rushing attempts, gaining 35 yards. #24 Preston Wasson 2 rushing attempts, net gain of 13 yards.
- Passing- #4 John Brooks 7 pass attempts, 2 completions, 14 yards net gain.
- Receiving- # 26 Austin Trent- 2 receptions, 14 yards net gain.
- Interceptions- #2 Dionte Strange 1 interception for a 50 yard return.
- Fumble recovery- #4 Brandon Pelphrey 1 fumble recovery, 0 net yards. #15 Nate Skidmore 1 fumble recovery, 63 yard net gain, scoring 1 touchdown.
- Tackles top 4- #13 Devon Dito 7 solo tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 8 total. #2 Dionte Strange 6 solo tackles, 6 total. #16 Mike Mattingly 2 solo tackles, 2 assisted tackles, 4 total. #10 Drew Ginter 3 solo tackles, 3 total.
Powell County improves on the season to 1 and 4. Magoffin County drops on the season to 2 and 4. Bluegrass Sports Nation wishes both teams good luck in the remaining games of the season, and it has been a privilege covering your teams. Magoffin County will continue district play hosting The Morgan County Cougars next week in Salyersville, KY. Powell County will also be a host next week with District action continuing, Hosting the Knott County Central Patriots.