Powell Drops Rivalry Game to Estill

Engineers roll 36-14.

STANTON – August 30, 2019 – Bradley Charles – BSN

Perennial rivals, Powell County and Estill County, met in Stanton on Friday night. Powell County ­jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter when Chimaobi Ajuonuma returned an interception for a touchdown. Estill County responded with two rushing touchdowns by quarterback Ty Niece and a pick-six. Powell County answered with a 30-yard touchdown run by Preston Wasson, but it was Estill County that took a 22-14 lead into halftime.

On the first drive of the second half, the Pirates moved the ball into Estill County territory; however, Powell County turned the ball over on a deflected pass which was intercepted. On the Pirates’ next possession, a turnover gave Estill County the ball with good field position. It took only two plays for Estill County’s Justin Stamper to put the ball across the goal line. Estill County took a 29-14 lead into the fourth quarter. Ty Niece scored another touchdown in the fourth quarter and the Engineers left Stanton with a 36-14 victory.

Powell County is now 0-2 on the season, but that might not be as bad as it sounds. In 2015, Powell County started the year 0-3 and went on to finish the year with an 8-4 record. Similarly, in 2017 Powell County started the year 0-4, but finished the year 8-5. The Pirates will try to have the same turnaround this season.

After the game, head coach Josh Kincaid said, “I always tell the kids, let’s get better every week. This week I feel like we took a step back, but we’ve got to regroup. We’ve got to regroup as coaches and we’ve got to regroup as a team and move forward. We’ve got Bath County next week.”

The Pirates now turn their attention to a 1-1 Bath County team. The game will be played on Friday, September 6^th at 7:30.