Bryan Station continues resurgence, on and off the field, with shutout of Mercer County
Now in his second season as head coach at Bryan Station, Phillip Hawkins measures the growth of his program in quantitative and qualitative ways.
Last season’s 10-2 overall record — which included a perfect 5-0 mark in district play and a trip to the region finals — marked a resurgent moment for the Defenders program.
It was the kind of season that creates future expectations, as Bryan Station is now learning to play as a team with a target on its back.
But it’s the off-field progress shown by Bryan Station’s players in such a short span of time that matters just as much to Hawkins.
Saturday night’s 28-0 Bryan Station shutout win over Mercer County in the opening game of a Rebel Bowl doubleheader at Rebel Stadium at Boyle County High School in Danville was a mature performance from Bryan Station, emblematic of how the program has grown under Hawkins.
“There’s a lot of days I walk into that fieldhouse and I see the weight room and I see the locker room changes (and) I see the things we’ve done for the kids as far as uniforms,” Hawkins said postgame. “Then I watch the kids do the right thing in the hallway of the schools and then I watch them show up to practice and work hard and you know I sit back … ‘Man, can you believe how far they’ve come in two years?’”
“It’s a great feeling every day, to know where these kids have come from and where they’re headed.”
Both the 6A Defenders and the 3A Titans are now 1-1 this season after Saturday’s game, which featured a slow start from both offenses.
Bryan Station junior Jeremiah Mundy-Lloyd had the only scoring play of the first half, a 3-yard touchdown run with 43 seconds to go before halftime.
During the break, Hawkins challenged his team to overcome the sluggish offensive first half, something that also plagued Bryan Station in a 27-14 home loss last week to Frederick Douglass.
The response was swift. Bryan Station scored 21 points in the first 16 minutes of the second half, putting the game away for good.
This included an 11-play, 69-yard drive to begin the half by the Defenders that was capped by junior offensive lineman Desean Green recovering a goal line fumble by sophomore quarterback Trenton Cutwright in the end zone for a touchdown.
The drive lasted nearly half the third quarter.
“Once we get in a situation like that it’s time to put it to bed if you can,” Hawkins said. “Let’s be disciplined, let’s march it down the field and try and get some points.”
Cutwright also connected with junior Damin Green on a 9-yard touchdown pass later in the third quarter. Senior Antonio Davis added a 67-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the fourth.
Bryan Station senior Joseph Bond had 107 rushing yards in the win.
Mercer County scored 34 points in its season-opening win against Indiana’s Madison Consolidated High School, but the Titans could only muster 144 yards of total offense against the Defenders.
Bryan Station now has a bye week before a home game against 5A Scott County on Sept. 10.
“This was a good effort. Mercer County’s a very good football team, probably as good as we’ll see this year,” Hawkins said. “You’ve just got to fix that slow start, (it’s) a scary way to play.”
While the statistics were lopsided in Bryan Station’s favor — the Defenders converted all three of their red zone scoring opportunities, had 18 first downs to Mercer County’s seven, and 178 rushing yards to Mercer County’s 38 — Titans head coach David Buchanan said his team played better this week than in its opening win.
“I don’t want any panic,” Buchanan said. “Urgency, yes. We’ve got to improve and we’ve got to get to work Monday … but panic isn’t going to help anybody.”
Twice on Saturday the Titans seemed to be in prime position to score, only to fail to take advantage of promising field position.
Senior Jalen Lukitsch returned the game’s opening kickoff 68 yards deep into Bryan Station territory, and late in the third quarter senior quarterback Trosper Buchanan connected with senior Aaron Caton on a 72-yard pass play.
But both times Mercer County was unable to convert the big play into points, something Buchanan attributed to Bryan Station’s speed preventing those initial plays from being the scores themselves.
“Their speed is an eraser,” Buchanan said of the Defender defense. “When you’ve got that kind of speed that, the other team can pop a KOR and they can toss a pass, but you run them down and catch them, I mean that’s big time.”
This was Mercer County’s first game against a 6A school since 2016, and several Titans players including two-way senior Jackson Peavler, who led the team with six tackles and two tackles for loss, acquitted themselves well against the significantly larger school.
But postgame Buchanan echoed the same thoughts he had pregame about the matchup being a challenge for the Titans that will prepare them for important games later this season.
“I think it’s a reality check for us that we’re not near as good yet (as) we think we are and we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Buchanan said.
Things are also still a work in progress for Bryan Station.
But the rest of the state is on alert about the Defenders, ranked No. 5 in the Herald-Leader’s Class 6A preseason poll, and results like Saturday’s will only continue to grow what Hawkins has quickly built for the Lexington school.
“I think what I learned real fast is that Bryan Station has a ton of incredible kids and incredible athletes that show up to school every day,” Hawkins said. “We definitely have an X on our back now and people expect us to win and as long as I can keep the kids focused and winning games, what a great place to be.”
This story was originally published August 29, 2021 at 10:28 AM.
