Playing ‘Scott County football’ turns 20-point deficit into 21-20 win over Bryan Station
Going into the locker room at halftime, Scott County trailed Bryan Station 20-0 and had just given up a 55-yard quarterback scramble for a touchdown seconds before the break.
But the Cardinals didn’t panic.
“We told ourselves that we can’t lay down,” junior safety Paul Garner said. “We’re a good football team. They’re a really good football team. We came out and played Scott County football in the second half and we turned it around.”
Garner’s fourth quarter interception on the Bryan Station 16-yard line turned a slow-burn Cardinals comeback into a red hot rally to win as Scott County reeled off 21 unanswered points in a 21-20 victory over Bryan Station on Friday at Great Crossing High School.
“We showed a lot of mental resolve there,” Scott County Coach Jim McKee said. “To do the things we want to do, we have to play four quarters, that’s for sure, but I couldn’t be more proud of our football team.”
Two exceptional quarters proved enough against Station, with trademark long drives helping the Cards get back into the game.
Scott County (3-0) took the second-half kickoff straight down field in nine plays and cut the lead to 20-6 on a 14-yard run by Ali Hamdiyah. The extra-point kick failed. The Cardinals took their second possession 57 yards in 15 plays and capped it with another score and two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 20-14 with eight minutes left to play.
Ellis Huguely took the toss sweep right for Scott County’s second TD on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. He then sprang loose on the conversion attempt to catch a jump pass from quarterback Andrew Hickey.
“It made the game go from a blowout to us winning,” Hickey said of Huguely’s TD and conversion. “He’s a great player and makes big plays.”
The jump pass doesn’t come up in the playbook often, but Hickey knows the signs it will be successful.
“They were so focused on the run, and when we shifted, they didn’t move a bit,” Hickey said. “So, I knew when I came off Ali that he was just going to be so open.”
After Huguely’s score, Scott County lineman/kicker Cristian Rodriguez’s kickoff and coverage team pinned Bryan Station on its own 14-yard line. A false start pushed the Defenders back to the 9-yard line and set up Garner’s interception on the first snap.
Four plays later, Hamdiyah ran in his second touchdown of the game. The extra point put Scott County in front 21-20 with 5:59 left.
The Cardinals’ defense turned Bryan Station over on downs the next possession and then got another interception, this one by Luke Valencia, to seal the game on Station’s last-gasp effort.
While Scott County fullback Jacob Fryman took most of the carries and netted 104 yards rushing, the scoring opportunities went to Hamdiyah, who was making his first appearance of the season after returning from a broken collarbone suffered in the first days of preseason camp.
“I was ready to get back out here and score,” Hamdiyah said.
The win marks the second dramatic revenge game for Scott County in the early season. The Cardinals lost to both Franklin County and Bryan Station in 2021 on their way to a 6-6 campaign. They beat Franklin County 20-17 in the season opener. Other rematches from last season might prove more difficult with their other regular-season losses to Frederick Douglass, Ballard and Lexington Catholic all teed up for 2022, as well.
“We’ve still got a long ways to go, and I know who’s down the road, but we’re going to keep on cooking it up here and try to keep improving,” McKee said.
Bryan Station Coach Phillip Hawkins lined up a brutal early schedule for his Defenders (0-3) — losing big to No. 3 Frederick Douglass and No. 2 Boyle County in the first two weeks. Bryan Station played much better against No. 16 Scott County in taking a 20-0 lead at halftime.
Bryan Station quarterback Trenton Cutwright rushed for two touchdowns, including a mad scramble on a third-and-1 play that nearly went sideline to sideline for a 55-yard TD with nine seconds left in the second quarter. Those scores sandwiched a 70-yard interception return for a TD by the Defenders’ Jaiden Shegog.
Hawkins took the blame for the loss.
“I just apologized to them and told them I’m sorry,” Hawkins said. “I felt like I let them down a little bit. Ultimately, when you have a lead like that, somebody’s got to be held responsible. I’d just as soon it be me. I hate it because there’s flashes of brilliance with them. They were giving them all they wanted.”
