Scott County survives defensive slugfest against an improved Bryan Station
READ MORE
2020 Kentucky high school football preview
The 2020 high school football season kicked off Friday, Sept. 11. High school sports beat writer Jared Peck wrote numerous stories in the Herald-Leader and on Kentucky.com previewing the season around the city, region and state and highlighting the top players and games and rankings. Click below to read all of his stories in case you missed any of them.
Expand All
Emotion breaks Scott County Coach Jim McKee’s voice at the mention of junior running back Montago Jones’ effort Friday night.
“Tago’s my kid that I’ve probably put as much time and energy into him as I have any kid in my career, and he’s like a son to me,” McKee said, quickly pulling his tone back together into its boisterous baritone.
When Jones fumbled at the goal line early in the second half trying to give Scott County its first score in a bruising defensive game, McKee was upset, but he also knew Jones could make it right.
“He fumbles there, but I think it really shows where he’s growing. He’s really grown up,” McKee said. “From where he was (earlier in his career) to what he did tonight, … I really thought that he took over the game in the second half offensively for us.”
Jones responded to the mistake by grinding back at Bryan Station, rushing for 96 of his 134 yards in the second half, including a 20-yard burst that set up his 6-yard touchdown just under midway through the fourth quarter. That helped give Scott County a 7-6 lead it would not relinquish in its season opener at the Birds Nest.
“I just had to do that for my team,” Jones said. “It’s all about the fourth quarter.”
For three quarters, Bryan Station gave Scott County all it could handle.
With neither team making much offensive headway and both trading turnovers, the Defenders struck first after a 67-yard breakaway from Joseph Bond that put Bryan Station at the Cardinals’ 17-yard line. Five plays later, Amodeus Taylor punched it in from 1-yard out, but the extra point attempt was blocked. That proved the difference in the game.
“I’ve always said you can find out about the character of your team by how hard they try to block extra points,” McKee said. The Cardinals’ Campton Martin came up with the block. He also had two interceptions on the night. “We blocked the extra point and then responded and scored.”
Bryan Station came into the game with new head coach Phillip Hawkins and played the best defense it’s shown against Scott County since it began meeting the Cardinals annually in 2009.
Over that span, Bryan Station has never held Scott County to fewer than four touchdowns and is 0-10 against their former Class 6A district rivals. Scott County is now in Class 5A.
In just the last two seasons, Scott County has beaten Bryan Station by a combined score of 106 to 25. Bryan Station’s combined record those two years is 5-17.
“You are a good football team. Right now, tonight, you are a good football team,” Hawkins told his players as they knelt on the field for the postgame talk. “You didn’t just get beat by ‘who-in-the-hell-knows.’ You got beat by Scott County. They’re going to win 12-13 games this year, and this may be their toughest one.”
While the interceptions stymied Bryan Station drives, they had modest success on the ground and Bonds’ scamper pushed him to 103 rushing yards for the game. The defense held a Scott County team that averaged 311 rushing yards last year to 188.
“They have done everything we’ve asked them to do,” Hawkins said of his players. “For a team that doesn’t really know how to win, this was huge. We can’t rest on it, but It’s a pretty good sign of where the program is headed. I’m sure there’s going to be some people who are going to be shocked when they see that score.”
This story was originally published September 12, 2020 at 3:07 AM.
