Topic: Football
Paintsville vs. Kentucky Country Day
Class 1A 2020 UK Orthopaedics/KHSAA Commonwealth Gridiron Bowl Championship
Kroger Field Commonwealth Stadium
Lexington, KY
December 18, 2020
© 2020 by Ron Harrison
Coach Joe Chirico’s Paintsville Tigers comes into this game with a 9-2 record. Harris Phelps leads the ground game with 1185 yards and 18 touchdowns on 160 carries. Jake Hyden carried the ball 69 times for 412 yards and nine touchdowns. Luke Hyden added 355 yards and seven touchdowns on 65 carries. Karsten Poe chipped in with 235 yards and six touchdowns on 38 carries. Jake Hyden completed 69 of 115 passes for 1047 yards and nine touchdowns with no interceptions. Karsten Poe completed 21 of 31 passes for 263 yards and a touchdown with one interception. Zach Taylor caught 19 passes for 364 yards and two touchdowns. Devin Hall added 25 receptions for 290 yards and a touchdown. Karsten Poe recorded 11 receptions for 208 yards and four touchdowns. Harris Phelps recorded 19 touchdowns for 114 points. Jake Hyden added nine touchdowns and four two point conversion runs for 62 points. Karsten Poe added 60 points on 10 touchdowns. Luke Hyden recorded 42 points on seven touchdowns.
Coach Matthew Jones led the Kentucky Country Day Bearcats into this game with a 10-1 record. Nathan Caldwell leads the ground game with 978 yards and 21 touchdowns on 117 carries. Eric Dickerson added 833 yards and 14 touchdowns on 103 carries. Drew Russell carried the ball 42 times for 346 yards and four touchdowns. Luke Russo completed 56 of 101 passes for 1053 yards and 12 touchdowns with five interceptions. Jalen Todd caught 23 passes for 508 yards and six touchdowns. Drew Russell added 19 receptions for 291 yards and three touchdowns. Nathan Caldwell recorded 136 points on 22 touchdowns and two conversion runs. Eric Dickerson added 96 points on 16 touchdowns.
Paintsville utilized their punishing ground game (303 yards and four touchdowns on 46 carries) to earn their first state championship with a 38-7 victory over Kentucky Country Day. Paintsville recorded 15 first downs and 318 yards of total offense. The Tigers were penalized five times for 49 yards. Kentucky Country Day recorded 13 first downs and 212 yards of total offense. The Bearcats were penalized three times for 20 yards and lost a fumble.
Harris Phelps led Paintsville’s ground game with 221 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries and was named Game MVP. Jake Hyden added 35 yards on three touchdowns on 14 carries. Luke Hyden recorded 26 yards on four carries. Karsten Poe added 21 yards on six carries. Karsten Poe completed two of two passes for 15 yards. Zach Taylor caught two passes for 15 yards. N. Marsillett returned one punt for 11 yards. Mason Lovely led the defense with seven solo and five assisted tackles. Austin Allen added six solo and four assisted tackles with one of his tackles resulting in a one yard loss. N. Marsillett recorded five solo and two assisted tackles with one of his tackles resulting in a one yard loss. Devin Hall added four solo and three assisted tackles and recovered a fumble he returned 38 yards for a touchdown.
Eric Dickerson led KCD’s ground game with 88 yards on 19 carries. Nathan Caldwell carried the ball 17 times for 50 yards and a touchdown. Luke Russo completed seven of 13 passes for 61 yards. Drew Russell caught five passes for 27 yards. Jalen Todd added one reception for 21 yards. Exavier Douglas led the defense with eight solo and three assisted tackles with one of his tackles resulting in a two yard loss. Jalen Todd added seven solo and four assisted tackles. A. Yarasimides recorded five solo and four assisted tackles.
Scoring Summary
| School | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
| Paintsville | 7 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 38 |
| Kentucky Country Day | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| PAINT | - | Harris Phelps 23 yard run (Braydon Combs kick) |
| PAINT | - | Jake Hyden 1 yard run (Braydon Combs kick) |
| PAINT | - | Braydon Combs kicks a 23 yard field goal |
| PAINT | - | Jake Hyden 6 yard run (Braydon Combs kick) |
| KCD | - | Nathan Caldwell 1 yard run (Z, Schonwetter kick) |
| PAINT | - | Jake Hyden 5 yard run (Braydon Combs kick) |
| PAINT | - | Devin Hall 38 yard fumble recovery (Braydon Combs kick) |
Selected Statistics
| Paintsville | ||||
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| Rushing | No. | Yds. | Avg. | Long |
| Harris Phelps | 22 | 221 | 10.0 | 53 |
| Jake Hyden | 14 | 35 | 2.5 | 7 |
| Luke Hyden | 4 | 26 | 6.5 | 9 |
| Karsten Poe | 6 | 21 | 3.5 | 8 |
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| Passing | A-C-I | Yds. | TD | Long |
| Karsten Poe | 2-2-0 | 15 | 0 | 10 |
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| Receiving | No. | Yds. | TD | Long |
| Zach Taylor | 2 | 15 | 0 | 10 |
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| Kentucky Country Day | ||||
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| Rushing | No. | Yds. | Avg. | Long |
| Eric Dickerson | 19 | 88 | 4.6 | 14 |
| Nathan Caldwell | 17 | 50 | 2.9 | 11 |
| A. Yarasimides | 2 | 8 | 4.0 | 6 |
| Luke Russo | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 3 |
| Drew Russell | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 |
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| Passing | A-C-I | Yds. | TD | Long |
| Luke Russo | 13-7-0 | 61 | 0 | 21 |
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| Receiving | No. | Yds. | TD | Long |
| Drew Russell | 5 | 27 | 0 | 18 |
| Jalen Todd | 1 | 21 | 0 | 21 |
| Eric Dickerson | 1 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
Acknowledgements
A special thanks to WL Stats and the KHSAA for the comprehensive stats provided for today’s game.
Please feel free to send your comments and questions concerning the event, teams, or players to me at prepgridiron@yahoo.com.
Ron Harrison’s reports on this and other football events appear on https://www.angelfire.com/ky2/prepgridiron.