Introduction

Four football programs will have the opportunity to showcase their talents in the 58th Annual Recreation Bowl.

Game One will pit 3A schools Mason County against West Jessamine.  Coach David Buchanan's Mason County Royals finished 1-9 last season due to a combination of youth and injuries.  QB Ty Sargent returns this year after missing most of last season.  Some of the targets he will look for include Corey Jett and Chris Hull.

Coach Wes Johnson's West Jessamine Colts finished 5-5 last season and hope to make the playoffs this season.  6-2 215 pound Sr. QB Eric Coker rushed for over 950 yards last season and reached the end zone 13 times.  5-9 180 pound Sr. RB Eli Darby rushed for over 1,000 yards last season and Coach Johnson adds a 6-4 225 pound Sr. WR in Brian Johnson who returns to football after a two year absence to focus on basketball.  6-2 260 pound DL T. J. Sisler and 5-11 200 pound Sr. LB Jake Carlson are expected to anchor the defense.

Game Two will match 4A schools Madison Central against Lafayette.  Coach Kenny Turner's Madison Central Indians finished 11-2 last season and with their speed, athleticism, and quickness could be a force to reckon with again this year.  The Indians' season will probably rest on the development of relatively inexperienced offensive and defensive lines.  Sr. backs Ronnie Letcher, Paul Warford, and Andrew Mathis are speedsters who have been clocked at around 4.5 for the 40-yard dash. 

Coach Mike Harmon's Lafayette Generals finished 6-5 last season and this year's edition is fast, experienced and athletic.  6-3 175 pound Sr. DB/RB/WR Enrique Shaw is multi-talented and a speedster.  5-10 235 pound Sr. RB DeMario Richardson is a load to bring down and rushed for 530 yards last season.  6-3 190 pound Jr. QB Chris Tune returns this season and has a capable group of receivers including Shaw and 6-2 170 pound Sr. Jonny Meyer.  Coach Harmon has done a great job with a program that had suffered 15 losing seasons in a row.  The Generals have now enjoyed three straight winning records.

Game One

Mason County (0-0) vs. West Jessamine (0-0)

West Jessamine's opportunistic defense intercepted three Mason County passes to preserve a 14-13 victory.  West Jessamine got on the scoreboard first as Joseph Guthrie returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown.  The extra point kick failed and Mason County took the lead 7-6 in the second quarter on a 14 yard pass from Nathan Stahl to Tony Browning and the conversion kick by Barron Conley.  West Jessamine recaptured the lead 14-7 before halftime on a 18 yard run by Eric Coker and a two point conversion run by Glendon Blanton.

Mason County pulled to within 1, 14-13, on a one yard run by Ty Sargent with 7:31 left in the third quarter.  A bad snap occurred on the conversion and the Royals were unable to get off the kick.  The West Jessamine defense held in the fourth quarter, buoyed by two interceptions and the Colts escape with a hard-earned opening game victory.

Mason County held a 229-202 advantage in total offense and maintained a 26:06-21:54 advantage in clock possession.  However, the Royals had three passes intercepted and lost a fumble while West Jessamine lost one fumble.  Mason County was penalized seven times for 62 yards while West Jessamine was flagged nine times for 60 yards. 

West Jessamine was led by QB Eric Coker who was named the game's Star of Stars.  Coker carried the ball 27 times for 133 yards and scored on a 19 yard run.  Coker also completed four of seven passes for 35 yards.  Glendon Blanton led the Colt defense with six solo and seven assisted tackles.

Ty Sargent led Mason County on the ground with 49 yards on 14 carries with a one yard TD run.  Sargent also completed seven of 16 passes for 124 yards but had three passes intercepted.  Tony Browning caught three passes for 41 yards including a 14 yard scoring strike from Nathan Stahl.  Corey Jett added two receptions for 55 yards.

Scoring Summary

West Jessamine

14

Mason County

13

School	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Mason County	0	7	6	0	13
West Jessamine	6	8	0	0	14

WJ	- Joseph Guthrie 94 yard kickoff return (kick fails)
MC	- Tony Browning 14 yard pass from Nahan Stahl (Barron Conley kick)
WJ	- Eric Coker 19 yard run (Glendon Blanton run)
MC	- Ty Sargent 1 yard run (team run fails)

   

Game Two

Madison Central (0-0) vs. Lafayette (0-0)

Madison Central trailed 14-7 midway through the third quarter but rallied to defeat Lafayette 21-7.  Ronnie Letcher scored what proved to be the winning touchdown on a 13 yard run with 6:22 left on the clock.  The score was set up by a Paul Warford interception on the Lafayette 35 yard line.  Lafayette held a 204-184 advantage in total offense but was held to 70 yards in the second half.  Lafayette held a 32:37-15:23 advantage on clock possession.  The Generals dominated the first half as they held a 134-22 advantage in total yards and controlled the ball for 19:25 of the half, but they could only manage a 7-7 tie at halftime.  Lafayette was penalized nine times for 74 yards while Madison Central was flagged eight times for 90 yards.

Paul Warford was named the game Star of Stars and carried the ball 11 times for 117 yards.  Warford also had three solo and two assisted tackles as well as a key interception.  Andrew Mathis gained 61 yards on 11 carries with a 20 yard TD run and Ronnie Letcher added 43 yards and a 13 yard TD on eight carries.  Danny Holbrook returned a kickoff 68 yards for a touchdown.  Scott Hall led the Indian defense with two solo and 12 assisted tackles.  Andrew Mathis added six solo and one assisted tackles.

DeMario Richardson led the Lafayette ground game with 99 yards on 26 carries.  Chris Tune added 46 yards on nine carries and completed six of 15 passes for 36 yards.  Fred Pennington led the Lafayette defense with five solo and one assisted tackles while Enrique Shaw added three solo and four assisted tackles.

Scoring Summary

Lafayette

14

Madison Central

21

School	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Madison Central	7	0	7	7	21
Lafayette	7	0	7	0	14

L	- Delray Downs 7 yard run (Jake Stephens kick)
MC	- Danny Holbrook 68 yard kickoff return (Kent Blackburn kick)
L	- Jon Straley 7 yard fumble recovery (Stephens kick)
MC	- Andrew Mathis 20 yard run (Blackburn kick)
MC	- Ronnie Letcher 13 yard run (Blackburn kick)

 
  Selected Statistics
 

Madison Central						Lafayette
Rushing	No.	Yds.	Avg.	Long		Rushing	No.	Yds.	Avg.	Long
Paul Warford	11	117	10.6	46		D. Richardson	26	99	3.8	14
Andrew Mathis	11	61	5.5	20		Chris Tune	9	46	5.1	15
Ronnie Letcher	8	42	5.4	13		Delray Downs	6	20	3.3	9
Danny Holbrook	1	-2	-2.0	0		Enrique Shaw	5	9	1.8	10
Team	1	-33	-33.0	0		Trey Shaftner	2	2	1.0	4
						Team	1	-8	-8.0	0
Passing	A-C-I	Yds.	TD	Long		Passing	A-C-I	Yds.	TD	Long
Jared Barnes	3-0-1	0	0	0		Chris Tune	15-6-1	36	0	23
Chaz Hope	2-1-0	-7	0	2
Team	0-0-0	-4	0	0
Receiving	No.	Yds.	TD	Long		Receiving	No.	Yds.	TD	Long
Danny Holbrook	1	-7	0	2		Trey Stilz	3	27	0	23
						Enrique Shaw	3	9	0	4

Acknowledgements

A special thanks to the WL stats crew for the comprehensive stats provided for both games tonight. 

Other Games of Interest

Please see Week 1 in Review.

Please send your comments and questions to Ron Harrison at prepgridiron@yahoo.com.

Ron Harrison’s reports on this and other football events appear on https://www.angelfire.com/ky2/prepgridiron.