Henderson County High School football coach John Elliott described his team’s 67-29 victory over Christian County Friday as a “wild and crazy night at Colonel Stadium.”
The statistics back that up. In addition to putting 67 points on the scoreboard, HCHS gained nearly 500 yards with 377 of that coming on the ground, and scored every time they touched the ball in the second half except for the last possession when time ran out as the Cols were driving.
On the defensive side, HCHS held Christian County to 261 total yards, chased a scrambling quarterback all night and intercepted six of his passes—with two of those picks made by defensive linemen, Dominique Beamus and Jack Logan.
Avant Baxter picked off two, one of which he returned to the one-yard line and led to a score the next play. Baxter leads the team in interceptions with four on the season. Jaxton Duncan and Keaton Sutton also snagged an interception.
Christian County, a team which has endured a midseason coaching change and a roster that numbered not more than two dozen Friday night, hung in the game early in the first half. Quarterback Tom Johnson rolled out continuously, which often led to his throwing the ball away as an HCHS defender gave chase or an interception but also led to nine completions, one for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Henderson County started the game a bit slow. Their first score came on a 1-yard run by Anzerion Marigny after Baxter returned an interception to the Christian County 1-yard line. That score, though, was surrounded by stalled drives. But after the slow start, HCHS found the end zone the next five times they touched the ball, including a Jack Dalton 16-yard run, a Marigny 24-yard run, a 12-yard pass reception by Jack Logan, a 41-yard reception by Avant Baxter and a 43-yard pass reception by Jack Ryan Reusch.
HCHS led at the break 41-22.
During halftime, Elliott said the HCHS coaching staff made some adjustments to contain Johnson’s rollouts. They worked. After the break, Johnson completed one pass for a one-yard loss. He finished with 10 completions on 34 attempts for 106 yards.
Though it’s hard to be disappointed with a half in which your team scores 41 points, junior Jack Dalton said the northern Colonels’ slow start early in the game was a wake-up call, before coming out in the second half and dominating the game.
Dalton added two more touchdown runs in the third quarter, one for 15 yards and the other for 25 with a 13-yard Kingston Shidler TD scamper sandwiched between.
With 4:47 left in the third and HCHS up 60-22, a running clock was in place for the rest of the contest.
Even with the running clock, Henderson County amassed 264 yards via the ground game in the second half. In fact, HCHS did not attempt a pass after the break.
Elliott said the game showed the Colonels’ continued improvement in the running game, including both the offensive line and a stable of runners that will provide more depth in the last part of the schedule.
Backup sophomore Kieran Cole led the team in rushing with 115 yards on 7 carries, followed by Dalton with 107 yards on 8 carries. Sophomore Marigny ran for 60 on eight carries; junior Shidler picked up 44 on five carries and sophomore Jonathan Langley rushed for 35 on 3 carries. Quarterback Brody Belt ran for 16 on six carries while throwing for 101 yards on 6-of-13 passing.
Lining up at quarterback for the first time this season, Dalton provided a wrinkle that Elliott said will continue the rest of the season. Elliott said Belt will continue at quarterback, but Dalton will get reps, as well, which had been the plan all along. But Dalton had knee surgery last spring and he had not been ready to take on any quarterbacking duties till last night; now, Elliott said Dalton’s getting into football shape.
Dalton made numerous nice reads, pulling the ball from his back’s belly and keeping, often picking up sizeable chunks of yards after the pull. Although it was his first snaps of the season at QB, Dalton said he wasn’t surprised that he was able to make his reads Friday night, after having started games last year after former quarterback Trajdan Langdon got hurt. He was “thankful” for the opportunity Friday night, he said.
Like Elliott, Dalton likes the feel of the Colonels’ running back arsenal, saying HCHS has dynamic runners who can gain yards each time they touch the ball.
“The Colonels need to run the ball,” he said.
With the win, HCHS moves to 4-3 and 1-0 in district play. The Colonels are on the road next week at district foe Hopkinsville (3-4). On Oct. 24, HCHS returns home for a matchup with another district opponent, McCracken County (3-4) before finishing up on the road versus Owensboro (5-2). All games are at 7 p.m.
BOX SCORE
Henderson Co. 67, Christian Co. 29
Christian Co. Henderson Co.
12 First Downs 24
25-155 Rushes-Yards 37-377
10-35-6 Comp-Att-Int 7-14-0
106 Passing Yards 113
261 Total Yards 490
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-0
8-94 Penalties-Yards 3-34.3
2-29.5 Punts-Avg. 3-34.3
Christian Co. 8 14 0 7 — 29
Henderson Co. 20 21 19 7 — 67
HC – Anzerion Marigny 1 run (Miles Pryor kick), 1 play 1 yard
CC – Darius Finch 23 pass from Tom Johnson (Tristan Dillard run)
HC – Jack Dalton 16 run (kick blocked), 1 play 16 yards
HC – Marigny 18 run (Pryor kick), 2 plays, 29 yards
CC – Finch 31 pass from Johnson (run failed)
HC – Jack Logan 12 pass from Dalton (Pryor kick), 10 plays, 54 yards
HC – Avant Baxter 41 pass from Brody Belt (Pryor kick) 6 plays, 53 yards
CC – Zyon Wharton 85 kickoff return (James Farley pass from Johnson)
HC – Jack Ryan Reusch 43 pass from Belt (Pryor kick) 6 plays, 70 yards
HC – Dalton 15 run (pass failed), 5 plays 54 yards
HC – Kingston Shidler 13 run (kick blocked), 2 plays, 35 yards
HC – Dalton 25 run (Boone Thompson kick), 2 plays, 36 yards
HC – Jonathan Langley 15 run (Pryor kick), 6 plays, 85 yards
CC – Deasian Harris 47 yards (Jayleigh Campbell kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Christian Co. – Deasian Harris 17-124, Tom Johnson 4-20, Chynaysheon Harris 2-11, Tristin Dillard 1-4, LeVar Daniel 1-(-4).
Henderson Co. – Kieran Cole 7-115, Jack Dalton 8-107, Anzerion Marigny 8-60, Kingston Shidler 5-44, Jonathan Langley 3-35, Brody Belt 6-16.
Passing
Christian Co. — Johnson 10-35-6 106.
Henderson Co. – Belt 6-12-0 101, Dalton 1-1-0 12, Avant Baxter 0-1-0.
Receiving
Christian Co. — Darius Finch 3-55, Zyon Wharton 2-14, Paul Abren 2-4, D. Harris 2-2, James Farley 1-31.
Henderson Co. – Baxter 2-55, Jack Ryan Reusch 1-43, Jack Logan 1-12, Tucker Siewert 1-6, Shidler 1-2, Marigny 1-(-5).
