run game propels nicholas past bracken
CARLISLE | Cain Saucedo accounted for four scores to help the host Nicholas County Bluejackets defeat Bracken County 46-0 in the opening round of the UK Orthopaedics/KHSAA Commonwealth Gridiron Bowl Class A state playoffs.
Saucedo scored on runs of 12, 3, 1 and 1 yards and also added a pair of 2-point conversions to improve the Bluejackets’ record to 8-3. Bracken County ends its season 0-11.
“(Nicholas County) is a district championship team. They are heavily laden with seniors and had all of that experience going for them. They are bigger and stronger than our kids are. The positive thing for us is that most of our kids are freshmen and sophomores,” said Bracken County coach Tim Carver.
It was a rematch of a game played two weeks ago, also at Nicholas County, which the Bluejackets won 46-6.
“I’ve got to take my hat off to Bracken. Those guys had two weeks to prepare for us,” said Nicholas County head coach Robert Hopkins. “For a young team, a team that has had a long season, they brought their ‘A’ game tonight. They gave us everything they had and made us work for everything we got tonight.”
Nicholas County scored on six of its nine possessions. On its first series, the Bluejackets drove 56 yards on six plays with Saucedo scoring on a 3-yard run.
Bracken County’s next series resulted in a safety when a high snap forced Polar Bear quarterback Carson Hord to kick the ball out of the back of the Polar Bear end zone.
Saucedo capped off Nicholas County’s next drive with a 1-yard run.
A Saucedo sack forced a fumble recovered by Reid Allison that led to the Bluejackets’ third score, a Saucedo 12-yard run with nine minutes remaining in the half.
A Tyler Horn interception late in the second quarter set up the hosts’ next score, a 31-yard pass from Horn to Allison.
Nicholas County got the ball to start the second half and drove 61 yards on six plays before Saucedo punched in his fourth score on another 1-yard run with 9:11 left in the third quarter. The touchdown and resulting 2-point conversion pushed the margin to 38-0, starting a running clock for the remainder of the game.
The Bluejackets tallied their final score of the night on a Dalton Hughes 4-yard run early in the fourth period.
Nicholas County finished with 349 yards of total offense, 269 of which came on the ground. Michael Tibbs led the way with 93 yards on 11 carries. Saucedo finished with 10 rushes for 92 yards. Horn was 5-for-13 for 80 yards, all of which came in the first half.
Payton Gilvin topped the Polar Bears’ offense with 16 rushes for four yards.
“We faced a lot of adversity this year — illness, injuries, concussions, ineligibility, suspension from games, and things. Those are the things we are going to work to fix for next year, but there are some things you just can’t help like injuries,” said Carver. “So we’ve taken our knocks this year and it’s going to be better next year, and get better and better and better after that because what we are looking to do is turn these freshmen and sophomores into winning players by the time they are juniors and seniors.”
Scoring
1st Quarter
NC Cain Saucedo 3-yard run (run failed) 8:46
NC Safety (ball kicked out of back of end zone) 6:46
NC Saucedo 1-yard run (pass failed) 5:15
2nd Quarter
NC Saucedo 12-yard run (Saucedo run) 9:00
NC Reid Allison 31-yard pass from Tyler Horn (Saucedo run) 2:02
3rd Quarter
NC Saucedo 1-yard run (Spencer Neace run) 9:11
4th Quarter
NC Dalton Hughes 4-yard run (Blake Applegate run) 10:14
Saucedo scored on runs of 12, 3, 1 and 1 yards and also added a pair of 2-point conversions to improve the Bluejackets’ record to 8-3. Bracken County ends its season 0-11.
“(Nicholas County) is a district championship team. They are heavily laden with seniors and had all of that experience going for them. They are bigger and stronger than our kids are. The positive thing for us is that most of our kids are freshmen and sophomores,” said Bracken County coach Tim Carver.
It was a rematch of a game played two weeks ago, also at Nicholas County, which the Bluejackets won 46-6.
“I’ve got to take my hat off to Bracken. Those guys had two weeks to prepare for us,” said Nicholas County head coach Robert Hopkins. “For a young team, a team that has had a long season, they brought their ‘A’ game tonight. They gave us everything they had and made us work for everything we got tonight.”
Nicholas County scored on six of its nine possessions. On its first series, the Bluejackets drove 56 yards on six plays with Saucedo scoring on a 3-yard run.
Bracken County’s next series resulted in a safety when a high snap forced Polar Bear quarterback Carson Hord to kick the ball out of the back of the Polar Bear end zone.
Saucedo capped off Nicholas County’s next drive with a 1-yard run.
A Saucedo sack forced a fumble recovered by Reid Allison that led to the Bluejackets’ third score, a Saucedo 12-yard run with nine minutes remaining in the half.
A Tyler Horn interception late in the second quarter set up the hosts’ next score, a 31-yard pass from Horn to Allison.
Nicholas County got the ball to start the second half and drove 61 yards on six plays before Saucedo punched in his fourth score on another 1-yard run with 9:11 left in the third quarter. The touchdown and resulting 2-point conversion pushed the margin to 38-0, starting a running clock for the remainder of the game.
The Bluejackets tallied their final score of the night on a Dalton Hughes 4-yard run early in the fourth period.
Nicholas County finished with 349 yards of total offense, 269 of which came on the ground. Michael Tibbs led the way with 93 yards on 11 carries. Saucedo finished with 10 rushes for 92 yards. Horn was 5-for-13 for 80 yards, all of which came in the first half.
Payton Gilvin topped the Polar Bears’ offense with 16 rushes for four yards.
“We faced a lot of adversity this year — illness, injuries, concussions, ineligibility, suspension from games, and things. Those are the things we are going to work to fix for next year, but there are some things you just can’t help like injuries,” said Carver. “So we’ve taken our knocks this year and it’s going to be better next year, and get better and better and better after that because what we are looking to do is turn these freshmen and sophomores into winning players by the time they are juniors and seniors.”
Scoring
1st Quarter
NC Cain Saucedo 3-yard run (run failed) 8:46
NC Safety (ball kicked out of back of end zone) 6:46
NC Saucedo 1-yard run (pass failed) 5:15
2nd Quarter
NC Saucedo 12-yard run (Saucedo run) 9:00
NC Reid Allison 31-yard pass from Tyler Horn (Saucedo run) 2:02
3rd Quarter
NC Saucedo 1-yard run (Spencer Neace run) 9:11
4th Quarter
NC Dalton Hughes 4-yard run (Blake Applegate run) 10:14
Scoring |
1Q |
2Q |
3Q |
4Q |
OT |
Final |
Bracken County |
O |
O |
O |
O |
= |
O |
Nicholas County |
14 |
16 |
8 |
8 |
= |
46 |
bracken county
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nicholas county
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