October 7, 2017
BUCKLEYS CREEK, KY. — Dalton Ferguson scampered in from 43 yards out to break a 30-30 tie and Noah West tacked on the two point conversion with 2:50 to go as Lawrence Co. ( 5-3 ) held on after stopping a potential game tying two point conversion attempt to win a wild road game 38-36 over Pike Co. Central ( 4-3 ) Friday night.
The Dawgs jumped out to 14-0 lead after one period behind touchdown runs from Ashton Blankenship, a 34 yarder and West a 12 yarder, before Pike Co. Central stormed back to take a 22-14 lead at Half.
The Hawks opened up the second half driving deep into Bulldog territory trying to go up two scores before the Dawg defense came up with a huge 4th down stop. After stopping PCC’s momentum, Ferguson raced to the end zone for a 53 yard touchdown and West tacked on the conversion run to tie it up at 22 apiece near the end of the third period.
Late in the fourth was when the real fun began with the score all knotted at 22 the Dawgs went up 30-22 on a West short touchdown run and two point play with 4:58 to go. On the ensuing kick off Hawk returner Brice Elkins broke free and went 75 yards for a touchdown and Seth Conn tied it back up 30-30 with the conversion run before Ferguson’s heroics.
Pike Co. Central made it 38-36 with 1:18 to go and the Dawgs clinging to a 2 point lead before the Bulldog defense made the play of the game to stop the two point play. Blankenship recovered the on side kick to preserve the win as the Dawgs moved to 2-0 in District 6 play.
The Dawgs had 440 yards of total offense all on the ground as Blankenship led the way with 144, West had 119, Ferguson 114 and Trey Dotson 63 yards.
Lawrence Co. 14 0 8 16 – 38
Pike Central 0 22 0 14 – 36
Lawrence Co. will travel to Belfry ( 6-1 ) with what could be a district championship on the line next Friday night.
Pike Co. Central will travel to Sheldon Clark next Friday night.
Bulldog Head Coach Alan Short
COACH’S COMMENTS
“… This was a huge win for our program. We as a staff are very proud of how our players handled themselves through adversity during the game. Our guys never got too high or never got too low. We were blessed to come out of Pikeville with a victory. We had some guys make some big plays when we needed them the most. We are just really proud of our team, they are a great group of young men.”
“… Like always we will enjoy last night’s win today and start thinking about the team up the river tomorrow.”