Second half dooms Tigers against Lawrence County

Hardin County traveled to Lawrenceburg on Friday night to tangle with the Lawrence County Wildcats. The Tigers got off to good start early in the game but then allowed 28 unanswered points to Lawrence County to fall by a final score of 28-7.

Hardin County struggled to move the ball on offense in the final two quarters. The Tigers only managed 55 total yards in the second half against Lawrence County.

Despite the loss to Lawrence County, the Tigers still look like they have secured a playoff spot in the Class 4A state playoffs. The top two teams in each district are guaranteed a playoff berth. The other teams are selected out of a poll produced by the TSSAA. The top 32 teams in Class 5A will earn a playoff spot. Hardin County is currently ranked 14th in the poll with one week remaining in the season.

The Tigers got on the board late in the first quarter after blocking a Wildcat punt attempt. The blocked punt gave the Tigers good field position at the 13-yard line, and they scored on the first play from scrimmage on a 13-yard run by Daniel Avilla. Eddie Espinoza added the extra-point to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead with 1:59 left in the first quarter.

Lawrence County gained good field position on the ensuing kickoff to get them in position to cut into the Tiger lead. The Wildcats returned the kick to the Hardin County 36-yard line after a 44-yard return. Lawrence County scored four plays later to cut the lead to 7-6. The Wildcats were unsuccessful on the extra-point attempt.

The game remained at 7-6 until early in the third quarter. Hardin County received the opening kickoff, but fumbled the ball over to the Wildcats on their first play of the second half. Lawrence County got the ball on the Tiger 35-yard line and scored two plays later on a 33-yard run to take a 14-7 lead.

Lawrence County added to their lead midway through the fourth quarter. They put together a three-play drive of 70 yards that was culminated by a 53-yard rushing touchdown. After the successful extra-point, Lawrence County held a 21-7 lead with 8:11 left in the game.

Hardin County was forced to punt after three plays on their next possession. Lawrence County got the ball on their own 26-yard line. They had a 67-yard run on their second play from scrimmage to extend their lead to 28-7 with 5:24 left in the game. Avilla led the Tiger offense in the game with 90 yards rushing on 17 carries. Coty Eanes had six rushes for 59 yards. Barker Burnham completed 7-of-15 passes for 52 yards.

Slava Cherniatiev led the Tigers with 11 total tackles on defense. Steven Gobbell also reached double figures with 10 total tackles. Steven Rich added eight tackles in the game.

Tiger head coach William McAdams commented after the game about the Tigers’ inability to put together four quarters of football against good competition. “Overall, they played really well the other night. I thought that we did too for three quarters. We just didn’t tackle well on a couple of plays and made a few mistakes that really cost us,” said McAdams.