Louisa, Ky. — Senior Quarterback Alex Strickland ran for two first half touchdowns to lead Lawrence Co. ( 1-0 ) to a 42-7 victory over Harrison Co. ( 0-1 ) in the season opener at Luke Varney Jr. Memorial stadium Friday.
#11 Alex Strickland crosses the goal line for the first touchdown of season.
After a scoreless opening quarter the Bulldogs struck first on a 29 yard touchdown run from Alex Strickland with 9:01 to fort in the first half Logan Southers drilled the PAT to make it 7-0.
The Dawgs made it 14-0 on a 19 yard Strickland scramble with :15 seconds left in the half and Southers knocked in the PAT.
In the third quarter Lawrence Co. went up three scores after a Dylan Ferguson 9 yard touchdown and Southers PAT to make it 21-0 with 5:19 to go in the third quarter.
#8 Dylan Ferguson in the open field versus Harrison Co.
Three minutes later Blue Fletcher scored form 17 yards out to make it 27-0 with 2:06 left in the third quarter the Extra point kick was blocked.
Early in the final period Dougie Hall scooted in from 9 yards out and Kaden Gillispie ran in the two point conversion to make it 35-0 with 11:17 left in the game.
Ryan Marcum scored from 10 yards out and Southers tacked on the PAT to make it 42-0 and start the running clock with 6:40 to go in the game.
#22 Jake Derifield holding for #15 Logan Southers who went 5 of 6 on PAT’s in the Dawgs season opening victory.
Harrison Co. avoided the shutout with a 63 yard touchdown pass late in the game.
Lawrence Co. finished with 267 yards rushing on 35 attempts as Alex Strickland led the Dawgs on the ground with 122 yards on 10 carries, Dylan Ferguson rushed for 66 yards on 12 carries, Blue Fletcher rushed for 35 yards on 6 carries, Dougie Hall 3 carries for 13 yards, Ethan Horn 1 carry for 10 yards, Ryan Marcum 1 carry for 10 yards, Cody Crum 1 carry for 7 yards and Abner Collinsworth 1 carry for 4 yards.
Strickland was 1 of 4 passing with his lone completion to Dougie Hall for 22 yards.
The Bulldog defense was outstanding all night long swarming to the football and only allowed 181 yards of total offense.
#30 Gage Barker, #40 Caden Ball, #5 Abner Collinsworth and #64 Tyler Bowens were all fantastic on defense versus the Thorobreds Friday night.
The Dawgs will be off next Friday before traveling to Greenup Co. on September 3rd.
Harrison Co. will host Anderson Co. next Friday night.
Box Scores for Harrison County @ Lawrence County
By James Ellis
Lawrence Co. Head Coach Alan Short
COACH’S COMMENTS
“… The first quarter you’re always going to get everybody’s best and we feel like we certainly got that and we got settled down a little bit and I think our depth may have played a factor. It’s always good to win your first one and our kids certainly went out and executed and did the things they’ve been coached to do by our staff. Just very very happy and proud to start the season 1-0.”
“… At the end of the half that’s what big time players do to give us a two score advantage at the half. Good players make big plays and we had several that did that tonight. Very, very pleased with all those guys that handled the ball, I won’t name them all by name but, you know it’s a good start. Alex certainly did his part and he did it well tonight.”
“… You know, these kids should be excited, they worked very hard and made a lot of sacrifices to do this, to have the opportunity to play this game and that’s not something that we take lightly. We are going to celebrate the wins and learn from the losses, just very pleased and proud of where we are right now.”
“… Huge defensive effort tonight and that all comes from coach Zach Botkins. He does a great job running our defense and our kids are very well-prepared, Caden Ball had another monster game, He did what Caden Ball does and I’m very, very pleased with the entire defense.”
“… You know, every kid on this team works hard and I just told them before we left the field that it’s going to take all of us, you know, through the course of the next 10, 12, 14 however many games we play and I’m very happy that a lot of those guys got their first taste of varsity action.”
“… We will focus on ourselves next week and hopefully heal up any knocks and bangs and get ready for the stretch run. You know, it’s hard to say week three but we’re excited to get going and it is what it is with the bye week this early. We’ll focus on ourselves next week and get ready for Greenup Co. the the following week.”
“… The home crowd tonight was fantastic. I told our kids this community is hungry for a good football team and if these kids will keep working, I think we can make the transition from good to great. Each game will get bigger and bigger and bigger. Im very proud of our guys.”
