2nd half turnovers help Bobcats pull away from Red Devils

JACKSON  — Big games from Eli Thomas and Miles Hollon and some critical turnovers were too much for Russell to overcome, as the Breathitt County Bobcats took down the Red Devils 35-13 in the regular season finale for both teams.

Both teams no turn their attention to the playoffs next week, where Russell will host the Carroll County Panthers in the opening round of the Class 3A playoffs on Thursday. Meanwhile, Breathitt County will take on St. Henry on Friday in the Class 2A playoffs.

Breathitt (8-2) opened up the scoring on their opening possession, driving 70 yards in 14 plays, which included 2 successful fourth down conversion plays.

The final conversion turned into points, as the Bobcats lined up in a polecat formation, and Miles Hollon hit Jayden Gibson out of the backfield for an 11-yard touchdown. Wyatt Spencer added the extra point to make the score 7-0.

Miles Hollon finished the night 13-of-20 for 194 yards and two touchdowns through the air. He also ran for 30 yards and a score to help pace the Bobcats on offense.

Russell's offense wasn't able to answer on their opening possession as they went 3-and-out. However, it was the defense that came up with the answer on their own.

On a 3-and-8 play near midfield, Hollon tried to hit his receiver along the far sideline, but Grayson Kiser stepped in front of the pass and took off back the other way for the score after a couple blocks from teammate Kanenan Jacobs.

Sam Totten added the extra point to knot the score up at 7-all with 2:21 remaining in the opening frame.

The Red Devil offense, which had been held in check for most of the first half, finally round some rhythm on their ensuing drive. First, getting a pitch-and-catch by Jayden Frasure to Caden Mitchell for 21 yards. Then a barreling 13-yard run by Kaiden Benge put Russell at the Bobcat 32.

Then a play later, Frasure hit Benge on a swing pass for 29 yards to the 1 yard line.

A penalty backed the Red Devils up to the 7 on third-and-goal. But the Russell was able to get in the end zone when Frasure rolled to his right and hit Cayden Pennington, who was able to get his feet down in the end zone for the score and cut the deficit to 14-13.

Frasure finished 9 of 20 passing for 127 yards through the air.

The Bobcats were able to get a late stop and get the ball back with 1:19 remaining before halftime and work the two-minute drill.

A key play during the drive came on a middle screen to Gibson for 20 yards to the Russell 35. Two plays later, Miles Hollon found Thomas over the middle for a 23-yard strike to extend the Bobcats lead back out to 20-13 with just 17 seconds remaining on the clock.

In the third, the Red Devils took their opening possession and threatened to tie the game up before succumbing to the turnover bug.

Russell was first able to overcome a holding penalty and get an 30-yard pass by Frasure to Jacobs into Breathitt territory. Then Benge followed up with some key runs to move the chains twice.

But then disaster struck.

On 2nd-and-goal from the 6, Frasure took the snap and followed his blockers to his left, but defensive tackle Waylon Abner was able to knock the ball out at the Bobcat 5, and Sawyer Hall came up with the loose ball.

Breathitt threatened to capitalize on the takeaway, driving down to the Russell 30, but faced a 4th-and-7.

Miles Hollon tried to scramble for the first down, but was stopped short by a crushing hit along the Red Devil sideline by Brody Smith.

Russell couldn't take advantage of the stop, as a rare interception from Frasure ended the next Russell drive when Adam Spencer played centerfield for the Bobcat defense and came up with the pick.

The Bobcats were able to convert the turnover into points, thanks to a huge play from the feet of Miles Hollon on a 3rd-and-11 from their own 37. Hollon dropped back to pass, but then decided to tuck it and run for a 34 yard gain deep into Russell territory.

Four plays later, John-Carter Hollan took a handoff on a stretch run and found the edge for a 27-yard score. Thomas added the 2-point conversion run to make it 28-13 with 8 minutes remaining in the game.

Thomas later capped off the scoring with a 1-yard run after avoiding a tackle in the backfield. Spencer added the extra to make the final score.

Thomas finished the game with 2 total scores and game-highs of 26 carries for 108 yards on the ground. Thomas also had 3 catches for 75 yards. John-Carter Hollon was the top receiver with a game-high 7 receptions for 75 yards.

Russell 7 6 0 0 = 13

Breathitt Co. 7 13 0 15 = 35

First Quarter

BC — Jayden Gibson 11 pass from Miles Hollon (Wyatt Spencer kick), 5:55.

Rus — Grayson Kiser 49 interception return (Sam Totten good), 2:21.

Second Quarter

BC — Jayden Gibson 3 run (Wyatt Spencer kick), 7:42.

Rus — Cayden Pennington 8 pass from Jayden Frasure (kick no good), 4:15.

Rus — Eli Thomas 23 pass from Miles Hollon (kick blocked), 0:17

Fourth Quarter

BC — John-Carter Hollon 27 run (Eli Thomas run), 8:00.

BC — Eli Thomas 1 run (Wyatt Spencer kick), 4:06.

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Rus BC

First downs 7 25

Rushes-yards 20-63 51-258

Passing yards 127 194

Total yards 163 331

Cmp-Att-Int 9-20-1 13-20-1

Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 4-25 5-40

Punts-average 4-30.75 1-34.0

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING – Russell: Jordan Rowe 3-8, Hunter Williams 1-minus 12, Jayden Frasure 5-minus 4, Logan Jones 2-minus 1, Kaiden Benge 6-38, Lane Osborne 3-24, Benjamin Brinkman 1-minus 2; Breathitt County: Eli Thomas 26-108 TD, John Hollon 3-30 TD, Miles Hollon 8-77, Caleb Neace 1-5, Jayden Gibson 12-38 TD, Brayden Barnett 1-0.

PASSING – Russell: Jayden Frasure 9-20-1 127 TD; Breathitt County: Miles Hollon 13-20-1 194 2-TD.

RECEIVING – Russell: Jordan Rowe 1-6, Caden Mitchell 1-21, Kanenan Jacobs 1-30, Jayden Pennington 1-5, Cayden Pennington 2-21 TD, Kaiden Benge 2-37, Lane Osborne 1-7; Breathitt County: Adam Spencer 1-12, Eli Thomas 3-75 TD, John-Carter Hollan 7-75, Jayden Gibson 2-32- TD.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.