Ground attack, defense keys Musketeers past Raiders

GRAYSON — A pair of 100-yard rushers and some key defensive stops in the fourth quarter helped the Greenup County Musketeers beat the East Carter Raiders 35-21 in an all out slugfest on Friday night at Steve Womack Field.

The Musketeers got huge ground games from both quarterback Jasper Davis and running back Ashur Wireman to pace the offense.

Wireman finished with 20 carries for 175 yards — both game-highs — and 3 rushing touchdowns. For Davis, he finished with 10 carries for 125 yards and a rushing score. Davis was also 6-of-8 passing for 87 yards and a TD score. The recipient of the touchdown pass was Landy Lewis who had two catches for 60 yards.

Despite the teams combining for 49 points and over 600 yards of offense, the game showcased both defenses in the early going.

On the Musketeers first possession, they got a huge 45-yard run from Davis on a read option keeper to put the ball at the Raiders 29.

But despite the big play, Greenup couldn't capitalize and turned the ball over on downs when Zander Smith came off a block at the line of scrimmage to tackle Wireman short of the line to gain.

But the Raiders would be backed up via penalties and a third-down sack by Josh Wells that backed the Raiders up even further to their own four.

A short punt gave the ball to the Musketeers (3-1) on the East Carter 16.

Four plays later, Wireman took a handoff on 4th-and-3 and followed his blocks off the right side of the line and went the final 8 yards to pay dirt to get the Musketeers on the board. Carter Nunley added the extra point to make it 7-0 with just 35 remaining in the opening frame.

The Raiders (1-3) only needed one play to answer on their next possession as Layne Gillum found a hole to his right and broke a tackle in the open field to go 73-yards to even the score up at 7-all after one quarter.

Much like a heavyweight title fight, the Musketeers responded with a counterpunch.

This time, it took Greenup just two plays to answer.

Wireman took a stretch handoff and made a defender miss at the line of scrimmage and took off 80 yards down the far sideline for the answering score.

Nunley's extra point made it 14-7 just 15 seconds into the second quarter.

After forcing a three-and-out, Greenup added to their lead on a 19-yard run from Davis as the senior quarterback had to drag a few tacklers with him the final couple yards and stretch the ball over the goal line to make it 21-7.

Greenup would extend their lead less than a minute into the second half as Davis made a play fake and hit Landry Lewis over the middle and Lewis went the distance for a 52-yard touchdown score to make it 21-7.

Burton tucked it and ran for a 40-yard burst down the far sideline to the Greenup 4. On the next play, Burton handed it off to Gillum for a 4-yard score to cut the deficit to a one-score game with 8:36 in the third.

A 55-yard kickoff return from Lewis set the Musketeers with another short field and an eventual score.

Wireman scored his third rushing touchdown of the night on a 1-yard plunge to make it 35-21 with 5:11 to go in the third. The score was set up on the previous play via a sliding catch from Nolan Clarkson for a 19-yard gain.

Needing an answer, the Raiders struck quickly. First, getting a 32-yard kickoff return from Levi Ruffin. Then Burton went up top on the next play for a 29-yard pitch and catch to Caleb Hall.

In the fourth, the Raiders finally forced a punt and got the ball deep in their own territory. A couple of runs from Burton and a catch for 19 yards by Hall helped move the ball to midfield.

However, the drive would come to a halt when the ball came out of Burton's hands and Jacob Bratchett fell on the ball at the East Carter 37 with 5:37 remaining in the game.

The Greenup defense would come up with one more stop to slam the door shut on a Raider comeback.

Facing a 4th-and-5 at the Greenup 45, the Raiders tried a quarterback draw but Burton was stopped in his tracks a yard shy by Noah McCullough, Colin Melvin and Gavin Johnson to give the ball back to the Musketeers.

Greenup's offense ran out the final 3:05 to preserve the win.

The Raiders were led offensively by Burton with 105 rushing yards and 117 passing yards. The other key rusher was Gillum with 99 yards. Hall ended the night with a game-high 7 catches for 94 yards.

The Musketeers will be back at home next Friday against Fleming County while East Carter will be on the road against county rival West Carter in the Battle for the Barrel.

Greenup County 7   14   14   0  = 35

East Carter                  7   0   14   0 = 21

First Quarter

GC — Ashur Wireman 8 run (Carter Nunley kick), 0:35.

EC — Layne Gillum 73 run (Reece Bush kick), 0:18.

Second Quarter

GC — Ashur Wireman 80 run (Carter Nunley kick),11:45.

GC — Jasper Davis 19 run (Carter Nunley kick),6:03.

GC — Eric Campbell 29 pass from Jasper Davis (Carter Nunley kick), 0:29.

Third Quarter

GC — Landry Lewis 52 pass from Jasper Davis (Carter Nunley kick), 11:16.

EC — Layne Gillum 4 run (Reece Bush kick), 8:36.

GC — Ashur Wireman 1 run (Carter Nunley kick), 5:11.

EC — Bryson Matney 2 run (Reece Bush kick), 3:59.

Fourth Quarter

GC — Ashur Williams 5 run (Jasper Davis run), 8:28.

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GC EC

First downs 13 12

Rushes-yards 35-313 30-189

Passing yards 87 117

Total yards 331 306

Cmp-Att-Int 6-8-0 9-15-0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-yards 9-68 5-38.5

Punts-average 2-25.0 4-23.5

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING – Greenup County: Jasper Davis 10-125 TD, Eric Campbell 2-4, Noah McCullough 2-12, Ashur Wireman 20-175 TD, Kayden Taylor 1-minus 3; East Carter: Layne Burton 12-105, Bryson Matney 2-2 TD, Layne Gillum 11-99 TD, Levi Ruffin 4-2, Team 1-minus 19.

PASSING – Greenup County: Jasper Davis 6-8-0 87 TD; East Carter: Layne Burton 9-15-0 117.

RECEIVING – Greenup County: Nolan Clarkson 1-19, Eric Campbell 1-4, Ashur Wireman 2-4, Landry Lewis 2-60 TD; East Carter: Bryson Matney 1-15, Kale Kunder 1-8, Caleb Hall 7-94.

MISSED FIELD GOALS – None.