Casey County had another monumental performance Friday.

The Rebels took down Bell County in Pineville, 49-28, winning just their second game in school history against the Bobcats to move to 6-0 this season.

Casey is one of two undefeated teams in class 3A, along with LaRue County.

Britt Pendleton set two school records: Receptions (14) and receiving yards (240). His 14 receptions are good for a tie for sixth in KHSAA history.

“Britt Pendleton had a record-shattering night and he greatly deserved it,” Casey head coach Steve Stonebraker said. “He is such a good leader for us and a clutch performer. I am so proud of him.”

The win puts Casey in the drivers’ seat for a top two seed in the district again this season, with a game against Corbin on Oct. 20 looking to be the decider for the No. 1 seed.

“This was a great win for our program and very meaningful in the playoff picture this season,” Stonebraker said. “That’s why I told the kids this win would be important.”

Casey was the first team on the board in the first quarter after a three yard run from Preston Tucker. But it was the second time the Rebels had the ball: The first finished with a fumble on the  Bobcats’ one-yard line.

Bell would respond with a 7-yard pass from Isaac Collett to Trevor Kidd at the end of the quarter.

In the second quarter, Tucker had two more touchdown runs to put Casey ahead 21-7, but Bell would again get a touchdown just before the end of the quarter to make the score 21-14 at halftime.

“Our defense came up with some big stops in the first half to help us jump in front and then came up huge late to get the ball back to our offense to pull away,” Stonebraker said. “Those guys gave a great effort against a much-improved offense.”

Bell knotted the game with Colby Frazier’s second touchdown run of the night early in the third quarter.

A.J. Glenn scored on a two-yard run for Casey to put the Rebels ahead 28-21 at the end of three quarters.

In the fourth, Frazier had a 65-yard run to again tie the game.

But then the Rebels’ offense blew the game open.

Austin Campbell, Dalton Summers and Glenn each had a rushing touchdown to put the game away in the final seven minutes.

“Our offense played outstanding,” Stonebraker said. “I don’t know if anyone has ever put up 49 points on a Dudley Hilton coached team on Log Mountain. They fought hard in red zone situations and we didn’t take care of the ball very well, but our kids continued to focus and execute.”

With the game tied at 28, quarterback Austin Campbell hit Pendleton on a 55-yard pass to begin a drive and followed it up with a 17-yard touchdown run.

The Rebels’ defense got the ball back and from there, Casey exclusively pounded the rock to keep the game out of reach.

Defensively, Stonebraker said he was proud of his defensive line — Andrew Mercer, Austin Campbell, Collin Allen, Gabe Singleton and Keegan Hansford — once again for a strong performance in the trenches.

“I’m very proud of our linemen on both sides of the ball for dominating the line of scrimmage,” he said. “Our defensive line helped to slow down their run game.”

The offensive line — Singleton, Allen, Campbell, Logan Combs and Brigham Floyd — was equally up to the task, as the Rebels ran 40 times for 312 yards, a season high.

“The best thing about this win was the resiliency  our kids showed in a tough road environment when Bell County continued to fight back to tie the game. I kept telling our kids after Bell County scores that, ‘these are the types of games where legends are made.’ They responded and came through in clutch moments.”

So who were the legends for Casey?

“We had a long list of kids who probably played the best football game of their lives tonight,” Stonebraker said. “Tristan Elmore, Ethan Ammons, Logan Combs, Gabe Singleton, Ethan Parton. We had a great four days of practice preparation and our kis were ready for a hostile road environment and fought through adversity and played true Casey County football to win the night.”

Unsung hero Nick Wilkerson was another notable, Stonebraker said.

“In a game like this, every point is meaningful and Nick Wilkerson did a great job in making all of his PAT’s and was on point for his kickoffs, as well,” the coach said.

Now, the Rebels will turn to another district foe.

“We must now look forward to handling our fall break week with a big district game coming up against McCreary Central,” Stonebraker said. “A win in that game would secure a home-field playoff game for us, so we have to be ready to get back at it and earn another big victory.”

 

Casey     7      14       7       21       -49

Bell         7        7       7         7       -28

1st Quarter:

CC (5:04) – Preston Tucker 3 rush (Nick Wilkerson kick)

BC (:13) – Trevor Kidd 7 pass from Isaac Collett (Keegan Foster kick)

2nd Quarter:

CC (9:11) – Tucker 3 run (Wilkerson kick)

CC (6:06) – Tucker 4 run (Wilkerson kick)

BC (1:11) – Colby Frazier 36 run (Foster kick)

3rd Quarter:

BC (7:47) – Frazier 16 run (Foster kick)

CC (2:36) – A.J. Glenn 2 run (Wilkerson kick)

4th Quarter:

BC (7:36) – Frazier 65 run (Foster kick)

CC (7:06) – Austin Campbell 17 run (Wilkerson kick)

CC (4:52) – Dalton Summers 5 run (Wilkerson kick)

CC (2:18) – Glenn 27 run (Wilkerson kick)

CC                BC

First Downs              31                 18

Rushes-Yards        40-312            34-142

Avg. per Rush          7.8                 4.1

Fumbles-Lost            2-2                0-0

ATT/COMP/INT      22/17/2         18/10/1

Passing Yards          272                179

Casey County Rushing:

Tucker (21-143); Campbell (10-127); Glenn (6-35); Summers (3-7)

Casey County Passing:

Campbell (21-16-233-2); Tucker (1-1-39-0)

Casey County Receiving:

Britt Pendleton (14-240); Ivan Escalante (1-14); Summers (1-9); Tucker (2-9)

Casey County Total Tackles:

Dalton Lawrence – 11

A.J. Glenn – 10

Ethan Ammons – 8

Ethan Parton – 7

Reece Brown – 4

Andrew Mercer – 4

Casey County Sacks:

Ethan Parton – 2

A.J. Glenn -2

Dalton Lawrence – 1