By KEVIN PATTON
The (Henderson) Gleaner

Contributing Writer Mike Marsee contributed to this story.

HENDERSON, Ky. — Cole Lanter caught five passes and three of them went for touchdowns as Boyle County defeated Henderson County 48-14 Friday night at Colonel Stadium.

Lanter, who had five catches for 140 yards, scored on touchdown passes of 45 and 43 yards in the first half and also scored on a 39-yard pass in the first quarter.

“Cole is a big-play guy. When we get the ball to him, he can make things happen,” Boyle coach Justin Haddix said. “The offensive line did a good job of protecting on our deep passes and Jagger (Gillis) did a good job getting the ball to him.”

“They got (Lanter) the ball. That’s the big thing,” Henderson coach Josh Boston said.

After giving up a 73-yard scoring drive on Henderson’s first possession, Boyle County held the Colonels in check the rest of the night as they scored 41 unanswered points.

“They’ve got some athletes on the edge that can really run and gave us a hard time,” Haddix said. “I felt like we kind of contained them.”

Gillis completed 10-of-20 pass attempts for 189 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 28 yards on eight carries.

Running back Avery Bodner led the 3-1 Rebels with 89 yards rushing on seven carries.

Three of the Rebels’ touchdowns came after special teams miscues and a turnover by the Colonels (2-1). A low snap on a punt attempt led to a second quarter touchdown and a high snap on another punt attempt set up the Rebels’ last touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Defensive lineman Tommy Ziesmer recovered a Henderson fumble after quarterback Seth Goben was hit before he attempted to pass the ball. Ziesmer carried the ball into the end zone from 2 yards out to give Boyle a 27-7 halftime lead.

Jordan Wright scored both of Henderson’s touchdowns on a 9-yard run in the first quarter and a 32-yard pass from Goben with 2:39 left in the game.

Dru Meadows, who drew the start at quarterback, rushed for a team-high 76 yards on 13 carries. He completed 8-of-10 pass attempts for 96 yards. Goben was 5-of-6 for 67 yards. Jaheim Williams caught four passes for 71 yards.

The long, long road: This was Boyle’s first road game of the season, and it was a big one. In fact, the Rebels hadn’t gone this far for a regular-season game in 12 years.

At 188 miles, Boyle’s trip to Henderson was its longest for a regular-season game since it played at Christian County (195 miles) in the 2009 regular-season finale and its longest for any game since a 2018 trip to Belfry (195 miles) for a Class 3A playoff game.

The Rebels’ remaining road trips this season, including an 11-mile trip to Harrodsburg for their opener on a neutral field, won’t add up to the distance from Danville to Henderson. They will travel 77 miles to Radcliff (at North Hardin, Sept. 24), 29 miles to Lawrenceburg (at Anderson County, Oct. 15) and 41 miles to Lexington (at Frederick Douglass, Oct. 29).

Extra points: This was the second three-touchdown game of the season for Lanter, who caught two TD passes and ran for another score in Boyle’s season-opening win over Tates Creek. He leads the Rebels with nine touchdowns this season, including seven of the eight TD passes thrown by Gillis.

Bodner led Boyle in rushing for the second time in the past three games, and he is now the team’s season leader in both rushing attempts (37) and yards (234). … Tackles were evenly distributed among the Boyle defense. Dalton Stone led the way with eight, followed by Gillis and Cole Sims with seven each. … Boyle outgained Henderson 351 yards to 262. … Ziesmer’s forced fumble and recovery accounted for the only turnover of the game.
Week five: The biggest name among several big names on the Boyle schedule comes up this week when Bowling Green, the defending Class 5A champion, visits Rebel Stadium on Friday.
The Purples will provide the toughest test to date for the Rebels’ offense, as their defense has allowed only 38 points in its first four games.
Bowling Green returned six starters — including the entire defensive line — from a championship defense that allowed only 9.5 points, 67 rushing yards and 158 passing yards per game in 2020. So far this season, its opponents are 36 rushing yards and 115 passing yards per game.
The defensive line, which was probably Bowling Green’s strongest position group last season, features seniors Jeremiah Lightfoot (6-3, 305), Bradley Gurley (6-3, 255) and Amario Wilson (6-4, 240), who have combined for 17 tackles for loss through four games.
The Purples forced seven turnovers and allowed 119 yards Friday in a 38-7 victory over Hopkinsville.
Bowling Green’s offense has almost exactly the same amount of rushing (429) and passing (425) yards this season. Senior quarterback Spencer Newman has thrown for 425 yards and one touchdown, and senior running back Tyler Moore has rushed for 258 yards and two TDs.
Like Boyle, Bowling Green frequently plays a difficult non-district schedule. The Purples lost to Highlands 21-18 in their opener, then defeated McCracken County 14-10 and Pleasure Ridge Park 7-0 before beating Hopkinsville last week. They will also play Nashville (Tenn.) Father Ryan and St. Xavier.
“As a coach, there is always the thought that this type of gauntlet is going to beat you up too much physically, but we’ve done it now for quite a few years,” Bowling Green coach Mark Spader told the (Bowling Green) Daily News before the season. “I think the payoff is worth more than the risk. I think that it is so helpful for our kids when you get to that part of the year when it is win or go home.”
Bowling Green, playing its 100th season, ranks eighth in state history in total wins with a record of 724-344-35. The Purples have won seven state championships, including six since 2011.
Contributing Writer Mike Marsee contributed to this story.

Scoring summary
Boyle County            7    20   14    7  —  48
Henderson County  7       0    0    7  —  14

First Quarter
Boyle — Cole Lanter 45 pass from Jagger Gillis (Jackson Smith kick), 8:32.
Henderson — Jordan Wright 9 run (Carson Weiss kick), 3:07.
Second Quarter
Boyle — Lanter 43 pass from Gillis (kick failed), 7:13.
Boyle — Avery Bodner 16 run (Smith kick), 3:55.
Boyle — Tommy Ziesmer 2 fumble recovery (Smith kick), 2:30.
Third Quarter
Boyle — Lanter 39 pass from Gillis (Smith kick), 4:29.
Boyle — Dalton Stone 11 run (Smith kick), :03.
Fourth Quarter
Boyle — John Rahbany 1 run (Smith kick), 10:20.
Henderson — Wright 32 pass from Seth Goben (Weiss kick), 2:39.