By MIKE MARSEE

Contributing Writer

Friday nights won’t be so easy from here on out.

Boyle County enjoyed one final cakewalk in the Class 4A playoffs last week, a 49-0 victory over Perry County Central that set the stage for a much greater challenge this week.

The Rebels played under a running-clock win for the fifth time in their last six games and the eighth time in 12 games overall, and the starters were on the field for less time Friday than in any other game this season.

Even so, coach Justin Haddix had little doubt they would be sharp this Friday for their highly anticipated quarterfinal against Corbin.

“We get after it in practice every week,” Haddix said. “If they don’t get to play as much we amp it up in practice, so we’ll have fresh legs and we’ll be ready to go.”

Boyle (12-0) was ready to go in its second-round game at Rebel Stadium, as evidenced by the fact that it reached the running-clock threshold of 36 points in the final minute of the first quarter.

“The coaches, they don’t ever lie to us,” said quarterback Sage Dawson, whose only two official pass attempts went for touchdowns. “They said we’ve got to come out and do what we’re supposed to do and we’ll be just fine. Tonight we came out and did what we were supposed to do to get ready for next week.”

By halftime, when the score was 43-0, the Rebels had turned the page to Corbin.

“I knew we were ready,” Dawson said. “Coach came in at halftime and he was like, ‘Let’s go, guys! We’ve got to be ready for next week!’” Dawson said. “Everybody was screaming coming out of the locker room. I’m sure you heard us coming down (to the field). I think we’re ready.”

No Boyle starter had more than two rushing attempts and one reception in a first quarter in which the Rebels scored four offensive touchdowns in nine plays and got one more on a punt return.

Dawson attempted only four passes, two of which were wiped out by penalties, but had 118 yards on screen passes to Montavin Quisenberry and Geordon Brown that turned into scoring plays of 54 and 64 yards.

Quisenberry also scored on a 47-yard punt return and an 8-yard run, and Demauriah Brown had a 52-yard rushing TD.

Brown had a game-high 59 rushing yards on only two carries for Boyle, which had 250 yards at halftime and 348 in all on 29 plays.

Kicker Andrew Carr got a workout in the first quarter with four extra points and five kickoffs – he added one more PAT in the second quarter – and Cole Andrews, who held the position last year but has been injured for most of this season – made his season debut when he kicked off to start the second half.

“Cole’s competing and Andrew’s doing a great job,” Haddix said.

Gage Feltner ran for a touchdown in the second quarter, and Maddox Hager caught a touchdown pass from Baylor Murphy in the fourth.

The Rebels’ reserves got more playing time than they had a week earlier in the first-round win over Wayne County, when Haddix was unhappy with their execution, and he said they got more done.

“They got after it and made some plays, and that’s what you want to see. I feel like they did a good job when they got their opportunity,” Haddix said.

Boyle’s defense gave up only 50 yards to Perry (7-5), which was in the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2013, the last of Haddix’s four seasons there in his first head coaching job.

The Commodores crossed midfield only once, getting to the Boyle 40-yard line in the third quarter before Boyle’s Jax Crowe recovered a fumble.

Kain Logan also had a fumble recovery for the Rebels.

Scoring summary

Perry County Central 0-0-0-0 — 0

Boyle County 36-7-0-6 — 49

First Quarter

Boyle – Montavin Quisenberry 8 run (Andrew Carr kick), 10:04.

Boyle – Quisenberry 54 pass from Sage Dawson (Carr kick), 7:51.

Boyle – Geordon Brown 64 pass from Dawson (Carr kick), 4:44

Boyle – Quisenberry 47 punt return (Carr kick), 3:09.

Boyle – Demauriah Brown 52 run (Brown pass from Dawson), :51.

Second Quarter

Boyle – Gage Feltner 7 run (Carr kick), 7:27.

Fourth Quarter

Boyle – Maddox Hager 5 pass from Baylor Murphy (pass failed), 2:55.