GEORGETOWN – It could have been the ultimate trap game, but Boyle County found the way out.

Fresh off a win over one of the top teams in the country and with a national ranking attached to their name for the first time, the Rebels were brought back to earth by a Scott County team that played them on even terms through most of the first half Friday.

Then they took off again, scoring four touchdowns in just over two minutes at the end of the first half and the start of the second that sent them on their way to a 56-26 victory.

In no time at all, the game the Rebels probably needed became the one they wanted.

“It just shows that we still have to play our game,” said Seneca Driver, who caught two touchdown passes in the final 20 seconds of the first half. “Even though we beat the No. 12 team in the nation, we still have to play our game.”

Boyle (4-0) was riding high after a decisive victory over Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward six days earlier that resulted in a No. 14 ranking in both the MaxPreps and USA Today national rankings.

And the Rebels led 14-0 on Friday before host Scott (1-3) sliced through their defense for three second-quarter scores to pull within 19-12.

That’s when Boyle put its foot down – squarely on the gas pedal. The Rebels used only 10 offensive plays and took advantage of two Scott turnovers to score 30 points in 127 seconds.

Boyle coach Justin Haddix said it was good for the Rebels to be tested, and even better for them to pass that test in the second half.

“You don’t want running clocks in the first half in a non-district game, in any game, really,” Haddix said. “We want our guys to play, and … it was good for us and we’ll get better off the tape and move forward.”

The Boyle onslaught began after Scott’s Jackson Damron scored with 1:16 left in the first half to pull the Cardinals within two points for the second time in the second period.

The Rebels drove 41 yards in 47 seconds, scoring with 20 seconds left when Baylor Murphy threw an 11-yard pass to Driver in the end zone.

Jaysia Richards intercepted a pass on the next play from scrimmage to give Boyle the ball back at the Scott 32-yard line with 15 seconds left, and Driver said he knew what was coming even before a play was called.

“I knew they were going to throw to me,” he said.

Driver caught a pass near the 10-year line, juked to make a defender miss and reached the end zone unimpeded to give Boyle all the momentum going into halftime.

“It was pretty ecstatic,” he said of the mood in the locker room. “Everybody was happy, but we still had to talk about doing our job.”

The Rebels effectively finished the job in the opening minutes of the second half. Montavin Quisenberry turned a catch-and-run into a 63-yard touchdown, and less than a minute later Richards recovered a fumble and returned it 20 yards for a score that gave the Rebels a 49-19 lead with 10:13 left in the third quarter.

“We want to score every time we get the ball,” Haddix said.

The Rebels did just that on their first five possessions, and they had two scoop-and-score touchdowns – Brock Driver had one in the first quarter – thanks to a defense that forced three turnovers in all.

Quisenberry caught five passes for 115 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 45 yards and a TD, Seneca Driver had four catches for 65 yards and Demauriah Brown had 49 rushing yards and a TD.

“You can’t cover them all, and you can’t double one and then leave the other one,” Haddix said. “I felt like our guys made some good adjustments and we made plays.”

There were also adjustments on defense after Scott rushed for 171 yards in the first half.

“I don’t think we were that far off, really,” Haddix said. “They had two pretty good runs in the first half, and other than that it was we let them have a deep ball or a penalty, just a lack of focus on the back end.

“We made some adjustments, and you could tell a little different demeanor from them at the start of the third quarter.”

Scott’s modified wing-T offense finished with 294 rushing yards and 347 yards in all, outgaining Boyle by 10 yards after possessing the ball for just over 31 minutes. That was nearly twice as long as the Rebels, who had 245 passing yards behind Murphy, who was 12 for 18 for 216 yards and four TDs, and 92 rushing yards.

Murphy was 12 for 18 for 216 passing yards and four TDs, including a 26-yard pass to Maddox Hager midway through the third quarter that started the running clock.

* * *

Boyle begins its District 4A-7 schedule this Friday with a home game against Taylor County, a team that has never beaten the Rebels in 11 previous meetings.

The Cardinals(2-2) have beaten Elizabethtown and LaRue County in the past two weeks. They lost their first two games to Woodford County and Bardstown.

Wide receiver Jaquon Coulter has filled in for injured quarterback Shannon Lofton recently and has rushed for 365 yards and six touchdowns, caught 13 passes for 121 yards and thrown for 174 yards and two TDs.

“We’ve got to be ready for them,” he said. “Any time you get a dynamic guy back there at quarterback it makes it a test to defend, so we’ve got to do a good job there.”

 

Scoring summary

 

Boyle County 14 21 21 0 – 56

Scott County 0 19 0 7 – 26

First Quarter

Boyle – Demauriah Brown 4 run (Andrew Carr kick), 1:55.

Boyle – Brock Driver 15 fumble recovery (Carr kick), 1:31

Second Quarter

Scott – Eli Lilly 10 run (kick failed), 10:32.

Scott – Andrew Hickey 1 run (pass failed), 7:24.

Boyle – Montavin Quisenberry 41 run (Carr kick), 5:31.

Scott – Jackson Damron 1 run (Alberick Maciel kick), 1:16.

Boyle – Seneca Driver 11 pass from Baylor Murphy (Carr kick), :20.

Boyle – S. Driver 32 pass from Baylor Murphy (Carr kick), :06.

Third Quarter

Boyle – Quisenberry 63 pass from Murphy (Carr kick), 11:06.

Boyle – Jaysia Richards 20 fumble recovery (Carr kick), 10:13.

Boyle – Maddox Hager 26 pass from Baylor Murphy (Carr kick), 6:23.

Fourth Quarter

Scott – Hickey 4 run (Maciel kick), 5:10.