Bullitt Central 21 Oldham County 19

Failed two point conversion with 5:45 left by Oldham County leaves them short after a great second half rally.

Truly tale of two halves. Bullitt Central was the aggressor in the first half, and the Cougars rushed for (unofficially) 148 yards in the first half, with Daylin Huff accounting for two scores and 107 yards rushing, including a dramatic 50 yarder in which he spun out of a tackle by the Oldham County safety at the 10 and finished the touchdown run.

Up 7-6, BC tacked on two scores to make it 21-6 at the half. All of BC's first half yardage, not surprisingly, came on the ground (148) while Oldham was keeping pace - statistically - with 121 yards (50 rushing / 71 passing). But OC was unable to finish drives, and BC was controlling the line of scrimmage, particularly in the middle.

Injuries were huge in the first half for Oldham. Starting sophomore QB Parker Caudill - himself a backup - was knocked from the game with Oldham driving on the BC side of the field late in the second. The play resulted in a targeting call on Bullitt Central and Caudill did not return in accordance, apparently, with the concussion protocols. Later on, Oldham's leading tackler, Trey Purvis, went out with an apparent shoulder injury. He spent the rest of the game on the OC sideline with a sling on his shoulder.

BC got the ball first in the second half and promptly drove deep into Oldham territory, but the Colonel defense stiffened.

The Colonels started slow on their first drive behind sophomore third-string QB Tyler Barnes, who threw a pick at his own 42 yard line that was returned to about the 32 yard line of Oldham. But BC missed wide right on a field goal attempt, and from there, Oldham dominated the second half.

Barnes would throw two touchdown passes in the second half, one to Chase Samples to make it 21-13, and one to Zach Young in the right corner of the end zone with 5:45 left. The second made it 21-19, but Young was flagged with an unsportsmanlike penalty call after spiking the football. That put the ball out around the 17 yard line for a long 2 point conversion try. On the first attempt, BC picked up a holding penalty which moved the ball to the 7. On the second try, Barnes rolled right, couldn't find a receiver, and had to tuck and run. He was stopped at the five, preserving the Cougars' lead and - ultimately - the win.

Oldham got the ball back one more time, but was unable to move it, and chose to punt on fourth down. The gamble failed as BC ran out the clock to hold on for the win.

Kudos to both teams for an entertaining, close game.

Somewhat reminiscent of last year's 10-7 BC win....coming down to the final moments. (although that one literally came down to the final play of the game, a BC FG)

Some heroic performances on both sides....Tyler Barnes' play at quarterback in the second half was superb and he very nearly willed his offense to the win. OC's junior RB Lucas Jones finished with 90 yards rushing for Oldham County. And the Oldham County defense, pushed around in the first half, shut down the BC offense in the second half after the initial drive of the half and shut them out on the scoreboard.

The 19 points scored by Oldham tied the most points allowed by the Bullitt Central defense this season - one of the stingiest in 5A, it was allowing just 10 ppg coming into the contest. (Bullitt East also scored 19 points last week)

Daylin Huff continues to impress as one of the best all-around players we've seen this year. The senior Cougar QB / KR / S / whatever position he wants to play made plays all night. He led the Cougars in rushing, picked off a deflected pass in the second half from his safety spot, had some terrific returns of kickoffs. #18's name was mentioned all night in the Pegasus Sports broadcast.

BC improves to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the district. Matt Kuehn is now 13-6 at the Shepherdsville school in his second year and I can see more good things to come for this program. Big game in Crestwood next week against the defending district champion South Oldham Dragons. The winner may come out of that game in first place.

Oldham falls to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the district. First year coach Mike Fox has really made a difference in this program; Oldham will be heavily favored in two of its final three games (Nelson County and Jeffersontown) and should be more than competitive against Bullitt East in the other game. The Colonels should be playoff-bound after a two-year playoff absence, and a 6-4 regular season record is very possible.

Best wishes to Parker Caudill and Trey Purvis of Oldham; here's hoping both young men are back to action soon.

CM

Great post, thanks @ColonelMike

Going back through some notes....Oldham made some great plays in the second half, but at times was their own worst enemy...

On the drive that brought OC to within 21-13 late in the third, the Colonel offense converted two fourth downs and a third-and-19. Against a defense as strong as Bullitt Central's, those are impressive. In fact, the 24 yard TD toss from third string QB Tyler Barnes to Chase Samples came on a 4th and 6 play.

On the other hand, penalties may have ultimately decided the game against OC. After cutting the lead to 21-12, OC was set to go for two, but suffered a delay of game penalty and settled for the one point conversion to make it 21-13. Had they gotten the two and cut the lead to 21-14, what happened after the next TD might not have mattered.

After Zach Young caught a TD pass from Barnes with 5:45 to play in the game to make it 21-19, the Colonels went for two to tie, but had to go long distance after an unsportsmanlike conduct call immediately after the TD. Although BC helped them out a bit with a defensive holding penalty, the Colonels still ultimately had to go for 2 from the seven yard line.

Great win BC!