Thomas Nelson had a great chance to get its first-ever win over crosstown Bardstown, but squandered away several key chances in the first half with turnovers in Tiger territory.

 

Tigers lived by the big play, using a double pass on the first play from scrimmage for a long TD pass to Elijah Rogers from Montrez Railley. Rogers caught another long TD pass from Brady Clark, and Clark hit Railley for a screen catch-and-run TD, all in the 1st half.

 

A TD pass by Jerry Wimsett late in the 3rd and a TD run by Wimsett early in the 4th pulled TNHS back into the game.

 

The Generals were driving with less than 5 minutes to go just outside the Tiger 20, but Bardstown's Jared Bruner and his teammates stacked up TNHS' Chase Howard on a 4th-and-1 to get the ball back. Rogers then came up with three critical first downs (2 by catch, 1 by run) to allow Bardstown to kill the clock and hold on.

Everything we get this year will be ugly. A win is a win is a win. Earned a playoff spot. A team of freshmen and sophomores beat a team of juniors. I'll take it.

Rogers, a sophomore, caught 8 passes for 201 yards and 2TDs, and rushed 6 times for another 20. He also had two big tackles for losses, including one late in the 4th when TNHS was driving for the go-ahead score. Combine that with the three big first-down conversions and he's my nominee for POW. Just an outstanding all-around performance.