Marcoryeon Tandy returned a punt 88 yards for a score. Anthony Hickey added a TD. Both teams played in a frog choker in the fourth quarter

Very entertaining game tonight at Western Kentucky University. The game was very even all told, with just a few plays making the difference. Christian County got on top early, with Bubba Tandy taking a punt off of Central's first possession 80+ for the score. The punt was beyond the coverage which gave Tandy some space, and he made a couple of guys miss and that was that. For the remainder of the half, it was Warren Central's offense usually on the field, but never putting up points. One of the keys there was field position, as Central never started better than the 25 until the second half. They had I believe two first half drives that went 50 yards or longer, one of which took around 10 minutes off the clock. But each time they stalled around the 25, and turned it over on downs or threw the INT.

 

One of the key plays IMO occurred at the end of the first half, with Christian County having the ball on their own 40 and 5 seconds left. That was when Anthony Hickey came in and lined up at QB. Probably just a play to see how it worked, and it worked to the tune of about 20 yards. I think at that point the Colonels saw they had something, and they ran that set exclusively on their first couple of drives in the second half. Their opening drive resulted in their other score, and they coverted a 4th and 12 behind Hickey that when paired with a facemask set them up at the WC 7, and at that point it was given they'd get the score, which Hickey did. He was a real gamechanger, and the Colonel offense was never better than when he was on the field.

 

Central for their part broke through the one time they got decent field position, forcing a Christian County punt out of their own end zone that Cortez Barber fair caught around the CC 30. I think it only took 4-6 plays, and Cortez Barber took it in from 6 yards out to draw the Dragons within 15-8. But Central only got the ball one time with a chance to tie, and again their drive stalled out, this time around the Christian County 40 where a QB sneak was stuffed on 4th and 1. The Dragons did put the Colonels into a 3rd and 19 and might've had a shot to get the ball back with around 2:30, but Christian County got 13 on third down, drew the Dragons offside on fourth down, then converted the fourth down to put them in position to run out the clock.

 

From a Dragon perspective, I'm quite pleased with this result. Christian County is a very good team, and the Dragons stood toe to toe with them. The Colonels made a few more plays to pull out the victory, but I don't think Central should hang their heads. One year ago they wilted in the second half sun and were outscored 32-8 in that half in their loss to Southwestern, a good team, but not the caliber of Christian County. This year the bar is higher, as there doesn't appear to be any drop off at all in the second half, and they managed the same result they finished last season with. Warren Central is typically a team that improves as the year goes on, so I feel very good about where they're starting. I would welcome this game in the postseason at this point.

Great analysis. That's kinda what I meant with my post

Congrats to the Colonels. I saw Tandy last week at the Ft. Campbell Jamboree where in two scrimmages he scored three TDs and had an interception. He is a lot of fun to watch and if he gets a little open space, he will go to the house very quickly.