Hounds rally for OT win in JV finals
Published 11:05 am Tuesday, October 17, 2017
<p>Chris Jones | Daily Enterprise</p> <p>Harlan County sophomore Ben Landis scored the first of his two touchdowns during the Bears’ overtime loss to Corbin in the Southeastern Kentucky Conference championship game on Monday at Coal Miners Memorial Stadium.</p>
<p>Chris Jones | Daily Enterprise</p> <p>Two Harlan County defenders combined on a tackle in Monday’s Southeastern Kentucky Conference championship game.</p>
<p>Harlan County quarterback Jay Harris was brought down by a Corbin defender in junior varsity championship game action Monday.</p>
Corbin rallied from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to edge Harlan County 28-26 on Monday in the Southeastern Kentucky Conference junior varsity championship game at Coal Miners Memorial Stadium.
Harlan County (7-2) had success on the ground through the first three quarters and took an early lead when Ben Landis went 30 yards for a touchdown. Jay Harris connected with tight end Hunter Helton for the two-point conversion.
After Corbin had cut the deficit to two, the Bears marched down the field again. Landis raced 50 yards to set up an 11-yard touchdown run by Tyler Casolari. Harris was stopped on the two-point conversion attempt, but the Bears led 14-6 with 3:40 left in the second quarter.
The HCHS secondary made plays to stop two Corbin drives late in the half. Nick Helton picked off a pass on the Corbin 11, then Zac Collett closed the half by breaking up a pass in the end zone.
Harlan County moved the ball well on its opening drive in the second half as Harris completed a pass to Jacob Bailey for a first down, then Landis broke free through the middle for a 42-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion pass was incomplete, but the Bears led 20-6 with 6:16 left in the third quarter.
An interception by Casolari set up the Bears with a chance to put the game away. Dalton Johnson picked up a first down to the Corbin 16 and Landis ran eight yards to the Corbin 6 before the drive stalled.
Nick Helton broke up a pass early in the fourth quarter, then Casolari and Hunter Helton teamed for a sack, but the Redhounds were able to overcome the setbacks to score their second touchdown, cutting the deficit to 20-12 with 5:29 left.
Corbin pulled even with a 70-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion.
Harlan County drove to midfield in the final seconds after two long runs by Matt Brown before time expired.
Brown broke free on a sweep on the first play of the overtime to put HCHS ahead by six. Johnson was stopped on the two-point conversion.
Corbin scored the tying touchdown with a 7-yard run on third down, then won with a pass on the two-point conversion attempt.
