Harlan has made five previous trips to Hazard for the first round of the Class A playoffs. The Green Dragons’ season ended there in each of the previous games.

Harlan will make a sixth playoff appearance in Hazard on Friday, and it will be the third trip for most of Harlan’s seniors, who fell 35-14 in 2015 and 55-24 in 2016. The Bulldogs, who bring a 6-3 record into the game as the runner-up in District 8, will be a favorite again over the 4-6 Dragons, who placed third in District 7.

Hazard features a balanced and effective offensive attack led by senior quarterback Bailey Blair, who has passed for 1,479 yards and 11 touchdowns. Senior running back Skylar Pelfrey has added 833 yards rushing. Junior linebacker Reece Fletcher leads the defense with 89 tackles.

“Hazard gets better as the year goes on. The best time to play them is early,” said Harlan coach John Luttrell. “By this time they are playing their best. They’re big, strong, fast and well coached.

Harlan will be short-handed in the game with two more starters going out with injuries in the loss to South Laurel on Friday as Kilian Ledford hit his hand on a helmet in the opening series and Jarrett McKenzie suffered a concussion. Both are considered doubtful for Friday The Dragons now have 10 injured players on a 33-man roster.

“I’m down to dressing 23 players if Kilian and Jarrett McKenzie don’t get back from Friday’s injuries,” Luttrell said. “We have to try and control the ball and time of possession as well as make some big plays in order to stay with them.”

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While Harlan and Hazard are familiar postseason opponents, South Laurel and Harlan County will be meeting for the first time on Friday in the first round of the 5A playoffs at Coal Miners Memorial Stadium.

The 5-5 Cardinals are the fourth seed in District 8, posting an 0-4 mark against district opponents while finishing 5-1 in their non-district schedule. The 3-6 Bears lost all five non-district games but enter the playoffs as district champs for the fifth time by winning three of four in district competition. Harlan County won three of four games before falling 46-26 to Bell County on Friday. South had lost four straight before defeating Harlan 40-18 on Friday.

Senior running back Ace Allen has rushed for 1,027 yards to lead the South offense. Logan Gentry, a junior quarterback, passed for 874 yards going into the Harlan game and was second in rushing with 247 yards. Allen and Khanh Tran, both senior linebackers, lead the South defense with 104 and 92 tackles, respectively.

“We have to stop Ace Allen first of all. He has rushed for almost 1,200 yards. Their quarterback ran for almost 300 yards last week and five touchdowns, so thats a 1-2 punch,” Harlan County coach Eddie Creech said. “We have to limit turnovers and penalties on offense, and we have to finish drives with points.”

Harlan County has featured a balanced offensive attack led by running backs Ben Landis, Tyler Casolari and Patrick Bynum and running back/receiver Matt Brown.

Senior linebacker Garry Henson is leading the team in tackles for the third straight year as he approaches 100 on the season.

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As the 13th Region’s best sixth man, Shelby McDaniel played an important role on Harlan County’s regional championship last March before returning to Honolulu for her senior season. It looks as though she will be coming back to eastern Kentucky next year for college after choosing the University of the Cumberlands, where she will again team with Kaylea Gross, a former all-state center at HCHS who is in a redshirt year as she recovers from knee surgery.

McDaniel averaged 6.6 points and 2.3 rebounds per game last season for the 28-3 Lady Bears, but she was at her best on the defensive end where she teamed with all-stater Blair Green, now at the University of Kentucky, to terrorize opponents out of the HCHS press. The Harlan County defense was especially effective in last year’s regional finals as Green, McDaniel and senior center Lainey Cox blocked numerous shots in a 78-51 rout of North Laurel.

Harlan County also finished 28-3 in 2017, losing to Harlan in the regional finals. McDaniel averaged 2.8 points and 1.8 rebounds per game in her first season.

McDaniel had considered several other colleges, including Lindsey Wilson, where her mom, Kelly Trosper McDaniel, played in the 1980s after graduating from Harlan High School.

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Another high school senior with Harlan County connections also recently announced her college decision as Scott County guard Maaliya Owens chose Tennessee Tech, where she will join former Harlan all-state guard Jordan Brock.

Owens, a 5-9 guard, is the daughter of former Cumberland star Monica Owens, who played on Cumberland’s regional championship teams in 1984 and 1986. Owens went on to play at Lincoln Memorial University, where she was a teammate of Harlan County coach Debbie Green Hoskins.

Owens, the top rated player in the always tough 11th Region, averaged 15.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last season for the Lady Cardinals, who played in last year’s state tournament and finished with a 31-3 record.

Several other Division I schools had made offers, including Yale, William & Mary, Eastern, Murray, Morehead, Middle Tennessee and Florida International.

“I’m excited about her coming to Tech,” Brock said. “I feel like we have a great relationship. She’s definitely like family. I’m excited we get to become teammates now.”

Brock, who led Harlan to two state tournament appearances, had a big first season with Tennessee Tech, ranking second on the team with 11.3 points per game.

“I loved my first year at Tech. It was definitely different and a big change,” Brock said. “The team is great and we are continuing to grow closer every day. And we are excited about this second season coming up.”