On a night when.a third-string quarterback from Whitley County and a fourth-string quarterback from Harlan County were on the field for the second half of a district clash at Coal Miners Memorial Stadium on the HCHS campus, it probably isn’t a surprise that defenses dominated.

Cole Brown, who took over at quarterback in the second half, completed three of six passes in what turned out to be the game-winning drive in the third quarter as Whitley rallied for a 7-6 victory. Brown teamed with Hunter Hollingsworth for 17 yards, then found Trae Potter for 24 yards on a fourth-and-10 play, then went back to Hollingsworth for a 20-yard scoring play on a third-and-16 play with 4:22 left in the third period to complete a 12-play, 69-yard scoring drive. Noah Langford’s extra point gave Whitley the lead, and eventually, the win.

“We just needed a spark and Cole gave us that,” Whitley County coach Jason Chappell said. “We had planned on playing all three guys tonight no matter what happened. I’m proud of how this team has handled adversity all year long. I’ve never stopped believing in this team.“

Whitley’s win over HCHS (2-5) and Perry Central’s win at North Laurel left the District 8 race in a four-way tie with Whitley, Harlan County, Perry Central and Letcher Central all at 2-1. Whitley County plays host to Letcher Central and Harlan County travels to Perry Central on Friday. The two winners will tie for first and the district winner will be determined by the head-to-head winner in the game involving those two teams earlier in the year. Harlan County needs a win and a Letcher win to capture the district. Whitley needs a win and a Harlan County win. Perry Central needs a win and a Whitley County win to win the district. Letcher Central needs a win and a Perry Central win to win the district.

Harlan County capitalized on a fumble early in the third quarter on the Whitley 25 for its only scoring drive. Garry Henson, Ben Landis and Tyler Casolari each picked up yardage before Casolari went in from the 2 with 8:37 left in the period. Patrick Bynum’s extra point attempt was blocked.

Harlan County had three chances after Whitley took the lead. The Bears were stopped once on downs, once on a fumble and then finally on an interception by Jonathon Watson with 1:07 left in the game.

J Harris, the starting quarterback for the Bears after earlier injuries to Colby Cochran and Jacob Wilson, had a 32-yard run on the Bears’ opening drive, which soon stalled.

Whitley (3-5) responded with a 15-play, 56-yard drive that featured four first downs. Gavin Ewald and Elisha Smallwood teamed to stop Watson, who was playing quarterback, for a loss on second down at the HCHS 7. Smallwood and Henson teamed up to stop Kyle Graham, the Whitley starter at quarterback for most of the season, on fourth down.

The Bears followed with an 11-play drive that featured a 12-yard pass from Cody Clayborn to Matt Brown, plus runs by Landis and Casolari. A 28-yard touchdown run by Casolari was called back on a holding penalty, then Harris was injured by a hit on a 12-yard run. The drive stalled on the Whitley 25.

Another HCHS penalty, a roughing the passer call when Graham was throwing the ball away, kept a Whitley drive alive that eventually ended when Ewald recovered a fumble on fourth down with 44.8 seconds left in the half.

^^^

Whitley County 7, Harlan County 6

Whitley County 0 0 7 0 0 — 7

Harlan County 0 0 6 0 0 — 6

HC — Casolari 2 run (kick blocked)

WC — Hollingsworth 20 pass from Brown (Langford kick)

WCHS HCHS

First downs 13 9

Rushes-yards 44-77 35-134

Passing 79 23

Comp-Att-Int 6-14-0 4-7-1

Punts-Avg 1-43 1-31

Fumbles-Lost 3-2 8-2

Penalties-Yards 9-95 7-72

^^^

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Whitley County, Saylor 19-60, Gibbs 6-18, Gilbert 2-7, Watson 8-3, Graham 1-(-4), Brown 8-(-7). Harlan County, Harris 4-44, Casolari 12-36, Brown 4-28, Landis 5-20, Henson 2-6, Bynum 3-3, Clayborn 4-(-2), Fields 1-(-1).

PASSING—Whitley County, Brown 4-9-0-76, Graham 2-4-0-13, Watson 0-1-0-0. Harlan County, Clayborn 3-5-1-11, Harris 1-2-0-12.

RECEIVING—Whitley County, Potter 3-45, Hollingsworth 3-34. Harlan County, Brown 2-12, Lewis 1-10, Bynum 1-1.