Johnson Central clinched the District 8 championship of 4A with a 56-6 win Friday over visiting Harlan County.

Golden Eagles’ quarterback Riley Preece scored on touchdowns runs of 64 and 58 yards in the opening quarter. Jake Headly added an extra point and Devin Johnson had a two-point conversion.

Harlan County’s only TD of the game came with 1:15 left in the first quarter as Jacob Wilson connected with Jacob Bailey.

Johnson Central quickly added three scores in the second quarter to put the game away early.

The Eagles scored on a 43-yard touchdown run while Cody Rice added two TDs with runs of 3 and 21 yards. Headly kicked three extra points as the Golden Eagles led 36-6 at haltime.

Johnson opened the second half with a 62-yard touchdown run at the 11:34 mark to allow a running clock the rest of the game.

Rice scored his third TD of the night early in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard run. Headly’s kick was good.

Johnson Central closed the scoring midway through the quarter as Dillon Preston added a 17-yarder and Headly hit the extra point.

The Golden Eagles gained 329 yards on the ground. Johnson led the team with 146 yards on six carries. Preece followed with 120 yards on three rushes.

The Bears were held to 69 rushing yards and 29 passing. Ben Landis gained 54 yards on 15 carries.

Harlan County (6-2, 2-1) will return to action Friday at home against Perry Central(1-7). Johnson Central (8-0, 3-0) travels to Letcher Central (3-5) on Friday.

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HCHS JCHS

First downs 6 15

Rushing-Yds. 32-69 17-329

Passing 29 59

Comp-Att-Int 2-6-0 4-6-0

Penalties 3-30 4-27

RUSHING—Harlan County, Landis 15-54, Turner 5-22, M. Brown 2-8, Casolari 7-6, Wilson 3-(-21); Johnson Central, Johnson 6-146, Preece 3-120, Tackett 6-36, Preston 1-17, Rice 1-10.

PASSING—Harlan County, Wilson 2-6-1-29; Johnson Central, Preece 3-5-0-36, G. Rice 1-1-0-23.

RECEIVING—Harlan County, M. Brown 1-27, J. Bailey 1-2; Johnson Central, Dalton 2-28, Goss 1-23, C. Rice 1-8.