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By Paul Lunsford

Letcher Central scored 45 unanswered points and gained 464 total yards as the Cougars rolled to a 51-14 district victory over Harlan County on Friday.

The Cougars improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in 4A District 8 action. HC dropped to 2-5 overall and 0-2 in district play.

Junior quarterback Carson Adams led the Cougars with 126 yards on eight carries. Isaac Matthews, a sophomore running back, added 31 yards. Lecher Central gained 204 yards on the ground to claim the Coal Bowl trophy.

Adams completed nine of 13 passes for 260 yards. Jonah Little, a junior, had four receptions for 91 yards while senior Nicholas Haning caught three passes for 112 yards.

Adams connected with Little for a 40-yard touchdown pass at the 7:36 mark of the opening quarter.

Harlan County coach Amos McCreary said his team played a good first quarter.

“I told the kids that was the best quarter we’ve played all year,” he said.

The Bears responded with a 10-play, 70-yard drive as Marco Hopkins went in from the 3 with 10:11 left in the first half. Hopkins added the two-point conversion to lead 8-6.

Adams scored two touchdowns on runs of 7 and 54 yards. He also added the conversion runs to make it 22-8.

Haning had two TD receptions from Adams for 62 and 46 yards. Adams and Blair each had two-point conversions as the lead swelled to 38-8 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Adams raced 26 yards for a touchdown and found Hayden Breashear for a 49-yard touchdown pass. Little added the extra point to make it 51-8.

Harlan County would score late in the fourth quarter on a Hopkins 5-yard run.

Hopkins led the Black Bears with 102 yards on 28 carries. Adam Carr followed with 61 yards on 15 rushes. Jonah Swanner added 42 yards.

The Cougars had 13 first downs while HC collected 10.

Letcher Central will travel to Manchester to take on the 4-2 Clay County Tigers on Friday.

The Black Bears will be open this week before visiting Johnson Central on Oct. 15. The Golden Eagles defeated Clay County 42-6 last week.

HC returns home Oct. 22 against Perry Central in a key district showdown. It will also be Senior Night.