HAZARD — The Harlan County Black Bears could have finished anywhere from first to fourth in District 8 of 5A, depending on what happened in two games Friday.

Harlan County took care of business against Perry Central with a 40-14 win on Friday and Letcher Central rallied from a 20-point deficit to edge Whitley County 21-20. HCHS won the tie-breaker for the district title due to a win over Letcher during the regular season.

The Black Bears had to overcome 132 yards on 13 penalties while giving up 178 yards to Perry Central senior running back Jayden Neace.

Harlan County opened the scoring at the 8:02 mark of the first quarter as sophomore quarterback Cody Clayborn went in the from the 1.

With two minutes left in the opening quarter, Patrick Bynum raced 67 yards for a touchdown as the quarterback in the Wildcat offense as Harlan County led 12-0.

Perry Central got on the scoreboard with 8:26 remaining in the second quarterback Chanse McKenzie capped a 10-play, 73-yard drive with a 1-yard TD run. Slone added the extra point as the Commodores trailed 12-7.

The Black Bears pushed the lead to 20-7 at halftime following 37-yard touchdown pass from Clayborn to Matthew Brown. Bynum added the two-point conversion.

Harlan County opened the second half as Brown raced 82 yards with a kickoff return.

Bynum intercepted a pass and raced 35 yards for a touchdown. Brown’s two-point conversion made it 34-7.

Harlan County’s final touchdown came when Ben Landis scored from the 4-yard line with 7:28 to play.

Perry Central second and final score came when Neace added a 1-yard run. Sloan’s kick closed the scoring.

Harlan County (3-1 district, 3-5 overall) closes the regular season Friday at home against Bell County and will play host to South Laurel in the first round of the 5A playoffs. Perry Central (2-2 district, 7-2) travels to Prestonsburg next week.

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Harlan County 40

Perry Central 14

Harlan County 12 8 6 14 — 40

Perry Central 0 7 0 7 — 14

HC — Clayborn 1 run (run failed)

HC — Bynum 67 run (pass failed)

PC — McKenzie 1 run (Sloan kick)

HC — Brown 37 pass from Clayborn (Bynum run)

HC — Brown 82 kickoff return (run failed)

HC — Bynum 35 interception return (Brown run)

HC — Landis 4 run (kick failed)

PC — Neace 1 run (Sloan kick)

HC PC

First downs 12 16

Rushing-Yds 33-222 40-125

Passing 122 0

Comp-Att-Int 2-7-0 0-10-1

Penalties 13-132 7-46

RUSHING—Harlan County, Bynum 6-93, Landis 5-40, Casolari 8-37, Brown 6-36, Henson 4-22, Hopkins 1-(-2), Clayborn 3-(-4). Perry Central, Neace 26-178, Sebastian 1-33, McKenzie 6-11, Mullins 1-3, Rice 6-0.

PASSING—Harlan County, Clayborn 2-7-1-122. Perry Central, McKenzie 0-8-0-0, Sebastian 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING—Harlan County, Brown 2-122.