In class 4A, district 7 Bell County (11-0) hosts Rockcastle County (6-5) while Middlesboro (8-3) travels to Corbin (10-1) to decide class 2A, district 8.
Meanwhile, Cumberland Gap (10-1) travels to region 1-2A foe Gatlinburg-Pittman (10-1) hoping to avenge a regular season loss.
Middlesboro at Corbin
Speaking of regular season losses, Middlesboro suffered their worst one in some time at Corbin on Oct. 5. In that game poor special teams play and a couple of blown assignments on defense turned a 20-15 game late in the third quarter into a 48-15 rout.
“We’ve got to play special teams the best we can play them and we’ve got to play defense to have a chance,” Jacket coach Kenny Roark said of the upcoming game.
Hurting the Jackets’ chances are injuries to their leaders on both sides of the ball. Junior quarterback Hunter Adams continues to deal with a sprained ankle and is doubtful for the Corbin game. His backup, junior Eddie Gilbert, is also nursing an ankle injury. He’s day-to-day along with senior linebacker/tight end Daniel Crawford with an ankle and senior lineman A.J. Jones with back issues.
“Hunter is very doubtful and the others are taking it day-by-day and the days are running short,” Roark said. “We’re banged up. We’re going to play the number two team in the state right now and we don’t really know who’s going to be where yet.”
If Adams and Gilbert are out, freshman Sean Frost will get the start at quarterback.
“He’s a very good athlete and he’s going to be a good football player, but he’s a freshman,” Roark said. “If those guys can’t play, then everybody else will have to help take up the slack. You work with what you’ve got and do the best that you can.”
On defense, Crawford and Jones lead a Middlesboro unit that has allowed just 98 rushing yards per game. Roark said Adams and Gilbert will be missed on that side of the ball as well as the Jackets try to contain Clint Cashen and the Redhounds’ passing game.
Cashen has thrown for 2,010 yards on the season with 26 touchdowns and just three interceptions. The Jackets held him to just seven completions for 156 yards in the earlier meeting but Caleb Watkins came out of the backfield to catch three long passes, including two for touchdowns.
“(Adams and Gilbert) are probably our two best cover guys and they may not play,” Roark said. “That’s what we ran into against South Laurel. We’ve got to look for a bunch of young guys to step up.”
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Corbin.
Rockcastle Co. at Bell County
The Bobcats are on a roll and they have been all season. Bell improved to 11-0 with a 72-0 rout of McCreary Central last week in the first round of the playoffs.
The Rockets (6-5) have struggled this season based on the lofty standards of recent years. But Rockcastle went on the road to beat Knox Central 14-0 last week and have never lost twice to Bell in the same season.
Bobcat coach Dudley Hilton said there’s no danger in his team looking past the Rockets after beating them in a 24-0 win in September.
“We’ve had a couple of opportunities to beat Rockcastle twice in a season and have never done it — they’ve done it to us, but we haven’t done it to them,” he said. “None of our players, coaches, students or fans are looking at anything past this game. If they are, it wouldn’t be very smart.
“Rockcastle is Rockcastle, they’ve been one of the best programs in the state over the last several years and there’s no exception this year. They’ve got a good, experienced quarterback a lot of other experienced players and they’ve played good competition.”
The game figures to be a defensive slugfest as both team hold the opposition to under 100 yards rushing per game. Bell only gives up 166 total yards per game and held Rock to 168 in the regular season shutout.
The Rockets held Bell to their lowest yardage total (213) and point total (24) of the season.
Hilton said a strong defensive effort was a key for the Bobcats.
“You look at some of these playoff scores and wonder if anyone cares about defense anymore,” he said. “Defense is a very important part of the playoffs and I hope this one’s no exception. If it’s a high-scoring game we might be hurting.”
Senior quarterback Kyle Nelson will be back starting for Bell after setting out last week because of a concussion and Hilton said the team has had a very good week of practice.
Nelson has completed 60-of-89 passes on the season for 830 yards and eleven touchdowns without throwing an interception. Junior Spencer Greer leads a deep stable of running backs as he has ran for 1,365 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Rockcastle’s offense is led by quarterback Dustin Bishop, who has thrown for 915 yards and seven touchdowns and running back Casey Hayes, who has ran for 1,171 yards and 18 touchdowns.
In the regular season meeting Bell held Bishop to just 53 passing yards and picked him off three times. They also held Hayes to 45 rushing yards.
Greer ran for 107 yards, including a 55-yard TD against Rockcastle, while Nelson completed 7-of-11 passes for 77 yards and a touchdown to Chase Ely.
“We’re upbeat. It’s playoff time,” Hilton said. “I feel like it’s Bell County’s time of year.”
Cumberland Gap at Gatlinburg-Pittman
These are heady time for the Panther football team. They improved to 10-1 with a 38-14 win over Happy Valley last week and now look to avenge their only loss and extend their school record for win in a season against the Highlanders.
“We’re very excited to be one of only 16 teams left playing in 2-A,” said coach Neal Pucciarelli. “We appreciate that we have the opportunity to play Gatlinburg again and we’re excited about what’s in store for us if we win.”
A heavy pass rush was the key in Gatlinburg’s 32-21 win on the last Friday in October. Several sacks led to the Panthers netting minus 83 yards on the ground, quarterback Adam Nelson was knocked out of the game for several series with a slight concussion and the Highlanders scored the final 12 points to pull out the win.
“We have to be able to run the ball some and we have to be patient in our approach to the game plan — a controlled passing game instead of looking for the big play,” Pucciarelli said. “The line needs to play better, but the kicking game and special teams are where it kind of got away from us. Special teams are going to be big and we’ve got to eliminate turnovers.”
Cumberland Gap was able to make some big plays in their passing game against the Highlanders. Nelson threw for 237 yards including touchdowns of 41-yards to Whitt Willis and 54-yards to Josh Barnett.
Another key will be stopping the Gatlinburg rushing attack. Cumberland Gap surrendered 333 rushing yards, including 222 to tailback Bo Dyer in the earlier meeting.
“For the most part our defense played a good game,” said Pucciarelli. “They’re offense played better than our offense. We just have to get to the football, make tackles and not give up the big plays.”
He said the Panthers have had a good week of practice in spite of some rain, and have been able to get everything in that they needed to.
“I think there’s quite a bit of excitement among the students and fans,” said Pucciarelli. “We brought a nice crowd there with us the first time and that was a great ball game. Hopefully we’ll have a good crowd with us again this time.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and admission is $7.
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