Henderson County dashed any hopes that Christian County had of a home first-round playoff game and ruined Senior Night Friday night defeating the host Colonels 49-18 in a Class 6-A, District 1 game.
Although Christian County will be on the road in two weeks for the playoffs, their first-round opponent changed as Central Hardin upset Barren County 20-15 Friday night, meaning Christian County will travel to Elizabethtown in two weeks to take on the 2-7 Bruins.
Henderson County, who will play host to Barren County (7-2) in the first round, wasted little time with Christian County Friday night, scoring two first-quarter touchdowns. They added two more offensive scores and a pick-six in the second quarter to take a 35-6 halftime lead.
The northern Colonels were led by back-up sophomore quarterback Brody Belt, who completed his first eight passes including a 25-yard scoring pass to Colton Thompson and a 17-yard scoring toss to Christian Haygan. Belt finished the night 9-of-12 with a pair of interceptions and three touchdowns for 111 yards.
Anthony Burrus led Henderson (4-5, 2-1) on the ground with 129 yards and two scores. He also returned an interception for a 26-yard score in the second quarter.
A 37-yard touchdown run by Burrus with 11:17 to go in the third quarter started the running clock as Henderson pushed its lead to 42-6.
Wyatt Newman picked off Jaiden Williams’ pass on the Colonels’ next possession and returned the ball 66 yards for a score. The seventh of Carson Weiss’ extra-point kicks made it 49-6 with 3:34 to go in the third.
Christian County, which slipped to 1-8 overall and 1-2 in district play, had six interceptions on the night.
Tristan Dillard, who led Christian County in rushing, capped a 17-play, 75-yard drive with a 10-yard scoring run with 35 seconds left in the third quarter to draw the home Colonels to within 49-12.
Back-up quarterback Ty Grace, who engineered the Colonels’ third-quarter score, led his team on a 96-yard drive that was capped by a 23-yard scoring pass to Darius Finch with 1:57 to play.
Christian County was led in offense by Josh Bridges, who had four catches for 89 yards and a 65-yard scoring reception with 9:26 to play in the first quarter. Aiden Jesse had nine catches for 91 yards.
The Colonels will finish their regular season next Friday night at Mayfield in a game that can be heard at 6:30 p.m. on 95.3 The Farm.
Photo by Peyton Biaquis