By JAMES BROWN
GLASGOW — Barren County had all the breaks go its way Saturday. The result was a 35-0 win over Metcalfe County in the first game of the seventh annual T.J. Samson Community Hospital Health Care Careers Bowl at Glasgow High School’s Hank Royse Stadium.
But according to Metcalfe coach Larry Harbison, a good team makes its own breaks.
“Barren’s got a good team. They brought it,” he said. “They were the aggressors and our guys sometimes looked like they had the lights in their eyes and they didn’t respond when they should’ve.”
This was the third consecutive year the Hornets and the Trojans have met in the bowl game and the first time the Trojans have come out on top in those meetings. Barren beat Metcalfe in the 2005 T.J. Bowl, 26-19.
“It’s a lot better winning the first game than it was losing the first game. Hats off to all of our assistant coaches. Hats off to coach (Tommy) Muse and his defense for pitching a shut out,” third-year Barren County head coach Jeff Richey said after the game. “Our depth I think was the difference. We had more fresh bodies and that was the key.”
The Trojans turned those extra bodies into control of the game. They unofficially ran 17 more plays and gained 174 more yards of offense than the Hornets.
Barren took the lead for good on the opening kickoff of the game when Tyler Thurman returned the ball more than 70 yards for a touchdown. Taylor Austin, who was a perfect 5 for 5 on PATs on the night, punched the ball through uprights 14 seconds into the game and the Trojans led 7-0.
Barren put together a five-minute scoring drive the next time it had the ball, which was capped by a one-yard touchdown run by quarterback Colton Phelps. The Trojans ran 12 plays on the drive and Phelps carried the ball six times for 34 yards. The remainder of the game essentially belonged to Phelps and the Trojans’ defense.
“I told Colton (Phelps) he’s going to have a big year and tonight he showed he’s got some skills. He can run and he can throw,” Richey said.
He completed 5 of 9 passes for 74 yards and ran the ball 15 times for 96 yards and two touchdowns.
Also for Barren, Kris Aquino and Tyler Furlong each rushed for 39 yards. Gill Thomas rushed for a touchdown, while the Trojans’ other touchdown came in an unusual way.
Up 14-0 in the second period, Phelps connected with Bart Houchens on a pass to Metcalfe County’s 12-yard line. Houchens lost the ball when he was tackled and Colby Long alertly scooped it up for Barren and carried the ball to the end zone for a touchdown. Austin’s PAT with 6:17 to play in the half gave Barren a 21-0 lead.
It was one of those breaks that didn’t go Metcalfe’s way.
“We have guys who for some reason lack focus when it comes to making plays,” Harbison said. “We can say we’re young, but we’re not. We have nine seniors out there who should be playing (better) and they are the ones not making some good decisions and good judgments.”
Richey said the key to his team’s success — and the difference in starting 1-0 for the first time since 2005 — is his player’s experience, team depth and being injury free.
“We don’t have any injuries this year. We have a lot more seniors in numbers where we can platoon a lot and that helps us out versus being behind the 8 ball off the bat when you are trying to play with small numbers, can’t platoon and you already have injuries.”
The Trojans pushed their lead to 28-0 with 5:28 to play in the third quarter on a nine-yard touchdown run by Thomas.
Their final score came with 52 seconds left in the period on Phelps’ second one-yard scoring run.
Harbison was displeased with the effort of his older players Saturday night and after the game said, “I told them that there are some younger boys who might want to play.”
Both teams are slated to return to action next week.
Barren County will travel to Bullitt Central on Friday for a 7 p.m. game.
Metcalfe County is scheduled to play at Franklin-Simpson at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
