By ASHLEY SCOBY
For the Daily Times
GLASGOW —
Tavion Parrish had his most successful game of the season Friday night, rushing for 176 yards and five touchdowns, as his Glasgow Scotties triumphed over cross-town rival Barren County. “Tavion was just Tavion,” as Coach Rick Wood said afterward, and the Scotties were able to pull out a 41-25 win against the resilient Trojans.
Both teams started off with a bang, as each scored a touchdown within the first ten minutes of the game. Glasgow had possession first, and on the initial play from scrimmage quarterback Parker Cash grinded out a 24-yard run. After a run for a loss and an incomplete pass, Glasgow was able to compensate with a Cash-to-LaJuan-Smith pass for 10 yards, which set Parrish up for a 49-yard touchdown run in a fourth and inches situation.
Barren County did some of the same, as the Trojans marched 57 yards for their own shot at the scoreboard. Running back Tyler Hughes did most of the damage, carrying four times on the drive, including a one-yard touchdown run with just more than 6:30 on the clock. After failing the extra point, the Trojans found themselves down 7-6, and the Scotties knew they were in for a battle.
Wood talked about the Trojans’ resiliency.
“You’ve really just got to take your hats off to Barren County,” he said. “They came right back after we went up 7-0. Later on, (the Trojans) would come back again and again and I thought our guys did a really good job of fighting back against that.”
For the rest of the quarter, the teams would be virtual mirror images of each other. After taking possession again, Glasgow went four-and-out and was forced to punt the ball into Barren territory. The Trojans themselves went four-and-out on their next series after a third-and-seven Gill Thomas pass fell incomplete.
The Scotties managed a first down on their next series but fell victim to a Cash fumble on a quarterback keeper. Barren’s Luke Matthews was quick to jump on the loose ball, but Barren coughed it up a few plays later. A botched handoff led to Hunter Bowles recovering for Glasgow at the 50-yard line. A 20-yard run from Cash, combined with four more carries from Parrish set up a third-and-goal at the Barren two-yard line. Parrish was sent up the middle for another Scottie score. Even with Cash and Parrish breaking off big plays from the line of scrimmage, Barren County Head Coach Jason Esters thought his defense contained the Scottie offense.
“A few plays that they broke off, they kind of bounced off our own blocks,” he said. “For the most part, we stuffed them. We’re going to win games on our line.”
Turnovers, however, will not win games, and that’s what kept happening to the Trojans. Thomas’ pass was picked off by Glasgow’s Jalen Sublett and returned to the Barren 22-yard line. Three plays later, a holding penalty on the Scotties backed them up to a first-and-goal at the 19. A Cash pass to Bowles looked to be overthrown but a one-handed grab by Bowles was transformed into another touchdown for Glasgow. After the extra point, Glasgow was up 20-6 with 5:24 to play in the first half. Wood was incredibly impressed with Bowles’ play against Barren.
“Hunter Bowles was sensational tonight, offensively and defensively,” he said. “With that one-handed catch he had for the touchdown … that’s just something you can’t teach. His concentration is great and he played absolutely outstanding.”
Yet another Trojans turnover sat Glasgow up for its fourth touchdown of the half. Thomas had a pass intercepted by Casey Evans at the Barren 49-yard line. Five plays later, Parrish carried up the middle with 2:50 on the clock for his third score of the night.
The Trojans showcased their two-minute offense, as they had to score in a hurry to close the gap before halftime. A 22-yard gain by Hughes put Barren at the 50-yard line, and Thomas’ 33-yard pass to Tyler Thurman did the job. The Trojans went into the locker room trailing 27-13.
An 80-yard drive to start the third quarter seemed the appropriate thing to do, as Thomas, Hughes and Tyler Furlong marched the Trojans down to the end zone. Hughes’ 10-yard carry sealed the deal, and Barren found itself down 27-19, rather than the three-touchdown deficit it faced earlier.
Just two minutes later, however, Parrish found the end zone yet again – this time with a 40-yard run to set the score at 34-19 to begin the fourth quarter.
The Trojans weren’t done scoring yet. Matthews completed a pass on a fake punt that dug Barren out of a fourth and long. The play set up a 21-yard pass from Thomas to Hughes that went for another touchdown and lit up the scoreboard at 34-25. While he described Bowles as “sensational,” Wood found another superlative for Hughes.
“Tyler Hughes was outstanding for them tonight,” Wood said. “He caught the ball, ran the ball … he made tackles and he returned kicks. I told him after the game, ‘you just got my All-State vote tonight.’”
But Hughes’ success wouldn’t be enough in the end, as Parrish went for his fifth touchdown of the night with 5:40 remaining in the game, giving the Scotties a 41-25 lead. After the Trojans went four-and-out on their next two possessions, Cash began taking knees for Glasgow, running out the clock on a 41-25 rivalry win. Not everyone was convinced of who the winner should have been, however.
“People might get a little mad at me for saying this,” Esters said after the game, “but I don’t think the better team won tonight. A couple of broken defensive plays were the big difference. I thought our guys played hard tonight, and I told them that eventually, those plays will start going our way and we’ll start winning some of these games.”
Barren’s next chance at their second win of the season (1-2) comes at home against Monroe County on Friday. Meanwhile, Glasgow moves to 2-0 on the season and will travel to Allen County-Scottsville on Friday.
