By Jonathan L. Smith
(Photo courtesy of SERG Photography shows Brennin Hazlett running after a catch)
After the week off for Fall Break, we are back to football. Two weeks ago, Lincoln County defeated Wayne County for its sixth win of the season. Including tonight’s game, there are only three regular season games remaining, but the district win last week helped Lincoln’s chances of a home playoff. After the Boyle County game tonight, there is a road game at Russell County and then a home game with Garrard County.
The Patriots have a big challenge ahead of them tonight against the Rebels.
Series Record
This will be the 30th game in the series that started in 1974 and continued for 19 seasons through 1992. At that point, Lincoln County led the series with 10 wins to 9. Since then, the series has been off-and-on with Boyle County winning 10 straight since the resumption twenty-four years ago in 2001.
Boyle County 19 wins
Lincoln County 10 wins
First Game: 1974 (Lincoln won 18-10)
Last Game: 2024 (Boyle won 41-0)
Lincoln’s Largest Margin of Victory: 47 points (1991, 53-6)
Boyle’s Largest Margin of Victory: 69 points (2001, 69-0)
Matchup
Boyle County is coached by Justin Haddix, who is in his fifth season as their head coach. Last season, they finished 12-1, losing a 31-28 third round playoff game to Covington Catholic. Last year at Death Valley, Boyle County won 41-0, in a game that was better than the score indicates.
Right now, the Rebels are 6-1 with wins over Bullitt East, Lexington Christian, Highlands, Ballard, St. Xavier, and Russell County. Their lone loss, with some starters out with injuries, was to Lexington Catholic 17-7.
Lincoln County is also 6-1, with wins over Madison Southern, Estill County, West Jessamine, Danville, East Jessamine, and Wayne County. Lincoln’s loss was a 35-13 decision to Franklin County.
Boyle is a run-first offense, but they are very effective at passing. The play-calling balance favors the rushing attack (62% run plays), but the yards gained is closer with 52% of the cumulative yards coming on the ground. On the season, the Rebels have rushed 236 times for 1,491 yards while passing 141 times for 1,361 yards.
Their sophomore quarterback, Jhet Raleigh, took over several weeks ago when senior Baylor Murphy was injured. Raleigh has completed 59 of 87 passes for 789 yards, 7 touchdowns and 1 interception.
Boyle’s top receiver has been junior Senaca Driver, a major Division 1 college prospect, who has 26 catches for 417 yards and four touchdowns.
In their rushing attack, senior JiDyn Smith-Hisel leads the way with 89 carries for 684 yards and five TDs.
The Rebe defense has 12 takeaways during the season, seven fumble recoveries and five interceptions. Seneca Driver is their ballhawk with three interceptions.
In the match-up, the two teams are similar defensively. Both have been very good against the run: Boyle County giving up only 63 yards per game, Lincoln County holding opponents to 84 yards per game.
Offensively, both have more rushing attempts and yards per game than passing, but both have shown the ability to pass effectively. Lincoln County rushes for 219 yards per game, while passing, on average, for another 137 yards.
Johnny Adkins and Clay Pendygraft are expected return from injury to their offensive and defensive positions for Lincoln County. Both were out two weeks ago against Wayne County.
Lincoln County’s leading rusher is Reed Curlis with 638 yards on 120 carries. He was used less often two weeks after the return of Damon Spigle to the lineup. Spigle led the team with 82 yards rushing in his return.
Quarterback Tucker Foster is 78/137 passing for 962 yards and 9 touchdowns. He is the team’s second leading rusher, averaging almost 50 yards a game. When he throws the ball, his favorite receiver is Bob Floyd who has 35 catches for 491 yards and seven touchdowns.
Up front on defense, Justin Mounce, Sean Brown, and Grady Foster continue to perform. Reed Curlis is still the leading tackler on the team with 69.
The Patriot defense has 11 takeaways with 3 fumble recoveries and 8 interceptions. Bob Floyd and Tucker Foster both have two picks.
In the kicking game, Lincoln County’s Brody Baker is 27 of 29 on PAT kicks and 3 of 3 on Field Goals (30, 31, and 27 yards). For Boyle County, Grant Klosterman is 26/26 on PATs and has not attempted a field goal.
This will be a real test of the RPI rankings, which shows Boyle County in second place in Class 4A and Lincoln County in sixth place.
After seven weeks, the formula that takes into account (i) wins, (ii) opponent’s wins, and (iii) opponents’ opponents’ wins, has Boyle County as .0568 favorite in this game (0.76841 vs 0.71004). What does that translate to on the score board? We’ll find out tonight.
Kickoff is at 7:30 at Boyle County.
