Bardstown Football

CLASS 2A PLAYOFFS: Tiger defense stands tall in shutout

November 12th, 2009 Posted in Team Information

Force 5 Metcalfe turnovers

Photo by Peter W. Zubaty

Bardstown’s Ricky Harper (6) shakes off Metcalfe County defenders for a gain Friday. Harper scored all three Tiger touchdowns during a 138-yard rushing night.

By Peter W. Zubaty

Bardstown’s defense has been suspect during the regular season, allowing 30 points a game.

But the Tigers clamped down at just the right time Friday — the first round of the Class 2A Region 4 playoffs — in dealing visiting Metcalfe County a 19-0 defeat, the second straight season the Tigers have shut out the Hornets in a first-round game.

“It’s kind of a joke, but maybe we shouldn’t practice defense very much during the week, because we were limited (with) six starters out,” Tiger coach David Clark said. “One day, we didn’t even get to play defense.”

The Tigers (5-6) have been battered by injuries all season long. Compounding matters, the team has been hit hard by the flu bug in recent weeks, making depth an issue.

Despite that, the Tigers forced five Metcalfe turnovers and limited the Hornets to 145 total yards.

“They were just really focused on what they did (on defense),” Clark said, “and we were able to stop their strengths. We played really aggressive tonight, so I was really pleased with that.”

Bardstown didn’t manage much on offense either, mind you. But the Tigers played mistake-free football with zero turnovers and only 10 penalty yards against them.

The Tigers found themselves locked in a defensive struggle in the first half, with the lone score being an 81-yard scamper by Ricky Harper for a 7-0 halftime lead.

After the break, the injury bug hit again. Sophomore quarterback Bobby Butler — who has been filling in during the absence of senior Keaton Hall, who’s been limited to punting duties because of a shoulder injury — came up with an ankle sprain while playing special teams on the opening kickoff of the second half. He’s expected to be out a few weeks.

“We’ll have to see what we’re going to do at the quarterback position,” Clark said. If Hall or Butler can’t go, Clark said the Tigers will opt for freshman Marcus Cosby, who has been coming into his own in recent weeks as a wide receiver.

Friday, however, Clark improvised, putting Harper in the shotgun and running the Wildcat formation the entire second half. Bardstown didn’t attempt a pass in the second half, and only six all game while rolling up 180 yards on the ground.

The Wildcat formation, featuring Harper, has snuck into the Tiger game plan a few times in recent weeks, but they’ve never used it this extensively.

“We’ve been practicing it for six or seven weeks, but it was a necessity tonight,” Clark said. “The longer we did it, the more comfortable he got with it. He did a great job.”

The strategy seemed to catch the Hornets (4-7) off-guard, as Clark said the Tigers only ran three different plays the entire second half.

Harper ended up leading the way with 138 rushing yards on just 11 carries. He scored on a 15-yard run late in the third quarter set up by a Terrence Hickman interception, and Harper added a 12-yard score midway through the fourth quarter following a Ben Lyvers pick.

Bardstown hosts Monroe County (8-3) — 42-7 winners over Washington County in the first round — in the second round Friday. The Falcons knocked the Tigers out of the playoffs last season with a 45-14 win at Tompkinsville.