Published: October 10, 2008 10:26 am      

Speed too much for South Laurel

Somerset races past Cardinals, 7-0

Somerset exploded for five second half goals, carrying them to a 7-0 win over South Laurel Tuesday.

“Their speed hurt us big time,” coach Harmon Hodge said. His Cardinals finished the regular season 8-4-4, going 2-3-2 over their final seven games. Somerset improved to 9-4-3 with the win.

“We’re pleased to come out of here with a win,” Somerset coach Brian Blankenship said. “We’ve got speed up front and in the back. We’re blessed with speed. That, and our defense, were key in tonight’s win.”

The Cards were without the services of sweeper Justin Lewis, who was having heart problems and was scheduled to see a specialist. Also, stopper Jesse Reed was sick, and was limited in his playing time. That forced Hodge to make some changes on defense.

Somerset game out strong, putting pressure on the South Laurel goal early, including two headers in the 9th minute that saw Austin Reynolds clear the first one off the line, then keeper Tyler Huff make the save on the other.

“I know it doesn’t look like it with seven goals, but Huff played a great game,” Hodge said. “He made some big saves; it could have been a lot worse.”

The Briarjumpers got on the board in the 16th minute when Ryan Fortenberry scored for a 1-0 lead. Somerset added its second goal in the 37th minute when Alex Pence raced onto a through ball and beat Huff. The half ended with South trailing 2-0.

The ‘Jumpers added five more goals in the second half to seal the 7-0 win, including a nifty back heel off a corner kick by Pence in the 47th minute. The Cards rarely threatened in the match. Derek Daniel scored in the 51st minute, Fortenberry in the 60th minute, Trevor Herd in the 64th and Corey Mounce finished things off with a goal in the 80th minute.

Pulaski Co. traveled to take on Henry Clay last night.

Hodge said his team must now prepare for Oneida Baptist on Tuesday in the district tournament at Corbin.

“We’ve got to get healthy and have everybody there,” Hodge said. “We’ve had everybody just one time since the first game of the pre-season. We’ve had to put some players in unusual positions to get through.”

Denis House can be reached at sports@sentinel-echo.com.