LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — CORBIN—It wasn’t the start South Laurel was hoping for.

The Cardinals turned the ball over five of their first six possessions Friday night against Knox Central. The Panthers turned those turnovers into 21 points en route to a 40-21 win in the Forcht Bank Pioneer Bowl at Lynn Camp.

“You can’t make mistakes like that versus a good team,” coach Larry Welch said. “You end up in a hole.”

That “hole” was a 27-0 deficit at the half. And even though South Laurel outscored Knox Central in the second half, 21-13, those 27 points proved to be too much to overcome.

All five of the turnovers came way of interceptions, with Tyler Detherage throwing four and Jonathan Jenkins, one. Of South’s seven first half possession, there were five interceptions, a punt and a drive that ended at the half.

Matthew Barger had three of those interceptions, while Devon Evans and Jeffrey Canady had the other two, with Canady taking his pick 46 yards to pay dirt. Barger also caught a 73-yard touchdown pass from Evans and was named the Knox Central MVP. David Byrd received the South Laurel honor.

“They had a lot of speed in the secondary,” Welch said. “They were quick. They picked off five passes against Williamsburg last week.”

The Panthers took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards in 12 plays, capped off by a 3-yard TD run by Canady and a 7-0 lead with 6:03 left.

South’s first possession started on the 41, but on the first play from scrimmage, Detherage was picked off by Evans, giving Knox Central the ball at the South Laurel 47.

A holding penalty moved the ball back to the 39. Evans then dropped back to pass but the ball was tipped and Byrd made a diving interception and the Cardinals had the  ball on the Panther 45.

But it was a four-and-out for the Cardinal offense and Matthew Slavey came into punt. Then the Cards caught a break when the ball was touched by Alec Merida and recovered by Austin Rader on the 8-yard line.

South turned the ball right back over to the Panthers when Barger picked Detherage off in the end zone and returned it to the 13 with 3:41 left in the first quarter.

It took Knox Central just five plays to score when Evans hooked up with a wide open Barger over the middle and he raced 73 yards for the score and a 14-0 lead.

South’s next possession started on the 45. Devin Pennington carried the ball to the 49. On second-and-six, Detherage threw over the middle, but Barger was there for another interception. This turnover would lead to another seven points when Canady carried it over from 11 yards out with 7:30 left in the half. The lead was now 21-0.

Detherage was picked off for a fourth time on the next South Laurel possession, this time by Canady, who returned it 46-yards for the score. The point after failed, and with 6:42 left, the Panthers lead grew to 27-0.

Jenkins took over at quarterback for Detherage on South’s next possession. He was sacked on first down, completed a pass to Landon Bray on second down, then was picked off by Barger on third down at the South 48. Barger returned it to the 25.

The Panthers drove the ball down to the 16, and with fourth-and-12, Evans was sacked by Cameron Shepherd and Josh Phelps, and South took over with 57.6 seconds remaining. The Cards moved the ball to the Knox Central 45 before time ran out in the half.

Detherage was 0-for-5 in the first half for 0 yards and four interceptions.

A different looking South Laurel team took to the field for the second half. Starting at the 38, Detherage drove his team to the 50 before being taken out for three plays. During his absence, Jenkins was 2-for-2 for 18 yards, including a completion to Rader that moved the ball to the 30.

Detherage came back in and found Rader, and the Cards had the ball on the 11. Three plays later, Pennington capped of a 62-yard drive when he took a pitch from Detherage and carried it in from 1 1/2 yards out, and with 6:28 left in the third, the score was 27-7.

Canady was shaken up early in the quarter and didn’t return to the game. But the Panthers barely missed a beat with Jonathan Gist getting the majority of the carries in the second half.

Now it was the Panthers turn to cough up the ball when they fumbled in South territory and Phelps recovered on the 50 yard line. But South failed to move the ball, and the Panthers took over on downs at the 45 with 2:59 left.

Knox marched the ball down the field and scored when Evans hit Trent Tuttle for a 9-yard score and a 33-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.

On South’s next possession, Detherage was picked off by Barger on the Panther 19. But the Cards caught a break when Knox Central was flagged for roughing the passer, giving South a new life on the 17 yard line. After a completion, Detherage found Jeremy Prichard for an 8-yard score with 8:17 left, cutting the lead to 33-13.

Both teams would score once more before the game ended. Gist scored from 10 yards out to make it 40-13, but the Cards answered with Detherage hitting Jacob Hale for a 6-yard score with 33.3 seconds left. South made the two-point conversion when Detherage hooked up with Rader to make the final 40-21.

“We are young up front on both sides of the ball,” Welch said. “We have a lot of youth on this team, some of them playing varsity for the first time. After we got settled down in the second half we did a lot better.”

The Cardinals will now face Williamsburg Saturday in the Cumberland Valley Bowl at 5:30 p.m. at North Laurel. That game will be followed by North Laurel taking on Campbellsville.



Knox Central 40, South Laurel 21

South Laurel     0  0    7  14—21

Knox Central   14  13   0  13—40

KC—Jeffrey Canady 3 run (Brent Hensley kick); KC—Matthew Barger, 73 pass from Devon Evans (Hensley kick); KC—Canady, 11 run (Hensley kick); KC—Canady, 46 interception return (Hensley kick); SL—Devin Pennington, 1 1/2 run (Matthew Slavey kick); KC—Trent Tuttle, 9 pass from Evans (kick failed); SL—Jeremy Prichard, 8 pass from Tyler Detherage (kick failed); KC—Jonathan Gist, 10 run (Hensley kick); Jacob Hale, 6 pass from Detherage (Detherage to Austin Rader).

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