The Adair County Indians picked up a great win to open the 2014 season Friday night as they defeated the visiting Caverna Colonels 74-28. Caverna jumped out to the lead early but couldn’t handle the Indians as they poured on the scoring in the first half.
“We played better than we did in our two scrimmages,” Coach Travis Gay said. “We did some things well but we still have some areas to improve on.”
“It’s nice to get a win at home before we go on the road for a three week stretch,” he said. “It’s hard to complain about putting up 74 points but there are some fundamentals that we need to work on and do better.”
The Indians set a school record in points scored in a game with 74.
The Colonels looked to control the game early as they took the opening kickoff back for a touchdown and a 2-point conversion put them up 8-0. Caverna also recovered an onside kick on their kickoff to try to build more momentum early in the game.
Adair County’s defense would hold the visiting team even though they started in their own territory and would capitalize on good field position.
Senior Dakota Price picked up a big gain on the ground after the Indians picked up its first penalty with a false start. Adair County continued pounding the ball on the ground as Lonnie Grant picked up 32 yards on the next play to set up 1st and goal. A toss to Jordan Lasley resulted in the home team putting up their first points of the game with a touchdown and a successful extra point by Brandon Burton to make it 8-7.
After Caverna scored another touchdown, the Indians continued their pursuit of another touchdown on the ground.
Lasley had two consecutive runs that resulted in a 1st down before Grant took a handoff for another 1st down, and quarterback Chance Melton capped off the drive with a 45-yard keeper for a touchdown. The Indians tied it up 14-14 with over four minutes to go in the first quarter.
Adair County’s defense forced a punt from Caverna that gave them good field position on the Colonels 20-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage on the drive, Melton took the keeper in for another touchdown and gave the Indians a 21-14 lead at the close of the first quarter.
Some nice running capped another good drive by the Indians to start their possession in the second quarter and on a 4th and 7 a toss to Grant resulted in a 23 yard gain that put them down on the 3 yard line and threatening to score again. After a few short runs and an offside penalty by Caverna, Melton pushed his way in for another touchdown run and a conversion increased their lead to 29-14.
Caverna followed up on their next trip with a touchdown to cut into the lead but the Indians were back at it again on their possession of the ball.
The team used more running plays to get deep into the red zone before a fumble put their next drive to a halt. Luckily, the Indians were able to recover a Colonels fumble on a bad snap just plays later to take back possession of the ball.
With the ball on the 9-yard line, a pass from Melton to Lasley put the Indians in the end zone yet again and a successful extra point made the score 36-22 with over three minutes to go in the half.
Melton completed a pass to Lasley on their next scoring drive that resulted in a first down before Price punched it in for a touchdown on a nice running play. They only picked up six, after a failed two-point conversion.
Price continued his presence on defense by recovering a fumble on Caverna’s drive that left Adair County with the ball on the Colonels’ 20-yard line. A pass to Grant from Melton quickly put the Indians in for another six and a successful extra point made it 49-22.
After another successful drive by Caverna with less than one minute left in the half, Adair County worked quickly to put on another touchdown before the half came to a close. This time the drive was started by a 49-yard gain on a QB keeper by Melton to set up a Grant touchdown on the ground. The half came to a close with the home team ahead 55-28.
Already claiming a big lead and controlling the game, the Indians came out in the third quarter and added another touchdown to the big lead. Lasley took the opening kickoff by Caverna the distance as he marched all the way into the end zone to put them ahead 61-28.
Three minutes into the quarter on the Colonels drive, Burton stepped in front of the receiver for an interception to give his team the ball once again. He would ultimately cap off with a 24-yard touchdown run that put Adair County ahead by 40 points.
A running clock was instituted for the remainder of the game due to KHSAA rules.
Leading 68-28 after three quarters of play, the Indians would strike one more time for the game early in the final quarter.
A big run by Smith set up a Melton handoff to Grant for another Indians touchdown that concluded the scoring for the game as the Indians won it 74-28.
“We started nine sophomores in this game that gave us nine touchdowns,” Coach Gay said. “The defense did some good things in this game and so did our punt return guys. Danny Grant done well in his first varsity start tonight; Josh Brown gave a nice effort as well.”
The Indians will be back in action Friday night as they start their games on the road by traveling to Breckinridge County to take on the Fighting Tigers.
All photos taken by Josh Withers.
By Josh Withers
Sports Writer
