Engineers beat Morgan County in nail biter at home
The 2011 Estill County Engineers put their first gridiron “W” into the stat books Friday night, winning a close one against the Cougars of Morgan County, 34-30.
The Cougars won the opening coin toss and elected to defer to the second half, giving the Engineers an opportunity to put points on the scoreboard first.
The Big Blue marched down the field and took only four minutes to find the end zone. Senior Logan Mize was the ball carrier on the scoring play and Trevor Jones tacked on the two-point conversion for an early 8-0 edge.
Estill found itself back on offense a couple minutes later as the Cougars fumbled the kick-off and Estill was able to pounce on the loose ball. Trevor Jones and the Big Blue would quickly strike again, scoring a touchdown only two minutes later. The two-point conversion came up short this time, giving Estill the 14-0 advantage.
Morgan County’s inability to hold onto the ball cost them a second turnover later in the first quarter, but the Engineers were unable to take advantage of the fumble, leaving Estill with the 14 point edge after one quarter of play.
Freshman Trevor Jones played spoiler on the Cougar’s next possession, stepping in to intercept a Cougar pass four minutes into the second quarter. Jones found plenty of open field in front of him, scrambling 56-yard for the Engineers third score of the night.
Morgan County was able to finally get their offense working and put together two consecutive scoring drives in the closing minutes of the half to shave the Estill advantage to seven points. But, Estill reclaimed the momentum in the closing seconds of the first half as Jones heaved a pass toward the end zone and connected with Senior Stephen Tipton with three ticks remaining on the clock for the Big Blue’s fourth score of the evening and a 27-14 edge. Both teams’ offense sputtered in the third quarter as the defenses made halftime adjustments. The Cougars were the only one team to find the end zone in the period, scoring their third touchdown of the game and inching closer to the Engineers.
The Cougars were back for more with two minutes left in the game, find the end zone once again. A successful point after attempt moved Morgan into the lead for the first time, 30-27. With the clock ticking down toward the final minute of the contest, the Engineers needed points in a hurry. Logan Mize shortened the field dramatically for Estill by taking the Cougar’s kick-off on a 95-yard sprint, before being dragged down just short of the goal line.
With 20 ticks remaining in the game, the Engineers call a time out to discuss the final plays and get a little pep talk from Engineers head coach, Mike Jones. Trevor Jones called for the snap and found senior, Randy Davidson crossing in the end zone for, what would eventually be, the winning score.
The four point Estill advantage had to withstand one last Cougar possession, with 10 seconds remaining after the Engineer score.
Fortunately, Morgan County could not hang onto the Engineer’s kick-off and fumbled the ball back to the Estill as the final seconds expired.The win improved the Engineers to 1-2 on the season as they prepare to host The Rockets of Rockcastle County this Friday at Hoover -Niece Field at 7:30 p.m. Be sure to come support your Engineers!