SHELBYVILLE, Ky. — Scott County and Collins turned Collins High School into a scoreboard operator’s nightmare Wednesday night.
In a game that featured 131 combined points, 1,126 yards of total offense and 15 touchdowns, Scott County survived a furious Collins comeback to leave Shelbyville with a 71-60 victory on Sept. 23.
The Cardinals improved to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in district play, while Collins fell to 4-2 and 0-1.
A first half that never slowed down
Collins came out firing.
Quarterback Kade Goodin led the Titans down the field on their opening possession, connecting with Joshua Cochran for a 4-yard touchdown to put Collins ahead 7-0. Goodin then added a 3-yard rushing touchdown later in the first quarter as Collins built a 14-0 advantage.
Scott County answered in a hurry.
Skyler Way broke loose for a 14-yard touchdown run, and just 36 seconds later Timmy Emongo ripped off a 20-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 14-14.
Collins regained the lead before the quarter ended when Goodin found Aviyan Delaney for a 32-yard touchdown, sending the Titans into the second quarter with a 21-14 advantage.
But Scott County's offense was only getting started.
Charlie Ellison found Red Owens for a 10-yard touchdown early in the second quarter to tie the game again. Way then struck for his second touchdown, this one from 25 yards, giving Scott County its first lead at 28-21.
Collins answered with another touchdown pass from Goodin to Jason Hence, but Scott County immediately responded with an Emongo touchdown run and later an Ellison rushing score.
By halftime, Scott County had scored 43 points and led 43-33.
Way and Emongo powered the Cardinals
The numbers tell the story of how Scott County controlled the game on the ground.
Way carried the ball 22 times for 240 yards and two touchdowns, averaging an eye-popping 10.9 yards per carry. Emongo added 162 yards on 18 carries and four touchdowns, averaging 9.0 yards per attempt.
Together, the duo accounted for 402 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
Scott County finished with 448 rushing yards on 48 attempts, averaging 9.3 yards per carry and scoring nine rushing touchdowns.
Ellison added three rushing touchdowns of his own, including scores of 1, 18 and 4 yards.
Collins refuses to go away
Despite falling behind by 17 points, Collins continued to answer.
Goodin was spectacular through the air, completing 40 of 65 passes for 517 yards and seven touchdowns.
Delaney led the Titans with 15 receptions for 166 yards and two touchdowns, while Hence caught eight passes for 135 yards and four touchdowns. J McIntyre added six receptions for 106 yards.
Hence's 67-yard touchdown reception with 3:09 left in the third quarter cut Scott County's lead to 57-47.
Then the Titans made things very interesting in the fourth.
After Scott County extended its lead to 64-47, Delaney caught a 37-yard touchdown from Goodin to make it 64-54. Goodin then ran for a 6-yard touchdown with 4:43 remaining, but Collins missed the extra point.
Suddenly, it was 64-60.
The Titans had life.
Emongo delivers the knockout punch
Scott County answered with the drive it needed most.
Starting at its own 49-yard line, the Cardinals marched 49 yards on seven plays, taking 3:05 off the clock. With 1:43 remaining, Emongo broke through for a 24-yard touchdown run, pushing the Scott County lead back to 71-60.
This time, Collins had no answer.
The Cardinals ran out the clock to secure one of the wildest victories of the young season.
Two completely different offensive attacks
The final statistics illustrate just how unusual the game was.
Scott County produced 486 total yards, with 448 coming on the ground and only 38 through the air. Collins generated 640 total yards, including 517 passing yards.
Scott County also went 8-for-8 in the red zone, while Collins was 6-for-6.
Despite Collins holding a slight edge in time of possession — 24:09 to 23:51 — Scott County repeatedly turned short, explosive drives into touchdowns. The Cardinals scored on nine of their 11 touchdown-producing drives, with several possessions lasting barely a minute.
The Cardinals also forced two turnovers, including an interception by JT Wells that helped set up Way's 25-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
In the end, Scott County's relentless rushing attack proved just enough to withstand Collins' aerial assault.
Final: Scott County 71, Collins 60.
And in a game where both offenses seemed capable of scoring every time they touched the football, the Cardinals simply found one more answer when it mattered most.