PREP FOOTBALL: LaRue runs past Washington, 52-34 (9/7)

By JOSH CLAYWELL jclaywell@thenewsenterprise.com HODGENVILLE — Players young and old combined to lead the LaRue County Hawks on Friday. Senior wide receiver/defensive back Caleb Cobb had two big interceptions and junior fullback Ryan Wafford and freshman fullback Drew Newberry combined for 311 rushing yards and five touchdowns to lead the host Hawks past the Washington County Commanders, 52-34 at Hawk Field. “First of all, the line did a great job up front opening holes. And Lincoln Bingham is our junior fullback when we go to the wishbone formation,” 16th-year LaRue County coach Rodney Armes said. “Even though he didn’t carry the ball, he was making some really nice blocks on the linebackers. Our line would get us to the linebacker level, and either Lincoln or Drew or Wafford were hitting the linebackers and we weren’t getting touched until maybe 5 or 6 yards downfield.” Wafford rushed for 169 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries, scoring on runs of 4, 25 and 24 yards. “That’s a wonderful game. The line was great,” Wafford said. “Every time I got to the line there’d be a big hole.” It was much the same for Newberry, who gained 142 yards and two scores on 23 carries. Newberry became the first freshman to rush for 100-plus yards since Justin Thurman rushed for 119 against Washington County on Sept. 19, 2003. “Those two guys are a load,” Armes said. “They get their pads down and they both run hard. They did a nice job of hitting it up in there and keeping their legs churning.” Cobb’s interceptions couldn’t have come at a better time for LaRue County (2-0). His first interception came after Washington County (1-1) cut the lead to 32-27 with two touchdowns in the third quarter. Cobb picked off Washington County senior quarterback Joe Joe Simms near the Hawks’ 30-yard line and picked up 7 yards on the return. “I told the guys that one play can change it and don’t let down. That interception, I think, just swung momentum and put us on top,” Cobb said. Indeed it did as LaRue County freshman quarterback Jordan Brewer put the game out of reach with a 1-yard touchdown run with 11:19 left in the game. Brewer ran in the two-point conversion, giving the Hawks a 40-27 lead. After Wafford scored his final touchdown on a 24-yard run for a 46-27 lead with 5:02 left, Cobb picked off Simms and returned the ball to the Washington County 49-yard line. “The momentum was definitely on our side,” Cobb said. “We went down and scored. We don’t let down until the fourth quarter is over.” LaRue County tacked on its final points on Newberry’s 2-yard run with 4:02 remaining in the game. The two-play drive was highlighted by a 47-yard run by Brewer on a naked bootleg down the near sideline. “The momentum was going their way, and those two interceptions just switched it all around,” said Brewer, who rushed for 72 yards on six attempts. “The sideline was down, and after those everybody started clapping and was back up. It was real good for us.” It was anything but good in the beginning for the Hawks as they turned the ball over twice on their first two possessions. Junior quarterback Lucas Chaudoin was intercepted by Washington County sophomore wide receiver/cornerback Quan Turner, who returned it 38 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 10:33 left in the first quarter. On the second drive, LaRue County sophomore running back Alex Lee fumbled near midfield, but Washington County couldn’t capitalize. “We’ve got a long way to go. We still turned the ball over twice early,” Armes said. “The good thing about this team is it bounced back, it was a mature team after those turnovers.” LaRue County took an 8-7 lead with 5:38 left in the first quarter as Newberry scored his first touchdown and ran in the conversion. “I came in and I was the second fullback this season,” said Newberry, who is LaRue County’s first full-time freshman starter since John Michael Sullivan. “It was pretty unreal. It was awesome.” LaRue County extended its lead to 16-7 when Wafford scored his first touchdown and Chaudoin threw the conversion pass to senior wide receiver Tyler Hornback with 38.4 seconds left in the first period. The Commanders cut the lead to 16-13 when Simms hooked up with junior wide receiver Alex Simms on a 29-yard strike with 10:07 left before halftime. But the Hawks tacked on two touchdowns just before intermission, one on a 25-yard run by Wafford and the other on a 20-yard pass from Chaudoin to Cobb. Washington County came roaring back with two touchdowns in the third quarter. Senior running back Nathan Hood scored on a 4-yard run and Joe Joe Simms on a 6-yard run to trim the lead to five. But Cobb came up with his first interception on Washington County’s next drive, setting up the Hawks in good field position to ice the game, which was delayed 30 minutes in the fourth quarter by a lightning storm. “After that lightning delay, I just wanted to get it done,” Newberry said. The Hawks improved to 10-1 against the Commanders since 1998. LaRue County had been 9-0 against Washington County until last year, when the Commanders won in Springfield, 12-7. UP NEXT: LaRue County plays at Monroe County (2-0) at 8 p.m. Friday. Josh Claywell can be reached at 505-1752