In second round of the KHSAA 1A playoffs, Paintsville traveled to Alexandria to take on the Mustangs of Bishop Brossart. With a spot in the Regional Championship game on the line, Paintsville wasted no time making quick work of the Mustangs winning 42-16.
A balanced offensive attack by the Tigers was to much for the Mustangs to overcome. The Tigers ran for 196 yards and threw for 172 in the victory. Leading the rushing attack was the sensational senior Harris Phelps. Phelps carried the football 21 times for 155 yards and scored 4 touchdowns,
Quarterback Frederick “AJ” James completed passes to 5 different receivers. The efficient James completed 11-14 passes for 172 yards and 1 touchdown. On the night, James favorite receiver was Phelps. Phelps caught 4 passes for 64 yards. Others catching passes were: Jonah Porter (2 – 35 yards), Conner Fugate (2 – 33 yards), Austin Allen (2 – 28 yards and 1 TD) and Grayson Peters ( 1- 12 yards).
The Special Teams did their job as Kicker Carson Holbrook went 6 for 6 on PAT’s for the night.
As good as the offense was, the key to the game was the defense of the Tigers. They held Bishop Brossart to only 33 yards rushing and only 113 yards passing. Cain Grim led the Tigers in tackles. Grim had 9 tackles, 7 of which were solo tackles. He also had 1 tackle for loss.
The win pushes the Tiger record to 6-5 on the season. The Tigers will advance to the Regional Championship Game on Friday as they travel to Pikeville to take on the #1 seed Pikeville Panthers. The two teams met in the 3rd game of the season, when the Panthers defeated the Tigers 36-0 at Paintsville.
The loss eliminates the Mustangs as they finished the season at 9-3.
Photo credit Mike Howard
