Hicks and picks: Junior makes impact on both sides of the ball; defense guides Lions over Musketeers

Sep. 30—CANNONSBURG — Cole Hicks applied the brakes and the Boyd County offense kept its foot on the accelerator.

Hicks caught a TD pass and collected two interceptions as the Lions surged past Greenup County for the 48-14 win on Friday night.

Boyd County scored 48 unanswered points.

"They showed toughness," Hicks said of his team's resolve. "It was the main thing. We got down 14-0 and we could have hung our heads and quit, but we didn't. We are tough. We stuck with it and played for each other."

Hicks enjoys his first season playing football. He is a guard on the basketball team along with quarterback Rhett Holbrook. The chemistry between the two has translated from the hardwood to the gridiron.

"It's been pretty fun," Hicks said. "I have teammates that have embraced me. They took me in and they are really great to have around me. I am still learning and I am very blessed."

"Rhett and I are best friends off the field," he added. "I came out and we have had a connection."

Hicks personally stopped the Greenup County momentum in the first quarter. The junior wideout corralled Boyd County's first score of the contest. Hicks ran past the defensive back and settled under a high pass from Holbrook in the end zone.

"You couldn't ask much more from a kid than what Cole can do for us," Lions coach Evan Ferguson said. "He is not just a great football player. He's also a great kid. To come in and learn the offense and so much about football in a short amount of time, it's really impressive. We can move him around a lot into different formations. He has really bought in and I didn't think he could be a two-way player this quick. ... I am just happy to have him on the team."

Hicks picked off a pass on the Musketeers' next possession. It set up the Lions deep in Greenup County territory. It took just three plays for Boyd County to move the ball over the goal line again. Dakota Thompson busted through the line for a 2-yard TD plunge to tie the score at 14-14 late in the first frame.

"They showed a lot of resiliency," Ferguson said. "We've talked a lot about playing for each other and believing in ourselves all year. To be down 14 and not lose focus, and just go play to put up 48 unanswered points, it was a great testament to what we can do here at Boyd County. We just have to make sure and build on it."

After a pair of punts, Hicks stepped in front of another Tyson Sammons toss on the Musketeers' side of the field.

The pattern remained the same. Three more snaps and Holbrook found a wide-open Marcus Brumfield in the corner of the end zone for a 13-yard pitch and catch touchdown.

Hicks said he feels confident on the offensive side of the ball but his defensive skills are improving.

"I feel more comfortable on offense," Hicks said. "On offense, I know where I am going. With defense, I have to guard them and try to make a tackle. I am still working on the tackling part."

Boyd County (3-3) turned three Musketeers miscues into 20 points over the first two quarters. Greenup County fumbled the ball at midfield inside the final two minutes of the opening half.

Holbrook called his own number on the ensuing drive and he rumbled 45 yards untouched to the house. The adjustments made on defense sparked the quick turnaround.

"We made a couple of changes on alignments," Ferguson said. "It made a big difference. Our defense bounced back. We've had a rough year on defense. We have a good defense. We just have to start playing like this and we will be OK."

The Musketeers had seven points on the board before fans had settled into their seats. Brody Stevens took a pitch from Sammons and found open real estate for a 36-yard scoring run just 44 seconds into the game.

Sammons staked Greenup County (4-3) to a quick 14-0 lead with a run of 21 yards to paydirt.

"We couldn't have had a better start to the game," Greenup County coach Travis Jones said, "but we couldn't have cooled any worse than we did either. Turnovers kill you. We go into this game knowing that our defense hasn't been great. We are working to try and improve that. We knew that we had to score when we had the football. We threw two picks and fumbled the ball. You can't do that stuff and expect to win football games."

The takeaways stalled drives and gave the Lions short fields. The Musketeers could not reignite the offense in the second half and only recorded 10 rushing yards after halftime.

Camaron Collins and Hunter Hedrick supplied second-half scoring runs. Garrett Crum hauled in a catch on a short slant and raced past the defense for a 66-yard TD catch for Boyd County.

Holbrook posted 228 yards through the air for the Lions. Cole collected four catches for 84 yards and Brumfield amassed six catches for 57 yards. Maverick Boyd secured the school record for consecutive PATs with 20 during the game.

Sammons had 113 rushing yards for the Musketeers. Jones wants to see how his team responds to their 0-2 mark in district play.

"I told our guys that there are two options," Jones said. "You can either feel sorry for yourselves and quit or you can take the road where we identify our mistakes, reflect on the problems we are having and work to get better."

Boyd County improves to 1-1 in district play.

GREENUP CO. 14 0 0 0 — 14

BOYD CO. 14 13 14 7 — 48

FIRST QUARTER

GC—Brody Stevens 36 run (Karter Gillum kick), 11:22

GC—Tyson Sammons 21 run (Karter Gillum kick), 5:42

BC—Cole Hicks 30 pass from Rhett Holbrook (Maverick Boyd kick), 3:07

BC—Dakota Thompson 2 run (Boyd kick), 1:00

SECOND QUARTER

BC—Marcus Brumfield 13 pass from Holbrook (Boyd kick), 4:50

BC—Holbrook 45 run (kick failed), :52

THIRD QUARTER

BC—Camaron Collins 13 run (Boyd kick), 7:22

BC—Garrett Crum 66 pass from Holbrook (Boyd kick), 3:21

FOURTH QUARTER

BC—Hunter Hedrick 3 run (Boyd kick), 5:59

GC BC

First Downs 10 17

Rushes-Yards 32-165 27-176

Comp-Att-Int 6-13-3 14-18-1

Passing Yards 84 228

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0

Punts-Avg. 3-36.3. 2-34.

Penalties-Yards 6-55 5-60

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Greenup County rushing: Sammons 18-113, Perkins 7-12, Walker 2-10, Stevens 1-36, Veach 1-(minus-2), Ratcliff 2-(minus-5), Team 1-1.

Boyd County rushing: Collins 9-54, Holbrook 9-71, Thompson 3-15, Hedrick 1-3, Castle 1-(minus-1), Green 3-31, Leader 1-3.

Greenup County passing: Sammons 6 of 13 for 84 yards and 3 interceptions.

Boyd County passing: Holbrook 14 of 18 for 228 yards and 1 interception.

Greenup County receiving: Boggs 3-29, Gue 2-30, Perkins 1-25.

Boyd County receiving: Brumfield 6-57, Crum 3-84, Hicks 4-84, Collins 1-3.