Pulaski faces Southwestern in annual rivalry game
Oct. 20—Louisville-Kentucky. North Carolina-Duke. Michigan-Ohio State. A few examples of some of the biggest rivalries in college athletics, although one would be hard-pressed to find a bigger rivalry, at least on the high school level, in the Lake Cumberland area than the annual Pulaski County vs. Southwestern clash. For 26 straight years these two rivals have clashed, with the Warriors winning six of the last seven games between the two programs. However, this year feels different, with the Maroons being underdogs at home.
Pulaski has struggled with turnovers and inconsistent play for a majority of the season, although the Maroons finally saw everything come together in a 53-6 victory over Harlan County on the road last week. Freshman running back Kasen Brock has been a revelation for Pulaski this season, as a 243 yard outing last week pushed him over the 1,000 yard mark for the season.
Sophomore quarterback Zak Anderson, although inconsistent at points, has had a mostly successful first season as the starter to this point, throwing for 1,701 yards with 17 touchdowns against seven interceptions. Anderson will want to watch where he throws the ball against the Warriors, as Southwestern features two players, Jonas Gallagher and Owen Campbell, that each have two interceptions on the season. Anderson must also find a way to get Harris Denmyer the ball, as he has cooled down after having 700 receiving yards after only a few games.
Southwestern, after the season-ending injury to Collin Burton, has went to a new quarterback in senior Owen Campbell. Campbell gives the Warriors a dual-threat at the quarterback position and for a Southwestern team that focuses heavy on the run, that is music to head coach Jason Foley's ears. Campbell has looked solid in his run as starter so far and will look to keep the Maroon defense honest to open up the rushing lanes. Pulaski freshman defensive back Cohen Finley has been great in his freshman campaign, leading the Maroons with three interceptions, so Campbell must be smart with his throws as well.
The Pulaski defense will feature heavy doses of Finley, as well as Gunner Loveless and Jay Bales up front. However, in order to get to the Warriors, the defensive front will have to battle through an impressive offensive line for Southwestern. That same offensive line will look to give plenty of opportunities to a fearsome rushing attack that features four (almost five) 200+ yard rushers, led by Christian Walden's 714 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Pulaski will have to play their best game of the season in order to beat the Warriors for only the second time under coach Foley. With a Southwestern victory, the Warriors will clinch the #1 seed with a perfect 4-0 record, while a Pulaski victory would possibly create a three-way tie if North Laurel is victorious this week. Either way, with any rivalry game, expect a game fraught with emotion and exciting plays all around.
The game between the Maroons and the Warriors will get underway from PC Stadium at 8 p.m. on Friday, following the conclusion of a youth league game between Pulaski and Burnside.
Somerset sits one game away from clinching the #1 in their district after a dominating 50-7 victory over Danville last week in their homecoming contest. In order to accomplish this, however, the Jumpers must head on the road in week 10 to take down a solid Leslie County squad. This will be only the second-ever meeting between the Jumpers and the Eagles, with the previous meeting going to Leslie County by a final score of 29-26 in the 2015 postseason.
Junior quarterback Landry Collett can sling the ball, throwing for 1,241 yards along with 12 touchdowns. He is turnover-prone though, throwing seven interceptions over the course of the season. For a Somerset defense that has nine interceptions on the season, with Kam Hughes totaling four on his own, this will be a massive key in the contest. The Jumpers will need to lock in on sophomore Simpson Rylan and senior Dalton Baker, as both receivers have over 300 yards on the season.
Collett is by no means a quarterback with no wheels however, as he has shown some true dual-threat capabilities over the campaign with 244 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. The rushing attack is a big threat too, with senior back Dalton Maggard rushing for 775 yards with six touchdowns.
The defense of the Eagles doesn't pressure the quarterback a ton, with only six sacks, but is led by senior linebacker Bryce Pugh, who has 110 total tackles with two sacks and 14 tackles for loss and is ranked #7 in the state in tackles per game. Somerset quarterback Josh Bruner must also be careful when throwing into coverage this game, as freshman safety Jayden Hacker leads the entire state in total interceptions with eight throughout his campaign.
The Eagles have allowed a total of 1,393 rushing yards this season and that should mean a healthy dose of Kam and Kris Hughes on the ground this game. Kam went over 1,000 yards on the ground in his last contest and also has 18 rushing touchdowns, while Kris has added 585 yards and eight touchdowns. Although Bruner just has one interception on the year, expect a game focused on the rush for the Briar Jumpers.
Somerset will square off with Leslie County on the road at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Jacob Pratt is the Sports Editor of the Commonwealth Journal and can be reached at jpratt@somerset-kentucky.com. You can follow him on Twitter @PrattTheNation
