STORMS THROUGH A HUGE HOLE
FOR A 13-YARD TOUCHDOWN RUN.
SPARTANS WIDEOUT JUSTIN CAPPS INJURED IN VICTORY; COUGARS REGROUP FOR TAYLOR COUNTY IN KHSAA CLASS 4A PLAYOFFS
RUSSELLVILLE — South Warren High School’s football team heads into the KHSAA postseason in a familiar position.
The Spartans have a little extra time on their hands, with the postseason on the horizon, and they’ll have to overcome a critical injury to stay on the right path to UK’s Kroger Field.
Senior wideout Justin Capps, one of the Spartans’ leading receivers, sustained a devastating injury in the first quarter of Friday night’s regular-season finale against a top-flight Logan County squad. Capps had already scored, on a dazzling 87-yard touchdown reception three minutes into the game, but on the Spartans’ next possession, he sustained a season-ending injury, most likely a torn Achilles tendon to his right leg.
The Spartans never flinched, however, before rolling to a 35-7 victory on a pleasant Halloween Eve night, and they’ll have some time to heal and refocus for the KHSAA Class 6A playoffs beginning next week. Logan County, meanwhile, dropped to 7-3 overall, and the Cougars will play host to Taylor County (5-5 overall) in first-round play of the Class 4A playoffs on Friday.
IMPROVED TO 8-2 OVERALL
WITH THE DECISIVE VICTORY.
MAKES IT 21-0 WITH THIS TD RECEPTION.
AND THE SPARTANS STAYED
ON THE ATTACK FRIDAY NIGHT.
WITH 22 TOUCHDOWNS ON THE SEASON.
It was a chippy, choppy game with more penalty flags than you can count, and officials had to explain several decisions to both sidelines before the proceedings came to a close. South Warren’s 13th-year head coach, Brandon Smith,
“I think there were a lot of positives,” Smith said when it was over. “The flow of the game, though, was interrupted so much. I felt like we played pretty good, overall … We got some things going, offensively.
“Now, it starts. For real. The playoffs.”
South Warren, the KHSAA Class 6A runner-up last season, will have a bye in first-round play of the postseason for the second consecutive year. Smith plans to give his squad a couple days off before returning to the practice field, but it’s full speed ahead on Nashville Road.
Veteran Logan County coach Todd Adler, meanwhile, expects starting quarterback Luke Rogers to return from the concussion protocol next week against Taylor County. LCHS teammates Liam Costello and Carson Carlock filled in for Rogers, at quarterback, but the Cougars struggled against South’s exceptionally quick defense.
“We haven’t really played a complete game since Franklin-Simpson (Logan’s decisive 40-19 victory on October 16). I was tickled to death, by the way we fought back (from an early deficit) tonight,” Adler said.
ON THIS SCORING OPPORTUNITY.
AS THE COUGARS’ JOSEPH McTIRE GIVES CHASE …
AS HE’s TREATED FOR HIS INJURY.
South Warren quarterback Camden Page came out throwing, against the Cougars, while mixing in the inside runs of junior tailback Jamir Boards. Page found SWHS teammate Justin Capps on a crossing pattern, on South’s first possession, and Capps pulled away before completing an 87-yard touchdown reception with 8:59 left in the first quarter. Junior placekicker Kale Phelps added the first of five extra points, and the Spartans were off to the races.
Capps was injured, on the left sideline, after making the catch on a swing pass from Page on the Spartans’ next possession. He was tackled on the left sideline and was in considerable pain before making his way to the treatment tent for the rest of the game.
“Justin’s done (for the season). That’s a tough break,” South Warren coach Brandon Smith said. “That’s kind of how the year has gone for us … some significant injuries to key players. Our guys were able to respond.”
ON AN 13-YARD RECEPTION
IN THE FOURTH QUARTER.
PLENTY OF PENALTIES IN THE GAME.
PROVIDED SOLID PROTECTION
FOR SENIOR QB CAMDEN PAGE.
IS FLANKED BY SOUTH TEAMMATES
JAMIR BOARDS (LEFT) AND CAMDEN PAGE.
Boards would score from 1 yard out, with 2:57 left in the first quarter, and South QB Camden Page found senior wideout Tucker Sears for the Spartans’ third touchdown, a 25-yard pass midway through the second quarter. Boards found the end zone, again, two more times, a 14-yard scoring run, early in the third quarter, and on a check-down pass from Page that covered 13 yards for the Spartans’ final points in the fourth quarter.
Logan County threatened in the third quarter, after sophomore running back Lane Bush broke off a 40-yard run down the right sideline, but the Cougars would turn it over, on downs, inside the red zone. Logan County’s Carson Carlock scored on a draw play, a 26-yard touchdown run, in the final moments of the third quarter.
It was a chippy game, throughout, and choppy at times, too. South Warren was penalized 14 times, for 146 yards, unofficially, while Logan County had six penalties for 46 yards.
“To be honest, when we play South Warren — football, basketball, pretty much anything — that’s usually the way it goes,” Logan County coach Todd Adler said. “There was a lot of respect, between the teams, in the handshake line … We’re not going to shy away from the competition. South’s always gonna have a good team.”
South Warren’s Camden Page passed for 234 yards and three touchdowns, while teammate Jamir Boards carried the ball 11 times for 85 yards and his first-quarter touchdown. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound Boards can almost hide behind some of the Spartans’ offensive linemen, particularly 6-foot-7, 345-pound sophomore guard Kyson Todd.
“We didn’t let the penalties, or anything else, stop us tonight,” Todd said. “We just kind of went out, did our thing. Play physical, be a dawg.”
The playoffs have arrived, across the Commonwealth.
LOGAN COUNTY IN EACH
OF THE LAST FOUR SEASONS.
… THIS 1975 JAZZ FUSION ALBUM DOES THE TRICK.
AND HIS FORMER DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR,
TYSON SUMMERS, WERE ON HAND
TO WATCH THEIR SONS PLAY.
AT SOUTH WARREN DURING
THE 2022 SOFTBALL SEASON.