Letcher Central jumped out to an early 16-point lead against Shelby Valley and made it standup in a 36-26 victory at Hobart Clay Johnson Field on Friday night.
Cougar running back Isaac Matthews rushed 15 times for 156 yards on a pair of touchdowns. His first was a 50-yard run to open the scoring.
He added a 37-yard run to cap the scoring and give Central a 10-point lead with 11:50 to play.
Brett Smith hauled in a TD pass from quarterback Gunner Holbrook, and he picked off a pass and ran it back 70 yards to paydirt. Running back Garrett Howard added a TD run.
Valley’s Brady Bentley ran for two scores, 40 and nine yards. He finished with 126 yards on 13 attempts.
Quarterback Russ Osborne passed for 237 yards and one TD. Kolton Stamper hauled in a 35-yard scoring strike. Osborne added a short scoring run.
Both teams will be back in action this Friday night as the Wildcats (0-1) play at Lawrence County (1-0), Kickoff is 7:30 pm. The Cougars will host Raceland (0-1) at 8 pm.
At Robinson Creek
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
LCC (1-0)….16 0 14 6 – 36
SV (0-1)…….6 6 14 0 – 26
Scoring:
First Quarter
LCC – Isaac Matthews, 50-yard run (Isaac Matthews run), 6:54
LCC – Garrett Howard, 2-yard run (Brett Smith pass from Gunner Holbrook), 3:40
SV – Brady Bentley, 40-yard run (pass failed), 1:29
Second Quarter
SV – Kolton Stamper, 35-yard pass from Russ Osborne (run failed), 4:58
Third Quarter
LCC – Brett Smith, 37-yard pass from Gunner Holbrook (run failed), 9:44
LCC – Brett Smith, 70-yard INT (Peyton Combs run), 7:36
SV – Brady Bentley, 9-yard run (Brady Bentley pass from Russ Osborne), 5:47
SV – Russ Osborne, 1-yard run (pass failed), 1:14
Fourth Quarter
LCC – Isaac Matthews, 37-yard run (pass failed), 11:50
Next up: Letcher Central (1-0) vs. Raceland (0-1), 8 pm, Aug. 25; Shelby Valley (0-1) at Lawrence County (1-0), 7:30 pm, Aug. 25.