The mountain was just too high to climb.
Phelps fell behind in the opening quarter and was not able to recover as Hazard knocked out the Hornets, 37-14, in the opening round of the Class 1A playoffs at Daniel Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs now advance to play in the District 7 championship at Pikeville on Nov. 27. Phelps’ season ends at 1-7.
Phelps all-purpose back Dominick Francis tossed a 21-yard TD pass to Seth Mayhorn in the third period to get the Hornets on the board at 23-8 with 3 minutes, 37 seconds left.
Francis, playing in his final game, added a three-yard touchdown run with 8:25 remaining to make it 30-14.
Hazard quarterback Garrett Miller passed for two scores and ran for two others as the Bulldogs moved to 3-5.
At Hazard
(Class 1A Playoffs)
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
PH (1-7)…..0 0 8 6 – 14
HZ (3-5)…16 0 14 7 – 37
Scoring:
First Quarter
HZ – Jonah Helm, 31-yard field goal, 5:50
HZ – Jondon Olinger, 53-yard pass from Garrett Miller (Jonah Helm), 2:20
HZ – Garrett Miller, 14-yard run (Jonah Helm), :27
Second Quarter
No scoring
Third Quarter
HZ – Garrett Miller, 25-yard run (Jonah Helm kick), 9:05
PH – Seth Mayhorn, 21-yard pass from Dominick Francis (Seth Mayhorn pass from Dominick Francis), 3:37
HZ – Tyson Turner, 30-yard pass from Garrett Miller (Jonah Helm kick), 1:53
Fourth Quarter
PH – Dominick Francis, 3-yard run (conversion failed), 8:25
HZ – Ryan Dean, 5-yard run (Jonah Helm kick), 5:11
Next up: Phelps; season ends.