Pacer gridders open season with solid win over Crawford County, 34-0
The Switzerland County Pacers varsity football team got its season off to a roaring start on Friday night with a 34-0 pasting of the Crawford County Wolfpack.
The Pacers got on the board first when quarterback Alex Bailey connected with receiver Masin Stroud for a 24-yard touchdown pass. Ethan McClellan’s PAT was good, and Switzerland County took a 7-0 lead.
The game moved into the second period, where Switzerland County scored again, this time as Keaton Mosley converted an eight-yard touchdown run. McClellan was again true on his PAT kick, and that’s how the half would end, with the Pacers in front, 14-0.
The third quarter saw the Pacers nearly double their lead, denting the scoreboard the first time when Bailey kept the ball and ran it in from four yards out. After McClellan’s third PAT of the game, the score stood at 21-0.
The big play of the contest came near the end of the third quarter, when Bailey hit wide receiver Matthew Young in stride, and the sophomore took it 82 yards for the touchdown. This time McClellan’s PAT was partially blocked, but the score stood at 27-0 heading into the final quarter of action.
McClellan had been doing an outstanding job in the kicking game all night, but in the fourth he also got into the defensive action — as he scooped up a Wolfpack fumble and ran it in for a touchdown. He capped his play with another PAT, and that ended the scoring with Switzerland County and lifted the Pacers to a record of 1-0 on the young season.
Bailey, a sophomore in his first start at the varsity level, was 6-for-12 through the air for 154 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed 11 times for 14 yards and a score.
Matthew Young had thee catches for 107 yards and a touchdown; Stroud had just one catch, but it went for a 24-yard touchdown; Kolvin Beck had a catch for 21 yards; and Mosley had one catch for two yards.
On the ground, Beck led a corps of rushers with five attempts for 25 yards; while Peyton Richards had two attempts for 22 yards. Mosley had six rushes for 19 yards and a touchdown; Matthew Young had four rushes for 14 yards; Camron Simpson had four carries for 13 yards; Michael Young had two carries for nine yards; and Naz Lieland had a carry for two yards.
Defensively: Chazz Hartley led the way with five tackles and one tackle assist; while Brevon May finished with four tackles, four tackles for loss, one tackle assist, and one sack.
Ethan Weaver had four tackles, two sacks, and three tackles for loss; Hunter Smith had three tackles, three tackle assists, and one tackle for loss; Beck had two tackles, one sack, and two tackles for loss; Ethan Jones had two tackles for three tackle assists; Colton Parks had two tackles and one tackle assist; Michael Young had one tackle and three tackle assists; Darion Graham had a tackle and a tackle assist; Nathan Volmer-Gibson contributed a tackle; Mosley had three tackle assists; Stroud had a tackle assist; Bryson Reynolds had six tackle assists; and Zack Scudder finished with two tackle assists.
Weaver, Graham, and McClellan each had fumble recoveries.
The Pacers now hit the road tomorrow (Friday) night as they go across the river to take on Gallatin County with a 7 p.m. start time.