Bardstown SURVIVES upset bid by Thomas Nelson
It’s never easy to accomplish something that you’ve never done before, so last Friday Night when Thomas Nelson traveled to Bardstown for what appeared to be another beat down at the hands of the Tigers nothing out of the ordinary could have entered the minds of the two teams or the spectators in the stands.
In fact, it looked like it was about to become another in the long line of disappointments by the Generals against the powerful Tigers as Bardstown took an early 20-0 lead and probably could have padded the lead in the second half. The Tigers got things going early on the first play from scrimmage when Montrez Railley pulled off the double pass when he took a hand off from quarterback Brady Clark and threw to an uncovered Elijah Rogers for a long touchdown pass. Rogers had a great night catching another scoring pass from Clark and then Railley scored on a screen pass from Clark to make it 20-0 at the half.
Meanwhile, Thomas Nelson kept shooting themselves in the foot turning the ball over thus squandering scoring chances and actually turned over the ball on the first possession of the third quarter, but the Tigers were unable to convert it into points.
Head coach Kyle Boblitt, who’s team had allowed over forty points in three of the Generals last four losses urged his team to stay patient and it finally paid off on a touchdown pass on the last play of the third quarter and then after stopping the Tigers on their ensuing possession, the Generals were on the move again finally scoring on a run by Jerry Wimsett early in the fourth quarter. With the score 20-14 and the momentum squarely in the Generals backpocket, Thomas Nelson drove down the field, but came up short on a fourth and one just outside the Tiger twenty yard line.
After that, the Tigers came up with several clutch first downs to run out the clock to spoil the upset bid. It was still a huge accomplishment for the Generals, who had never been this close to the Tigers and for David Clark, the Tigers still have some work to do, but they did SURVIVE to live to fight another day.