The Woodford County High School football team got punched in the mouth early on Senior Night.
Senior wide receiver Kael Rihtar wasn’t afraid to say it.
“We came out dead. We got punched in the mouth, and I’m not afraid to admit that,” Rihtar said.
By the end of the night, however, it was the Yellow Jackets delivering the blows.
Woodford overcame a slow start, a six-point halftime deficit and a Bourbon County team that repeatedly threatened deep in Yellow Jacket territory to come away with a 35-20 victory in the Morgan & Morgan Bowl at Community Stadium Aug. 28.
Rihtar caught three touchdown passes from quarterback Foxx Coons and was named the game’s Offensive MVP. At the same time, Darrian Tomlin earned Defensive MVP honors after helping lead a Woodford defense that shut out the Colonels in the second half.
For Rihtar, getting Woodford going was as much about providing energy as making plays.
“I was just trying to get us juice, man,” Rihtar said. “All we need is a little bit of momentum, then we could roll.”
The Jackets certainly needed something early.
Bourbon County’s Chris Perry stunned the home crowd by returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Woodford’s first offensive possession went nowhere, with Coons missing on a pair of passes before the Jackets were forced to punt.
The defense responded by forcing a three-and-out, and Tomlin provided Woodford’s first spark of the night by returning the ensuing punt for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.
The special-teams fireworks weren’t finished.
After the teams traded punts, Bourbon County struck again in the return game, taking a Woodford punt back for another touchdown. The extra-point failed, but the Colonels had regained a 13-7 advantage.
Three touchdowns had been scored, and neither offense had reached the end zone.
Woodford tried to find some rhythm on its next possession. Facing fourth down, Coons connected with David Jones Jr. for a first down to extend the drive, but Coons was intercepted near midfield later in the possession.
Bourbon County followed with a long, sustained drive and appeared poised to make the Jackets pay for the turnover. The Colonels marched all the way to the Woodford two-yard line before the Yellow Jacket defense came up with a huge fourth-down stop.
The defensive stand fired up the Community Stadium crowd, but Woodford still couldn’t turn the momentum into points.
Ryan Brown picked up a first down on the ground, Coons connected with Jones Jr., and a Bourbon County penalty helped the Jackets move downfield before the possession eventually ended with Woodford turning the ball over on downs.
Again, the Yellow Jacket defense answered.
After another Woodford stop, the offense finally found the explosive plays it had been missing.
Coons connected with Greyson Hodge for a 45-yard completion, providing Woodford with its biggest offensive play of the night to that point and quickly flipping the field.
Coons went right back to the air and found Rihtar for a 35-yard touchdown.
Just like that, an offense that had struggled to generate much of anything early had produced 80 yards through the air on two big completions.
The extra-point gave Woodford its first lead of the night, 14-13.
Bourbon County had one more answer before halftime.
Quarterback Julius Gregory connected with Maxwell Hawkins for a touchdown late in the second quarter, sending the Colonels into the locker room with a 20-14 advantage.
Whatever was said inside the Woodford locker room at halftime worked.
“We went in the locker room, split up defense, offense, and it was just full force,” Wyatt Peters said. “Coaches going at us, but that’s what we need. … We were locked in.”
Peters said the Jackets learned a lesson from taking the field expecting things to go their way.
“To not go in the game thinking we’re going to win,” Peters said. “We did that. It was just like Owensboro last year. We had so much confidence and we weren’t really focused, and that’s what happens.”
Woodford looked like a different team when it returned to the field.
Aidyn Powell broke off a strong run on the Jackets’ opening possession of the second half before fumbling at the end of the play. Woodford recovered, keeping the drive alive.
The Jackets made the second chance count.
Coons found Hodge for 25 yards before Brown broke loose for a 29-yard run. Coons finished the drive by finding Rihtar for a three-yard touchdown.
Woodford was back in front, 21-20.
This time, the Jackets didn’t give the lead back.
The Woodford defense forced another stop before Coons and Rihtar connected for the third time on the night. Rihtar’s third touchdown reception extended the advantage to 28-20 late in the third quarter.
The Colonels weren’t finished threatening.
Bourbon County put together another long, methodical drive and eventually reached first-and-goal at the Woodford eight-yard line. The Colonels had a chance to cut into the eight-point deficit and potentially tie the game with a two-point conversion.
Once again, Woodford’s defense refused to give.
The Jackets held on four downs, turning Bourbon County away for the second time deep in Woodford territory.
Tomlin, who had already provided Woodford’s first touchdown with his punt return, finished with a team-high 15 tackles, including four tackles for loss, along with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery on his way to Defensive MVP honors.
Peters added seven tackles, an interception and a pass breakup, while Josiah McKee finished with eight tackles, four tackles for loss, a sack and five quarterback hits.
More importantly, after surrendering 20 points in the opening half, Woodford’s defense didn’t allow another point.
The Jackets took over following the second goal-line stand and turned to the running game to begin putting the game away.
Powell broke off consecutive runs of 15 and 20 yards as Woodford moved downfield, but the drive came to a halt when sophomore offensive lineman Jack Garrison suffered a significant leg injury.
Play was stopped as Garrison was attended to on the field.
When play resumed, Woodford finished the drive.
Brown broke free for a 15-yard touchdown run, extending the Yellow Jackets’ advantage to 35-20 and putting the finishing touches on a second half dominated by Woodford.
After trailing 20-14 at halftime, the Jackets had scored 21 unanswered points.
For Rihtar, his role as a captain goes beyond catching touchdown passes. He said part of that responsibility is understanding what each teammate needs when things aren’t going well.
“You gotta know which players need that fiery yelling at them, which players you need them to understand,” Rihtar said. “As a captain on this team, I gotta make sure I know who I’m talking to, how I can get them to play the best they can.”
Despite the comeback and 15-point victory, Coach Johnson wasn’t interested in allowing the final score to hide Woodford’s problems.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Johnson said. “We’ll get back to it.”
Johnson pointed specifically to a special-teams unit that surrendered two touchdowns in the opening portion of the game.
“I think we’ve got to start with special teams,” Johnson said. “And then (pay) way more attention to detail.”
For Woodford, there was plenty to clean up.
There was also plenty to build on.
The schedule only gets stronger as the season moves on. With a 2-0 record, the Jackets will look for a clean game Friday night at Great Crossing High School. The Warhawks are 0-2 on the season.