EASTERN, Ky. (WMDJ) – Leslie County converted three consecutive Floyd Central turnovers into touchdowns the fourth quarter to pull away for 41-26 road victory Friday night.
Senior quarterback Landry Collett accounted for five rushing touchdowns on only eight carries for a total of 110 yards to rally the Eagles from an 18-0 second quarter deficit.
Coming off a controversial opening week loss at home to Prestonsburg, Leslie County looked deflated early, frustrated by Floyd Central’s dominance of time. The Jaguars kept the ball for over 19-minutes on their way to punching in three rushing touchdowns.
Senior running back Colt Shelton struck pay dirt first for Floyd Central with a 25-yard touchdown run on the team’s opening drive with 6-minutes to play in the first quarter.
After forcing a Leslie County punt, senior quarterback Jace Martin took a 12-yard bootleg stroll to the endzone with 10:36 to go in the second quarter. Floyd Central led 12-0 at this point.
On the first play of the following drive, Leslie County’s Caden Caldwell broke free for a 28-yard run only to fumble the football away, resulting in an Eagles turnover to Floyd Central at their own 35-yard line.
The Jaguars would again lean on a successful first half ground attack with sophomore running back Bailey Evans completing a 13-play, 70-yard drive by punching in a 2-yard dive to put Floyd Central ahead 18-0 with 2:44 left in the second quarter.
All three touchdowns were followed by missed 2-point conversion attempts, which would burn the Jags in the end.
Leslie County would scratch the board on the following drive as Collett collected his first touchdown run for 16-yards with 1:23 left before the half to make the score 18-6.
The Eagles would take over to start the third quarter and march down field on the legs of Collett with another 16-yard touchdown run to tighten the game, followed by a successful extra point kick from senior Jesse Osborne, making it 18-13 Floyd Central.
The Jaguars would answer with Colt Shelton’s second touchdown run of the night at the 4:16 mark in the third quarter to extend the Floyd Central advantage to 26-13. Shelton was a workhorse for Floyd Central, carrying the ball 29 times for 178 yards and two scores.
Leslie County quickly answered with another Collett rushing touchdown from 12 yards out followed by an Osborne kick. Eagles trailed 26-20 to end the third quarter.
Floyd Central would fall apart in the fourth quarter, committing three consecutive turnovers which Leslie County converted into points.
The Jaguars were putting together another long possession, marching inside the redzone as Martin fired an 18-yard pass to the endzone that went incomplete through the hands of freshman wide receiver Wesley Buck, setting up a fourth-and-ten at the Leslie County 18-yard line. The Eagles would cause a fumble to take over, zapping all the steam from the Floyd Central sideline.
Collett again would fly the Eagles down field on a five play, 75-yard drive in just under 3-minutes, finishing the drive with a 20-yard run to tie the game 26-26. Osborne’s extra point would give Leslie County their first lead, 27-26 with 2:41 left to play.
Trailing for the first time, Floyd Central’s Martin would sail a pass over the middle on the next drive, picked by Leslie’s Jayden Hacker, who returned the interception inside the Jaguar 10-yard line. That would set up Collett’s fifth and final touchdown run from four yards away with the extra point, giving the Eagles a 34-26 lead with 2:12 remaining.
Aided by a penalty, Floyd Central marched to the Leslie County 39-yard line with just over one minute remaining before Martin threw his second interception, this time picked off by junior short safety Rylan Simpson, who returned the pick 95-yards for a touchdown to seal the win.
While Floyd Central dominated time of possession, keeping the ball 35-minutes, Leslie was still able to rally in-part by the three Jaguar turnovers, outscoring the Floyd Central 35-8 in the second half.
Floyd Central (0-2) will travel to Powell County (0-1) for their first road game of the season on Thursday, September 5th. Leslie County (1-1) will host Magoffin County (1-1) at home on Friday, September 6th.
