Russell County 52, Warren East 20

Down only 7-6 early in the second quarter, Warren East attempted an onside kick which Russell County recovered. On the next play, the Lakers Nick Britt broke a 58 yard touchdown run to make the score 14-6 in favor of Russell County. From that point on it turned out to be doomsday for the Warren East Raiders.

The Rest of the Second Quarter Scoring
- Russell County quarterback Martin Cross scores on a 7 yard touchdown run, 21-6 Lakers.
- Taylor Hutchinson with a 23 yard touchdown reception, 28-6 Russell County.
- Jeron Hammond scores on a 35 yard run, 35-6 Lakers.
- Warren East answers with a long drive that ended with a Nick Campbell 19 yard touchdown reception, 35-12.
- A good return on the kickoff sets up a Taylor Hutchinson 36 yard touchdown reception as time expired in the first half, 42-12 Lakers.

The second quarter domination by the Lakers was the story of the game and they were able to take advantage of six Warren East turnovers. The Laker defense focused on run defense, holding Adarius Barnett to just 20 yards rushing on the night.

Russell County's Jeron Hammond had a huge night with 3 interceptions and contributed 115 yards rushing with two touchdowns. Nick Britt added 161 yards on the ground for the Lakers for two touchdowns as well.

On a positive note for Warren East, head coach Ben Bruni exhibited great hat tossing skills in frustration with his team's play and some officiating calls.

Warren East vs. Russell County Preview

This Friday night will take me to Warren East where the Raiders will take on District 2, Class 4A foe, the Russell County Lakers. The Lakers come in with a record of 3-3 (1-1, district) and coming off a district victory in beating Logan Co. last week by a score of 50-21. Warren East enters the contest with a record of 2-5 (1-1, district) after getting handled by Allen County-Scottsville 56-13.

The Breakdown:

- Russell County has a very balanced offensive attack with Running Back #28 Nick Britt leading the way on the ground with 627 yards and 8 touchdowns.

- The passing attack is lead by Quarterback #8 Martin Cross who has passed for 599 yards including 5 touchdowns. Cross has thrown 6 interceptions on the season so I will look for the Raiders defense to focus on stopping the Lakers running game to force more passes and create turnovers.

- Defensively look for Russell County's OLB #23 Jeron Hammond and the rest of the Lakers to put pressure on the Raiders running back duo of #21 Adarius Barnett and #38 Steven Golden.

- As I mentioned the Warren East offense will be focused on the legs of Running Backs Adarius Barnett and Steven Golden. With a nonexistent passing game, it will be interesting to see if the Raiders running game can break through.

- My prediction is Russell County 27, Warren East 14.

*Notes: Stats according to KHSAA for Russell County does not include last week's Logan Co. game. Warren East has not reported any stats so far this year.*