Scott County shocks No. 11 Cooper 55-34 in second round of Class 5A playoffs

It’s not often you can say the word “perfect” in football, but on Friday night, Scott County’s wing-T offense was exactly that, scoring a touchdown on every single one of their drives (except their final drive, which resulted in them kneeling out the clock).

The Cardinals’ (9-3) offense was too tricky for the No. 11 Cooper Jaguars (8-4), as Scott County got the upset 55-34 and earned a trip to the third round of the Class 5A KHSAA football playoffs.

“Our coach makes us go perfect,” Cardinals quarterback Charlie Ellison said of their preparation. “Coach is a perfectionist. [He] makes us do everything over and over and over until it’s butter.” Ellison finished the game going 9-for-10 passing with 308 yards and four touchdowns.

This was a revenge game for Scott County, as their last two postseason exits came at the hands of Cooper, so head coach Jim McKee wanted to perfectly prepare for this one.

”We needed this game,” said McKee. “To keep our program at the standard we expected it to be… We hadn’t been in a regional finals in two years, and that’s not acceptable.”

The game kicked off to a fast start, where the Cardinals’ Timmy Emongo scored a 60-yard touchdown run on their first drive. Cooper immediately responds with a 10-yard touchdown pass from WKU-commit Cam O’Hara to Corey Freihofer, who made a toe-tap catch on the sideline.

From there, the Cardinals got hot and didn’t look back. Another long Emongo touchdown run from 35 yards out helped Scott County retake the lead 14-7. Then late in the first quarter, Jayden Garrett gets in on the fun with a 28-yard end-around touchdown, the Cardinals holding a first-quarter lead of 21-7.

In the second quarter, the Cardinals slowed things down and worked the clock on a 16-play drive that culminated with a goal-line fade touchdown catch from Keller Furnish, ballooning their lead to 28-7.

With just over two minutes left in the half, O’Hara executed a nice two-minute drill, leading the Jaguars on a 68-yard touchdown drive, scoring with a 14-yard bullet to Gavistin Martin to cut the lead in half, 28-14, into halftime.

In the third quarter, with Scott County facing a third down near midfield, they executed a 60-yard play-action touchdown pass that left Cooper’s defense bewildered. Furnish was wide open, hauling in the ball at Cooper’s 25-yard line, taunting the defense, then running it in for the score, putting Scott County back to a three-touchdown lead at 34-14. Success in play-action was a theme for the Cardinals in the second half.

”We can do both. We’re not limited to just the run, even with the wing-T,” Ellison says on adjusting the game plan for the second half. “When we got a QB like this, you can do whatever you want to!” interjected Scott County tight end Anderson Owens. “When you got a receiver like this, who can catch everything!” exclaimed Ellison. The duo connected for 179 yards and two touchdowns in the second half alone.

Back to the third quarter, with the Jaguars’ backs against the wall, O’Hara converted a 61-yard touchdown bomb to Ryker Campbell, which cut the lead to 34-21.

Scott County responded with a nine-play, five-minute drive that ended in a nine-yard Emongo touchdown run, his third and final of the game. He also finished the game with 124 rushing yards.

Late in the third quarter, the Cardinals were looking for the dagger, and they got it on the last play of the quarter. On 3rd-and-16 inside their own red zone, Ellison connected with Owens on a 67-yard play-action pass to flip the field. Owens could’ve scored, but intentionally got tackled so Scott County could hold onto the ball. He got his touchdown back three plays later, with a 15-yard reception to put the Cardinals up 48-21.

Cooper answered with an O’Hara two-yard touchdown run on 4th-and-goal, which cut the lead to 48-27 after failing the two-point conversion. But it was too late, as the teams traded touchdowns, and the clock ran out with a 55-34 Scott County upset victory.

The Cardinals’ offense totaled 604 yards of total offense, with a near 50-50 split of passing and rushing (308 passing yards and 296 rushing yards).

Cooper quarterback Cam O’Hara finished his high school career in record-breaking fashion, bringing his career passing yardage total over 11,000 and becoming 3rd all-time in career passing touchdowns in KY.

Next Up:

• Scott County (9-3) advances to the third round of the Class 5A playoffs, where they’ll take on No. 16 Woodford County next Friday, Nov. 21.
• No. 11 Cooper finishes their season 8-4.