Spencer County Unleashes Offensive Weapon, Rolls Big

DanielHagerKSR

Friday night the Spencer County Bears hosted their neighbors, the Shelby County Rockets, in a Class 4A first round matchup and the Kroger KSR Game of the Week. The KSR crew made the trip to Spencer County for the first time and received a nice warm, welcome from the fine folks in Taylorsville.

Coming off of their best season since 2015, the Bears were crowned Class 4A District 3 champions after an impressive 9-1 regular season. The Bears were led by a three-headed monster consisting of junior Kellen Marksbury and seniors Wade Hutt and Camden Cardwell. This trio combined for 2,466 yards rushing and 34 rushing touchdowns in only 10 regular season games. Pure domination.

Although the Rockets entered the matchup sporting a 5-5 record, they seemed to have finally been playing their best football at the end of the season. Shelby County won its final two regular season games by a combined score of 114-30 and looked to pull the massive upset Friday night. They fought valiantly in the first half, but ultimately came up short. Spencer County advances to the second round of 4A playoffs following a 56-28 win in the Kroger KSR Game of the Week.

Kellen Marksbury: Prime Time Player

Although Marksbury is only a junior, he certainly didn’t play like it Friday night. Marksbury came into Friday night’s matchup with 15 total touchdowns on the season (nine rushing, six receiving). After Friday night’s matchup, he would add five more to that total.

“It was our district championship tonight, first round of the playoffs, we had to show off,” he told KSR.

Marksbury made an immediate impact, intercepting Shelby County quarterback Chandler Hill and returning the pick to midfield on Shelby County’s opening drive. This set the Bears up with great starting field position for their first drive of the night.

After two first down conversions for the Bears, Kellen took the handoff from senior quarterback Gabe Bowling 20 yards to the end zone to put Spencer County on the board first. The two teams traded turnovers, then Shelby County sophomore Gianni Hunter (who is an absolute bowling ball) scored his 20th rushing touchdown of the season to tie the game up. Marksbury responded by outrunning the entire Rocket defense (thanks to a HUGE block by senior Chase Semones) to put the Bears right back on top.

.@KellenMar3 BREAKS LOOSE AGAIN!! 😱😱😱

Spencer 14 | Shelby 7 | 8:54 2nd pic.twitter.com/ovPK4b4Tbe
— Daniel Hager (@DanielHagerKSR) November 5, 2022

Bears Blow the Game Open

After Marksbury’s long rushing touchdown, it would be easy for an underdog to fold under the pressure. However, the Rockets did just the opposite. Two plays into their drive, Chandler Hill found senior receiver Carter White down the sideline for an 80-yard touchdown, a huge response for Shelby County.

However, a 14-13 deficit for the Shelby County Rockets was as close as they would come to pulling the upset.

On the ensuing kickoff for the Rockets, senior Wade Hutt returned a line drive kickoff all the way back to put the Bears up two scores. Once the Rockets regained possession, Hill was almost immediately intercepted by senior Brice Roark, who returned the pick all the way for a Spencer County touchdown.

After a Shelby County answer, Marksbury caught a touchdown in the back corner of the end zone with 20 seconds remaining to put the Bears up two scores at the half. Although he would go into halftime with three scores, he wasn’t done yet.

Coming out of the half, Marksbury outran the Rocket defense for another 75+ yard touchdown, his third of the night and 12th on the season.

.@KellenMar3 SCORES HIS FOURTH TOUCHDOWN OF THE GAME!!!! Maybe the best performance we’ve seen this season in a @kroger KSR Game of the Week!

Spencer 42 | Shelby 21 | 11:35 3rd pic.twitter.com/yVo0281VjF
— Daniel Hager (@DanielHagerKSR) November 5, 2022

With two minutes remaining in the third quarter, Marksbury hauled in his second receiving touchdown of the night, his fifth touchdown in total to make it a 56-28 game. The Bears ran out the clock in the fourth quarter to advance to the next round of the Class 4A playoffs.

Marksbury Confident in His Team

Although Kellen had a big night, he was very eager to discuss his team after the game.

“We’re a team,” an exhausted Marksbury stated. “We love each other all the way and if someone makes a mistake, we forgive them. We care for each other so much.”

Although the offense was clicking all night, it’s obvious the Bears need to work on their defense before their next matchup. “We didn’t stop the run very well this week, but next week I’m sure we will get better and stop it easier.”

The Bears will host Franklin County next Friday night in the second round of the Class 4A Playoffs.

Kroger is a staple in your hometown community just like high school football. There’s nothing quite like Friday nights in the Bluegrass. We are honored to share this journey with Kroger and you for the third consecutive season.