Titans Season Comes to an End in 19-17 Second Round Loss
Mercer County junior Donald ‘D’ Smith dove in for a touchdown in the second quarter Friday night. Smith finished the game with 50 yards on 15 carries.
Daarik Gray
Herald Staff
The Mercer County Titans season came to an end Friday night in the second round of the KHSAA Playoffs, falling 19-17 to the Knox Central Panthers.
“It was one of the best football seasons that I have ever been a part of,” said Mercer County Head Coach David Buchanan. “We had a shot at the end. I am just very, very proud of them and just tickled to death at the job they did.”
Trailing 19-17, Mercer County nearly had a chance to win the game at the end as kicker Nick McClain’s onside kick with 52 seconds left took a perfect bounce, but Knox Central’s Casey Patterson was able to retrieve it out of the air before a Titan player could get there.
“He (McClain) gave us a great shot. He and (kicker) Garrett (Dean) came in and did a good job tonight,” said Buchanan.
Prior to that, the Titans controlled most of the game early on.
After falling behind 6-0 early in the first quarter, a 27-yard field goal by Garrett Dean and a 7-yard touchdown run by Donald ‘D’ Smith in the second quarter gave the Titans a 10-7 halftime lead.
With 7:31 left in the third quarter, Knox Central took a 13-10 lead on a 39-yard touchdown pass from running back Donavan Arthur to Frankie Robinson.
Pick up a copy of this weeks Harrodsburg Herald or subscribe online for the rest of the story and a complete box score of the game.
