Prestonsburg quarterback Michael Burchett completed four passes---all for touchdowns---as the Blackcats beat Morgan County in last week's Sorghum Bowl, 48 - 14.
Gearhart completed three of his scoring passes to Austin Gearhart, who finished with 124 yards receiving. Gearhart's fourth touchdown pass was a 50 yard hookup with Matt Sword. Running back Seth Hester accounted for the Blackcats' final TD of the night and tallied 124 yards rushing.
Morgan County got both of its touchdowns in the second half. Although quarterback Jarred Curd completed only
three of 14 passes, he did find David Downey for a 17 yard score. Morgan's other points came courtesy of a 10 yard touchdown run by Jacob Flack---who led Morgan with 81 yards rushing on 15 carries. Flack also paced his team on the defensive end with a team-high 10 tackles.
As a team, the Cougars finished with 198 yards rushing on 42 carries. Ryan Flannery had 16 rushes for 70 yards while Brandon Ward finished with five carries for 37 yards.
Although the Cougars again got whipped on the scoreboard, coach Jake Purnell did see signs of progress. After trailing by 48 points at the half, Morgan scored on its first possession of the third quarter, stopped Prestonsburg and then scored on its ensuing drive.
"Our kids could have easily quit at halftime, but they didn't," said Purnell. "I'm proud of the fact that they moved the football in the second half and put points on the board. That's not an easy to do against a team like Prestonsburg."
Purnell was again forced to play with the absence of several key players. Darren Keeton, Kyle Havens, Hunter Fraley and Brandon Havens all missed the game due to injury.
"It feels like you're going into a gun fight armed only with a knife," Purnell said. "When you're missing players of that caliber, especially on defense, it's not easy to overcome."
The Cougars remain winless on the season, but Purnell believes that burden will soon be lifted. Morgan plays at Fairview tomorrow with home games still remaining with of Shelby Valley and West Carter.
"Fairview is a good football team, but I believe we've got a shot to win the game," Purnell said. "When we exchanged game tape, their coach said there was no reason why we should be 0 - 4. He told me we were a better team than that. I'd sure like us to prove him right on Friday."