By Robert Bradford

The North Jefferson News



Hayden prevailed 24-14 in their season-ending rivalry game at Corner on Thursday night.

Both the Class 5A Wildcats and the Class 4A Yellow Jackets came in with identical 1-8 records.

The first break of the game came when Hayden’s Josh McCoy blocked a Corner punt. The Cats got as close as the five-yard line, but a fumble killed the drive. The Jackets would then drive 95 yards for a score, aided by two 15-yard penalties.

Quarterback Zack Price ran in from 30 yards to cap the drive. Katelyn Geddings added the point after to give Corner a 7-0 lead with 11:14 remaining in the half.

Price then connected with Jared Humphrey for a 67-yard scoring pass. Geddings added the point after to put Corner 14-0 with 8:52 in the first half.

Hayden would answer on their next set of downs. Sophomore Isaac Veitch broke several tackles and scampered in from 51 yards. A high snap on the point after forced Hayden’s kicker Seth Gardner to throw to Owen Hargett for the two-point conversion. The Jackets lead was cut to 14-8 with 7:35 left in the half.

Corner punted to open the second half. Hayden would put together a 62-yard drive, capped by a 21-yard scoring run by senior Josh McCoy. Gardner’s point-after put Hayden up 15-14 with 7:37 in the third quarter. After the teams exchanged punts, Hayden pinned Corner deep in their own territory. The Wildcats’ Owen Hargett tackled Price in the end zone for a safety to give Hayden a 17-14 lead with 1:49 remaining in the third.

Hayden added their last score midway thru the final period on a 40-yard run by Veitch.

The win improves Hayden’s record to 2-8, while the loss drops Corner to 1-9. Veitch led all rushers with 166 yards on 10 carries with two touchdowns. Price had 46 yards on nine carries and a touchdown, and also was 10 of 28 in passing for 164 yards and a touchdown.