West winning streak broken: Comets lose on the road against Paintsville

By: Jeremy D. Wells

All good things must come to an end, and the West Carter High School football team’s winning streak is no exception. The Comets lost to Paintsville on Friday night, 12-34 in a game where the Tigers just weren’t willing to give any ground. 

Both teams came into the match-up undefeated and the scores stayed close until the final quarter, when Paintsville kicked it into high gear, running in three touchdowns and connecting on two extra point kicks to run the score up by 20 points. 

West Carter’s Leetavius Cline scored the first touchdown of the game on an 11 yard run with 6:18 left in the first quarter, but the Comets weren’t successful on their kick attempt. The Tigers then scored with just under 5 minutes left on the clock when Harris Phelps ran in a three yard touchdown and Braydon Combs made good on his kick, bringing the score to 6-7. 

That trend continued in the second quarter with Jackson Bond scoring for West Carter on a five yard pass from quarterback Orry Perry. The Comets attempt to make up for that first missed kick with a two point conversion was unsuccessful when the pass failed to connect, however. Karsten Poe scored for the Tigers in the same quarter and Combs was good on another kick, taking the score to 12-14 leaving the first half. 

Neither team scored in the third quarter, leaving the possibility open for a Comets comeback, but Paintsville rallied in the fourth, scoring three touchdowns and connecting on two of their extra point attempts. Jake Hyden scored for Paintsville twice, once on a two yard run and once on a single yard, with Combs’ kicks successful on both. The Tigers other six points came from a 94 yard interception on the return by Frederick James, with the kick from Combs blocked by the Comets. 

West finished the game with 12 first downs to Paintsville’s 18, and six penalties to Paintsville’s nine, for 40 and 85 yards respectively. West rushed for 78 yards on 34 attempts to Paintsville’s 263 yards on 40 attempts. Both teams had turnovers on fumbles, with West having an additional turnover on the interception from James. 

West passed for 81 yards to Paintsville’s 82, with both teams connecting on 7 of their pass attempts. Total yardage for West Carter was 159 yards on 56 plays, while total yardage for the Tigers was 345 on 51. 

Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com