By Stephen D. Bowling

This week, I begin a new series and take an extended look at the games and events of the seasons of Breathitt Football. This week, we explore 1976.

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Coach Dudley Hilton was all smiles as the 1975 football season came to an end. The last three games had been very different for Breathitt County. “We really improved those last three games,” he said. “I thought we might have something.” Hilton was optimistic about the Bobcat team in 1976.

His smile quickly disappeared on July 19 when summer practice started and only 16 players reported to the new stadium to begin practice. “Our numbers are somewhat less than I had hoped for,” Hilton said. He had the players start making some calls. By the end of the week, the number had grown to 30.

“It is certainly less than what I had hoped for,” he told The Jackson Times. He pointed out that in a school with nearly 1,000 students, an average team would have at least “75 to 100 prospective players.” Hilton reassured the parents that he was willing to work with students to get the numbers up. “Every effort will be made to keep football from conflicting with family or work,” Hilton said. “But we can’t have a program without steady attendance of our players.”

He focused on what he had to work with and started conditioning. He scheduled a scrimmage with Hazard on August 4 before they headed off to football camp at London on August 8.

By “media day”, Breathitt County had a roster with 27 players ready for the season. Hilton was all smiles on “media day” when J. K. Murphy came to the Breathitt High School field for team and player pictures. He joked with J.K. and flexed his muscles as he posed.

Football Camp

“Stay with Hazard”

Bobcats at Football Camp

Breathitt Football coach Dudley Hilton’s charges are away at football camp this week getting ready for their pigskin season which will begin August 20 at Washington County.

Last week in a scrimmage game at Hazard, the Bobcats surprised everyone (including themselves) by “staying with” the Bulldogs, older and experienced in the game. Hazard’s
been playing the pigskin game since heck was a pup but the ‘Cats are starting merely their third season on the gridiron and interest is mounting daily in Hilton’s “Big and tough” team.”

Coach Hilton was delighted with the showing at the Hazard scrimmage game. Bulldog coach Fred Stidham was among the surprised ones who watched his team use all their
staying power against Breathitt. The scrimmagers included Bulldog Calvin Hagins, whose name is well known in high school football circles in Eastern Kentucky.

With night football on Breathitt’s home field just two weeks away, season tickets for all home games are being sold around town at $9 each. Help the sport along with your
purchase of a season ticket.

The first home game. AT NIGHT, will be Aug. 27, 8:00 p.m. when they host the Leslie County Eagles, another more experienced club in the region.

The Jackson Times, August 12, 1976, page 15

The 1976 Season

Washington County – August 20, 1976 – Loss 20-14

“We should’a won”, Coach says

Breathitt holds 14-6 third quarter lead

but Washington Co. wins 20-14

“We should’a won.” Commented Coach Dudley Hilton on his young Breathitt County football Bobcats first game of the 1976 season with Washington County at Springfield last Friday night. Breathitt held a 14-6 lead until the final minutes of play when Washington broke loose for two touchdowns to win the contest 20-14 on their home field.

“We looked so good in the third quarter, but it wore us out,” Hilton continued. “We need more boys. They were just tired out. We’ve only got about 28 on the squad.”

Coach was obviously proud of his team, the third crop of football players in Breathitt High history.  The sport was started here three years ago. “We are playing out of our class…if we play like we did last week, then I feel we’ve got a good opportunity to defeat Leslie County this week and win one.” Hilton stated.

The Bobcats were followed to Springfield, about a four-hour drive from Jackson, by about 40 enthusiastic supporters and Coach Hilton was elated with this. “I thought it was really great of them to make that long drive with us.”

At Washington County, Breathitt received the opening kick-off, and it seemed both teams played pretty tight at first. In that quarter, WC’s David Young broke loose, for a 64-yard touchdown (TD) but the extra point failed so the host team was on top 6-0.

With three seconds remaining in the first half. Danny Back connected with a touchdown pass of 22 yards to David Henry; and Ron Francis ran over the point after touchdown to give Breathitt a halftime lead of 8-6.

In the second half, the Bobcats kicked-off to WC and held Washington on three downs forcing them to punt on the fourth down.  Breathitt took over on the 30-yard line and began to shine for their best part of the contest. The Bobcats used 15 plays to travel 70 yards for their second touchdown of the night. With good running from the backfield guys, Larry Deaton, and good blocking from Barry Sams, Doug Johnson and Ron Francis, the Cats forged ahead 14-6 at end of the third quarter.

The first play of the fourth.  Breathitt had a mix-up in backfield causing a fumble, and Washington Co. recovered. Four plays later their David Young ran over for his second TD of the night. On the next series of downs, WC intercepted Danny Back’s pass giving the opponents good field position once again. Five plays later, Washington’s David Young scored his third TD to give his team the winning score of 20-14.

With two minutes to go, Breathitt tried desperately for another TD but failed. “Overall, we thought our boys played a good game except maybe at the last, they may have tried out a little,” said their head mentor in his second year.

Some final statistics: Larry Deaton carried the ball 16 times for 61 yards.  Danny Back carried it 12 times for 49 yards.  As a team, they carried it 49 times for a total yard gain of 156 yards and made 14 first downs. Danny Back completed five of 18 passes for 71 yards. The defense was led by Mark Trent with six tackles and four assists by David Henry with five tackles and five assists.

Tomorrow (Friday) night, the Bobcats will host their first home game in the new Stadium, meeting the Leslie County Eagles of Coach Eugene Hensley. Game time is 8:00 p.m. On September 3, Breathitt will play at home again with Johnson Central.

The Jackson Times, August 26, 1976, page 4

Leslie County – August 27, 1976 – Win 6-0

Johnson Central here Friday

Breathitt clips Leslie Co. Eagles 6-0

Fine defensive play and the Interception of five Leslie County passes gave Breathitt County’s football Bobcats the 6-0 victory over the Eagles Friday night in Breathitt’s first night game in a new stadium and athletic field.

Nothing happened to mar this premiere performance in the new stadium. The crowd was estimated at over 1,000 cheering fans who watched the Bobcats on the gridiron in the sport that’s new to the school.

Breathitt’s offense jumped out to score the first time they got the kickoff.  Danny Bach, sophomore quarterback for Coach Dudley Hilton’s Bobcats, got the touchdown on a straight hand off up the middle 10-yard run.

After that, it was Breathitt’s defense that held the Eagles scoreless and Coach Hilton had nothing but praise for the defensive hacks who played very good the entire night” especially against the passing of Leslie County.  “We were very pleased with the performance of these guys,” Coach added.

Of the five interceptions by the Bobcats, David Thompson and Danny Back got two each and Mark Trent caught one.

Breathitt was led in tackling by linebacker Doug Johnson, who had seven tackles and two assists and also recovered one Leslie tumble.

David Napier completed four out of six passes for 38 yards with one interception.  Receivers for Breathitt’s passes were Danny Back who caught two for 11 yards and fumbled another, John Bach caught one for 12 yards and David Henry, one for 15 yards.

On offense, Larry Deaton carried the ball 20 times for 86 yards gained.  Danny Bach had 14 carries for 78 yards.  Doug Johnson had seven carried for 30 yards.

Doug Johnson, senior fullback, had further praise from the coach. “He plays the roughest part of the game and he’s always in there fighting on every play.”

Hilton went on to say that the offense team played good at times hut made too many errors.  “Our offensive lost the ball four times by fumbles and one time by interception.”

Coach was happy with the win but unhappy because “we didn’t play nearly as good as we did against Washington County last week, when we lost 20-14. He said the Leslie game was “our first real game” The Bobcats will be at home again this Friday night when they host Johnson County Central.

Of the upcoming battle, Hilton said, “We’re going into it blindfolded. I don’t know a thing about them I stayed on the phone all afternoon and couldn’t find out a thing about them.”

He was highly complementary of Johnson Central’s new coach Ed Benton “a top notch guy.” Benton came to Central from Boyd County “where he’s had really good training.”

Johnson Central will be playing their first game of the season when they come to Breathitt tomorrow night.  Kickoff time is 8:00 p.m.

Coach Hilton was “tickled to death” with the fine fan support at the first game. “I just hope everyone will continue to come out and support our football team…it means everything to those boys out there on the playing field.”

Johnson Central beat Breathitt 30-6 in their game last year at Paintsville so the Bobcats will be trying hard to avenge that defeat as well as hoping to boost their 1-1 record for the season on the winning side.

Kickoff time is 8 p.m. tomorrow (Friday) at Breathitt stadium when the football Bobcats tangle with the Johnson Central Golden Eagles.  Central has good team support so no doubt a good many fans will follow the flight of their Golden Eagles to Jackson this week.

Friday’s game will be the last home game for the Bobcats until Sept. 25, when they host Prestonsburg.  On Sept. 10, Breathitt goes to MMI; Sept. I7, they travel to Morgan County, then back home the next week.  The Times urges you to follow the Bobcats at home and abroad.

The Breathitt-Johnson Central Football game will be broadcast Friday on WSIP-FM Paintsville.

The Jackson Times, September 2, 1976, page 12

Johnson Central – September 3, 1976

Bobcats’ fine defense holds visitors to one TD

Breathitt loses 7-6 to Johnson Central

By Louise B. Hatmaker

Talking about making the extra point after touchdown that means the difference in winning a  football game as it did in Breathitt’s 7-6 loss to Johnson Central here Friday night.  Coach Dudley Hilton says. “We just don’t have anybody that can kick the ball over the goal line…we may run it over (as we have done this year in two previous games) but we can’t kick it.”

Some fans had questioned his having the Bobcats try for the two-point conversion instead of the one-point for a kick after touchdown.  Because the failure to make the point after touchdown gave the Bobcats a 7-6 loss instead of the 8-7 win he’d tried for. “Were working on this…Mark Trent may do it. But we don’t have anybody that can kick the ball every time and get it over the goal posts,” he explained.

According to coach, he doesn’t have anybody who can kick the pigskin 20 times successfully…“we don t have anybody that’s consistent.” He thinks you have to be able to kick the ball at least nine out of ten times to make the extra point.

But to quote him, he was “happier with the one-point loss to Johnson Central” than the previous week’s win over Leslie County. Why?

“Because our boys played better they played their hearts out to try to win, and I’m proud of ‘em,” he stated.

Last year Johnson Central beat the Bobcats 31-6 so a mere 7-6 defeat this year means Breathitt’s made a lot of progress over that season.  As he put it, “After three games this season, we have given up 27 points and scored 26…last year, after two games we had given up 56 points and scored only 12.”

The difference in the game last Friday was simply this: both teams scored a touchdown apiece but Johnson Central made its extra-point on a kick to give them 7 points and Breathitt got 6 pts. for TD but failed on the two-point conversion.

Breathitt scored on the second series they had the ball in the first quarter on a 68-yard drive from the 32nd yard line with Danny Back taking it in from the 2-yard line.  Larry Deaton carried the ball 40 yards of the 68 traveled to get the touchdown.

Johnson Central scored late in the third quarter. “They knew everything about us because they’d scouted both our games, they knew everything I’d do…but I didn’t know a thing about how they’d play because it was their first game of the season,” Hilton went on to say.

His Bobcats had another change to score in the 4th quarter “but we had one of our passes intercepted and that killed our last hopes,” according to coach.

Breathitt defense was led by senior Doug Johnson with 13 tackles and four assists. Al Collins had 7 tackles and one assist; Barry Sams had 4 tackles and three assists. 

On offense Larry Deaton carried the ball 13 times for 56 yards, Danny Back 15 times for 31 yards and the touchdown.  Passing was three completed – two to David Henry for 26 yards and one to Larry Deaton for 4 yards.  Breathitt had four interceptions by Johnson Central.

“We need to work on our second half ballgame,” commented Hilton.  “I think they get to doubting themselves and let down, because we’ve been in the lead at halftime in every game.”

“I’ve got the greatest bunch of kids, they’re good kids, they don’t cause any trouble and they show – good sportsmanship… they played their hearts out for me,” he said proudly.

The Jackson Times, September 9, 1976, page 8

Millersburg Military Institute – September 10, 1976 – Win 48-18

Breathitt marches over MMI easy, 48 -18

Morgan Co. win will “depend on our fan support”, coach says

By Louise B. Hatmaker

Breathitt High’s 48 – 18 victory over MMI last week at Millersburg “tickled everybody to death and everybody played a great deal’ but a win this Friday night at Morgan County will “depend on our fans.” according to Coach Dudley Hilton.

“If a lot of people go to Morgan County with us, we can play a good ballgame… we need our fans.”

It will be the Bobcat’s first time to play Morgan County on the gridiron.  But they have watched them play so that is usually a plus factor. Hilton and his boys watched Morgan Co. lose 20 – 8 to M.C Napier at Napier field last weekend.

“Were just going to have to play good ball because they’ll have their fans and it will be their home field, but if we have our fans, it’ll take away their home field edge.” Hilton went on.

He took 36 boys to Millersburg last Friday and his boys said it was the first away game his team has ever won. Except for giving the Bobcats a 2-2 record for the season, it was not a game coach was proud of, he said. “We did a lot of things wrong but at least we won.”

Against MMI, the Bobcats made seven touchdowns and “tried five kicks and failed on all five” again pointing out, as he did last week, that “we just don’t have anyone that can kick those extra points… but we’re still working hard on it.”

The touchdowns were carried over by Danny Bach, Larry Deaton, and Doug Johnson on the offensive team.

Defense men, Al Collins and David Henry, scored two TDs.  Going by air, two were made by David Thompson and John Bach who caught passes from David Napier for a TD apiece.

Besides the five unsuccessful kicks for point after touchdown, the team made two 2-point conversions with Ron Francis and Danny Back carrying the ball for two points each.

The defense scored one safety, which is two points, for a total of 48 points.

He complimented the defense especially on scoring 18 points in the second half.

Looking ahead to next Friday, September 24, when the Bobcats will again be playing at home on

Breathitt field, he noted that Johnson Central, who beat Breathitt 7 – 6 two weeks ago, upset Prestonsburg last week 23-21 and “made us look good” since the Cats allowed J-Central to score only one TD. His Bobcats are looking forward to hosting the Prestonsburg Black Cats Sept. 24, at 8 p.m.

The Jackson Times, September 16, 1976, page 6

Morgan County – September 17, 1976 – Win 38-20

Bobcats 3-2 for season

Breathitt offense explodes for 38-20 win over Morgan Co.

By Louise B. Hatmaker

Breathitt High’s offense exploded last Friday night at Morgan County to give Coach Dudley Hilton’s a rousing 38-20 victory and to boost the season record to 3-2. About 200 enthusiastic fans who followed their favorites to West Liberty no doubt helped fan the spark that gave the Bobcats their important win with six games to go in the season.

Speaking for his staff. Coach Hilton revealed his jubilation, “We’d been waiting all year for our offensive team to explode and come through the way we knew they could…our boys played a terrific game, the best game they’ve ever played since I’ve been here.”

Playing on the home territory of Coach John Reed’s Morgan Raiders, the Bobcats turned in a total 344 yards on the  ground in rushing and broke all sorts of other team records.  “There were a lot of firsts for us,” Hilton noted.

In rushing, three boys picked  up over 100 yards apiece, which is a pretty good record for any one game.  Senior Doug Johnson carried the ball 17 times for 108 yards: Sophomore Larry Deaton had 22 carries for 102 yards; and Sophomore Danny Bach made 17 carries for 101 yards.

Breathitt had the ball nine times and scored six times with Danny Bach running three (3) touchdowns – one of 6 yards, one for 23 yds and another for 21 yds.

Larry Deaton ran one TD of 2 yards; Ron Francis ran another TD of 2 yds.; John Bach recovered a Danny Bach fumble in the end zone for the 6th touchdown.

In trying for the points after touchdown, the Cats were playing just the opposite game from previous ones when they couldn’t buy a kick it seemed. They’d been working on the kicking problem and at Morgan it worked.  Mark Trent made 2 points for Breathitt’s first successful kick after TD. Also it was the team’s first time for two successive wins and the first time to boost their season record to over 500 with a 3-2 record.  The game’s in its third year at the school and Hilton’s second year at the helm.

Coach Hilton had high praise for George Fletcher, Mark Trent, Bary Sams, Al Collins, William Shepherd, John Bach, and David Henry.  “These boys really helped their backfield to gain yardage…we’re tickled to death with their performance.”

On defense, Hilton felt the defense just gave up one touchdown as the Raiders scored their other TDs on interceptions on his second team.  “The defense played their usual good game.”

Again, the Cats were led in tackling by Doug Johnson with 6 tackles and 6 assists. Barry Sams and Al Collins had 6 tackles and 4 assists each.

“It was by far the best game we’ve played and a major victory,” stressed Hilton.  He added that itreally helped too to have that big crowd of 200 follow the Cats.

QUARTER SCORES

BREATHITT        6   12   0   20   (38)

MORGAN CO.    6   0     8   6     (20)

The Jackson Times, September 23, 1976, page 6

Prestonsburg – September 25, 1976 – Loss 31-0

P’Burg drops Breathitt 31-0

Coach says loss to tough team will help the Cats with Evarts this Friday

The Prestonsburg Blackcats dropped Breathitt County’s Bobcats 31-0 on the gridiron here at Jackson last week, dampening spirits of Bobcats, fans and coaches. “But it may help us this week when we meet another tough team Evarts.” Coach Dudley Hilton said philosophically of the loss that gives his cats a 2-3 season record.

“We played so bad that day…and I don’t like to make excuses for my team, but Prestonsburg had a real fine ball club. They jumped in on us. got us down and we just couldn’t go.”

The Bobcats were trailing 18-0 at halftime to the dismay of all, since Breathitt fans are not used to losing.  The Cats came back in the second half to play a lot better game but not nearly enough to score on the stronger, more experienced Blackcats from neighboring Floyd County.

“In the second half, we looked a lot better and threatened to score two times but tumbled the ball each time and gave it back to them.  I think if we could have played in the first hall the way we did in the second, it would have made a difference in the game,” Hilton noted.

“Prestonsburg will probably win their conference, I think,” the Bobcats mentor noted. 

He said he didn’t even mind fans yelling from the stands “for us to do something” in the Prestonsburg game. “I like to know that people care, and they showed it.”

He pointed out sonic bright sports in the Pburg loss.  After the offense got going, Danny Back carried the ball 14 times for 88 yards and Larry Deaton had 10 carries for 38 yards.  Also, Danny Back completed five of 12 passes for 51 yards of gain by air- one to Ron Francis, one to John Bach, one to David Thompson, and two to Larry Deaton.

“Our defense didn’t get the performance we’ve been getting from our front line and depended too much on our linebackers to do the tackling,” coach said.

In other stats, for the linebackers:  Mark Trent had six tackles and two assists, Doug Johnson had 9 tackles and five assists.  “Doug turned in another fine performance this week, we’re tickled with his work and hope to get more help for him this week on defense.” Hilton added.

“If we had any bright spots, it was the offense we ran in the second half and the kicking game of David Henry.  He punted the ball three times for an average of 37 yards, which is a very good average.”

BOX SCORE

Prestonsburg    0   12   0   13   (31)

Breathitt           0   0     0    0    (0)

The Jackson Times, September 30, 1976, page 8

Evarts – October 1, 1976 – Loss 6-2

Coach Hilton Says –

Bobcat Played “Good game against Evarts”

“I feel like we played a good game,” Breathitt High football coach Dudley Hilton commented after the game against Evarts last Friday night, “but when you play a good team like Evarts, you just can’t afford to make a mistake.”

But that’s what the Breathitt Bobcats did that night.  A blocked punt gave the Evarts Wildcats good field position and, four plays later, they made their only score. The scoreboard at the end showed Breathitt down by 4.  The score was 6-2.  Hilton was pleased with his team though, and he had special praise for his defensive team. Evarts had been rated 16 points over Breathitt.

“We held them on defense,” he said.  “And our defense caused the only points we got.  The entire defensive team worked together in a fine performance, and it was Mark Trent who fell on the ball to give us our two points.”

The defense was led by Al Collins with eight tackles. Doug Johnson had six tackles and four assists, and Mark Trent with six tackles and three assists.

The coach pointed out that Ron Francis, a Breathitt defensive end, has been a bright spot on the Bobcat defense all season, though it is not always evident from the statistics.  He said Francis “holds his responsibility.”  And Hilton said, “we are real tickled with his performance.”

The defensive secondary for Breathitt County was also very impressive against the Wildcats.  Evarts attempted thirteen passes, completing only three Hilton called this “a real standout performance” on the part of his players.

The coach also had much praise for his offensive team. Noting that it hasn’t scored in the last two games, he said the team “still looked impressive at times and they ran good offense, but they just haven’t been able to get it over the goal line.”  Two big fumbles hurt the Bobcats at crucial times when they came close to scoring.

Leading the offensive effort for the Bobcats Friday night were Danny Back with 19 carries for 80 yards, Larry Deaton with 12 carries for 30 yards, and Doug Johnson with 8 carries for 21 yards.  Quarterbacks David Napier and Danny Back completed four of six passes with one reception each for Doug Johnson and David Henry and two for Larry Deaton.

The Jackson Times, October 7, 1976, page 12

Whitesburg – October 8, 1976 – Loss 32-14

Whitesburg surprises Cats 32-16

Breathitt’s First Football Homecoming Saturday

Last Friday, the Breathitt County Bobcats were defeated at home by the Whitesburg Yellowjackets.  The final score was 32-14.

Breathitt Coach Dudley Hilton was pleased with the two touchdowns his team did score, noting that those were the first scores the offense had come up with in three games.

The Bobcats stayed with the Yellow-jackets through the first quarter, ending the period down by one point 7-6.

But late in the second quarter, Breathitt County took a gamble on their own 35-yard line, trying for a first down. The attempt failed and the ball was turned over to Whitesburg in good field position for the Yellow-jackets.

With just over two minutes left in the half, Whitesburg scored two more touchdowns and went to the locker room leading by 20-6 at the half.

Coach Hilton said, commenting on the final score of 32-14, that perhaps it had been the wrong night to try the new passing offense he and his team put into use. The field was wet and “pretty messy,” he noted.

The first Breathitt score came in the first quarter when Ron Francis went around the left and a 55-yard run producing six points. The point-after attempt, a passing try for two points, failed. 

The second Bobcat score came on a five-yard pass by Danny Back to John Bach in the fourth quarter.

This time the point-after attempt was successful on a pass from Back to David Napier.

Breathitt s offense was led by Danny Back, who carried 18 times for 25 yards, Ron Francis, with 3 runs for 47 yards, and Larry Deaton, who ran 22 yards on 5 carries. The team’s total rushing game amounted to 108 yards in thirty carries.

The Bobcat’s passing game consisted of 8 passes by David Napier and Danny Back, out of 22 attempts, for a total of 70 yards. 

Larry Deaton returned punts averaging 10 yards a return. Kicker David Henry averaged 36 yards per punt.

Coach Hilton felt the defense played well at times, but, at other times, “folded or gave up or something.”

“We didn’t get the defensive plays out of some guys that we’ve depended on through the season,” he said. “Sometimes, it was like we just couldn’t do anything right.”

The Bobcat defense was led by Danny Back, with 9 solo tackles and 3 assists, and by Al Collins and David Henry, with 5 tackles and 1 assist each.

With the game Friday, the Bobcat’s season record goes to 3-5 while the Yellowjackets go to 7-1.  Eight Breathitt County Bobcats will be playing their final high school home game Saturday when the Bobcats meet the M.C. Napier Navajos from Hazard.

And to make the day even more exciting, this will be Breathitt County s first football homecoming, with the homecoming queen being presented at halftime.

Breathitt Coach Dudley Hilton thinks the Bobcats will be “up” for the game against Napier since Breathitt County has a long-standing rivalry with the Navajos.

Napier, coached by Bill Dixon, comes to Breathitt County with a record of four wins and four losses.  Their most recent win came against Leslie County when the Navajos bested the Eagles 16-10 on the Eagle’s home turf.  Earlier this season, the Bobcats defeated the Eagles 6-0 here at home.

Coach Hilton calls Eagle quarterback David Napier “a really fine athlete” and does not see the Napier game as a sure thing for the Bobcats.  He urges all the fans, especially old grads, to come and cheer for their Bobcats.

The Jackson Times, October 14, 1976, page 6

M. C. Napier – October 15, 1976– Win 40-6

40-6 win over Napier makes perfect homecoming

In Breathitt County’s first football homecoming game, the Breathitt Bobcats destroyed the M.C. Napier Navajos by a score of 40-6.

Breathitt Coach Dudley Hilton praised his team highly after their effort, calling it “probably our best defensive game of the year.” He also called it a “sweet victory” over the Bobcat’s arch-rival.

Breathitt County’s first score came during their first possession of the ball.  After 8 minutes were gone, Larry Deaton ran 2 yards for the score. The point-after attempt failed, and the Bobcats, after an unsuccessful field goal attempt from 11 yards out, ended the quarter on top, with the score 6-0.

This field goal try was the first such attempt ever by the Bobcats. 

In the second quarter, the Bobcat defensive line blocked a Napier punt, giving their offense possession on the Napier 26-yard line.  Six plays later, Breathitt’s Danny Back carried the ball over on a 15-yard run.  Then Larry Deaton, on the 2-point conversion try, ran over the goal line behind the blocking of Barry Sams and Al Collins, and upped the score to 14-0.

This score stood at half-time. 

On the third play of the second half, hard-hitting by Breathitt defensive men Doug Jackson and John Bach caused an Eagle fumble.  Larry Deaton recovered the ball for the Bobcats and took it 70 yards to chalk up another Breathitt score.  When the point-after try by Mark Trent failed, the score stood Breathitt 20 – Napier 0.

Another fumble by Napier, later in the half, was recovered by Breathitt’s John Bach, giving the Bobcats good field position.  Ron Francis carried the ball from 4 yards out behind good blocking by Larry Deaton and Doug Johnson.

Then Mark Trent’s point after kick increased the margin to 27-0.

In Breathitt’s next drive, which covered 60 yards, Larry Deaton showed his running ability and completed 2 passes to John Bach, one for 15 yards and one for 14 yards.  The second pass scored a touchdown for the home team and the conversion by Trent made the score 33-0.

On Breathitt’s kick-off, the Napier Navajos ran for their only score and the scoreboard showed 33-6.

On the Bobcats’ next possession, David Napier passed to David Henry for 27 yards and to John Bach for 8 yards, setting up the team’s next field goal attempt.  But a bad snap from center caused the kick to fail. 

The final touchdown scored by the Bobcats in their homecoming game came on Danny Back’s run around the left end for 7 yards.  After Trent’s extra-point kick, the final tally showed Breathitt 40 – Napier-6.

Coach Hilton praised the play of his offensive line, comprised of George Fletcher, William Shepherd, Mark Trent, Barry Sams, and Al Collins.

“We thought David Napier ran the offensive team with a lot of control,” the Coach commented, “completing 4 of 7 passes for a total of 61 yards.”  He was especially proud of the fact that Breathitt County did not commit even one fumble or have one pass intercepted.

The Bobcat defense was led by Doug Johnson and Ron Francis with 5 solo tackles and 1 assist each.

Mark Trent intercepted his eighth pass of the year. And the defense caused 3 Navajo fumbles and intercepted one pass.

“It was, I feel,” Coach Hilton smiled, “a whole defensive team effort.  Everybody held their positions real well.”

Now the Breathitt Bobcats look toward to their next game, against Estill County at 3:00 Friday afternoon at Estill County and to the last game of the season which will be for the district championship.

Estill County is coming off a 21-0 win over Rockcastle County.

The win over the M. C. Napier Navajos gives both teams records of 4 wins and 5 losses.  Coach Hilton again noting that his players have played an extremely tough schedule this year against very good teams, said. “We’re getting a lot more respect now other coaches are coming to watch us play and they’re not taking advantage of us anymore as an easy win!”

The Jackson Times

Estill County – October 22, 1976– Win 28-22

Ready for Cawood

Breathitt railroads Estill Co. 28 – 22 in 3 OTs

Bobcats’ 5-5 record on the line

Although it took the Breathitt County Bobcats three overtime periods to defeat Estill County, 28-22, they did it and are now preparing to face Cawood this week for the district championship.

Breathitt Coach Dudley Hilton praised his players for their showing against the Estill Engineers, calling it “terrific”, considering their seven turnovers in the game. The Bobcat’s total offense came to 360 yards, despite all those turnovers and 120 yards assessed against the team for penalties.

Breathitt’s first score came on its first possession in the first quarter.  David Napier found his receiver Danny Back open for a 70-yard pass play, scoring six points for the Bobcats.  The team then tried for a two-point conversion but failed.  After Estill County scored and also failed on their conversion try, the score stood at 6-6 as the first quarter came to a close.

In the second quarter, Breathitt fumbled on its first two series of plays.  On its third series, however, Larry Deaton ran up the middle behind the blocking of Mark Trent, George Fletcher, and Barry Sams.  His 51-yard run gave Breathitt its second score and the successful two-point conversion on a pass from David Napier to John Bach left the score at 14-6 as the teams went to the locker room for the half.

While the Bobcats went through the second half without a score, the second half without a score, the Engineers took advantage of a Breathitt turnover and upped the score to 14-14.  The tied score ended the game and Breathitt and Estill went into overtime.

In high school football, an overtime period consists of each team receiving the ball for four plays on the opponent’s ten-yard line.

A flip of the coin gave the Estill Engineers first possession, but they failed to score.  Then Breathitt failed to capitalize on its four plays, so another overtime was declared.

This time, Estill County scored on a sweep around the right end and added two points after the touchdown, making the score 22-14 in their favor.  But Breathitt countered with a ten-yard pass from David Napier to John Back and on a run behind blocking from Al Collins and Barry Sams, Danny Bach ran a bootleg run around the left for an additional two points.  This again tied the score and a third overtime became necessary.

On Estill County’s possession in this third overtime, Ron Francis caught the Estill County quarterback, causing him to fumble the ball.  Breathitt’s Mark Trent fell on the loose ball and Estill County thus lost their chance in this extra period.

On Breathitt’s possession in the third overtime, Larry Deaton ran over the winning score from two yards out, giving the Bobcats their fifth victory of the year.

Despite the mistakes made by the Bobcats in the effort against Estill County, their coach, Dudley Hilton, was proud of them.

“When you make that many mistakes,” he said. “That many turnovers and that many penalties, and still win, that shows a lot of determination and desire to win.”

On offense, David Napier completed 7 of 12 passes for a total of 126 yards, three of those passes were to John Bach for 51 yards while Danny Back caught two for 102 yards and David Henry caught one for 31 yards.

Coach Hilton had special praise for John Bach.  “We feel like he showed real determination in bringing down passes from between defenders, passes which some other receivers would have missed.  And David Henry’s reception was like that, too.”

“We got fine running from our backfield, too.” the coach stated.  Larry Deaton ran 18 times for 110 yards.  Danny Back, Doug Johnson, and Ron Francis also had good running days as the whole offense picked up 184 yards rushing.

“Besides Ron Francis making the big defensive play of the game,” Hilton declared. “It was a whole defensive team effort for the day.”  Barrs Sams led the defense with 9 tackles and 2 assists and Doug Johnson had made 6 tackles and assisted in 8.

The Breathitt County defense caused four Estill County turnovers, two intercepted passes, picked off by David Thompson and Doug Johnson, and two fumbles, recovered by Mark Trent and David Henry.  Henry ran 60 yards after his recovery for what would have been a touchdown except for a clipping violation which called the play back. 

Danny Back also had a touchdown run called back on a penalty. 

Coach Hilton called the effort “a hard-fought game and a well-deserved victory”.  He says practices this week have been so good or better than any in his two years here as coach as his team prepared to meet the Caywood Trojans on their home turf Friday night at 8:00.

This game is so important because it will determine whether or not Breathitt will represent the district against Belfry on November 12 in the playoffs.

The coach is ecstatic over his team’s season in what is only the third year of football in this county.

“We’ve had a successful season,” he smiled. “and this would be the icing on the cake to defeat Cawood this week.  We’ve come off a lot of hard games, but they’ve built us up for this one.

Cawood embarrassed us 48-0 last year,” he continued.  “but it won’t be anything like that this year.  We’ve played very good teams and its built up for this week.”

Cawood, coming off a 30-6 win over Bell County, has a record of 7-3.  Coach Hilton says he hopes Breathitt fans will follow the team to Cawood and give it some of their home-town spirit.

Cawood may be a tough team, but Coach Hilton says he and his Bobcats are ready for them.

The Jackson Times,

Cawood – October 29, 1976 – Loss 22-8

Coach pleased but tired

Breathitt ends grid season 5-6 after Cawood loss

The Breathitt Counts Bobcats finished out their third season of football last week with a 22-8 loss to Cawood, giving the team a season record of five wins and six losses.

Breathitt Coach Dudley Hilton said that, overall, his players turned in a good performance, noting that Cawood was considered a 30-point favorite.

The Bobcats scored first in the game on an 8-yard run by Danny Back around the left end, which was set up by a 22-yard pass play from David Napier to Back.  Two points were scored on the conversion pass from Napier to David Henry.

In the second quarter, Cawood scored their first touchdown but were frustrated on their conversion attempt by the fine defensive play of the Bobcats, leaving the score at 8-6.  Later in the second period, a Breathitt County punt was blocked, and the Cawood Trojans took possession in good field position inside the Breathitt 5-yard-line.  But the Bobcats held for four downs and left the field at half-time leading 8-6.

There was no scoring in the third quarter.  Breathitt County had good opportunities but failed on four pass attempts. 

In the fourth period, Cawood used several different plays to finally score their second touchdown and upped the score to 14-8, Cawood.  Breathitt County lost a crucial and costly fumble, giving Cawood the chance to score again.  The third Trojan score took the tally to 22-8, where it remained until the end of the game.

The Breathitt County offense was led by Doug Johnson, with 58 yards in 10 carries, Larry Deaton, with 52 yards on 18 carries, and Danny Back, with 8 carries for 25 yards.

David Napier completed 6 of 13 passes, with John Bach catching three of them for 50 yards.  David Henry caught two for 43 yards.

Of defense, David Henry led with 10 tackles and 9 stitches in his nose.  Doug Johnson had 7 tackles and 2 assists, while Barry Sams and John Bach made 6 tackles each.  Two Trojan tumbles were recovered by Breathitt’s Ron Francis.

A pleased but tired Coach Hilton, felt that the Cawood game gave his team a chance to build a lot of confidence.

“For a third-year program, we’ve had a great year,” he said. “We played good teams and worked hard and won some games.  Last year we ended with a standing of 29.8.  But this year, our standing is 49.7.”

Boyd Fox, the Cawood football coach, said he had “never seen such improvement in a team as in this Breathitt County team.”

That improvement showed up in other statistics as well; for example, last year’s Bobcats gave up a total of 300 points to opposing teams.  This year, the total was 180.

Reflecting on such progress, Coach Hilton is looking forward to next year, saying, “We’ll have a real good season.  I’m proud of my boys!”

The Jackson Times, November 4, 1976, page 12.

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© 2023 Stephen D. Bowling