LEXINGTON, Ky. ? Redshirt freshman tailback Antoine Brown rushed for 205 yards and three touchdowns as the Kentucky Junior Varsity topped Hargrave Military Academy 49-14 on a cold, blustery Friday afternoon at Commonwealth Stadium.
?I was very pleased with our guys, we played well against a team that had 25-27 players who are committed to Division-I schools,? head coach Rich Brooks said. ?We got some good looks at a lot of our guys. Today gave them a chance to play in a game situation and experience some success. We haven?t won our JV game since I have been here and I believe this shows that we have better depth in our program.?
Hargrave, a prep school located in Chatham, Va., made the trip to Lexington for the second consecutive year, after having beaten the Wildcats 27-10 a year ago.
A standout performance by the UK offensive line, including players such as center Eric Scott, guard Sefo Blaylock, and tackle James Alexander, helped pave the way for Brown?s stellar performance.
?I told myself last night that I wanted to come out and play well,? Brown said. ?I think the offensive line did a great job opening up holes. The coaches said this would be a good way to prove that we can play and maybe get some playing time on Saturdays.?
While Brown paced the offense, several other individuals stood out with solid performances. Fullback John Conner rushed seven times for 45 yards and a TD and junior wideout John Logan hauled in three balls for 24 yards. Tight end Zipp Duncan and fullback Maurice Grinter each added a touchdown catch.
?Antoine Brown ran hard,? Brooks assessed. ?He showed both speed and toughness. Maurice Grinter got to carry it more (than in the varsity games) and the same thing for John Conner.?
Kentucky got on the board first, courtesy of an electrifying run from Brown, who burst through the line of scrimmage and scampered for a 55-yard touchdown.
Hargrave answered the Wildcats late in the first quarter, driving 95 yards in 10 plays to even the score, after Chris Slaughter took an Emanuel Francis pass 15 yards to the endzone to cap the drive.
Kentucky followed with three consecutive scoring drives to stretch the lead to 28-7 at the half. Fullback Maurice Grinter finished off a 46-yard scoring drive with a one-yard touchdown run to give UK a 14-7 margin and Brown and Conner scored on touchdown runs of two and three yards respectively, for the first half margin.
The Kentucky defense held strong all afternoon, allowing only 269 yards for the Hargrave offense. The Wildcat defense forced seven turnovers – five fumbles and two interceptions.
Kentucky got on the board first in the second half, when quarterback Rocco Maragas connected with Grinter for a 17-yard touchdown to complete a 42 yard drive. Maragas finished with 83 yards, completing 9-of-14 passes for two touchdowns.
Hargrave answered the Wildcats in the third, scoring on a 10-yard pass from Jamie Childers to Quentin McCree to make it 35-14.
The Wildcats closed the door in the fourth, with two scoring drives to put the game out of reach. Brown punched one in from five yards to push the UK lead to 42-14 and Maragas connected with Duncan on a 12-yard scoring strike for the final margin, 49-14.
Kentucky was led by several individuals on the defense with freshman linebacker Sam Maxwell leading the team in tackles with eight. Linebacker Terry Clayton had six tackles and a fumble recovery.
Freshman cornerback E.J. Adams had an interception and broke up three passes while fellow freshman corner Calvin Harrison notched an interception and a pass breakup. Defensive tackle Austin Moss highlighted his four tackles with a quarterback sack. Adams also saw time as the squad?s second quarterback, rushing 24 yards on two carries.
The Kentucky varsity has an open date on Sat. Oct. 21. The Wildcats return to action Oct. 28 at Mississippi State.
?It shows that we did a really good job executing,? Brown concluded. ?The coaches told us during practice all week that this was a good chance for us to show that we can play and we just came out with a victory.?
