Topic: Football
Tates Creek vs.Mercer County
Fort Harrod Bowl
Alvis Johnson Field
Harrodsburg, KY
August 23, 2025
© 2025 by Ron Harrison
Tates Creek trailed 29-26 at halftime but scored 40 unanswered in the second half to earn a 66-29 victory over Mercer County. This game could be described in several ways: “basketball on grass”, “fast break football”, “arcade football” but that still would not describe tonight. The two teams combined for 42 points in the first quarter, Tates Creek scoring 40 points after the intermission, back to back kickoff returns for touchdowns, Mercer County’s QB Cornelius Mapp throwing a pass, being tipped at the line of scrimmage, Mapp catches his own pass and scores a 12 yard touchdown pass from Mapp to Mapp, you get the idea, it was that type of night.
Tates Creek recorded 22 first downs and 476 yards of total offense. The Commodores were penalized 16 times for 179 yards. Mercer County recorded 15 first downs and 192 yards of total offense. The Titans were penalized 13 times for 81 yards and had three passes intercepted.
TayTay Allen led Tates Creek’s ground game with 112 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. BJ Evans carried the ball 12 times for 69 yards and two touchdowns. Darnell Burnside completed 13 of 20 passes for 264 yards and five touchdowns. Triston Taylor caught seven passes for 93 yards. Luke Cooper added five receptions for 104 yards and two touchdowns. JT Cooper recorded three receptions for 73 yards and three touchdowns. Triston Taylor returned one kickoff for 85 yards and a touchdown. JT Cooper and Luke Cooper each returned one kickoff for 44 and 19 yards respectively. Shawn Taylor led the defense with three solo and four assisted tackles. DVaughn Flowers added four solo and one assisted tackles with one of his tackles resulting in a three yard loss and scored on a 45 yard interception return. Bryson Beatty also recorded four solo and one assisted tackles. Rekus Greer chipped in with two solo and three assisted tackles with one of his tackles resulting in a six yard loss. Lazarey Warren intercepted a pass he returned 23 yards. Nazir Sanford also intercepted a pass.
Cohen Sanford led Mercer County’s ground game with 29 yards an da touchdown on 10 carries. Cornelius Mapp carried the ball four times for 16 yards. Cornelius Mapp completed 14 of 29 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions. Jacob Sanford caught six passes for 56 yards and a touchdown. Cohen Sanford added two receptions for 21 yards. Jayden Sailor caught one pass for 44 yards. Cornelius Mapp caught a 12 yard touchdown pass. Jayden Sailor returned three kickoffs for 108 yards including an 88 yard return for a touchdown. Cannon Buchan returned one kickoff for 46 yards. Michael Cox returned two kickoffs for 22 yards with a long return of 19 yards. Torian Bess led the defense with four solo and three assisted tackles. Cohen Sanford added two solo and six assisted tackles with two of his tackles resulting in losses totaling seven yards. Jayden Sailor recorded three solo and two assisted tackles. Michael Cox chipped in with two solo and three assisted tackles.
Scoring Summary
School | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
Tates Creek | 20 | 6 | 20 | 20 | 66 |
Mercer County | 22 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 29 |
MERCER | - | Cohen Sanford 1 yard run (Daniel Butler kick) |
TCREEK | - | BJ Evans 15 yard run (Daniel Butler kick) |
MERCER | - | Jayden Sailor 88 yard kickoff return (Cohen Sanford pass from Cornelius Mapp) |
TCREEK | - | Triston Taylor 85 yard kickoff return (BJ Evans run fails) |
TCREEK | - | Luke Cooper 55 yard pass from Darnell Burnside (Blake Hitchcock kick) |
MERCER | - | Jacob Sanford 20 yard pass from Cornelius Mapp (Blake Hitchcock kick) |
TCREEK | - | JT Cooper 24 yard pass from Darnell Burnside (Blake Hitchcock kick fails) |
MERCER | - | Cornelius Mapp 12 yard pass from Cornelius Mapp (Daniel Butler kick) |
TCREEK | - | JT Cooper 33 yard pass from Darnell Burnside (Darnell Burnside run fails) |
TCREEK | - | JT Cooper 16 yard pass from Darnell Burnside (Blake Hitchcock kick) |
TCREEK | - | BJ Evans 10 yard run (Blake Hitchcock kick) |
TCREEK | - | Luke Cooper 32 yard pass from Darnell Burnside (Blake Hitchcock kick) |
TCREEK | - | TayTay Allen 10 yard run (Blake Hitchcock kick) |
TCREEK | - | DVaughn Flowers 45 yard interception return (Blake Hitchcock kick fails) |
Selected Statistics
Tates Creek | ||||
| ||||
Rushing | No. | Yds. | Avg. | Long |
TayTay Allen | 14 | 112 | 8.0 | 30 |
BJ Evans | 12 | 69 | 5.8 | 15 |
Luke Cooper | 1 | 21 | 21.0 | 21 |
Darnell Burnside | 5 | 4 | 0.8 | 11 |
| ||||
Passing | A-C-I | Yds. | TD | Long |
Darnell Burnside | 20-13-0 | 264 | 5 | 55 |
Ace Davis | 3-2-0 | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| ||||
Receiving | No. | Yds. | TD | Long |
Triston Taylor | 7 | 93 | 0 | 29 |
Luke Cooper | 5 | 104 | 2 | 55 |
JT Cooper | 3 | 73 | 3 | 33 |
| ||||
Mercer County | ||||
| ||||
Rushing | No. | Yds. | Avg. | Long |
Cohen Sanford | 10 | 29 | 2.9 | 12 |
Cornelius Mapp | 4 | 16 | 4.0 | 15 |
Myron Russell | 5 | 9 | 1.8 | 7 |
| ||||
Passing | A-C-I | Yds. | TD | Long |
Cornelius Mapp | 29-14-3 | 138 | 2 | 44 |
| ||||
Receiving | No. | Yds. | TD | Long |
Jacob Sanford | 6 | 56 | 1 | 20 |
Cohen Sanford | 2 | 21 | 0 | 11 |
Myron Russell | 2 | -9 | 0 | 0 |
Jayden Sailor | 1 | 44 | 0 | 44 |
Michael Cox | 1 | 12 | 0 | 12 |
Cornelius Mapp | 1 | 12 | 1 | 12 |
Daniel Butler | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Acknowledgements
A special thanks to WL Stats for the comprehensive stats provided for tonight's games.
Please feel free to send your comments and questions concerning the event, teams, or players to me at prepgridiron@yahoo.com.
Ron Harrison’s reports on this and other football events appear on https://www.angelfire.com/ky2/prepgridiron.