Riding a three game winning streak, including an emotional come-from-behind victory over in-county rival Pineville, the Middlesboro Yellow Jackets fell to the visiting Breathitt County Bobcats on Friday night 57-7.

They say that lightning never strikes twice in the same place, but Breathitt County was able to strike twice very rapidly after coming out of an early-game lightning related weather delay in the first quarter of the game. Leading 23-0 at the end of the first, the Bobcats added 20 more points in the second quarter and further pulled away in the second half to secure a 57-7 victory over the Yellow Jackets.

The Breathitt County defense made it tough on Middlesboro quarterback Eric Helton. Helton accounted for 108 passing yards, one touchdown and three interceptions on 8-of-15 passing. Atavius Flanary led the Yellow Jackets in rushing with 19 rushing yards on three attempts. Jabari Kyle led the Middlesboro receivers with 53 yards on four receptions. Ethan Barton was the recipient of Middlesboro’s lone touchdown, on his only catch of the night, which went for 41 yards. Thaisan Sin was 1-for-1 on PATs.

The Breathitt County offense was lead by quarterback Jaylen Turner, who accounted for 123 yards and two touchdowns on 6-of-10 passing. Charles Collins shouldered the majority of the load for the Bobcats during the game, toting the rock 10 times for 182 yards and four touchdowns. Back-up running back Dalton Manns added one touchdown on six carries for 55 yards. Jacob Noble and Lane Weddle snagged a touchdown each for Breathitt County, both on 46 yard receptions.

The Breathitt County defense was in the Middlesboro backfield all night long. William Long accumulated three tackles-for-loss in the win, Ladaniel Whitaker added two, Collins added one and Caden Hogg added another. Collins and Tim Spencer also added one quarterback sack each. Oliver Marcus, Brandyn Slaughter and Turner all grabbed interceptions for the Bobcats en route to victory.

“We didn’t do a whole lot right against Breathitt County,” said Middlesboro coach Larry French. “Our players went into this game thinking we couldn’t beat them (Breathitt). We lost before we even took the field. We didn’t prepare well for this team, and it showed on Friday night. We looked lost at moments and scared at others. I don’t think the weather had anything to do with it. Overall, it was just a very poor performance. That was a good football team that we played. We are going to get back to work this week and move on to the next one.”

With the victory, the Breathitt County Bobcats improved to 6-0 on the season. With the loss, Middlesboro fell to 4-2 on the season. The Yellow Jackets are on the road Friday night against the Leslie County Eagles.