Lee County’s defense stands tall in rout of Warren County football

Nothing could go wrong for Lee County. Nothing could go right for Warren County. On Thursday night the two were separated by more than the two hours of highways.

Lee County throttled the visiting Eagles 56-0, going up 49-0 at halftime.

The Yellow Jackets got a huge game from Jahmir Smith, who ran 10 times for 114 yards and four touchdowns. Smith added a fifth touchdown on a 63-yard reception off a third-quarter screen pass.

“He gets downhill quick and he runs with power, and that’s something we didn’t have last year and was an area of concern going into this year,” Lee County coach Burton Cates said.

Lee’s vaunted defense looked as good as advertised. Jordan Terrell, a sophomore, had a pick-six at the end of the first quarter to take a 28-0 lead less than 15 minutes into the game.

Lee’s remaining touchdowns were two Andrew Phillips catches, one from quarterback Jory Perkins and the other from fellow wideout Evan Wells.

For Warren County, which was held to 66 yards passing and just 1 rushing, it was not the start coach Terrance McCormick envisioned. The Eagles had a pick-six brought back when the game was still 14-0.

“We didn’t look prepared at all. Defensively, we’re arm-tackling, started off the game with penalties,” McCormick said. “There’s no excuse for what happened tonight, no excuse whatsoever. ... That’s not them, it’s the coaches, it’s me. I put that on my shoulder. I have to do a better job preparing them for the game.”

This story was originally published August 19, 2016 at 11:14 PM with the headline "Lee County’s defense stands tall in rout of Warren County football."