True, the Montgomery County Indians lost to the Anderson County Bearcats 49-33 Friday night. But it's also true that the game featured a resilient group of MCHS players that looked as if they were getting back on track after suffering a rash of injuries and a seemingly devastating loss to the North Laurel Jaguars the previous week. "We just went back to work," said Coach Dan Gooch. "We didn't look at the North Laurel film, we didn't talk much about that game, we just started concentrating on Anderson County and trying to get better." And yes, they did. Sophomore Kevin Peyton returned to action after missing the North Laurel game, although the Indians were still missing three starters. Peyton returned after being ill for the North Laurel game but senior end Chase Hall, who hadn't practiced in two weeks because of a spleen injury, was cleared to play. "Unbelievable," Gooch said. "Normally, we don't play kids when they aren't able to practice, but as thin as we've gotten with the injuries we've had it was really big for us to get Chase back. Anytime he was able to be in there it meant that we were able to rest someone that we hadn't been able to the previous week." Hall was named the Special Forces Player of the Week and he came within an eyelash of breaking an 89-yard kickoff return late in the first half that probably would have given the Indians a 28-21 lead at the intermission instead of them trailing 28-21. The bottom line was that the Indians took the fourth-ranked team in Class 5A essentially down to the wire just a week after being humbled by a lesser foe. "I'm certainly proud of the way we bounced back but it's still disappointing because this was a game we easily could have won," Gooch added. The loss left the Indians with a 1-4 record (0-1) in the district, but still seemed to leave the Indians energized for the second half of the season where they still have a chance to finish high in the district and still have a legitimate shot at hosting a playoff game. The game saw junior quarterback Art Walker establish a new school record for most passing yardage in a game as he threw for 340 yards, completing 15 of 32 passes including two touchdowns and he also ran for a score. Senior receivers Joe Chism (six catches, 179 yards, third best in school history) and Braxton Hopkins (five catches, 130 yards) had terrific nights catching the football and junior Cody Parsley also had a TD reception, his fourth of the year. But the Bearcats were able to run the football with great success against the Tribe and the Bearcats senior quarterback Zach Carmichael had a sensational night, completing seven of nine passes for 231 yards and three scores and he also ran for a TD. Two of the scores went to junior Brayden Russell and covered 71 and 65 yards, respectively and provided huge momentum swings as they both came right after Montgomery County touchdowns. Anderson County (3-2, 1-0) scored early on a 15-yard run by senior Chris Toomey. He finished with 177 yards rushing and receiving on just 15 touches and scored three touchdowns. Montgomery County bounced right back from that early Bearcat score by moving down the field 78 yards in five plays and scoring on a 20-yard pass from Walker to Parsley. The junior receiver made a terrific grab, going airborne with defender Dusty Puckett right on him to make the grab. Then the teams traded touchdowns again with Walker capping a 76-yard, 13-play drive with a one yard run to deadlock the score at 14. Montgomery County took its only lead of the game at 21-14 when Matt Purvis forced one of four Anderson County fumbles and Chism picked it up and ran 18 yards for a score with 7:30 to play in the first half. The Bearcats scored on their next offensive play and then added a TD with just :17 to play in the first half and didn't trail again. The Indians did pull to within a point with 6:22 to play in the third quarter when Chism turned in a spectacular run on a 53-yard pass reception but there was a bad snap on the extra point and the Bearcats held the lead at 28-27. Anderson County marched 60 yards for another score late in the third period and then the game went down to the final minutes before they scored again to make it 42-27 with just 5:14 to play. But the Tribe wasn't done yet. Walker and Hopkins hooked up on a 55-yard pass play to the Bearcat' 28 yard line and on the next play, senior fullback Brian Wagers went off left tackle, ran right into a defender and simply bowled over him and then raced untouched the rest of the way to bring the Indians within a 42-33 count with 4:41 to play. A two-point conversion attempt that could have pulled the Indians back to within a score was unsuccessful and the Bearcats tacked on another score with just 25 seconds on the clock to make the final score, 49-33. The Indians got a terrific effort on defense from senior Matt Purvis, who was playing with a broken hand and still made some big hits. "Our guys really played with some passion," Gooch said. "I felt like we were really the better football team but we gave up too many big plays. "Anytime your score 33 points you should win the football game." This week the Indians will continue district action as they travel to West Jessamine to take on the Colts. "All of these games are now must-win games for us as we look to the playoffs," Gooch added.