By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
One of the easiest decisions Greg Taphouse had to make when he became Ludlow’s head football coach earlier this year was returning Justin Blackburn to the quarterback position.
Ludlow quarterback Justin Blackburn opened his senior season with a net total of 401 yards in passing and rushing.
The new coach wanted the ball in Blackburn’s hands as much as possible and the multi-talented senior showed why in a season-opening 56-39 win over Carroll County on Friday.
Blackburn had a combined total of 407 yards passing and rushing in the game. He carried the ball 16 times for 231 yards and four touchdowns. He also completed 8 of 18 passes for 176 yards and three TDs.
“It was a big night to start this senior year,” Taphouse said. “He’s looking for big things this year and he just played his heart out.”
Blackburn played quarterback as a sophomore and finished with team-high totals of 1,313 yards rushing and 1,267 yards passing. Last year, he moved to running back and was the Panthers’ leading rusher with 1,111 yards.
The staring quarterback on last year’s team graduated so Blackburn is back under center this season and he showed his remarkable playmaking ability during Friday’s game. Two of his touchdowns came on slashing breakaway runs of 37 and 50 yards. He threw two of his three TD passes on the run, eluding rushers closing in for a sack until he found an open receiver.
“I knew we were capable of doing big things (on offense), but it was good to see we could go above all of the goals we had,” Taphouse said. “It was a little sloppy. We made some first-game mistakes, but even with those it was good to see what we were able to do.”
Blackburn also plays middle linebacker on the Ludlow defense. He finished Friday’s game with six solo tackles and three assists. He had one sack and two tackles for a loss.
The coach said Blackburn has gotten scholarship offers from Union College to play offense and from Cincinnati Christian University to play defense. He may draw even more recruiting attention after getting selected to play in one of the Blue-Grey High School All-America Bowls in early January.
The senior already has some impressive statistics on his high school football resume. Over the last two seasons, he has rushed for 2,426 yards and 25 touchdowns, passed for 1,555 yards and 15 touchdowns and made 193 tackles on defense.
“We’re trying to go back as far as we can at school with the (team) records so we can make sure before we declare anything, but I’m sure by the end of this season he’ll surpass some of those records,” coach Taphouse said.
This is the third consecutive year that Ludlow has opened the season with a victory. The Panthers’ next opponent is Bracken County, a team that escaped with an 18-13 win in last year’s final regular-season game.
“Bracken has always played us well,” Taphouse said. “We’ll work on what we accomplished (last) Friday, fine tune all the little mistakes that hopefully were just first-game jitters and go out and take care of business. But they’re always a tough match for us, so we’re expecting a dogfight.”
