Two Russellvillians helped their home state win a thrilling all-star game Jan. 10 in southeastern Kentucky.

CoCo Darden was the starting safety and his high school coach at RHS, John Myers, was on the coaching staff of the Kentucky team which won a 33-32 thriller over Tennessee in the Kentucky-Tennessee Border Bowl at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg.

“Tennessee scored with 25 seconds left in the game but failed in its attempt for a two-point conversion,” Myers explains.

The game, which was televised on the ESPN family of networks, was sponsored by the Kentucky National Guard. In one of the accompanying pictures, Darden is shown being congratulated by a National Guard official.

Darden was state Class 1A Player of the Year, Regional Player of the Year in any class (including 4A semifinalist South Warren and three-time defending Class 5A state champion Bowling Green), Courier-Journal first team All-State Overall, and Associated Press second team All-State Overall.