Tim Koogler is pretty sure what his Leslie County Eagles are going to see from Harlan County when the Black Bears visit for a 7:30 p.m. matchup Friday in Hyden.

Whether they can stop it is the question.

“They are big and strong and will run right at you. They’re well coached, and you can tell that,” Koogler said. “We have to come at them, too. If they are going to line up and run it at you, you’ve got to stop them.”

Harlan County (1-1) gained 415 yards on the ground in a 44-21 win last week over visiting Lee, Va. as Marcus McMillian, with 130 yards, and T.J. Green, with 128, each topped the century mark. Cody Taylor added 77 yards on six carries.

The Black Bears have focused more this week on trying to mix in a passing threat. Larry Williamson is expected to start again at quarterback, but Green should also see action there in the shotgun formation.

“We only threw the ball one time last week, and we all realize we need to try do more in that category,” Larkey said. “We’re taking the personnel we’ve got to work with and trying to make a passing game with the things we do best.

“It will be short play-action passes, and we’ve worked hard on that this week.”

Larkey says the win gave the Bears a confidence boost coming off a 35-8 loss to Pulaski Southwestern in the season opener at Somerset.

Leslie County (1-1) won only one game a year ago but brought back 10 starters on both sides of the ball. The Eagles opened the season with a 33-6 loss to Hazard but bounced back last week with a 40-0 win over Clinton County.

“Everybody says they’re young, but they are actually playing more seniors than us, and I feel they are better athletes than our seniors,” Larkey said.

Senior wide receiver/running back Cody Hensley, who set a school record last year with 14 receptions in a game, did it all for the Eagles’ offense in last week’s win with approximately 100 yards rushing and receiving.

“(Hensley) wasn’t really used much last week until the second half. It was 6-0 at halftime,” Larkey said. “They put him back there at running back, and he just went crazy. He’s going to be tough for our defense to bring down, but we can key on him because he’s one of those players they try to go to a lot.”

Sophomore quarterback Troy Napier completed 16 of 24 passes last week for 185 yards. Senior running back Matt Asher added 70 yards on eight carries and scored three touchdowns.

“This is going to be a team that can run it and throw it. Leslie County is known to throw the football,” Larkey said. “We’ve worked a lot this week on pass coverage in the secondary.”

Freshman linebacker Eric Hubbard led the Leslie defense in tackles a week ago. Randon Collett, a senior tackle, and Asher, a linebacker, are also key players for the Leslie defense, which lost senior linebacker Lance Coots for the season due to a torn ACL.

“We don’t have a lot of depth with 28 players,” Koogler said, “but we’re coming along.”