On a night tailor-made for power football, the Harlan Green Dragons were up to the task.

The Dragons rolled up 20 first downs and 313 yards on the ground as they routed visiting Jenkins 33-0 to sew up the No. 2 seed and a home playoff game.

“I think it’s tremendous for these kids,” Harlan coach J.B. Donahue said. “I think if anybody had bet you, me or anybody else on July 15 that this team would be playing a home playoff game, they probably could’ve won a whole bunch of money.”

Harlan (2-6 overall, 2-1 district) averaged more than 6 yards per carry on a muddy, rain-soaked field, with Andrew Link leading the way. The junior tailback rushed for 245 yards and four touchdowns on 32 carries — his third 200-yard game of the season.

Donahue praised the play of the Dragons’ offensive line.

“I think this was a night based on our offensive line,” he said. “I’ve been on those guys hard for a week. We lost the line of scrimmage last week at Williamsburg, but I think they bounced back this week. They controlled the line of scrimmage, and Andrew did his normal thing, banging straight ahead. He ran the ball exceptionally hard.

“I just can’t say enough about our offensive line. Zach Allen, James Hill, Evan Dugger, Tanner Smith and Brad Day, and our tight end, Ben Cornett — they dominated the line of scrimmage, and that was the difference in the ballgame.”

Harlan was equally impressive on defense, limiting the winless Cavaliers to 62 yards of offense and five first downs. Kenny Pennington and Dugger, both juniors, made numerous plays and drew compliments from Donahue.

“I thought Kenny did an excellent job making some reads and running to the football,” he said. “Evan played well. ... I think slowly but surely throughout the year, Evan has become one of, if not the, best player out there. He’s a solid football player, and he does a heck of a job for us on both sides of the ball.”

After a play-action pass fell incomplete on Harlan’s first play from scrimmage, the Dragons went to Link on six straight snaps, the last for a 5-yard touchdown run. Austin Wolfe’s kick gave Harlan a 7-0 lead with 8:35 left in the first quarter.

Link added another 5-yard scoring run on the first play of the second quarter, and Wolfe booted the extra point to put the Dragons ahead 14-0. The touchdown capped a seven-play, 92-yard drive that featured runs of 43 yards by Link and 22 yards by senior Allen Hensley.

Hensley, who usually lines up at reciever, rushed for a season-high 76 yards on six carries.

“Allen made some big runs, too,” Donahue said. “We weren’t able to throw it to take pressure off Andrew, but we were able to put Andrew on the corner and make them defend that a little bit.”

The Cavaliers answered with their best drive of the game. A 33-yard kickoff return by Nick Taylor set Jenkins up at its own 46, and a 24-yard run by Taylor moved the ball to the Harlan 30. Junior quarterback Matt Gross converted a fourth down on a quarterback sneak and almost had a second after the Cavs ran on fourth-and-one from the 9, but after a measurement, officials ruled that he didn’t get past the marker.

Harlan responded with a drive of nearly seven minutes, moving 91 yards in 13 plays. Hensley picked up 45 yards on three carries in the drive, including a 13-yarder for the touchdown. Pennington mishandled the extra point snap and was brought down, leaving the Dragons with a 20-0 lead with 1:07 left in the half.

After recovering an onside kick at the 50, Jenkins moved to the Harlan 26 on a reverse pass from wide receiver Matt Johnson to tight end Corey Maggard. Four plays later, Link picked off a Gross pass to end the half.

The Cavs’ first possession of the second half ended when Dugger hit Josh Cornett to force a fumble that was caught in the air by Kody Johnson. Harlan made the most of the gift as Link carried seven straight times, closing the march with a 2-yard scoring burst. Wolfe nailed the kick to extend the Dragons’ lead to 27-0 with 6:30 left in the third quarter.

Harlan added its final touchdown on another 2-yard run by Link at the 1:27 mark of the third quarter.

The Dragons’ starters gave way to the reserves in the fourth quarter. Harlan went four-and-out on its first possession of the period, but Jenkins turned the ball over on downs and Harlan held the ball for the final 4:44 of the game.

“I think everybody on the team got to play some tonight,” Donahue said. “Those kids come out and practice every day, and I was tickled to death that we were able to get everybody on the field.”

The coach also lauded the leadership of Harlan’s three seniors — Hensley, Jacob Cole and Gary Harris.

“The leadership those guys have provided this football team — there aren’t a whole lot of kids who’ll come in and say, ‘We’re going to take a bunch of lumps, but we’re going to strive to get a home playoff game.’ That senior leadership provided by those guys, they’ve kept these kids focused on what we wanted to accomplish.”

The Dragons will finish the season with a pair of Class 5A opponents. Harlan will travel to Perry Central next week before closing the season Nov. 7 at home against Clay County.

“I know a lot of people give me grief over scheduling, but I believe you get better by playing good people,” Donahue said. “All we worry about week to week is getting better.”

Jenkins (0-8, 0-3) will travel to Betsy Layne next week.