A strong second half by Daviess County, paired with a dominant display from senior Decker Renfrow on both sides of the ball helped them grab a 32-13 win on the road over Owensboro Catholic in a crosstown showdown.
It was the Panthers who opened up the scoring in the contest, methodically moving up the field behind senior quarterback Jack Ball. He grabbed the first touchdown of the day with a 10-yard carry, as Daviess County had a 6-0 lead with 6:27 left in the first after the failed two-point conversion.
Shortly afterwards, Renfrow came through defensively for the Panthers, grabbing an interception and taking it back to the 26 with 5:23 left in the first quarter. Nothing came of it though and Owensboro Catholic took advantage on the ensuing drive.
The Aces nearly botched the opportunity to grab a lead with a turnover on downs, but a Philly special on fourth and long paired with a flag gave them a first down on the 13. Sophomore Brady Atwell proceeded to roll out shortly after, floating the ball to junior Reid Clark in the back corner of the endzone for the 7-6 lead following the extra point with 2:56 left in the first.
The Panthers tried to mix it up with a trick play on the ensuing kickoff to gain some extra yards, but it didn’t matter as Clark picked the ball off at midfield and took it to the 26. This would allow the Aces to take some time off the clock and take a 7-6 lead into the second quarter.
Owensboro Catholic wasn’t able to get anything on that drive, but we’re able to control possession for much of the second quarter with the game still at 7-6 with 5:38 left in the half. A few minutes later as the Aces continued to try and move upfield, Renfrow grabbed his second interception of the night.
He was able to return it to the 15-yard line, before later catching the five-yard touchdown pass from Ball with 2:05 left in the first half. This gave the Panthers a 12-7 lead going into halftime, as they missed the two-point conversion.
The Aces nearly got back onto the board to open up the second half, as Atwell hit sophomore Waryn Ebelhar for a 23-yard reception to give them first and goal on the three with 7:05 to go in the third. However, Daviess County’s defense locked in and forced a turnover on downs, taking over at the two-yard line.
Owensboro Catholic responded swiftly though, as junior Elijah Blair intercepted a pass from Ball with 4:44 left in the third quarter. Junior Tutt Carrico ran it in to cap off the drive, as the Aces took a 13-12 lead after the failed two-point conversion.
Despite the Aces swiftly grabbing momentum after the Panthers had a chance to extend their lead, they didn’t let up. This is something Renfrow said that they hang their hat on game in and game out.
“We knew they were gonna come to play after a big win against Apollo…” Renfrow said. “We’re going to leave everything out here every single game. We may not be the most talented, but we’ve got grit. We’re not going to give up.”
Junior Lake Wilson then took over at quarterback for Daviess County and they caught fire. He would hit Renfrow for a 43-yard reception to move to the 24-yard line with 2:28 left in the third.
After getting into the redzone, senior Bryson Parm took a handoff four yards to the house. Wilson scrambled and hit junior Luke Floyd on the two-point conversion, giving the Panthers a 20-13 lead.
Daviess County had some tricks up their sleeve on the following kickoff, as they recovered a surprise onside kick to take over at the 46 towards the end of the third. Facing a three-and-out to start the fourth, Parm took a screen pass 25 yards to get to the 22 with 11:05 left to play.
Parm was able to make it to the endzone on a 10-yard rush a few plays later, but a barrage of penalties led to the Panthers bringing it back to the 24. The Aces were able to get the big stop, trying to take some momentum as Daviess County’s field goal attempt was wide left.
But less than a minute later Renfrow struck again, grabbing his third interception of the night and taking all the way to the endzone. With the two-point conversion no good, the Panthers were out in front 26-13 with 7:40 left to play.
Owensboro Catholic’s offensive struggles continued as the fourth quarter winded down, including a pick from senior Tyce Beehn and a strip sack from Floyd that put Daviess County on the 15 with 4:45 left to play. This led to Parm grabbing another rushing touchdown, giving the Panthers a 32-13 lead after the extra point was blocked with 3:14 left to play.
Daviess County added the final blow with 1:39 left in the fourth, as Renfrow snagged his fourth interception of the night to wrap up the 32-13 victory over the Aces in the crosstown battle. The junior receiver and defensive back had his hands all over the game with four interceptions including the pick six, as he credited the scouting report going into the game to help him make reads.
“They’ve got a young quarterback in Brady and he’s got a heck of an arm,” Renfrow said. “But sometimes he tends to float that ball and we just saw that he was throwing it up. I was out there just trying to make plays for my team. Just trying to be a ballhawk.”
He also chipped in 69 receiving yards on four catches, with one of them being a touchdown. Head Coach Matt Brannon was thrilled with the senior’s play, as he has led by example for the Panthers as of late.
“It’s what I’ve seen from him for four years,” Brannon said. “Consistency and hard work. He got named a captain this week and he practices hard everyday. His dad is my assistant coach, so he’s grown up around the game and he understands. He gets people in the right places. He’s just a heck of a football player and a heck of a leader and I’m just glad he was able to shine tonight.”
Ball earned a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown on the day, while Wilson led the way in passing yards with 88 on 5-11 passing. Parm led the way offensively, running for 75 yards on 23 carries to go along with a pair of touchdowns.
The Panthers defense as a whole forced seven turnovers on the night, including five interceptions, a strip sack and the recovered onside kick. Atwell had three of those interceptions to go along with his 105 passing yards and passing touchdown on 14-28 passing, while sophomore Lucas Gorman had a pair of interceptions on six passing attempts.
“The defense played outstanding tonight,” Brannon said. “It kept us in the game all night. We struggled to establish a rhythm offensively, but Lake Wilson came in and did a great job and kind of gave us a spark.”
Daviess County’s upperclassmen were at the forefront of their success on both sides of the ball, as Brannon tipped his cap to them for not folding when momentum might not have been on its side.
“I think that’s a team that has experience [showing through],” Brannon said. “We’ve got a ton of seniors that have been there. They’ve been successful and they were successful last year as juniors, so they have an understanding that there’s going to be ups and downs in these games with the electric crowd and just the atmosphere that’s created here which was amazing.”
The Panthers improved to 2-0 overall on the season with the victory, as they will now take a week to prepare for a tough road matchup with Owensboro next Friday at 7 p.m. The Aces on the other hand fall to 1-1 overall, as they will prepare for a road matchup with Union County at 7 p.m. next Friday.
