Daviess County’s all-time record against the Eagles improved to 26-24 on Friday night, as the Panthers blanked Apollo 28-0 in the 50th matchup between the two to secure a home game in the postseason.
The Panthers set the tone for the game right from the jump, recovering on an onside kick on the opening kickoff. A few plays later senior Bryson Parm capitalized on the miscue for Apollo, taking a handoff 33 yards for a touchdown and an early 7-0 lead with 10:24 left in the quarter.
“We feed off of that kind of emotion and I think that’s why we had that early momentum to go down and score,” Head Coach Matt Brannon said. “It’s always exciting to get off on the right foot. In this game I’ve been in several of them, whoever can catch the momentum early usually holds onto that. [I am] excited we executed that.”
After another quick drive for the Eagles, Daviess County couldn’t make much ground and was forced to punt. Despite having good field position at the 27, Apollo went on to fall short on fourth down to give the Panthers the ball back at the 25 with 5:53 left in the first quarter.
Following a few plays Daviess County was able to find the endzone again, as junior quarterback Lake Wilson hit senior Decker Renfrow up the middle for a 59-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 4:09 left in the quarter.
The Eagles tried to respond before the end of the first quarter, but a false start at the goal line moved them back to the 10 on fourth and goal before a turnover on downs gave Daviess County the ball with 31.7 seconds left in the first quarter. The Panthers almost capitalized in the second, but Apollo was able to strip Parm for a fumble to regain possession at the five with 7:21 left in the quarter.
Back-to-back sacks by Daviess County forced the Eagles to punt, giving the Panthers a chance to run some clock and grab another touchdown before halftime. Daviess County’s efforts would fall short however, as a pair of drops in the endzone and a missed field goal left their lead at 14-0 heading into the locker room.
The Panthers were the first to get on the board in the second half though, expanding their lead to 21-0 with Parm making up for his earlier fumble with an 88-yard carry. His second touchdown of the night had Daviess County well in charge, with 8:24 left in the third quarter.
Apollo showed some signs of life with an interception by senior Bryson Velotta with 4:22 left in third, putting them at the 49. The Eagles couldn’t convert on fourth down for the second time in the drive though, giving it back to the Panthers at the 34 with a turnover on downs with just under a minute left in the quarter.
Daviess County proceeded to keep padding onto its lead in the fourth, this time using a long drive capped off by a seven-yard keeper from senior quarterback Jack Ball to make it a 28-0 game with 7:23 left to play after senior kicker Sean Higgs nailed his fourth straight PAT of the night.
This would be the proverbial dagger in the game, as this would be all the Panthers needed to wrap up a 28-0 victory over Apollo to become 26-24 all time between the two teams. Brannon tipped his cap to Eagles following the game, saying that they limited them in some capacities but were happy to come away with the win.
“Apollo did a great job of taking away what we like to do,” Brannon said. “They did a very good job scouting us… Rivalry game, you never know what’s going to happen. The energy was good, the crowd was electric and we’re just happy to come away with the win.”
Brannon was specifically pleased with the way they played in the second half, noting that they missed some early opportunities to build their lead and had some little things that they wanted cleaned up coming out of the locker room.
“We got onto them a little bit at halftime,” Brannon said. “Felt like they came out really excited and we kind of backed off and started to play down a little bit. Just proud of the way they responded in the second half.”
Parm helped kickstart the Panthers strong second half with his 88-yard touchdown, just one of two he had on the night to go along with 191 rushing yards on 15 carries.
“He got loose and you can see the breakaway speed that he does have,” Brannon said. “That was the one thing that we’ve talked to him about, [which] was running behind his pads and being physical when he carries the ball. He did a good job there.”
Wilson also had a solid game under center for Daviess County, throwing for 146 yards, a touchdown and an interception on 8-14 passing. Renfrow was his primary target, catching three passes for 117 yards and a touchdown.
The Panthers now sit at 6-3 overall and 3-1 in district play, as the win helped them earn a home game in the postseason. Daviess County will have a big test next week though, as they are set to take on an undefeated Warren East team on the road at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 28.
“We’ve got a huge test next week with Warren East that’s 9-0 going on the road,” Brannon said. “So for us to win at home and secure another home playoff game is huge. We’ll look at the scores tonight to see what happens… We’re going to be ready for it. We’re battle tested. I feel like the schedule that we’ve played has prepared us to play in the postseason.”
On the other hand Apollo struggled to get much offense going, as senior quarterback Christian Combs threw for 49 yards on 11-24 passing and 61 rushing yards on 16 carries. Lead senior running back Donte Dixon also was stifled by the Panthers defense, amounting 10 yards on nine carries.
Head Coach John Edge acknowledged Daviess County’s solid play on the night following the loss while noting that they had a number of missed opportunities offensively, but knows that now sitting at 2-7 overall and 1-4 in district play the Eagles will need to bounce back next Friday at 7 p.m. against Greenwood on the road.
“Give them credit,” Edge said. “They made plays when they needed to and I think overall we need to get better. We gotta beat Greenwood and hopefully move up in the RPI… We gotta protect and we’ve gotta keep running the football when we need to. When we have that opportunity we’ve got to do it.”
Edge said that while the Eagles may not have been on the winning side as much as they’d like this season, he feels if they can continually improve over the next few weeks that they could still get the job done in the postseason.
“Anything can still happen in playoff time,” Edge said. “I’ve seen teams like Paducah Tilghman have losing seasons and end up winning state titles. We’ve gotta keep fighting, keep playing and be the best team we can be.”
