The Daviess County Panthers will be relying on quite a few new players this year after losing nearly all of their top performers on both sides of the ball, but Head Coach Matt Brannon is pleased with the way his team looks heading into opening night.
“I feel really good about where we are going into the season opener,” Brannon said. “We got hit hard with graduation last year. The energy of practice has been good, so all in all, I’m excited to get this thing kicked off.”
The quarterback position took its own hit after expected starter Lake Wilson transferred to Owensboro and the backup suffered a season-ending injury over the summer. Brannon and company decided to give the reins to senior Russ Crowe, who played wide receiver and defensive back last season.
Brannon said the Panthers have focused on taking things slower and making sure the new squad understands the offense. Crowe’s experience with the offense helped his transition to signal caller, Brannon said.
“He’s done a really good job over the summer trying to figure out what his skill set is. He had a fundamental knowledge of the offense,” Brannon said. “He’s a great leader. That was one of the reasons why we leaned on him early, and he has an abundance of qualities that you want your quarterback to have anyway. It was kind of a natural fit for him.”
Brannon noted that senior transfer Dartez Basham will also play a role at quarterback.
“We really look at letting that be kind of a two-headed monster as we go into this season,” Brannon said. “He’s been a great surprise for us. We look for him to have a great year for us.”
The skill positions will also be largely filled by newcomers. Last year’s seniors combined for more than 1,900 of the team’s roughly 2,000 rushing yards, along with 26 of the 27 touchdowns on the ground.
The passing game fares slightly better. Luke Floyd is the top returning receiver after catching 36 passes for 731 yards and seven scores. However, Floyd originally planned to transfer schools but ended up returning to DCHS and is currently working his way back into the starting roster.
Of the offensive live, Brannon said there will be four senior starters but only one has started a varsity game. The Panthers also suffered some losses on the defensive side. Brannon noted two linemen that will be leaders this year.
“Ryder Cunningham played guard and defensive line last year and now is center and linebacker. He’s just another natural leader that has helped us kind of transition through those changes and has been really solid for us,” Brannon said. “Gil Nicodemus is a two-way lineman. He came in last year from Ohio County and had never played football before. It was a learning year for him last year, and this year you can just tell that he’s picked up the game a little bit with his intelligence and his leadership.”
Another top returner on defense is Gatlin Maysey, who finished third on the team last year with 83 tackles (68 solo). He added a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries, and he returned one of his three interceptions for a touchdown.
Daviess County’s district changed slightly over the offseason, including Apollo and Marshall County dropping out with Christian Count moving in. Brannon thinks it will be a fairly even playing field from top to bottom.
“I think it’s wide open,” he said. “I think Christian County is a game we can win this year. I feel like things are kind of even down in McCracken County, like that’s going to be a competitive game year in and year out for us. Henderson is the one that I feel like going in as the favorite, but I just don’t know about them because they got hit hard by graduation as well.”
The Panthers will open the season with a grudge match at Warren East, who beat Daviess County 49-48 in overtime in the final regular season game last year.
They’ll then have a pair of rivalry games with home matchups against Owensboro Catholic and Owensboro. Week four will be a road trip to North Hardin, whose 2022 campaign ended in the first round of the playoffs with a loss to Daviess County.
After games against Meade County and at Warren Central, the Panthers will go through district play against Christian County, Henderson, and McCracken. They finish the regular season at Apollo.
“The first game is always the most important,” Brannon said. “I think it’s really important for us to get off on a good foot. I like to frontload our schedule and challenge us early because it means it gets us good and tested by the time we get to our district.”
Brannon said while the ultimate goal is a state championship, the Panthers are working hard to claim their first 6A region title.
“The game that we still have yet to win is that third-round regional championship game,” he said. “We’ve been there twice. If a 6A team from Western Kentucky is in a regional championship and can get that win, then I feel like you have just as good a chance to win a state championship as any other public high school in this state.”
Full schedule:
- August 18 at Warren East
- August 25 vs. Owensboro Catholic
- September 1 vs. Owensboro
- September 8 at North Hardin
- September 15 vs. Meade County
- September 22 at Warren Central
- October 6 vs. Christian County
- October 13 vs. Henderson County
- October 20 at McCracken County
- October 27 at Apollo
