Deion Winstead scored three touchdowns and picked up key first downs in the final minutes to help Owensboro hang on for a 28-21 win at Graves County on Friday.
“It’s always tough to win down here,” said OHS head coach Jay Fallin. “We made some mistakes and did them some favors that kept them in the game. We’re also a little banged up with a few guys out. It was big that we were able to do things that we had to do to find a way to win in a place like that.”
After both teams went 3-and-out to start the game, OHS took over on their own 14. Four plays later they were in the end zone. A 45-yard run by Evan Hampton followed by a 38-yard pass from Trevor DeLacey to Taveon Bennet put OHS on the 5-yard line. DeLacey hit Hampton for the score.
Late in the first quarter, the Red Devils (2-3) converted a 4th down inside the red zone, and Winstead carried it in from 4 yards out to put OHS up 14-0 heading into the second.
Graves put together a long drive, and a pair of untimely penalties by the Red Devils helped the Eagles eventually score on a quarterback sneak from 3 yards out with 4:21 to play in the half.
Midway through the third quarter, a turnover on downs gave OHS the ball on the Graves’ 38. A few plays later, Winstead scored again, this time from 12 yards out.
Early in the fourth, the Red Devils started a possession on the Graves’ 24 after a short punt by the Eagles from their end zone. Winstead went around the left side for a 16-yard score, pushing the lead to 28-7 with 9:44 to play.
The Eagles did not lay down. They scored on a 55-yard pass about a minute later. After an unsuccessful onside kick, Graves forced OHS to go 3-and-out. Another OHS penalty kept the Graves drive alive on 4th down, then the Eagles completed a 50-yard pass on another 4th down. They eventually punched it in from 4 yards out to cut the deficit to 28-21 with 3:11 to play.
OHS again recovered the onside kick attempt, but Graves still had all three timeouts so the Red Devils needed a couple of first downs. Relying on a steady dose of Winstead, OHS had just enough to move the sticks a couple of times and run out the clock.
Fallin said those runs by Winstead were just as vital to the win as the touchdown carries.
“He’s done great (this year),” Fallin said of Winstead. “We knew we were going to have to get at least one first down, and it was going to be tough because there was no secret we were going to run the ball to make them use their timeouts. We had to get the first down to give ourselves a chance to win the game and get in victory formation. Deion ran the ball really hard, the O-line did a nice job, we got the first downs we needed to get into victory formation and get out of there with a win.”
Winstead finished with 97 yards on 21 carries. Hampton had 54 receiving yards on four catches plus 44 yards on the ground on six rushes. DeLacey threw for 141 yards, completing 11 of 15 passes.
Owensboro will stay on the road next week when they make the short trek to Apollo, which is a district opponent on top of being a city-county matchup. Game time is 7 p.m.
