Gatlin Maysey had a pair of touchdowns and nearly 200 yards rushing to help Daviess County get their first win of the season by beating Warren Central 34-12 on the road Friday night.
Maysey got the Panthers (1-6) on the board first with a 31-yard touchdown run in the opening quarter, though the PAT was no good. The 6-0 lead held through much of the second quarter.
The Dragons (1-5) knotted things up when they intercepted a pass by Dartez Basham and returned it 98 yards for a score. The 2-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the score at 6-6 with 7:27 to play in the second quarter.
Basham helped DC regain the lead when he scored on a 10-yard run in the final minute of the half, putting the Panthers up 13-6 at the break.
Warren County’s final score came midway through the third quarter when they ran one in from 3 yards out, but the 2-point attempt again failed.
Maysey reached the end zone for the second time on a 5-yard run a few minutes later to put DC up 20-12.
Jace Hunt scored on a 50-yard run with 2:17 to go in the third quarter, and Basham capped off the scoring with a 10-yard pass to Luke Floyd late in the fourth.
Head Coach Matt Brannon said after losing every game of a tough slate of competition to start the year, finally getting in the win column is a great feeling.
“We’ve won a lot of football games over the years, but this is one of the most satisfying, I think, with the way the year has gone for us. It’s really a combination of our players believing in us as coaches and believing in each other ever since the Owensboro Catholic loss,” he said. “Our goal tonight was to get over the hump and get the win. They went out and executed pretty flawlessly all night, other than we had a couple of turnovers on offense.”
Basham started at quarterback and went 5-for-8 with 77 yards to go along with nine carries for 50 yards. Maysey had 16 rushes for 191 yards. The Panthers had 495 yards of total offense compared to 151 for Warren Central.
Brannon said it’s good to head into district play on a positive note. After a bye next week, DC will return to action at Christian County (2-3) on October 6.
“We feel like this is gonna give us the momentum that we need,” he said. “But we’ve got to buckle down because it’s not going to be easy.”
