Looking for their first win of the season, Owensboro forced three first-half turnovers and DaMarcus Ganaway Jr. threw three touchdowns to power the Red Devils past Daviess County 40-0.
“We have been waiting for opportunities to bounce our way,” Owensboro Head Coach DaMarcus Ganaway said. “We have been waiting for opportunities to get some good looks that we have been coaching, preaching, and preparing them for. And tonight was just an accumulation of that. The past two weeks have been rough on them, but the film has been great for them. They have been learning from that, and the past two weeks have been great, and I think tonight that started to show.”
Looking to be aggressive, the Panthers started the game off by recovering an onside kick. They meticously marched down the field, converting on a huge fourth and four and eating up over seven minutes of clock. Facing first and 10 on Owensboro’s 15, the Red Devils forced and recovered a fumble. Backed up on their own 13, Evan Hampton ripped off a 55 yard run, setting up Ganaway’s first tocudhown strike to Kingston Dillard, from 32 yards out.
After forcing a Panthers punt, Owensboro pushed the lead to 14-0 after Ganaway once again connected with Dillard, this time from 30 yards out. Less than two minutes later, Eli Hampton picked off Garrison Barker and returned it 53 yards for a 20-0 lead.
“The captain. He’s the voice of the program, and he’s like our leading captain,” . “Eli getting that pick six was just something I know he is going to remember. Everyone on the defense was celebrating, and it just continues to give us a spark.”
Facing a second and 23, Daviess County fumbled on its own four and a few plays later Ganaway found Tee Green from nine yards out for his third touchdown of the game and a 26-0 lead. Kicking off, Owensboro recovered the ensuing kickoff, setting up Tee Green for his second touchdown of the game, this time a four-yard run and a 33-0 lead.
Owensboro’s lone score in the second half came on a Mikai Kindle 15-yard touchdown run, which included some fancy footwork.
Ganaway finished 7-10 for 133 yards and three touchdowns, while Dillard had three receptions for 110 yards and two scores. For Daviess County, Garrison Barker was 14-22 for 93 yards, while Jace Hunt finished with 44 total yards. Ridge Roberts also had 16 carries for 61 yards.
“Three turnovers in the first half doesn’t help against a team with that type of talent,” Daviess County Head Coach Quadarius Wallace said. “In the first half, we turned the ball over too many times, which led to points for them. Penalties backed us up, and no team in the country does well when backed up. In the second half, we held them to only seven points.”
