After playing one of their most complete games a week ago, the Daviess County football team is looking to carry that momentum into the state tournament.
The Panthers (6-4) hit the road for a game today against Ballard (6-4), a team head coach Matt Brannon feels they match up with well.
“I think Ballard is a team we can compete with at a high level,” he said. “They’re very athletic and have some really good individual players, but I think there’s a lot of things we can do to exploit them, especially on the offensive side of the ball. We just have to be able to stop them or slow them down a little bit.”
Daviess County wasn’t able to string wins together consistently, but they still finished with one more victory than last season when they made it to the regional championship game. As they prepare for a similar postseason run, Brannon said the players have been determined in practice.
“It was probably our best practice that we’ve had, definitely in the second half of the season but maybe all year,” he said. “The kids were focused. They came out ready to get after it. We had some similar adversity to last year early in this season. I think it’s good for any team to go through and figure out where your weaknesses are and how you can build on that. The teams that are poised to make runs can learn from that.”
The Panthers face a Ballard team that hasn’t put up too many points this year, but the Bruins’ defense has played at a high level. They’ve only allowed 169 points all season, giving up 40 total — including two shutouts — in their last five outings.
“We’ve got to be able to figure out how they’re going to defend us — whether they’re going to be aggressive and blitz us — and figure out how to protect Joey (Cambron),” Brannon said. “Or, are they going to be more conservative and use their athletes.”
Cambron, the Panthers’ quarterback, has been on a roll lately and now has 2,787 yards and 35 touchdowns on the season. Favorite target Marquel Tinsley, who missed one game with and injury, has 1,307 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns.
With opponents scheming to deal directly with Tinsley, Brannon said other players on the team have been stepping up. Wide receivers Blake Baker (504 yards, 8 touchdowns), JQ Fletcher (372 yards, 5 touchdowns) and Alex Nalley (301 yards, 4 touchdowns) have provided an extra boost for a fast-paced offense.
Cameron Duvall (118 tackles) and Will Skeens (89 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries) have led the defense, which has struggled at times but played well as of late.
Brannon said with the talent on his roster, the Panthers can put up a good fight against any team in the state.
“I know they’ve got some athletic ability, but we do too,” he said. “We’re a team that’s not necessarily intimidated by high-caliber athletes because we have several ourselves.”
Building on back-to-back wins and continuing to execute in all phases will be key in getting back to the region championship with a chance to advance even deeper.
“We have to continue to diagnose ourselves and work on what we do best while we limit the mistakes at this point,” Brannon said. “There’s not a lot of tweaking that you do going into the playoffs. At this point, it’s about being unselfish. We’re not worried about statistics, it’s just about the win and how far they want to go.”
