The Daviess County football team executed in every phase of the game and used a fast start to earn their first victory of the season — a convincing 39-6 triumph over Ohio County.
“It was great execution all night,” said DC head coach Matt Brannon. “The kids were excited and had a lot of confidence on both sides of the ball. Special teams also played well.”
After coming out on the wrong end of three somewhat lopsided decisions, the Panthers (1-3) were able to break through by playing a clean game from start to finish.
“The biggest thing for us was we didn’t beat ourselves,” Brannon said. “We didn’t turn the ball over or make mental mistakes. Our effort has been there every week. We’ve hung our hat on that. We put together a complete game against a team that we wanted to go out and dominate.”
Shane Riley was once against the go-to guy for DC, and the senior running back delivered early. He punched in a 3-yard carry for a score late in the first quarter, then broke loose for a 52-yard run to the end zone early in the second.
Quarterback Joe Humphreys then added a pair of scores before halftime. After taking one in himself from 9 yards out, Humphreys threw his first touchdown pass of the season with a 1-yard toss to Isaiah Tomes.
“We came out and established the run game early,” Brannon said. “Shane ripped off a long touchdown run early. Humphreys ran the ball well, which is going to be good because we’re going to see teams that stack the box. He also threw the ball with some confidence tonight, and the receivers played well.”
Riley added 6-yard rushing score less than two minutes into the second half, and the 2-point conversion by Humphreys gave DC a 36-0 lead that started a running clock. The Panthers got one final score on a 32-yard field goal from Carter Hoagland with eight minutes to play.
Ohio County (2-2) finally got on the board midway through the third quarter. Through their first three games, the Eagles were averaging 36 points per game. Much of their success came from Q Daryius McHenry, who had totaled nearly 900 offensive yards to go along with 11 scores.
“Defensively we played outstanding,” Brannon said. “We shut (Q Daryius) down all night. I don’t think he had any big runs. He did have one big catch when there was already a running clock. Our defensive front really played well. They were disciplined and played along the line of scrimmage. Our linebackers flew to the ball and tackled well.”
Daviess County returns home next week to host Owensboro (3-1) in a city-county battle.
“We’ll go out and prepare for them like we have been,” Brannon said. “It’s about executing. It’s another tough opponent that will get us ready for district play.”
Stay up to date on all your local sports coverage by following @OwensboroSports on Twitter and by liking us on Facebook.
__________
2019 football coverage is presented in part by Drew Cunningham, agent at State Farm.
