Red Devils battle, fall short in semifinals

November 29, 2019 | 11:27 pm

Updated November 30, 2019 | 12:36 am

Owensboro hung tough but fell short against Frederick Douglass in the Class 5A state semifinals Friday. | Photo by Ryan Richardson

The Red Devils largely held their own Friday, but a small handful of big plays by Frederick Douglass proved to be the difference as the Broncos topped Owensboro 28-17 in the football Class 5A state semifinals in Lexington.

The OHS defense once again proved they were one of the best in the state, limiting a powerful offense to only 178 yards — less than half of what Douglass averaged entering the game.

Though they weren’t able to capitalize on all their chances, the 17 points by the Red Devil offense was the second-most scored against the Broncos all year.

“We came up here and we battled against a really good team that is undefeated up to this point,” said Owensboro head coach Jay Fallin. “The kids laid it all on the line. They gave it everything they could. I felt we had a really good game plan, and I still feel like we had a really good game plan. We had some opportunities to score that we weren’t able to maximize on. Just gave up some big plays. Most of their scoring was big plays.”

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For more photos from the game, click here.
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The first big play for Douglass (14-0) came a huge run by Devin Neal, who took a reverse handoff 64 yards for a score on their second drive. Neal then shook a couple of tackles on a punt return, again going 64 yards to paydirt for a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Facing their biggest deficit of the year, Owensboro (12-2) did not fold.

Javius Taylor returned the kickoff to the 42 for good starting position, and Tyren Hayden made a leaping grab in the back of the end zone early in the second quarter. Their next drive stalled inside the 10, but Max Thurman’s 25-yard field goal cut the deficit to 14-10 with 5:25 to go until halftime.

Douglass got another key play from Neal on a rush across midfield, and coupled with a penalty against OHS it set the Broncos up in the red zone. A couple of plays later, Dane Key pulled down a jump ball for a 9-yard score and a 21-10 lead.

Owensboro added their final touchdown late in the third quarter when Treyvon Tinsley slipped behind the defense for a 12-yard reception on 4th-and-9.

Douglass added one more play to their highlight reel late in third when Jaylin Bybee returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown.

Bybee intercepted another pass inside the red zone on the next OHS drive, and one final effort by the Red Devils ended with a turnover on downs.

“I really don’t think that we got outplayed so much as we got out-big-played,” Fallin said. “And to their credit, they kept us out of the end zone. We really moved the ball effectively and slowed them down as effectively as anybody has all year, but just couldn’t score enough in the end.”

OHS quarterback Gavin Wimsatt finished with 169 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions, and he led the team with 19 yards rushing. Tyren Hadyen (62 yards), Treyvon Tnsley (59 yards) and Ben Flaherty (35 yards) each caught five passes.

For Douglass, Neal finished with 72 yards on the ground. Key caught three passes — the only completions on the night for the Broncos — for 35 yards.

Owensboro allowed only six first downs, a fitting end for a defensive unit that has anchored the Red Devils’ success all season.

“Its where we’ve hung our hat all year,” Fallin said. “That’s where we have a lot of veteran experience. Our defensive staff just does such a good job of scouting and putting our kids in a position to be successful, and the kids go out and execute it. We felt like if we gave (Douglass) a few different fronts to think about and we get between six and eight guys in the box at various times, that we would be able to slow down that rushing attack. We were able to do just that.”

Fallin was proud of his guys for fighting all season and battling until the end. Following the game he told them to keep their heads high for defying expectations and making a deep postseason run.

Still, no loss is easy to swallow.

“All losses are hard,” he said. “Some sting a little more. When it’s a game of this magnitude, and you feel like you had some opportunities, it’s going to hurt a little bit worse.”

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November 29, 2019 | 11:27 pm

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